News Articles

A 150 million year old Archaeopteryx fossil, long thought to contain nothing but fossilized bone and rock, has been hiding remnants of the animal's original chemistry, say researchers writing in PNAS. The find provides a chemical link between dinosaurs and modern birds, The authors say. "Archaeopteryx is to paleontology what Tutankhamen is to archaeology. It's simply one of the icons of our field," said University of Manchester paleontologist Phil Manning. "You would think after 150 years of study, we'd know everything we need to know about this animal. But guess what—we were wrong."

For decades, the consensus among psychologists was that young children adopt an "anthropocentric" stance, favoring humans over non-human animals, when they begin reasoning about the biological world. But a new study published in Cognitive Development reveals that this style of human-centered reasoning is not universal. The study included children growing up in an urban setting (Chicago) as well as children from rural Wisconsin, who have more extensive direct contact with the natural world. To examine the influence of culture, the rural community included European-American and Native American (Menominee) children.

Officials from the National Science Foundation (NSF) have announced a new policy designed to increase data sharing among researchers whose work is funded by agency. By October, 2010, NSF is planning to require that all grant proposals include a data management plan in the form of a two-page supplementary document. The changes are designed to address trends and needs in the modern era of data-driven science, officials say.The new policy would require grantees to share their data within a reasonable length of time, so long as the cost is modest.

Previous research has found that soda and coffee consumption are associated with risk of colon cancer. But a new review in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute suggests that drinking even large amounts of coffee and sugar-sweetened, carbonated soft drinks is not linked to the disease.Earlier studies on subject have reached mixed conclusions. Some found that coffee and tea may lower the risk of cancer, while others found that they could increase the risk. Tea, for instance contains anti-oxidants that in theory help prevent cancer but also has polyamines, which in theory promote cancer. Sugar-sweetened soft drinks are associated with weight gain, obesity, and other conditions that are potential risk factors for colon cancer.

Biologists studying a population of lizards on the Bahamas say that competition among the brown anole lizard (Anolis sagrei) is more important than predation by birds and snakes when it comes to survival of the fittest lizard. The Dartmouth team's results, published in Nature, may also aid efforts to teach the public about evolution.

Teenagers are smoking fewer cigarettes today, but that doesn't mean they've given up tobacco altogether. A new study in Pediatrics has found that almost one-quarter of young adults in Montreal have used waterpipes (also called shishas or hookahs) in the past year.The habit is particularly popular among young, English-speaking males who lived on their own and had a higher household income. In addition, the research team found that waterpipe users were more likely to use other psychoactive substances such as cigarettes, marijuana, illicit drugs and alcohol.

Astronomers from the University of Florida will take a second look this summer at a rare cosmic cradle for the universe's largest stars, the constellation Carina. The massive gas cloud is located 8,000 light years away in the Southern sky and is home to stars that grow up to have 50 times the sun's mass.The constellation was once part of the larger constellation Argo Navis until it split into three. The cloud is in the early stages of collapsing in on itself, offering astronomers an unusual vista on the first contractions of behemoth star birth.

Pharmaceutical companies may be financing drug studies in order to influence their outcomes, say researchers writing in Deutsches Ärzteblatt International. The findings confirm the conclusions of two previous reviews published in 2003 which looked at the pharmaceutical industry's influence on research, the authors say.  Researchers studied 57 publications obtained from a systematic Medline search from November 1, 2002 to December 16, 2009. Selected studies were evaluated by two of the authors. These 57 papers were supplemented by studies found in their references sections.

The mainstream media is often accused of shilling for one political party or the other, but that accusation may not stick to all news sources. A new study in the Journal of Political Economy has found that local newspaper do a decent job of keeping politicians accountable to their constituents. In areas where members of Congress get lots of ink in local newspapers, voters are more informed and representatives do more to serve local interests, the study found.

Eyjafjallajoekull is erupting again and has sent another ash cloud, 1600 km wide, into the atmosphere. The brownish plume, traveling east and then south, is clearly visible in stark contrast to white clouds framing this Envisat image from 6 May.The volcano began emitting steam and ash on 20 March, wreaking havoc on European aviation last month. Renewed activity earlier this week caused some flights to be suspended to and from Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland.Authorities are monitoring the position and height of the ash cloud as well as the direction of prevailing Atlantic winds, which pose a problem when they blow south towards Ireland, located 1500 km southeast of the volcano.Eyjafjallajoekull

New research has found that video gaming is an effective way to reduce anxiety and acute pain caused by medical procedures and could be a useful treatment for chronic pain. The research was presented this week at the American Pain Society’s annual scientific meeting“Virtual reality produces a modulating effect that is endogenous, so the analgesic influence is not simply a result of distraction but may also impact how the brain responds to painful stimuli,” said Jeffrey I. Gold, Ph.D., associate professor of anesthesiology and pediatrics. “The focus is drawn to the game not the pain or the medical procedure, while the virtual reality experience engages visual and other senses.”

Despite ongoing threats to rain forests in the Amazon and Congo river basins, researchers studying the latest satellite data say that the greatest loss in forest cover from 2000 to 2005 wasn’t in rain forests, but in boreal forests in places like North America.Their new study in PNAS found that losses were greatest in boreal forests, followed by humid tropical, dry tropical and temperate forests.