Science

Night owls face greater risk of developing diabetes than early risers

Apr 01, 2015 PM EDT

Night owls are more likely to develop diabetes, metabolic syndrome and sarcopenia than early risers, even when they get the same amount of sleep, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabo..

Clues to aging from long-lived lemurs

Mar 30, 2015 PM EDT

When Jonas the lemur died in January, just five months short of his thirtieth birthday, he was the oldest of his kind. A primate called a fat-tailed dwarf lemur, Jonas belonged to a long-lived clan. Dwarf lemurs live two to three times longer than si..

A long-standing mystery in membrane traffic was solved

Mar 28, 2015 PM EDT

In 2013, James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman, and Thomas C. Südhof won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries of molecular machineries for vesicle trafficking, a major transport system in cells for maintaining cellular proce..

Researchers help create 'gold standard' method for measuring an early sign of Alzheimer's

Mar 25, 2015 PM EDT

After six years of painstaking research, a UCLA-led team has validated the first standardized protocol for measuring one of the earliest signs of Alzheimer's disease -- the atrophy of the part of the brain known as the hippocampus.

Tiny bio-robot is a germ suited-up with graphene quantum dots

Mar 24, 2015 PM EDT

As nanotechnology makes possible a world of machines too tiny to see, researchers are finding ways to combine living organisms with nonliving machinery to solve a variety of problems.

Shape-shifting frog discovered in Ecuadorian Andes

Mar 23, 2015 PM EDT

A frog in Ecuador's western Andean cloud forest changes skin texture in minutes, appearing to mimic the texture it sits on.

Research team discovers backup system that helps sustain liver during crisis

Mar 22, 2015 PM EDT

Scientists from Montana State University and Sweden have discovered an antioxidant system that helps sustain the liver when other systems are missing or compromised.

From soda bans to bike lanes: Which 'natural experiments' really reduce obesity?

Mar 21, 2015 PM EDT

Banning sodas from school vending machines, building walking paths and playgrounds, adding supermarkets to food deserts and requiring nutritional labels on restaurant menus: Such changes to the environments where people live and work are among the gr..

Solar could meet California energy demand 3 to 5 times over

Mar 16, 2015 PM EDT

In the face of global climate change, increasing the use of renewable energy resources is one of the most urgent challenges facing the world. Further development of one resource, solar energy, is complicated by the need to find space for solar power-..

Female mice do not avoid mating with unhealthy males

Mar 15, 2015 PM EDT

Female mice are attracted more strongly to the odour of healthy males than unhealthy males.

Energy drinks raise resting blood pressure

Mar 13, 2015 PM EDT

Healthy young adults who don't consume caffeine regularly experienced greater rise in resting blood pressure after consumption of a commercially available energy drink -- compared to a placebo drink -- thus raising the concern that energy drinks may ..

Grand tree of life study shows a clock-like trend in new species emergence and diversity

Mar 05, 2015 PM EST

Temple University researchers have assembled the largest and most accurate tree of life calibrated to time, and surprisingly, it reveals that life has been expanding at a constant rate.

Researchers make breakthrough discovery in cancer treatment

Mar 04, 2015 PM EST

Michail Sitkovsky, an immunophysiology expert at Northeastern University, and his research colleagues have made a breakthrough discovery in cancer treatment. The new approach, some 30 years in the making, could dramatically increase the survival rate..

Marijuana use is associated with excessive daytime sleepiness in adolescents

Mar 01, 2015 PM EST

A study published by researchers from Nationwide Children's Hospital, found 10 percent of adolescents sent to a Sleep Center for evaluation of excessive daytime sleepiness with testing results consistent with narcolepsy had urine drug screens positiv..

New compounds protect nervous system from the structural damage of MS

Mar 01, 2015 PM EST

A newly characterized group of pharmacological compounds block both the inflammation and nerve cell damage seen in mouse models of multiple sclerosis, according to a study conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published online ..