ScienceBlog.com

Scientists at the University of Southampton, in collaboration with Penn State University have, for the first time, embedded the high level of performance normally associated with chip-based semiconductors into an optical fibre, creating high-speed optoelectronic function. The potential applications of such optical fibres include improved telecommunications and other hybrid optical/electronic technologies. This transatlantic team will [...]

Research just published by a team of demographers at the social science research organization NORC at the University of Chicago contradicts a long-held belief that the mortality rate of Americans flattens out above age 80. It also explains why there are only half as many people in the U.S. age 100 and above as the [...]

A large Scandinavian study, that has been running for 30 years, has finally provided convincing evidence that the combined oral contraceptive pill does, indeed, alleviate the symptoms of painful menstrual periods reports scientists from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The research is published in Europe´s leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction. Although some previous studies [...]

A short spinning session can trigger the same biochemical indications as a heart attack – a reaction that is probably both natural and harmless, but should be borne in mind when people seek emergency treatment for chest pain, reveals a study from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Heart attacks increase the [...]

What does “free time” mean to you? When you’re not at work, do you pass the time — or spend it? The difference may impact how happy you are. A new study shows people who put a price on their time are more likely to feel impatient when they’re not using it to earn money. [...]

A worker experiencing the stress of intense workdays might develop somatic symptoms, such as stomach ache or headache, which will eventually lead to taking leave of absence. But when the individual’s supervisor offers emotional and instrumental support, the employee is more likely to recover without needing to take that extra afternoon or day off. This [...]

Cultural differences between the West and East are well documented, but a study shows that concrete differences also exist in how British and Chinese people recognise people and the world around them.  Easterners really do look at the world differently to Westerners, according to new research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). [...]

Obesity and chronic liver disease can be triggered by a family of proteins that alter populations of microbes in the stomach, a discovery that suggests the condition may be infectious, Yale scientists report. The study, in the advance online publication of Nature, expands on earlier Yale research that showed how similar microbial imbalances caused by [...]

Jim Black is fighting the meanest, most aggressive, most common kind of brain tumor in the United States: recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). In the United States, each year, approximately 10,000 patients are affected by GBM. Now, a novel investigational device — available only at clinical trial sites — is offering new hope to these patients. [...]

When a devastating 2004 hurricane wiped out a Caribbean lizard population, University of California, Davis, researchers had an unprecedented opportunity to address a long-simmering controversy in evolutionary biology. Their findings — from the first experimental study of the so-called “founder effect” in a natural setting — are published in Friday’s (Feb. 3) edition of Science [...]

A Stanford University research team has designed a high-efficiency charging system that uses magnetic fields to wirelessly transmit large electric currents between metal coils placed several feet apart. The long-term goal of the research is to develop an all-electric highway that wirelessly charges cars and trucks as they cruise down the road. The new technology [...]

As the nation suffers a burgeoning obesity crisis, health advocates and policymakers have zoned in on poor neighborhoods they’ve termed “food deserts” – areas with few grocery stores and other access to healthy food. But a new USC study finds that many poor urban neighborhoods have high concentrations of grocery and other retail food outlets. [...]

Researchers from UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a cell-permeable peptide that inhibits a hepatitis C virus protein and blocks the viral replication that can lead to liver cancer and cirrhosis. The finding by Dr. Samuel French, a UCLA assistant professor of pathology and senior author of the research, builds on previous work by [...]

Could the use of vitamin and mineral supplements in a regular diet help to reduce the risk of colon cancer and protect against carcinogens? A study published in the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology (CJPP) found that rats given regular multivitamin and mineral supplements showed a significantly lower risk of developing colon cancer when [...]

An experimental device for removing blood clots in stroke patients dramatically outperformed the standard mechanical treatment, according to research presented by UCLA Stroke Center director Dr. Jeffrey L. Saver at the American Stroke Association’s 2012 international conference in New Orleans on Feb. 3. The SOLITAIRE Flow Restoration Device is among an entirely new generation of [...]

Online dating has not only shed its stigma, it has surpassed all forms of matchmaking in the United States other than meeting through friends, according to a new analysis of research on the burgeoning relationship industry. The digital revolution in romance is a boon to lonely-hearters, providing greater and more convenient access to potential partners, [...]

The composition of land surface – such as vegetation type and land use – regulates the interaction of radiation, sensible heat and humidity between the land surface and the atmosphere and, thus, influences ground level climate directly. For the first time, the Innsbruck climate scientists quantitatively examined whether land-cover changes (LCC) may potentially affect glacier [...]

If the proven long-term benefits of smoking cessation are not enough to motivate young adults to stop smoking, a new study shows that 18- to 24-year olds who stop smoking for at least two weeks report substantially fewer respiratory symptoms, especially coughing. The study findings are detailed in Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology, a peer-reviewed [...]

Some climate cooling caused by past volcanic eruptions may not be evident in tree-ring reconstructions of temperature change because large enough temperature drops lead to greatly shortened or even absent growing seasons, according to climate researchers, who compared tree-ring temperature reconstructions with model simulations of past temperature changes. “We know these tree rings capture most [...]

A preference for fatty foods has a genetic basis, according to researchers, who discovered that people with certain forms of the CD36 gene may like high-fat foods more than those who have other forms of this gene. The results help explain why some people struggle when placed on a low-fat diet and may one day [...]