Twins’ lower IQ levels than single-born children not down to social factors

Social and economic circumstances do not explain why twins have significantly lower IQ in childhood than single-born children, according to a study in this week’s BMJ. Researchers studied 9,832 single-born children and 236 twins born in Aberdeen, Scotland between 1950 and 1956, using a previous child development survey as a base. They also gathered further information on mother’s age at delivery, birth weight, at what stage of the child’s gestation they were born, their father’s occupational social class, and information on other siblings.

American Heart Association: Statins and Fish Oil Protect Heart

American Heart Association: Statins and Fish Oil Protect Heart

The American Heart Association just released a report about a Japanese study of over 18,000 people that lasted nearly 5 years. The study reports that the use of fish oil in conjuction with statins, a cholesterol-lowering drug, had a greater effect on reducing heart-related maladies than just statins alone. These conditions included:

Continue reading about fish oil and statins at Fish Oil Blog.

Microbes in Marine Sediments React to Temperature Changes

Marine scientists from the University of Georgia have shown for the first time that temperature affects the biological activity of microbes that degrade organic carbon in marine sediments. Warming global temperatures could therefore cause shifts in the balance of organic carbon that is recycled into the atmosphere or buried in sediments that serve as reservoirs for the substance.

New technique multiplies life span in simple organisms

A counterintuitive experiment has resulted in one of the longest recorded life-span extensions in any organism and opened a new door for anti-aging research in humans. Scientists have known for several years that an extra copy of the SIR2 gene can promote longevity in yeast, worms and fruit flies. That finding was covered widely and incorporated into anti-aging drug development programs at several biotechnology companies. Now, molecular geneticists at the University of Southern California suggest that SIR2 instead promotes aging.

Replacing Some Carbs with Protein, Unsaturated Fat May Help Heart

The types of food eaten in an effort to cut down on saturated fat may make a difference in reducing heart disease risk, according to a study of people with either high blood pressure or prehypertension. The study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a part of the National Institutes of Health.

Mars Express radar data analysis is on the move

The Mars Express radar, MARSIS, has now been deployed for more than four months. Here we report on the activities so far. For the operational period up to now, Mars Express has been making its closest approaches to Mars predominantly in the daytime portion of its orbit. The MARSIS radar’s scientists are mainly collecting data about the upper layers of the Martian atmosphere, or ‘ionosphere’, which is the highly electrically conducting layer that is maintained by sunlight.

Low Carb Diets Better for Managing Metabolic Syndrome

In a review of the medical literature about low-carb diets, researchers found something that’s been there, in the published data, all along – the list of things carbohydrate restriction improves happens to be the same list of features a patient presents with in the diagnosis of Metabolic Syndrome, a cluster of metabolic markers that increase the risk of diabetes, stroke and heart disease: obesity, high triglycerides, low HDL (“good” cholesterol), high blood sugar, high blood pressure and insulin resistance.

Missing Fossil Link Dallasaurus Found

dallasaurus-4-smWhen amateur fossil finder Van Turner discovered a small vertebra at a construction site near Dallas 16 years ago, he knew the creature was unlike anything in the fossil record. Scientists now know the significance of Turner’s fossil as the origin of an extinct line of lizards with an evolutionary twist: a land-dwelling species that became fully aquatic.

Researchers combine nanotubes and antibodies to detect cancer

By coating the surfaces of tiny carbon nanotubes with monoclonal antibodies, biochemists and engineers at Jefferson Medical College and the University of Delaware have teamed up to detect cancer cells in a tiny drop of water. The work is aimed at developing nanotube-based biosensors that can spot cancer cells circulating in the blood from a treated tumor that has returned or from a new cancer.

Station Crew to Move Soyuz

Even though they’ll be traveling at five miles a second and flying independently for about 40 minutes, they won’t be going very far. Space station Commander Bill McArthur and Cosmonaut Valery Tokarev will move their Soyuz TMA spacecraft from the station’s Pirs docking compartment to the Earth-facing port of the Zarya module on Friday.