News Articles

A new study in Cell shows that Wnt signaling, already known to control many biological processes, between hair follicles and melanocyte stem cells can dictate hair pigmentation.Using genetic mouse models, researchers were able to examine how Wnt signaling pathways enabled both hair follicle stem cells and melanocyte stem cells to work together to generate hair growth and produce hair color. Research also showed the depletion (or inhibition or abnormal) Wnt signaling in hair follicle stem cells not only inhibits hair re-growth but also prevents melanocytes stem cell activation required for producing hair color. The lack of Wnt activation in melanocyte stem cells leads to depigmented or gray hair.

A diet low in carbohydrates and high in protein may reduce the risk of cancer and slow the growth of tumors already present, according to a study published in Cancer Research.   The study was conducted in mice but the scientists believe the strong biological findings warrant that a similar effect in humans can be considered. 

Perceptions of racism may cause loss of sleep and perhaps loss of sleep may also impact perceptions of racism.A new study has found that
self-reported sleep disturbance correlated to perceived racism, which was increased by 61 percent after adjusting for socioeconomic factors and symptoms of depression. A similar relationship between perceived racism and daytime fatigue was no longer significant after additional adjustment for depressive symptoms.

Lady Gaga is a marketing-fueled pop music phenomenon.   If you exclude her music, she can do no wrong, and every appearance, even a walk through an airport, is carefully choreographed.   She knows her audience.But a Little Monster could help create the next Lady Gaga in a more direct way.  A new study suggests that the brain activity of teens while they are listening to new songs may help predict the popularity of those songs.

A cap that literally cools the brain during sleep may be an effective insomnia treatment, according to new research.The American Academy of Sleep Medicine says that chronic insomnia, symptoms that last for at least a month, affects about 10 percent of adults.  Most often insomnia is a "comorbid" disorder, occurring with another medical illness, mental disorder or sleep disorder, or associated with certain medications or substances. Fewer people with insomnia are considered to have primary insomnia, which is defined as a difficulty falling asleep or maintaining sleep in the absence of coexisting conditions.

Baseball coaches often use traditional metrics for managerial decisions, like batting results against specific pitchers, performance in certain park configurations and whether they bat from the left or right side in making strategic lineup decisions.Maybe some day they can also think about what 'sleep type' their players are.

If you're in an older generation and a female calls another female "dude", it may seem strange to you.  It happens all of the time and should be a sign that sexism is less today but a recent study from Psychology of Women Quarterly says subtle, unnoticed daily acts of sexism like that, even women doing it to women, are a concern.

A new study offers insights about the interaction between a toxic protein called progerin and telomeres, which cap the ends of chromosomes like aglets, the plastic tips that bind the ends of shoelaces.   Telomeres wear away during cell division. When they degrade sufficiently, the cell stops dividing and dies. The researchers have found that short or dysfunctional telomeres activate production of progerin, which is associated with age-related cell damage. As the telomeres shorten, the cell produces more progerin. Progerin is a mutated version of a normal cellular protein called lamin A, which is encoded by the normal LMNA gene. Lamin A helps to maintain the normal structure of a cell's nucleus, the cellular repository of genetic information.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently recommended that screening for autism be incorporated into routine
physician check-ups, even if no concern has been raised by the parents.
Such routine screening of all children for autism gets a thumbs down from researchers at McMaster University in a Pediatrics study.  The researchers say there is "not enough sound evidence to support the implementation of a routine population-based screening program for autism."

Everyone is a journalist due to the modern Internet, we are told.   Not so, says a University of Georgia analysis.    Instead, 2 percent of people who start discussions attract about 50 percent of the replies and that is good news for traditional journalism.The downside is they used Internet newsgroups to validate this belief - if you aren't familiar with newsgroups, that's because Web-based interfaces killed their popularity but throughout much of the 1990s newsgroups were popular and even Google makes the newsgroup interface more attractive.

Domesticated rice, Oryza sativa indica (indica) and Oryza sativa japonica (japonica), are major staple crops in Asia.   Evolutionary biologists and historians have long wondered if both once had an original point of domestication in common, or they were domesticated independently twice.  

The diving bell spider, Argyroneta aquatica, spend their entire lives underwater - they even lay their eggs in their 'diving bells'. A new study shows that each spider constructs a net of silk in vegetation beneath the surface and fills it with air carried down on its abdomen - and the spiders can use the diving bell like a gill to extract oxygen from water to remain hidden beneath the surface.