Evidence in Biological News

Growing evidence of marijuana smoke's potential dangers

In a finding that challenges the increasingly popular belief that smoking marijuana is less harmful to health than smoking tobacco, researchers in Canada are reporting that smoking marijuana, like smoking tobacco, has toxic effects on cells. Their study is scheduled for the Aug. 17 issue of ACS' ...

First direct evidence of substantial fish consumption by early modern humans in China

Freshwater fish are an important part of the diet of many peoples around the world, but it has been unclear when fish became an important part of the year-round diet for early humans. A new study by an international team of researchers, including Erik Trinkaus, Ph.D., professor of anthropolog...

Researchers see evidence of memory in the songbird brain

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. When a zebra finch hears a new song from a member of its own species, the experience changes gene expression in its brain in unexpected ways, researchers report. The sequential switching on and off of thousands of genes after a bird hears a new tune offers a new picture of memory ...

Scientific evidence of health problems from past contamination of drinking water at Camp Lejeune is limited and unlikely to be resolved with further study

WASHINGTON -- Evidence exists that people who lived or worked at Camp Lejeune Marine Base in North Carolina between the 1950s and 1985 were exposed to the industrial solvents tricholorethylene (TCE) or perchloroethylene (PCE) in their water supply, but strong scientific evidence is not available t...

New evidence of how high glucose damages blood vessels could lead to new treatments

AUGUSTA, Ga. New evidence of how the elevated glucose levels that occur in diabetes damage blood vessels may lead to novel strategies for blocking the destruction, Medical College of Georgia researchers say. They found a decreased ability of blood vessels to relax resulted from increased acti...

Princeton geoscientist offers new evidence that meteorite did not wipe out dinosaurs

A Princeton University geoscientist who has stirred controversy with her studies challenging a popular theory that an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs has compiled powerful new evidence asserting her position. Gerta Keller, whose studies of rock formations at many sites in the United States, Me...

Fossil evidence of missing link in the origin of seals, sea lions, walruses found in Canadian Arctic

Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaResearchers from the United States and Canada have found a fossil skeleton of a newly discovered carnivorous animal, Puijila darwini . New research suggests Puijila is a "missing link" in the evolution of the group that today includes seals, sea lions, and the walrus...

New evidence explains poor infant immune response to certain vaccines, says MU researcher

COLUMBIA, Mo. For years, researchers and physicians have known that infants' immune systems do not respond well to certain vaccines, thus the need for additional boosters as children develop. Now, in a new study from the University of Missouri, one researcher has found an explanation for that poo...

New research reveals the earliest evidence for corn in the New World

Among the hundreds of plants that have been domesticated in the New World, none has received as much attention or been subject to as much debate as corn, or maize (Zea mays L.), arguably the most important crop of the Americas. Controversies have existed for years over what the wild ancestor of ma...

Researchers find the earliest evidence of domesticated maize

Maize was domesticated from its wild ancestor more than 8700 years according to biological evidence uncovered by researchers in the Mexico's Central Balsas River Valley. This is the earliest dated evidence -- by 1200 years -- for the presence and use of domesticated maize. The researchers, led...

Polar research reveals new evidence of global environmental change

This release is available in French and Spanish . The wide-ranging IPY findings result from more than 160 endorsed science projects assembled from researchers in more than 60 countries. Launched in March 2007, the IPY covers a two-year period to March 2009 to allow for observations durin...

DNA evidence is in, newly discovered species of fish dubbed H. psychedelica

"Psychedelica" seems the perfect name for a species of fish that is a wild swirl of tan and peach zebra stripes and behaves in ways contrary to its brethren. So says University of Washington's Ted Pietsch, who is the first to describe the new species in the scientific literature and thus the one ...

New lab evidence suggests preventive effect of herbal supplement in prostate cancer

PHILADELPHIA DHEA is a natural circulating hormone and the body's production of it decreases with age. Men take DHEA as an over-the-counter supplement because it has been suggested that DHEA can reverse aging or have anabolic effects since it can be metabolized in the body to androgens. Increased...

