Men have been tomcatting around since time immemorial, and some traveled far from home to do it, new research suggests. And there’s no covering up even ancient sexual dalliances: the guys most successful in sowing wild oats passed on the proof in their genes. By using those genetic smoking guns, researchers at the University of Arizona in Tucson have developed new insights into ancient mating and migration patterns in humans.
When we volunteer our time to do something for others, such as helping out an elderly neighbour or taking part in a local community project, it can be good news for our health, our children’s education and even reduce the local crime rate too. Recent research funded by the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) has revealed that people who live in areas that record high levels of informal voluntary activity in their neighbourhood, also enjoy better health, students achieve higher GCSE grades and their communities suffer fewer burglaries. ”The research has revealed an interesting link between helping others and enjoying a good quality of life. It seems that when we focus on the needs of others, we may also reap benefits ourselves.”
You’ve seen it in horror movies, or even in real-life at the local museum: a painting in which the eyes of the person portrayed seem to follow you around the room, no matter where you go. People have described the effect as creepy or eerie, and some have thought it supernatural. But now researchers have demonstrated the very natural cause for this visual effect. All it takes for the effect to work is to have the person in the painting, or photograph, look straight ahead, said James Todd, co-author of the study and a professor of psychology at Ohio State University. Our visual perception takes care of the rest.
Differentiated thyroid cancer, the most common form of thyroid cancer, is one of the success stories in the war on cancer. Since the advent of radioiodine therapy, it has been considered one of the most curable cancers. On the downside, current treatment involves taking patients off their thyroid medication. This can lead to serious side effects including symptoms of hypothyroidism, an unbalanced metabolic state that can induce fatigue, depression, and other unpleasant conditions. Researchers now report on a new technique that allows patients to maintain their normal course of thyroid medication prior to and during radioiodine therapy. The new technique avoids the problems of hypothyroidism, and levels of radiation in the blood and bone marrow remain well below the accepted safety thresholds during therapy.
Scientists are a step closer to understanding the health benefits of drinking red wine. Researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and affiliated with the Salk Institute in San Diego, Calif., have succeeded in converting chalcone synthase, a biosynthetic protein enzyme found in all higher plants, into an efficient resveratrol synthase. Resveratrol, a beneficial component of red wine, is thought to contribute to the improved cardiovascular effects associated with moderate consumption of red wine.
The FTC today issued a report assessing whether and how a system that rewards members of the public for tracking down spammers would or could help improve enforcement of the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2002 (CAN-SPAM Act.) That Act, which became effective on January 1, 2004, required the FTC to conduct a study and provide a report to Congress on a CAN-SPAM ”bounty system.” Based on the FTC’s experience in more than 60 cases that targeted spam, the report notes that there are three hurdles for the FTC and other law enforcers in anti-spam investigations: identifying and locating the spammer; developing sufficient evidence to prove the spammer is legally responsible for sending the spam; and obtaining a monetary award. If a reward system could be designed so that it would generate information that helps clear those hurdles, it might improve the effectiveness of CAN-SPAM enforcement, according to the report.
Researchers, using a state-of-the-art microscope and new computerized imaging technology, have pushed back the barrier of how small we can see–to a record, atom-scale 0.6 angstrom. Researchers obtained the improved resolution with ORNL’s 300-kilovolt Z-contrast scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM), aided by an emerging technology called aberration correction. The direct images have been acknowledged as proof of atom-scale resolution below one angstrom and provide researchers with a valuable tool for designing advanced materials.
At a school in Managua, Nicaragua, deaf children are speaking a new language entirely their own, which nonetheless has remarkable similarities to the world’s other languages. Researchers studying these similarities suggest this week in Science that, in fact, children give language its most fundamental, universal features just by the way they learn it. As varied as they may sound to the untrained ear, all languages share certain basic traits that have been the subject of debate for decades.
With the approaching return of the Space Shuttle fleet to flight in 2005, NASA is preparing for their safe arrival home with the recertification of Kennedy Space Center’s runway guidance system. Known as the Microwave Scanning Beam Landing System (MSBLS), the system acts like a homing beacon for Space Shuttle orbiters returning to Earth. As an orbiter nears the runway, the system relays information to the pilot such as the vehicle’s angle of approach and distance to touchdown, guiding it to a perfect landing.
The science of measuring drug levels in the blood after death is far from robust and based on flawed evidence– leading to likely miscarraiges of justice and conspiracy theories, say forensic scientists in this week’s BMJ. For living patients doctors can determine the toxicology — drug concentration levels — of a patient through straightforward tests, involving factors such as how drugs were administered and number of doses taken. But for dead subjects such information is almost never available, say the authors, so conclusions about drug levels are often incomplete.
Cancer researchers have long suggested that new targeted drugs may work best when paired with other therapies. In a new study, scientists have taken some of the first steps to demonstrate this synergy in mouse and cell line models. The findings show that two different drugs may work better in a ”one-two punch,” targeting a cancer development process in two types of cells. The early results are so promising that preliminary testing of the drug combination in humans is now being planned.
Immunoglobulins which are already being used to treat multiple sclerosis may also be able to help patients with Alzheimer’s. This, at least, is the finding of a pilot study on five patients at the University of Bonn. Immunoglobulins contain, among other things, anti-bodies against a protein which is the ‘main suspect’ thought to trigger off Alzheimer’s. After six months of immuno-globulin doses the concentration of this protein in the patients’ cerebrospinal fluid was reduced by one third. The patients’ cognitive abilities improved slightly.
The Food and Drug Administration generally supports the recommendations that were recently made to the agency by the Psychopharmacologic Drugs and Pediatric Advisory Committees regarding reports of an increased risk of suicidality (suicidal thoughts and actions) associated with the use of certain antidepressants in pediatric patients. FDA has begun working expeditiously to adopt new labeling to enhance the warnings associated with the use of antidepressants and to bolster the information provided to patients when these drugs are dispensed.