Newly Discovered Planet May Be First Truly Habitable Exoplanet

ScienceDaily for September 29, 2010 reported
on an exoplanet that likely has the conditions for life.

A team of planet hunters led by astronomers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington has announced the discovery of an Earth-sized planet (three times the mass of Earth) orbiting a nearby star at a distance that places it squarely in the middle of the star's "habitable zone," where liquid water could exist on the planet's surface. If confirmed, this would be the most Earth-like exoplanet yet discovered and the first strong case for a potentially habitable one.

Strong Link Between Diabetes and Air Pollution Found in National U.S. Study

ScienceDaily for September 30, 2010 reported on diabetes and air pollution.

A national epidemiologic study finds a strong, consistent correlation between adult diabetes and particulate air pollution that persists after adjustment for other risk factors like obesity and ethnicity, report researchers from Children's Hospital Boston. The relationship was seen even at exposure levels below the current EPA safety limit.

First Direct Evidence That ADHD Is a Genetic Disorder: Children With ADHD More Likely to Have Missing or Duplicated Segments of DNA

ScienceDaily for September 30, 2010 reported on ADHD.

New research provides the first direct evidence that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a genetic condition. Scientists at Cardiff University found that children with ADHD were more likely to have small segments of their DNA duplicated or missing than other children.

Sugary Sports Drinks Mistakenly Associated With Being Healthy, Say Researchers

ScienceDaily for September 28, 2010 reported on sports drinks and nutrition.

Researchers examined the association between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, unhealthy and healthy foods and physical activity levels of 8^th and 11^th grade Texas students to determine the relationship between beverage consumption and other behaviors. Sugar-sweetened beverages are drinks that contain added caloric sweeteners such as sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, including a large variety of carbonated and noncarbonated drinks but excluding 100 percent fruit juice.

The Price of Popularity: Drug and Alcohol Consumption

ScienceDaily for September 28, 2010 reported on drug and alcohol consumption of teenagers.

The study, which is to be published during the next year as part of a collective work, was conducted on more than 500 French- speaking students at three separate moments of their lives: at ages 10 to 11, 12 to 13 and 14 to15. It took into consideration the popularity of the child and their friends and tracked their consumption of alcohol, marijuana and hard drugs.

Genetic Clues to Evolution of Jaws in Vertebrates Unearthed

ScienceDaily for September 27, 2010 reported on the possible development of jaws in vertebrates.

Lampreys are eel-like fish with no jaws and a "very strange skeleton compared to their cousins" with jaws, Medeiros said. But "when we looked carefully at how genes are used during the development of the lamprey head, we saw that the basic plan for a jaw is there, and that only a few genes likely had to be moved around to create full-blown jaws."

Nearly One in Three Adolescents Participated in a Violent Behavior Over Past Year, U.S. Study Finds

ScienceDaily for September 26, 2010 reported on teen violence.

A new national study reveals that nearly 7.8 million adolescents aged 12 to 17, almost one third (30.9 percent), participated in any of three violent behaviors over the past year. The study, conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), showed that 22.6 percent of adolescents reported having participated in a serious fight at school or work; 16.1 percent reported involvement in group-against-group fighting; and 7.5 percent reported attacking others with intent to seriously hurt them.

Groundwater Depletion Rate Accelerating Worldwide

ScienceDaily for September 23, 2010 reported on the increase of ground water.

These fast-shrinking subterranean reservoirs are essential to daily life and agriculture in many regions, while also sustaining streams, wetlands, and ecosystems and resisting land subsidence and salt water intrusion into fresh water supplies. Today, people are drawing so much water from below that they are adding enough of it to the oceans (mainly by evaporation, then precipitation) to account for about 25 percent of the annual sea level rise across the planet, the researchers find.

Just Two Drinks Slow Reactions in Older People, Research Shows

ScienceDaily for September 23, 2010 reported on drinking by older persons.

She said, "The results clearly show that even with low blood alcohol concentrations, reactions to sudden gait perturbations are seriously affected. After ingestion of 2 alcoholic drinks, obstacles were hit twice as often, response times were delayed and response amplitudes were reduced. These changes were most obvious in situations with little available response time."

Putting on the Pounds After Weight Loss? Hit the Gym to Maintain Health Gains

ScienceDaily for September 23, 2010 reported on changes in ones weight.

