Noise pollution negatively affects woodland bird communities, says CU-Boulder study

A new University of Colorado at Boulder study shows the strongest evidence yet that noise pollution negatively influences bird populations, findings with implications for the fate of ecological communities situated amid growing urban clamor. The study also is the first to indicate that at least...

Battle of the sexes benefits offspring, says research

Parents compensate for a lazy partner by working harder to bring up their offspring, but not enough to completely make up for the lack of parenting, says research by bird biologists at the University of Bath. In nature, it is quite rare for both parents to be involved in raising young, but it i...

OJ worse for teeth than whitening says Eastman Institute researchers

With the increasing popularity of whitening one's teeth, researchers at the Eastman Institute for Oral Health, part of the University of Rochester Medical Center, set out to learn if there are negative effects on the tooth from using whitening products. Eastman Institute's YanFang Ren, DDS, PhD...

Humans related to orangutans, not chimps, says new Pitt, Buffalo Museum of Science study

PITTSBURGHNew evidence underscores the theory of human origin that suggests humans most likely share a common ancestor with orangutans, according to research from the University of Pittsburgh and the Buffalo Museum of Science. Reporting in the June 18 edition of the Journal of Biogeography , the ...

'Shortcuts' of the mind lead to miscalculations of weight and caloric intake, says Penn study

PHILADELPHIA - Psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania have identified a cognitive shortcut, or heuristic, they call "Unit Bias," which causes people to ignore vital, obvious information in their decision-making process, points to a fundamental flaw in the modern, evolved mind and may also...

Harvard scientist says we are what we eat -- and what we cook

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 1, 2009 -- "You are what you eat." Can these pithy words explain the evolution of the human species? Yes, says Richard Wrangham of Harvard University, who argues in a new book that the invention of cooking -- even more than agriculture, the eating of meat, or the advent o...

Author says challenging simple concepts can save planet

Author and democracy activist Frances Moore Lapp says we already know how to solve the pressing issues of our time, such as climate change and world hunger. But she says our own pre-conceived ideas about how things should work our mental map of the world is actually preventing us from taking ac...

History of hyperactivity off-base, says researcher

A Canadian researcher working in the U.K. says doctors, authors and educators are doing hyperactive children a disservice by claiming that hyperactivity as we understand it today has always existed. Matthew Smith says not only is that notion wrong, it misleads patients, their parents and their ...

WWF study says climate change could displace millions in Asia's Coral Triangle

Coral reefs could disappear entirely from the Coral Triangle region of the Pacific Ocean by the end of the century, threatening the food supply and livelihoods for about 100 million people, according to a new study from World Wildlife Fund. Averting catastrophe will depend on quick and effecti...

Bowman Global Change says public engagement critical to solving climate crisis

May 1, 2009 Signal Hill, CA Tom Bowman, president of Bowman Global Change, a firm that helps organizations make sustainable transformations, has written a paper defining the adjustments to climate change communication programs required to encourage sustainable behaviors and drive society's respo...

NASA study says climate adds fuel to Asian wildfire emissions

In the last decade, Asian farmers have cleared tens of thousands of square miles of forests to accommodate the world's growing demand for palm oil, an increasingly popular food ingredient. Ancient peatlands have been drained and lush tropical forests have been cut down. As a result, the landscape ...

Sexual harassment from males prevents female bonding, says study

The extent to which sexual harassment from males can damage relationships between females is revealed in a study published today (Wednesday 22 April). Led by the Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour at the University of Exeter and published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B , the research ...

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...

Cellulosic biofuel technology will generate low-cost green fuel, says major study

Cellulosic biofuels offer similar, if not lower, costs and very large reductions in greenhouse gas emissions compared to petroleum-derived fuels. That's one of the key take-home messages from a series of expert papers on "The Role of Biomass in America's Energy Future (RBAEF)" in a special issue o...

If you're aggressive, your dog will be too, says veterinary study at University of Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA - In a new, year-long University of Pennsylvania survey of dog owners who use confrontational or aversive methods to train aggressive pets, veterinary researchers have found that most of these animals will continue to be aggressive unless training techniques are modified. The study...

Evolution education for K-12 teachers needs beefing up, says CU-Boulder professor

A failure to grasp the fundamentals of biological systems may be leaving K-12 teachers and students vulnerable to claims by intelligent design creationists, new-age homeopaths and other "hucksters," according to a University of Colorado at Boulder biology professor. On the 150th anniversary of ...

Decisive action needed as warming predictions worsen, says expert

Stanford, CA Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are rising more rapidly than expected, increasing the danger that without aggressive action to reduce emissions the climate system could cross a critical threshold by the end of the century, warns a leading member of the Nobel Prize-winning Intergove...

Mass media often failing in its coverage of global warming, says climate researcher

"Business managers of media organizations, you are screwing up your responsibility by firing science and environment reporters who are frankly the only ones competent to do this," said climate researcher and policy analyst Stephen Schneider, in assessing the current state of media coverage of glob...

Study says 'middle class' coral reef fish feel the economic squeeze

The economy isn't just squeezing the middle class on land, it's also affecting fish. According to a study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and other organizations, researchers discovered a surprising correlation between "middle class" communities in Eastern Africa and low fish levels....

New asthma research opposes current drug treatment, says UH prof

HOUSTON Just when the Food and Drug Administration is reconsidering the use of stimulants to treat asthma, a new research study offers further evidence to support a University of Houston professor's theory that an opposite approach to asthma treatment may be in order. Richard A. Bond, profes...

Small changes can lead to big rewards, says ASN president

Small changes can lead to big rewards, such as maintaining a healthy weight, American Society for Nutrition (ASN) President James O. Hill, PhD, describes in a recent report. The article, to be published in the February issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition , is written by Hill on be...