New study provides further evidence that apple juice can delay onset of Alzheimer's disease

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, January 22, 2009 A growing body of evidence demonstrates that we can take steps to delay age-related cognitive decline, including in some cases that which accompanies Alzheimer's disease, according to a study published in the January 2009 issue of the Journal of Alzhe...

University of Leicester archaeologist uncovers evidence of ancient chemical warfare

A researcher from the University of Leicester has identified what looks to be the oldest archaeological evidence for chemical warfare--from Roman times. At the meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, University of Leicester archaeologist Simon James presented CSI-style arguments tha...

New evidence that people make aspirin's active principle -- salicylic acid

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22, 2008 Scientists in the United Kingdom are reporting new evidence that humans can make their own salicylic acid (SA) the material formed when aspirin breaks down in the body. SA, which is responsible for aspirin's renowned effects in relieving pain and inflammation, may be th...

Mounting evidence shows health benefits of grape polyphenols

Philadelphia, PA, October 28, 2008 A growing body of research data suggests that consuming foods rich in polyphenols from grapes, including red wine, helps reduce the risk of heart disease, according to a review article in the November issue of Nutrition Research . "Consumption of grape and g...

Genetic evidence for avian influenza movement from Asia to North America via wild birds

Wild migratory birds may be more important carriers of avian influenza viruses from continent to continent than previously thought, according to new scientific research that has important implications for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus surveillance in North America. As part of a multi-...

New evidence on the robustness of metabolic networks

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Biological systems are constantly evolving in ways that increase their fitness for survival amidst environmental fluctuations and internal errors. Now, in a study of cell metabolism, a Northwestern University research team has found new evidence that evolution has produced cell ...

Fossil and molecular evidence reveals the history of major marine biodiversity hotspots

This press release is available in Spanish . The journal " Science " has published in the issue of the 1st of August the results of a detailed research work about the evolution of marine diversity all through the last 50 million years. The study has been carried out with the participation o...

Nature publishes new evidence about the deep biosphere written by biogeoscientists

Biogeoscientists show evidence of 90 billion tons of microbial organismsexpressed in terms of carbon massliving in the deep biosphere, in a research article published online by Nature , July 20, 2008. This tonnage corresponds to about one-tenth of the amount of carbon stored globally in tropical ...

UNC, Caltech research finds further evidence for genetic contribution to autism

CHAPEL HILL Some parents of children with autism evaluate facial expressions differently than the rest of us and in a way that is strikingly similar to autistic patients themselves, according to new research by psychiatrist Dr. Joe Piven of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and neu...

The cooperative view: New evidence suggests a symbiogenetic origin for the centrosome

MBL, WOODS HOLE, MA There are two ways in which cooperation is the theme of a paper published this week by Mark Alliegro and Mary Anne Alliegro, scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratorys (MBL) Josephine Bay Paul Center. One is revealed in the papers acknowledgements, where the Alliegros...

Ugandan monkeys harbor evidence of infection with unknown poxvirus

Researchers report this month that red colobus monkeys in a park in western Uganda have been exposed to an unknown orthopoxvirus, a pathogen related to the viruses that cause smallpox, monkeypox and cowpox. Most of the monkeys screened harbor antibodies to a virus that is similar but not identica...

Smithsonian scientists find evidence that could rewrite Hawaii's botanical history

Scientists at the Smithsonian Institution have discovered data that suggests one of Hawaiis most dominant plants, Metrosideros, has been a resident of the islands far longer than previously believed. Their findings are being published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B in London...

Scientists compiled 20th century temperature data in Spain as evidence of climatic change

This release is available in Spanish . This research work is the first step to confirm the existence of a temperature change. Their main goal has been to detect the signs of the Climatic Change through the temperatures in Spain, explained to SINC the researcher of the department of Applied...

