NSTA - Science News

Science Journalism Awards Announced
Nov 20 2009 - National Science Foundation
A television feature about growing diamonds in the lab, and a radio story that dramatizes some strange coincidences in a discussion of randomness and probability won recognition earlier this month in the 2009 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards.

Mouse Study Points to Treatment for Down Syndrome
Nov 19 2009 - Reuters
Increasing the levels of a message-carrying chemical in the brain may help prevent some of the memory deficits in Down syndrome that hinder learning and make it hard for the brain to develop normally, according to researchers.

The Quest to Stop the Brain Drain
Nov 19 2009 - The Boston Globe
Computer products are popular among older Americans searching for ways to stay mentally sharp. Researchers, however, have yet to determine whether these brain games deliver what they promise.

Sun May Not Be a 'Goldilocks' Star
Nov 19 2009 - ScienceNews
The stars that are just right to support life might be dimmer and longer-lived than the Sun.

Large Hadron Collider Repaired for Relaunch
Nov 18 2009 - The Guardian
Scientists have repaired the world's largest atom smasher and plan by this weekend to restart the machine.

Could Jupiter Moon Harbor Fish-Size Life?
Nov 18 2009 - National Geographic News
In the oceans of a moon hundreds of millions of miles from the Sun, something fishy may be alive—right now.

Scientists Discover Heart Disease in Ancient Egyptian Mummies
Nov 18 2009 - Voice of America News
An international team of scientists has discovered heart disease in ancient Egyptian mummies, dispelling the view that cardiovascular disease is an illness of modern humans.

No Gattaca Here: Genetic Anti-Discrimination Law Goes Into Effect
Nov 17 2009 - Discover
The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act prevents both employers and insurance companies from requiring genetic tests or from using your family's medical history against you.

Surprising Discovery Explains Formation of New Memories
Nov 17 2009 - U.S. News & World Report
Short-term memory may depend in a surprising way on the ability of newly formed neurons to erase older connections. The report provides some of the first evidence in mice and rats that new neurons sprouted in the hippocampus cause the decay of short-term fear memories in that brain region, without an overall memory loss.

Had Flu? You May Have H1N1 Protection
Nov 17 2009 - Reuters
People who have had repeated flu infections—or repeated flu vaccines—may have some protection against the new pandemic swine influenza, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

China Joins Supercomputer Elite
Nov 16 2009 - BBC News
China has become one of a handful of nations to own one of the top five supercomputers in the world. The machine packs more than 70,000 chips and can compute 563 trillion calculations per second (teraflops).

Psychologist Wins Million-Dollar Prize for Work on the Adolescent Brain
Nov 16 2009 - ScienceInsider
Temple University psychologist Laurence Steinberg has been awarded the first Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize. The new award, worth $1 million, comes from the Zurich-based Jacobs Foundation, founded by chocolate magnate Klaus Jacobs. It's designed to further "groundbreaking contributions to the improvement of the living conditions of young people."

Global Health Alliance Targets Chronic Disease Wave
Nov 16 2009 - Reuters
An alliance of the world's top public health researchers set out plans on Monday to invest tens of millions of dollars in heart and lung disease studies in a battle against a global epidemic of chronic disease.

NASA Finds 'Significant' Water on Moon
Nov 13 2009 - CNN
NASA said Friday it had discovered water on the moon, opening "a new chapter" that could allow for the development of a lunar space station.

End of the Line for Spirit Rover?
Nov 13 2009 - ScienceInsider
The Mars rover that has been stuck in talcum-powder-like soil the past 6 months is in a bad way, its NASA team reported in a press conference.

Record High Temperatures Far Outpace Record Lows Across U.S.
Nov 13 2009 - Science Daily
Spurred by a warming climate, daily record high temperatures occurred twice as often as record lows over the last decade across the continental United States, new research shows.

Malaria’s Deadly Leap from Chimps to Humans
Nov 13 2009 - The Boston Globe
According to new research led by a University of Massachusetts at Amherst scientist, the parasite responsible for 85% of human malaria infections and nearly all of the deaths jumped from chimpanzees to humans in relatively recent times.

Signature of Antimatter Detected in Lightning
Nov 13 2009 - ScienceNews
The Fermi telescope finds evidence that positrons, not just electrons, are in storms on Earth.

