Alcohol stronger after obesity surgery

Alcohol stronger after obesity surgery (AP)

AP - People who had obesity surgery got drunk after just one glass of red wine, researchers reported in a small study that was inspired by an episode on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

Panda skull

This image released by the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology ...

(AP) - This image released by the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing shows front views of a new fossil panda skull, Ailuropoda microta, from Jinyin Cave, Guangxi, China, left, and a living giant panda skull, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, right. The first skull of the earliest known ancestor of the giant panda has been discovered in China, researchers report. Discovery of the skull, estimated to be at least 2 million years old, is reported by Russell L. Ciochon in the Tuesday June 19, 2007 edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (AP Photo/ Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing)

Manta Ray

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A baby giant manta ray swims inside a huge fish tank at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Motobucho, Okinawa Prefecture (State), southwestern Japan, Saturday, June 16, 2007. The female manta was born earlier in the day, becoming the first manta to be...

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Sleep woes linked to suicide among elderly

Elderly Sleep Woes Linked to Increased Suicide Risk (HealthDay)

HealthDay - THURSDAY, June 14 (HealthDay News) - Chronically troubled sleepmay be a marker for an increased risk for suicide in the elderly, a newreport suggests.

Researchers track butterfly populations

Researchers track butterfly populations (AP)

AP - The volunteers tote a butterfly net, binoculars and field guides around the Miami Metrozoo grounds, scanning the plants and flowers for fluttering wings. But they aren't searching for a rare species or collecting specimens for display — they're counting butterflies for the Florida Butterfly Monitoring Network, then leaving the insects to continue their zigzagging flights through the humid air.

Rare mountain gorilla shot dead

Rare mountain gorilla shot dead in DR Congo reserve (AFP)

AFP - A rare protected mountain gorilla has been found shot dead in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Virunga nature reserve, fuelling fears that rebels are targeting endangered species, conservationists said Sunday.

100M may have Alzheimer's by 2050

100 Million Worldwide May Have Alzheimer's by 2050 (HealthDay)

HealthDay - SUNDAY, June 10 (HealthDay News) -- Currently, 26.6 millionpeople worldwide have Alzheimer's disease and that number could grow tomore than 100 million people by 2050, a new analysis shows.

Origin of deja vu

Origin of Deja Vu Pinpointed (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - The brain cranks out memories near its center, in a looped wishbone of tissue called the hippocampus. But a new study suggests only a small chunk of it, called the dentate gyrus, is responsible for “episodic” memories—information that allows us to tell similar places and situations apart.The finding helps explain where déjà vu originates in the brain, and why it happens more frequently with increasing age and with brain-disease patients, said MIT neuroscientist Susumu Tonegawa. The study is detailed today in the online version of the journal Science. ...

Dinosaurs died agonizing deaths

Dinosaurs Died Agonizing Deaths (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - Fossilized dinosaurs often have wide-open mouths, heads thrown back and tails that curve toward the head. Paleontologists have long assumed the dinosaurs died in water and the currents drifted the bones into that position, or that rigor mortis or drying muscles, tendons and ligaments contorted the limbs."I'm reading this in the literature and thinking, 'This doesn't make any sense to me as a veterinarian,'" said Cynthia Marshall Faux, a veterinarian-turned-paleontologist at the Museum of the Rockies. ...

Blast off

Space shuttle blasts off on construction mission (Reuters)

Reuters - The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis blasted off on a construction mission to the International Space Station on Friday, ending a three-month grounding to repair the ship's hail-battered fuel tank.

Ancient Egyptian City Spotted from Space

Ancient Egyptian City Spotted From Space (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - Satellites hovering above Egypt have zoomed in on a 1,600-year-old metropolis, archaeologists say. Images captured from space pinpoint telltale signs of previous habitation in the swatch of land 200 miles south of Cairo, which digging recently confirmed as an ancient settlement dating from about 400 A.D. The find is part of a larger project aiming to map as much of ancient Egypt's archaeological sites, or "tells," as possible before they are destroyed or covered by modern development. ...

