Curated News: Staff Picks

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Georgia Tech researcher on science team of new NASA telescope.

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Kennedy Krieger researchers believe tool has potential to help patients relearn to walk after brain injury.

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NASA astronomers announced they can now predict with certainty the next major cosmic event to affect our galaxy, Sun, and solar system: the titanic collision of our Milky Way galaxy with the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. The Milky Way is destined to get a major makeover during the encounter, which is predicted to happen four billion years from now. It's likely the Sun will be flung into a new region of our galaxy, but our Earth and solar system are in no danger of being destroyed.

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An international team of mathematicians has devised an amplifier that can boost light, sound or other waves while hiding them inside an invisible container.

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The assumption that employees who regularly telecommute will feel less attached to the organization they work for due to feeling isolated and disconnected is a myth, according to a study led by a communication researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM).

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Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology of Yeshiva University have found that personality traits like being extroverted, enjoying laughter and staying engaged may also be part of the longevity genes mix that allows some people to reach age 100 and beyond. The findings published online May 21 in the journal Aging.

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Fat Bastard’s revelation “I eat because I’m depressed and I’m depressed because I eat” in the Austin Powers film series may be explained by sophisticated neuroscience research being undertaken by scientists affiliated with the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CR-CHUM) and the university’s Faculty of Medicine.

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Even a moderate amount of weight loss can significantly reduce levels of circulating estrogens that are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, according to a study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center – the first randomized, controlled clinical trial to test the effects of weight loss on sex hormones in overweight and obese postmenopausal women, a group at elevated risk for breast cancer.

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New simulation study shows that atmosphere warms when pollution intensifies storms.

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Picture a turtle the size of a Smart car, with a shell large enough to double as a kiddie pool.

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A new UCLA study is the first to show how a diet steadily high in fructose slows the brain, hampering memory and learning--and how omega-3 fatty acids can minimize the damage.

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Kansas State University physicists and an international team of collaborators have made a breakthrough that improves understanding of matter-light interactions. Their research allows double ionization events to be observed at the time scale of attoseconds and shows that these ionization events occur earlier than thought -- a key factor to improve knowledge of correlated electron dynamics.

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Kids Ate 275% More Green Beans, 67% More Fruit, with Shrunken Main Course

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Anthropologists working in southern France have determined that a 1.5 metric ton block of engraved limestone constitutes the earliest evidence of wall art. Their research shows the piece to be approximately 37,000 years old and offers rich evidence of the role art played in the daily lives of Early Aurignacian humans.

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A clinical study of 30 adult patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has shown that smoked cannabis may be an effective treatment for spasticity – a common and disabling symptom of this neurological disease.

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Excavating for the first time in the sprawling complex of Xultún in Guatemala’s Petén region, a team of archaeologists discover house whose inside wall are covered with tiny red and black glyphs that appear to represent the various calendrical cycles charted that extend beyon 2012.

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Research suggests a new approach to improving memory and interrupting disease progression in patients with a form of cognitive impairment that often leads to full-blown Alzheimer’s disease.

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After completing the first study of its kind, researchers at McMaster University have discovered that very early musical training benefits children even before they can walk or talk. They found that one-year-old babies who participate in interactive music classes with their parents smile more, communicate better and show earlier and more sophisticated brain responses to music.

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Refurbishing neighborhood parks may lead to improvements in community health. Increased visitors and higher rates of exercise were observed for more than one year when one community park provided new and varied amenities.

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Living close to a major highway poses a significant risk to heart attack survivors, reinforcing the need to isolate housing developments from heavy traffic areas, a Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center study concludes.

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When you “lose yourself” inside the world of a fictional character while reading a story, you may actually end up changing your own behavior and thoughts to match that of the character, a new study suggests.

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Breast brachytherapy with a strut-based applicator appears to be an effective treatment for women who have ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast, according to a new study presented at the American Society of Breast Surgeons.

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Researchers have automated the process of finding and recording information from neurons in the living brain. A robotic arm guided by a cell-detecting computer algorithm can identify and record from neurons in the living mouse brain with better accuracy and speed than a human experimenter.

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Brain networks may avoid traffic jams at their busiest intersections by communicating on different frequencies, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the University Medical Center at Hamburg-Eppendorf and the University of Tübingen have learned.

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The ticket to Mars and beyond may be a series of nuclear slapshots that use magnetic pulses to slam nuclei into each other inside hockey pucks made of a special, lightweight salt, according to physicists from The University of Alabama in Huntsville.

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After a marathon debate over a pair of studies that show how the avian H5N1 influenza virus could become transmissible in mammals, and an unprecedented recommendation by a government review panel to block publication, one of the studies was finally and fully published today (May 3, 2012) in the journal Nature.