Avian flu becoming more resistant to antiviral drugs, says University of Colorado study

A new University of Colorado at Boulder study shows the resistance of the avian flu virus to a major class of antiviral drugs is increasing through positive evolutionary selection, with researchers documenting the trend in more than 30 percent of the samples tested. The avian flu, an Influenza ...

Facial expressions of emotion are innate, not learned, says new study

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 29, 2008 -- Facial expressions of emotion are hardwired into our genes, according to a study published today in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology . The research suggests that facial expressions of emotion are innate rather than a product of cultural learning. Th...

Nanotechnology 'culture war' possible, says Yale study

New Haven, Conn, Rather than infer that nanotechnology is safe, members of the public who learn about this novel science tend to become sharply polarized along cultural lines, according to a study conducted by the Cultural Cognition Project at Yale Law School in collaboration with the Project on ...

Hairspray is linked to common genital birth defect, says study

Women who are exposed to hairspray in the workplace during pregnancy have more than double the risk of having a son with the genital birth defect hypospadias, according to a new study published today in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives . The study is the first to show a significa...

New national survey says public reveres bison

Americans are woefully out of touch with the fact that the American bison, or buffalo, is in trouble as a wild, iconic species, but they do love them as an important symbol of their countryand as an entre on the dinner table. These sentiments were found in a public survey released today by the ...

Turtles alter nesting dates due to temperature change says ISU researcher

AMES, Iowa -- Turtles nesting along the Mississippi River and other areas are altering their nesting dates in response to rising temperatures, says a researcher from Iowa State University. Fred Janzen, a professor in ecology, evolution and organismal biology, has studied turtle nesting habits a...

David Salt is 'worth his salt,' says Science magazine

American Society of Plant Biologists members Professor David Salt (Purdue University) and Tommy Sors (Purdue University) along with Jeremy Friedberg (Spongelab) have been awarded First Place in the Interactive Media category of the Science magazine 2008 Science and Engineering Visualization Chal...

Greenhouse gas auction revenues can help cut Md. electric use significantly, says study

COLLEGE PARK, Md. Maryland officials can reduce electricity use in the state significantly by investing revenues from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) cap-and-trade auctions in energy efficiency programs, says a new study from a University of Maryland-led research team. It adds that ...

Vitamin D a key player in overall health of several body organs, says UC Riverside biochemist

RIVERSIDE, Calif. Essential for life in higher animals, vitamin D, once linked to only bone diseases such as rickets and osteoporosis, is now recognized as a major player in contributing to overall human health, emphasizes UC Riverside's Anthony Norman , an international expert on vitamin D. ...

Proteins in sperm unlock understanding of male infertility says new study

Proteins found in sperm are central to understanding male infertility and could be used to determine new diagnostic methods and fertility treatments according to a paper published by the journal Molecular and Cellular Proteomics (MCP). The article demonstrates how proteomics, a relatively new fi...

The IMF says journal editorial documents dramatic increase in survival since the 1980s

North Hollywood, CA September 11, 2008 - The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF)supporting research and providing education, advocacy and support for myeloma patients, families, researchers and physicianstoday said survival outcomes have improved dramatically for patients with multiple myelom...

Biological invasions increasing due to freshwater impoundments, says CU-Boulder study

The growing number of dams and other impoundments is increasing the number of invasive species and the speed at which they spread, putting natural lakes at risk, says a study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder. The research team combined data on water chemistry, the distribution of fi...

Study says eyes evolved for X-Ray vision

Troy, N.Y. The advantage of using two eyes to see the world around us has long been associated solely with our capacity to see in 3-D. Now, a new study from a scientist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has uncovered a truly eye-opening advantage to binocular vision: our ability to see through ...

Tahitian vanilla originated in Maya forests, says UC Riverside botanist

RIVERSIDE, Calif. The origin of the Tahitian vanilla orchid, whose cured fruit is the source of the rare and highly esteemed gourmet French Polynesian spice, has long eluded botanists. Known by the scientific name Vanilla tahitensis , Tahitian vanilla is found to exist only in cultivation; natur...

Low-gravity training machine reduces joint, muscle impacts, says CU-Boulder study

A University of Colorado at Boulder study of a space-age, low-gravity training machine used by several 2008 Olympic runners showed it reduced impacts on muscles and joints by nearly half when subjects ran at the equivalent of 50 percent of their body weight. The new study has implications for b...

Carnegie Mellon Researcher says China's export trade impacts climate

PITTSBURGHCarnegie Mellon University's Christopher L. Weber argues that China's new title as the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter is at least partly due to consumption of Chinese goods in the West. As the world's greatest athletes prepare to participate in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beiji...

Costs of climate change, state-by-state: Billions, says UMD

Climate change will carry a price tag of billions of dollars for a number of U.S. states, says a new series of reports from the University of Maryland's Center for Integrative Environmental Research (CIER). The researchers conclude that the costs have already begun to accrue and are likely to endu...

Biotechnology key to developing sustainable industries says international panel

SAN DIEGO, CA (June 18, 2008): Despite recent controversies over crop-based biofuels, biotechnology offers some of the best opportunities to create a more sustainable world, with applications as diverse as new sources of energy, new materials for industrial and consumer uses, and high quality agri...

Europe-wide investment in lipid research will help tackle disease, says new report

Leading scientists today called for Europe to invest more funds into the study of lipids the 'fatty' molecules that play a crucial role in the function of human cells and which are implicated in a range of diseases from obesity and diabetes to Alzheimer's. Common lipids such as cholesterol are...