U.S. Science Group Seeks Cooperation with Cuba
Nov 12 2009 - Reuters
A group led by the head of the United States' biggest science organization is in Cuba this week to discuss ways to rekindle scientific cooperation as U.S.-Cuba relations slowly improve under U.S. President Barack Obama.

Mini Space Elevator Races for $900K Prize
Nov 12 2009 - Voice of America News
A team from Washington state has won $900,000 from NASA for building a miniature space elevator. The competition asked entrants to build a prototype of a machine that could one day shuttle people from the Earth's surface into outer space along a cable tethered to an orbiting satellite.

New Type of Supernova Discovered
Nov 12 2009 - National Geographic News
An odd star explosion 160 million light-years away might be the first proof of a theoretical new class of supernova, astronomers suggest.

Fighting Obesity May Take a Village
Nov 12 2009 - The Wall Street Journal
Exercise more. Avoid junk food. Such common-sense health advice has proved no match against the temptations of modern life, which have sent obesity rates around the world soaring.

Scientists Want Debate on Animals with Human Genes
Nov 10 2009 - Reuters
A mouse that can speak? A monkey with Down's Syndrome? Dogs with human hands or feet? British scientists want to know if such experiments are acceptable, or if they go too far in the name of medical research.

Koalas Could Face Extinction
Nov 9 2009 - BBC News
Australia's koalas could be wiped out within 30 years unless urgent action is taken to halt a decline in population, according to researchers.

Tweak Gravity: What If There Is No Dark Matter?
Nov 6 2009 - Scientific American
Modifications to the theory of gravity could account for observational discrepancies, but not without introducing other complications.

Sick of Swine Flu? Here Comes H3N2
Nov 6 2009 - ScienceInsider
Although the world's attention is focused on the novel H1N1 virus causing the swine flu pandemic, H3N2, a seasonal strain of influenza, has popped up in many East Asian countries—and some variants in circulation may outfox the seasonal vaccine in use.

Tiny Tech Sparks Cell Signal Find
Nov 6 2009 - BBC News
Tiny metal particles have been shown to cause changes to DNA across a cellular barrier—without having to cross it.

Swine Flu Confirmed in Iowa Cat
Nov 5 2009 - Time
A 13-year-old Iowa cat has been infected with swine flu, veterinary and federal officials said Wednesday in what is believed to be the first case of the H1N1 virus in a feline in the United States.

Midwest Quakes Are Aftershocks from 1800s
Nov 5 2009 - MSNBC
The small earthquakes that sporadically rattle the central United States may actually be aftershocks from a few extremely large quakes that occurred in the region almost 200 years ago, according to a new study.

A Powerful Identity, a Vanishing Diagnosis
Nov 5 2009 - The New York Times (requires free registration)
Experts want to remove an autism label from a diagnostic manual, but people with the disorder are divided.

A Wish List of 10,000 Genomes
Nov 5 2009 - ScienceInsider
Heartened by a continuing rapid decline in the cost of genome sequencing, a group of genome and museum experts has launched an ambitious plan to decipher 10,000 vertebrate genomes.

The Mountains That Froze the World
Nov 4 2009 - ScienceNow Daily News
The rise of the Appalachians plunged Earth into an ice age so severe that it drove nearly two-thirds of all living species extinct. That's the conclusion of a new study, which finds that the mountains' rocks absorbed enough greenhouse gas to freeze the planet.

Messenger Spies Iron on Mercury
Nov 4 2009 - BBC News
Mercury is even more of an "iron planet" than scientists had previously supposed. Richer concentrations of iron and titanium have been seen on Mercury's surface by Nasa's Messenger probe.

Claude Lévi-Strauss, French Anthropologist, Dies at 100
Nov 4 2009 - The Washington Post (requires free registration)
Claude Lévi-Strauss, 100, one of the preeminent social anthropologists of the 20th century, died over the weekend in Paris. He was best-known for popularizing a social science theory known as "structuralism."

Aspirin Only for Heart Patients
Nov 3 2009 - BBC News
The use of aspirin to ward off heart attacks and strokes in those who do not have obvious cardiovascular disease should be abandoned, researchers say.

Home Flu Cures: Bad Medicine?
Nov 3 2009 - The Wall Street Journal
Heard the one about the raw onion? With concerns over the H1N1 flu rising and supplies of vaccine running scarce, it's no surprise that alternative remedies are circulating on the web.