Heavy metals in the Peak District -- evidence from bugs in blanket bogs

Bacteria that consume heavy metals have been found in some of the most contaminated parts of the Peak District in the Southern Pennines and may be changing the pollutants into more toxic forms that could leak out into reservoirs, scientists will hear tomorrow (Monday 31 March 2008) at the Society ...

Additional evidence of wolverine found in the Tahoe National Forest

During ongoing investigations by an Oregon State University graduate student, the Forest Service, and California Department of Fish and Game (DFG), two additional wolverine photographs were captured this past week. A variety of hair, track and scat samples were also sent for analysis to determine...

Mounting evidence shows red wine antioxidant kills cancer

Rochester researchers showed for the first time that a natural antioxidant found in grape skins and red wine can help destroy pancreatic cancer cells by reaching to the cell's core energy source, or mitochondria, and crippling its function. The study is published in the March edition of the journa...

LSU scientist finds evidence of 'rain-making' bacteria

BATON ROUGE Brent Christner, LSU professor of biological sciences, in partnership with colleagues in Montana and France, recently found evidence that rain-making bacteria are widely distributed in the atmosphere. These biological particles could factor heavily into the precipitation cycle, affec...

Corporate Safe Specialists Smart Safes Capture Evidence in Robbery and Theft

POSEN, Ill., Feb. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Two separate criminal events were open and shut cases for law enforcement when Corporate Safe Specialists' (CSS) products recorded on video a robber and a thief in separate incidents. Ed McGunn, President & CEO of CSS, stated, "These are the first times tha...

No convincing evidence for decline in tropical forests

Claims that tropical forests are declining cannot be backed up by hard evidence, according to new research from the University of Leeds. This major challenge to conventional thinking is the surprising finding of a study published today in the Proceedings of the US National Academy of Sciences b...

Scientific evidence supporting evolution continues to grow

WASHINGTON -- The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and Institute of Medicine (IOM) today released SCIENCE, EVOLUTION, AND CREATIONISM, a book designed to give the public a comprehensive and up-to-date picture of the current scientific understanding of evolution and its importance in the science ...

There is powerful evidence of evolution in human DNA

Since the findings from the Human Genome Project and other studies linking human DNA to that of primates, there has been an enormous amount of research producing powerful evidence of evolution in DNA. Professor and research geneticist Daniel J. Fairbanks explores some of the many relics of evoluti...

CWRU School of Medicine has evidence vaccine against malaria will reduce disease

CLEVELAND December 20, 2007 Researchers at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicines Center for Global Health & Diseases published data potentially impacting the three billion people exposed to malaria every year. Brian T. Grimberg, Ph.D., Peter A. Zimmerman, Ph. D., and Christophe...

RAND study finds evidence disease management programs

Disease management programs that help guide the care of patients with chronic health problems appear to improve the quality of health care, but there is little evidence that such efforts actually save money, according to a study issued today by the RAND Corporation. The RAND Health study review...

New evidence for female control in reproduction

WASHINGTON, D.C. Adding another layer of competition to the mating game, scientists are reporting possible biochemical proof that the reproductive system of female mammals can sense the presence of sperm and react to it by changing the uterine environment. This may be the molecular mechanism behi...

Fossil record supports evidence of impending mass extinction

Global temperatures predicted for the coming centuries may trigger a new mass extinction event, where over 50 per cent of animal and plant species would be wiped out, warn scientists at the Universities of York and Leeds. The research team has, for the first time, discovered a close associatio...

Researchers find evidence linking stress caused by the Sept. 11 disaster with low birth weights

Researchers have found evidence of an increase in low birth weights among babies born in and around New York City in the weeks and months after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Writing in the journal Human Reproduction [1], they suggest that stress may have contributed to the effec...

Comet probes reveal evidence of origin of life, scientists claim

Recent probes inside comets show it is overwhelmingly likely that life began in space, according to a new paper by Cardiff University scientists. Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe and colleagues at the Universitys Centre for Astrobiology have long argued the case for panspermia - the theory that...