Although obesity is a major risk factor for disease, much of the threat may be associated with the metabolic (or cardiometabolic) syndrome, a cluster of risk factors related to diabetes and heart disease. Losing weight can improve health and reduce many of these risk factors. However, many people struggle to keep the weight off long-term. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that people who perform resistance training while regaining weight can help maintain strides in reducing their risks for chronic disease.

Smoking During Pregnancy May Harm the Child’s Motor Control and Coordination

ScienceDaily for September 23, 2010 reported on smoking by pregnant women and the motor control of their children.

"Moreover, we discovered that boys' abilities may be affected to a greater extent than those of girls," says Professor Scott Montgomery at Örebro University.
"There is a link between nicotine and testosterone. Nicotine can influence development of the brain and interacts with testosterone particularly during the foetal stage, and this could make boys extra susceptible to foetal nicotine exposure," says Matz Larsson, researcher in medicine and consultant physician at Örebro University Hospital.

Higher Dairy Calcium Intake and Increased Serum Vitamin D Are Related to Greater Diet-Induced Weight Loss, Israeli Study Finds

ScienceDaily for September 22, 2010 reported on calcium, vitamin D, and weight-loss.

Regardless of diet, researchers also found participants with the highest dairy calcium intake -- equal to 12 oz. of milk or other dairy products (580 mg of dairy calcium) -- lost about 12 pounds (6 kg.) at the end of the two years. In comparison, those with the lowest dairy calcium intake -- averaging about 150 mg dairy calcium, or about half of a glass -- only lost seven pounds on average. The study was published in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Parting the Waters: Computer Modeling Applies Physics to Red Sea Escape Route

ScienceDaily for September 21, 2010 reported on one scientific explanation of the parting of the water of the Red Sea as given in the Old Testament.

The computer simulations show that a strong east wind, blowing overnight, could have pushed water back at a bend where an ancient river is believed to have merged with a coastal lagoon along the Mediterranean Sea. With the water pushed back into both waterways, a land bridge would have opened at the bend, enabling people to walk across exposed mud flats to safety. As soon as the wind died down, the waters would have rushed back in.

Neanderthals More Advanced Than Previously Thought: They Innovated, Adapted Like Modern Humans, Research Shows

ScienceDaily for September 22, 2010 reported on Neanderthals.

Riel-Salvatore identified projectile points, ochre, bone tools, ornaments and possible evidence of fishing and small game hunting at Uluzzian archeological sites throughout southern Italy. Such innovations are not traditionally associated with Neanderthals, strongly suggesting that they evolved independently, possibly due to dramatic changes in climate. More importantly, they emerged in an area geographically separated from modern humans.

Too Much TV, Video and Computer Can Make Teens Fatter

ScienceDaily for September 21, 2010 reported on the effect of TV, video, and computers have on teens.

Even
teens from the consistently low group exceeded two hours per day of screen time on average, yet organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Paediatric Society recommend limiting screen use to two hours per day. Increasers and consistently high screen users had the greatest increases in percent body fat, while decreasers had the lowest gains in percent body fat

Vitamin D Protects Against Obesity-Induced Endometrial Cancer, Study Suggests

ScienceDaily for September 22, 2010 reported on vitamin D and cancer.

The scientists report in Cancer Prevention Research published online September 21 that 25 percent of obese mice fed a vitamin D supplemented diet developed endometrial cancer, while 67 percent of obese mice not treated with the vitamin developed cancer. They also report that vitamin D offered no protective effects for normal weight mice; whether or not they used the vitamin, about 60 percent of these mice developed cancer.

Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child? Excessive Punishment Can Have Lasting Psychological Impact on Children, Researchers Say

ScienceDaily for September 22, 2010 reported on parental discipline.

"Several studies have shown that coercive parenting practices are linked to anxiety," says Françoise Maheu a professor at the Université de Montréal's Department of Psychiatry and lead investigator of the study. "We know that common practices such as spanking or excessive punishment do not instill a strong discipline. Quite the opposite, they have a lasting psychological impact on children."

How Best to Prevent Blood Clots? Thigh-Length Surgical Stockings, Study Suggests

ScienceDaily for September 20, 2010 reported on the length of support stockings.

Researchers found that knee-high stockings, which are similar to flight socks, do little in stroke patients to prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a life threatening form of blood clot that can travel up into the heart and lungs.