Current Science News and Events
The following is a collection of the latest news available on the world wide web. These links will lead you to sites outside of Visionlearning.
Current feeds as of 3/11/10 07:00am EST include the following.
- New York Times
- BBC
- Science Daily News
- Science Magazine News Summaries
- Science Magazine This Week in Science
BBC Science
Scientists to review climate body
The UN secretary general asks the world's leading science academies to review the UN's climate science body.
EU to back bluefin tuna trade ban
EU nations decide to support a ban on international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna until stocks recover.
Ring may be giant 'impact crater'
Deforestation has revealed what could be a giant impact crater in Central Africa, according to Italian scientists.
Collider to shut for year to fix faults
The Large Hadron Collider must be shut down for a year starting in late 2011 to address design flaws, the BBC has learned.
Ancient eggshell yields its DNA
The eggshells of long-dead and extinct species are a particularly good source to find preserved DNA, researchers say.
Science 'is a key election issue'
The science spokesmen of the three main political parties cross swords on the issue of UK research funding.
Science Daily News
Brain mechanism may explain alcohol cravings that drive relapse
New research provides exciting insight into the molecular mechanisms associated with addiction and relapse. The study uncovers a crucial mechanism that facilitates motivation for alcohol after extended abstinence and opens new avenues for potential therapeutic intervention.
Temporary hearing deprivation can lead to 'lazy ear'
Scientists have gained new insight into why a relatively short-term hearing deprivation during childhood may lead to persistent hearing deficits, long after hearing is restored to normal. The research reveals that, much like the visual cortex, development of the auditory cortex is quite vulnerable if it does not receive appropriate stimulation at just the right time.
Obesity linked to poor colon cancer prognosis
Obese patients with colon cancer are at greater risk for death or recurrent disease compared to those who are within a normal weight range, according to a new study.
Conquering the chaos in modern, multiprocessor computers
A group of computer scientists have found a way to tame multiprocessor computers, which behave in wildly unpredictable ways even as the systems become widespread in the industry.
Students' perceptions of Earth's age influence acceptance of human evolution
High school and college students who understand the geological age of the Earth (4.5 billion years) are much more likely to understand and accept human evolution, according to a new study. A 2009 Gallup poll reported that 16 percent of biology teachers believe God created humans in their present form at some time during the last 10,000 years.
Science Magazine News Summaries
[News of the Week] Pharmacology: Growth Hormone Test Finally Nabs First Doper
Last week's announcement of the first athlete to be caught by a blood test designed to detect doping with human growth hormone to boost muscle mass represents a warning to athletes who may have thought HGH use was undetectable, and it also erases lingering doubts about the test among scientists.
Author: John Travis
[News of the Week] Paleoclimatology: Snowball Earth Has Melted Back To a Profound Wintry Mix
On page 1241 of this week's issue of Science, geoscientists report evidence that the tropics hosted glaciers more than 100 million years before the supposed global freeze in which Earth froze over from pole to pole more than a half-billion years ago.
Author: Richard A. Kerr
[News of the Week] Archaeology: Of Two Minds About Toba's Impact
Researchers gathered at a meeting last month to probe the impact on modern humans of the cataclysmic eruption of Indonesia's Mount Toba about 74,000 years ago—and to ponder whether modern humans had made it to Asia by the time the volcano blew.
Author: Michael Balter
[News of the Week] ScienceInsider: From the Science Policy Blog
ScienceInsider reported this week that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and its parent organization, the United Nations Environment Programme, will request an independent review of IPCC in the wake of unprecedented criticisms of the panel, among other stories.
[News of the Week] ScienceNOW.org: From Science's Online Daily News Site
ScienceNOW reported this week that an early polar bear has been discovered in Arctic tundra, an appetite-suppressing hormone called leptin is just as effective as insulin at controlling diabetes in mice, engraved eggs suggest early symbolism, and global warming didn't kill the golden toad, among other stories.
Science Magazine This Week in Science
Sestrin and the Consequences of Aging
The protein kinase TOR (target of rapamycin) plays key roles in the control of fundamental biological processes, including growth, metabolism, aging, and immune function. Sestrin proteins show increased abundance in … [Read more]
Early Origin of Earth's Magnetic Field
Earth's magnetic field protects us from stellar winds and radiation from the Sun. Understanding when, during the Earth's formation, the large-scale magnetic field was established is important because it impacts … [Read more]
Earth's glacial cycles have varied dramatically over time; at one point glaciers may have covered nearly the entire planet. Correlating various paleoclimate proxies such as fossil and isotope records from … [Read more]
Gas-phase sulfuric acid is important during atmospheric particle formation, but the mechanisms by which it forms new particles are unclear. Laboratory studies of the binary nucleation of sulfuric acid with … [Read more]
One aim of the National Ignition Facility is to implode a capsule containing a deuterium-tritium fuel mix and initiate a fusion reaction. With 192 intense laser beams focused into a … [Read more]