European Water Mission Lifts Off
Nov 2 2009 - BBC News
A European satellite is set to provide major new insights into how water is cycled around the Earth.

Snows of Kilimanjaro Could Vanish in 20 Years: Study
Nov 2 2009 - Yahoo! News
The snows capping Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's tallest peak, are shrinking rapidly and could vanish altogether in 20 years, most likely due to global warming, according to a new study.

Want a Solution? Try Offering a Prize
Nov 2 2009 - The Boston Globe
Prize fever has breached the walls of government bureaucracy, and more federal agencies are using competitions as a strategy to spur innovation. The competitions leverage modest amounts of taxpayer money to attract inventors and investors to certain scientific and technological problems.

World's Most Environmentally Sound Building Opens
Nov 2 2009 - Voice of America News
A French engineering firm has built what is being hailed as the world's most environmentally sound building, a structure that produces more energy than it consumes.

7.3 Billion Years Later, Einstein’s Theory Prevails
Oct 30 2009 - The New York Times (requires free registration)
Astronomers said a contest between gamma rays of differing energies and wavelengths tested a proclamation by Einstein on the speed of light.

7 Ghoulish Archaeological Discoveries
Oct 30 2009 - MSNBC
From brains to preserved bodies, scientists have dug up some scary stuff.

Frog Embryos 'Smell' Predators
Oct 30 2009 - BBC News
Frogs learn to recognize the smell of their enemies while they are still developing as embryos, say scientists.

Russia Hopes Nuclear Ship Will Fly Humans to Mars
Oct 29 2009 - Yahoo! News
Russia should build a new nuclear-powered spaceship for prospective manned missions to Mars and other planets, the nation's space chief said Thursday.

Scientists See Blast from Past—13 Billion Years Ago
Oct 29 2009 - Reuters
Astronomers have seen the furthest back in time ever, measuring light from a star that exploded 13 billion years ago, just after the dawn of the universe.

Big Weight Gain For Kids on Psych Drugs
Oct 28 2009 - Time
Children on widely used psychiatric drugs can quickly gain an alarming amount of weight; many pack on nearly 20 pounds and become obese within just 11 weeks, a study found.

Radiation from Medical Scans Soaring
Oct 27 2009 - Healthday.com
Americans' exposure to radiation from medical procedures has exploded over the past few decades, to six times the level of 1980, a new report shows.

Mars May Have Caves, Scientists Say
Oct 27 2009 - Los Angeles Times
Images of ancient lava flows from the Arsia Mons volcano suggest an extensive system near the Red Planet's equator. Caves could one day aid space explorers.

'Coral Bank' Created to Preserve Threatened Reefs
Oct 27 2009 - Discovery News
An international meeting on climate change in Copenhagen has heard the prospects of saving the world's coral reefs now appear so bleak there are plans to freeze samples to preserve them for the future.

Colossal 'Sea Monster' Unearthed
Oct 27 2009 - BBC News
The fossilized skull of a colossal "sea monster" has been unearthed along the UK's Jurassic Coast. The ferocious predator, which is called a pliosaur, terrorized the oceans 150 million years ago.

Vitamin D Levels Lacking in Millions of U.S. Children
Oct 26 2009 - Time
Millions of American children may not be getting enough vitamin D, according to a new report out today. The sunshine vitamin is essential for helping kids build healthy bones and ward off rickets.

'Secret Life of Scientists': What Do They Do When Not in the Lab?
Oct 26 2009 - USA Today
A juggling climate scientist, a back-flipping engineer, "leech man," and a physics student who plays in the cult band Harry and the Potters star in a new web-only series that delves into the quirky secret lives of scientists and engineers.

'Sidewalk Astronomy' to Sweep the U.S. This Weekend
Oct 23 2009 - Yahoo! News
To celebrate "Galilean Nights," a project supported by the International Year of Astronomy 2009, public observing events will be held this upcoming weekend in over 50 countries. More than 75 events in the United States are planned.

Gates Foundation Grants Support Unusual Research
Oct 22 2009 - The Boston Globe
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced new grants of $100,000 each for 76 unconventional approaches to world problems. The five-year health research grants are designed to encourage scientists to pursue bold ideas that focus on ways to prevent and treat infectious diseases.