Tigers on a catastrophic path to extinction

World's tigers on "catastrophic" path to extinction (Reuters)

Reuters - The world's wild tigers are on a "catastrophic" path to extinction as numbers continue to decline because of increased poaching, habitat destruction and poor conservation efforts by governments, a new report has said.

Fewer Indians with HIV seen

Study: Fewer Indians with HIV seen (AP)

AP - The number of Indians infected with HIV is far smaller than previously believed, according to new data that appears to vindicate critics who said earlier U.N. assessments of the country's epidemic were vastly overestimated.

NASA readies year's first shuttle launch

NASA readies year's first shuttle launch (AFP)

AFP - Final preparations were under way Friday for the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis for the first mission of the year, with weather conditions looking good for a blastoff to the International Space Station.

New results on self-esteem study

We all think we're so great

The notion that East Asians, Japanese in particular, are self-effacing and have low self-esteem compared to Americans may well describe the surface view of East Asian personality, but misses the picture revealed by recently developed measures of self-esteem, according to a new study by a team of researchers from the United States, China and Japan.

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Grim future for European seas

Major study predicts grim future for Europe's seas

On the eve of World Oceans Day, a group of over 100 scientists from 15 countries has revealed new evidence for the declining state of Europe's 4 regional seas

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Thunders heard - the sound of Greenland melting

Thunder? It's the sound of Greenland melting (Reuters)

Reuters - Atop Greenland's Suicide Cliff, from where old Inuit women used to hurl themselves when they felt they had become a burden to their community, a crack and a thud like thunder pierce the air.

Octopus

In this file photos, an octopus is seen with its suckers on ...

(AFP/File) - In this file photos, an octopus is seen with its suckers on display in the Mediterranean sea. A South Korean fisherman has reportedly discovered a precious haul of ancient pottery - thanks to an octopus which attached its suckers to a plate.(AFP/File/Tarik Tinazay)

Ancient mushroom has parasites

Scientist: Ancient mushroom has parasites (AP)

AP - A mushroom found embedded in a 100-million-year-old piece of amber is about 20 million years older than other known mushroom fossils, an Oregon scientist says.

Sound Waves and the Sun's Magnetic Field

Sound Waves Found to Travel Along Sun's Magnetic Field (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - HONOLULU-Sound waves can hitch a ride along magnetic fountains that shoot out from inside the Sun and help to heat up the solar atmosphere, according to a new study presented here at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society. 

Dead tortoise

A dead tortoise is seen floating amid heavy algae in Dianchi ...

(Reuters) - A dead tortoise is seen floating amid heavy algae in Dianchi Lake of Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan province June 4, 2007, a day ahead of World Environment Day. China has made little headway saving energy, reducing pollution and curbing investment as the government strives to create a more sustainable model of economic growth, a prominent expert said in remarks published on Monday. Picture taken June 4, 2007. REUTERS/Stringer (CHINA) CHINA OUT

Newly discovered fish

A fish, of the genus Guyanancistrus and discovered by the 2005 ...

(Reuters) - A fish, of the genus Guyanancistrus and discovered by the 2005 RAP team, is seen in this undated handout photo. This species of dwarf catfish, likely to be unique to the eastern plateaus of Suriname, is called "big mouth" by its discoverers due to the unusually large size of its mouth. It is one of 24 new species found in the South American highlands of Suriname, conservationists reported on June 4, 2007, warning that these creatures are threatened by illegal gold mining. REUTERS/Jan Mol/Handout (UNITED STATES) ONE TIME EDITORIAL USE ONLY WITH STORY. NO ARCHIVES. NO SALES.

More eye in Space Telescope technology

Space Telescope Gives Scientists Depth Perception (Space Blog)

Astronomers now have a new "eye" for determining the distance to certain mysterious bodies in and around our Milky Way galaxy. By taking advantage of the unique position of NASA's Spitzer's Space Telescope millions of miles from Earth, and a depth-perceiving trick called parallax, they were able to pin down the most probable location of one such object.

