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168,097 articles from ScienceDaily

Important mechanism underlying Alzheimer's disease discovered

Alzheimer’s disease affects more than 26 million people worldwide. It is predicted to skyrocket as boomers age —- nearly 106 million people are projected to have the disease by 2050. Fortunately, scientists are making progress towards therapies. Scientists have defined a key mechanism behind the disease’s progress, giving hope that a newly modified Alzheimer’s drug will be...

Pico-world of molecular bioscavengers, mops and sponges being designed

A new world of molecular bioscavengers, sponges and mops is now closer. A computer-design method has enabled scientists to build proteins that can recognize and interact with small molecules. The proteins can also be reprogrammed to detect and unite with related substances, such as different forms of steroids. The method might also become a way to give organisms new tools to perform biological...

'Making music may improve young children's behavior'

Making music can improve both pro-social behavior (voluntary behavior intended to benefit another) and the problem solving skills of young children according to a new study. Building on existing research which found that making music significantly improves pro-social behavior in young children) the current study investigated not only the potential effects of music making (singing or playing an...


THURSDAY 5. SEPTEMBER 2013


Blue-green algae a five-tool player in converting waste to fuel

Scientists are working with Synechocystis 6803 -- as well as other microbes and systems -- in the areas of synthetic biology, protein engineering and metabolic engineering, with special focus on synthetic control systems to make the organism reach its untapped prowess. They say the biotech world has to overcome several challenges to put the engineered microbes in the applications...

Coldest brown dwarfs blur lines between stars and planets

Astronomers are constantly on the hunt for ever-colder star-like bodies, and two years ago a new class of such objects was discovered. However, until now no one has known exactly how cool their surfaces really are -- some evidence suggested they could be room temperature. A new study shows that while these brown dwarfs, sometimes called failed stars, are warmer than previously thought with...

Beneath Earth's surface, scientists find long 'fingers' of heat

Scientists seeking to understand the forces at work beneath the surface of the Earth have used seismic waves to detect previously unknown "fingers" of heat, some of them thousands of miles long, in Earth's upper mantle. Their discovery helps explain the "hotspot volcanoes" that give birth to island chains such as Hawai'i and...

Finally mapped: The brain region that distinguishes bits from bounty

In comparing amounts of things -- be it the grains of sand on a beach, or the size of a sea gull flock inhabiting it -- humans use a part of the brain that is organized topographically, researchers have finally shown. In other words, the neurons that work to make this "numerosity" assessment are laid out in a shape that allows those most closely related to communicate and interact over the...

Inner-ear disorders may cause hyperactivity

Behavioral abnormalities are traditionally thought to originate in the brain. But a new study has found that inner-ear dysfunction can directly cause neurological changes that increase hyperactivity. The study, conducted in mice, also implicated two brain proteins in this process, providing potential targets for...