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Just 20 minutes of playing a violent shooting video game made players more accurate when firing a realistic gun at a mannequin – and more likely to aim for and hit the head, a new study found.

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Decades of research into how much plastic litters the ocean, conducted by skimming only the surface, may in some cases vastly underestimate the true amount of plastic debris, according to a University of Washington oceanographer publishing in Geophysical Research Letters.

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Researchers at McGill, Univ. of Minnesota call for combining best of both approaches.

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Commonly prescribed anti-depressants appear to be doing patients more harm than good, say researchers who have published a paper examining the impact of the medications on the entire body.

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Half of young adult tobacco smokers also have smoked marijuana in the last 30 days, according to a recent Facebook-based survey conducted by UCSF researchers, indicating a greater prevalence of marijuana and tobacco co-use among smokers age 18-25 than previously reported.

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A new brain cancer vaccine tailored to individual patients by using material from their own tumors has proven effective in a multicenter phase 2 clinical trial at extending their lives by several months or longer. The patients suffered from recurrent glioblastoma multiforme—which kills thousands of Americans every year.

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Worrying may have evolved along with intelligence as a beneficial trait, according to a recent study by scientists at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and other institutions.

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University of New Hampshire researchers have found that residents of Louisiana and Florida most acutely and directly affected by the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster -- the largest marine oil spill in U.S. history -- said they have changed their views on other environmental issues as a result of the spill.

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The part of the brain we use when engaging in egalitarian behavior may also be linked to a larger sense of morality, researchers have found. Their conclusions, which offer scientific support for Adam Smith’s theories of morality, are based on experimental research published in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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When people use low-effort thought, they are more likely to endorse conservative ideology.

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Analysis of data from the 10-meter South Pole Telescope is providing new support for the most widely accepted explanation of dark energy — the source of the mysterious force that is responsible for the accelerating expansion of the universe.

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A new chemical analysis of lunar material collected by Apollo astronauts in the 1970s conflicts with the widely held theory that a giant collision between Earth and a Mars-sized object gave birth to the moon 4.5 billion years ago.

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A new X-ray study of the remains of an exploded star indicates that the supernova that disrupted the massive star may have turned it inside out in the process. Using very long observations of Cassiopeia A (or Cas A), a team of scientists has mapped the distribution elements in the supernova remnant in unprecedented detail. This information shows where the different layers of the pre-supernova star are located three hundred years after the explosion, and provides insight into the nature of the supernova.

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A $2 million National Institutes of Health grant has been awarded in support of a University of Arizona biomedical engineering study that would increase accuracy of tumor assessment, and could subsequently improve personalized medical treatment for breast cancer patients.

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The Economist will hold its third annual Ideas Economy: Innovation conference on March 28, 2012, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. This year’s event will focus on how innovation can propel nations and lead to lasting global progress and prosperity. Berkeley-Haas Professor Laura D. Tyson, S. K. and Angela Chan Chair in Global Management, will join the brightest minds in business, academia and beyond, to discuss the connection between innovation and economic growth. Tyson is currently a member of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board.

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Alzheimer’s disease (AD) steals memory and ruins lives. Despite near-daily reports of promising new therapies, AD remains unchecked. Now a new study reveals the mechanism by which AD may cause memory loss, suggesting new therapies.

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Popcorn’s reputation as a snack food that’s actually good for health popped up a few notches today as scientists reported that it contains more of the healthful antioxidant substances called "polyphenols" than fruits and vegetables. They spoke at the 243rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society, being held here this week.

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Low-carb, high-fat diets led to more damaging, more deadly heart attacks and impaired recovery of heart function in study.

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The water flowing through Venice’s famous canals laps at buildings a little higher every year – and not only because of a rising sea level. Although previous studies had found that Venice has stabilized, new measurements indicate that the historic city continues to slowly sink, and even to tilt slightly to the east.

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Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers have discovered that marijuana-like chemicals trigger receptors on human immune cells that can directly inhibit a type of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) found in late-stage AIDS.

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Celtic burial mounds in southwest Germany, offer a glimpse of how Iron Age people lived in a time before written records were kept. Using both old-school archaeology and new technology, the researchers were able to reconstruct elements of dress and ornamentation and also social behavior of those aspiring status.

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Odds are, you’re not going to make it all the way through this article without thinking about something else.

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The times are changing, and not necessarily for the better when it comes to giving back to society, according to 40 years of research on 9 million young adults. Since the baby boomer generation, there has been a significant decline among young Americans in political participation, concern for others and interest in saving the environment, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association.

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Might the “Twinkie defense” have a scientific foundation after all? Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown – by each of a range of measures, in men and women of all ages, in Caucasians and minorities – that consumption of dietary trans fatty acids (dTFAs) is associated with irritability and aggression.