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Quantum keys

Quantum keys sent 200 kilometers (Science Blog)

Particles of light serving as “quantum keys”—the latest in encryption technology—have been sent over a record-setting 200-kilometer fiber-optic link by researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), NTT Corp. in Japan, and Stanford University.

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Probe passing Venus on way to Mercury

Probe passing Venus on way to Mercury (AP)

AP - NASA's Messenger probe will make its second pass by Venus on Tuesday, which will help guide the spacecraft on its circuitous journey to Mercury and give scientists a close-up look at Earth's cloud-shrouded neighbor.

Scientists find 24 species in Suriname

Scientists find 24 species in Suriname (AP)

AP - A frog with fluorescent purple markings and 12 kinds of dung beetles were among two dozen new species discovered in the remote plateaus of eastern Suriname, scientists said Monday.

The wiki spirit lives on

The "wiki" spirit applied to the world of science

The number of initiatives to exploit the potential of web to gather and share knowledge on different fields of science is growing. These websites inspired to the funding principle of Wikipedia (open access knowledge collection made by and for users) are destined to revolutionize not only the way of diffuse science but also to make the most of science: in fact the huge and ever growing amount of information can be rationally organized and maximally exploited only by putting together the pieces of the puzzle currently scattered in thousands of scientific publications accessible to a greatly limited number of subjects.

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Liver cancer breakthrough

Study: Liver cancer breakthrough found (AP)

AP - For the first time, doctors say they have found a pill that improves survival for people with liver cancer, a notoriously hard to treat disease diagnosed in more than half a million people globally each year.

Freshwater crab

A freshwater crab, Potamon fluviatile, walks in the ancient ...

(AFP/File) - A freshwater crab, Potamon fluviatile, walks in the ancient ruins of Trajan's Forum in Rome. A colony of freshwater crabs has lurked in canals built by the Etruscans nearly 3,000 years ago. The ancient ruins have provided the ideal habitat for the omnivorous crustacean, whose average size is much larger than its counterparts in lakes and rivers.(AFP/File/Christophe Simon)

Radiation limits lung cancer

Study: Radiation limits lung cancer (AP)

AP - A week or two of radiation to the head helped keep a very deadly form of lung cancer from spreading to the brain, improving survival for some people who have had little hope of successful treatment until now, Dutch doctors reported Saturday.

New theory on human's ability to walk upright

Human ancestors may have walked upright in the trees

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that humans’ ability to walk upright developed from ancestors foraging for food in forest tree tops and not from walking on all fours on open land.

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Study on sleepsex

'Sleepsex,' similar disorders get formal classification

A paper published in the June 1st issue of the journal SLEEP is the first literature review and formal classification of a wide range of documented sleep-related disorders associated with abnormal sexual behaviors and experiences. These abnormal sexual behaviors, which emerge during sleep, are referred to as "sleepsex" or "sexsomnia".

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2,100 year-old melon

Researchers find 2,100 year-old melon (AP)

AP - Archaeologists digging in western Japan have excavated what they believe to be the oldest remains of a melon ever found, an official said Friday.

Good to go

NASA clears Atlantis for June 8 launch (Reuters)

Reuters - Space shuttle Atlantis got the go-ahead from NASA on Thursday for a June 8 launch to resume construction of the International Space Station, after a three-month delay to repair hailstone damage.

Fast-growing algae smothers Chinese lake

Fast-growing algae smothers Chinese lake (AP)

AP - Fast-spreading, foul-smelling blue-green algae smothered a lake in eastern China, contaminating the drinking water for millions of people and sparking panic-buying of bottled water, state media said Thursday.

China launches communications satellite

China launches communications satellite (AP)

AP - China launched a new communications satellite into orbit early Friday to provide broader radio and television signal coverage across the country, state media reported.

DNA co-discoverer Watson sequences his own genome

DNA co-discoverer Watson gets his genome sequenced (Reuters)

Reuters - More than 50 years after helping to uncover the double-helix structure of DNA, James D. Watson has seen his own genome, and said on Thursday he will publish it for science to use.