news 2012

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. The discovery that hundreds of stars are rapidly moving together in long, looping orbits around the center of our galaxy has been announced by a team of scientists including a Penn State University astronomer and others collaborating in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III).

An international team involving Durham University experts has produced the most accurate assessment of ice losses from Antarctica and Greenland to date, ending 20 years of uncertainty. In a landmark study the researchers show that melting of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets has contributed 11.1 millimetres to global sea levels since 1992.

Regular players of electronic gaming machines (EGMs) find it difficult to identify early signs and symptoms of problem gambling and are reluctant to intervene when they think someone they know might have a gambling problem, according to new research released today. The report, Beliefs and knowledge about gambling amongst high-intensity players of gaming machines , by researchers at The Australian National University, was commissioned by the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission.

The reorganisation of the NHS in England, which will see new Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) – led by GPs – take responsibility for spending some £60 billion of public money, has generated much debate and discussion over the last two years. These groups were established during 2012 and have been preparing their organisations and plans ready to take on their new functions from next April.

University Park, Pa. Game-playing may help intelligence analysts with the serious business of identifying biases that can cloud decision-making and problem-solving during life or death situations, according to researchers. Analytic exercises conducted by researchers at Raytheon that used scenario-based games designed by Col.

Recent studies questioning the role of specialist heart attack centres produced misleading results because doctors tend to send the sickest patients to have the best care, according to new research. Many heart attack patients in the UK are sent to a specialist centre for primary angioplasty - a surgical procedure to reopen the blocked artery.

Seven beetle species new to science have been discovered by a young University of Alberta researcher just starting out in her career. Charlene Wood, who just finished her master's degree in the Department of Renewable Resources , noted the tinier-than-usual species while studying beetles in decaying aspen trees in northwestern Alberta.

Posted under: Honors and Awards , News Releases , Research , UW and the Community A ranking released by National Taiwan University places the University of Washington fourth among the world's universities and first among American public universities in scientific research, as measured by its faculty's productivity, research impact and research excellence.

UCLA astronomers report the discovery of a remarkable star that orbits the enormous black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy in a blistering 11-and-a-half years — the shortest known orbit of any star near this black hole. The star, known as S0-102, may help astronomers discover whether Albert Einstein was right in his fundamental prediction of how black holes warp space and time, said research co-author Andrea Ghez, leader of the d

The material remains of the First World War on the British Home Front will be investigated by researchers at the University of Bristol and the University of York, thanks to £39,500 funding from English Heritage. The material remains of the First World War on the British Home Front will be investigated by researchers at the University of Bristol and the University of York, thanks to £39,500 funding from English Heritage.

Earlier studies have shown that people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are more likely to develop blood clots in the legs or lungs - venous thromboembolism - especially in conjunction with hospitalisation. It has therefore been suggested that people with RA be given routine anticoagulants when admitted to hospital.

2 October 2012 Carers for the elderly are more likely to be female, aged 70, facing health risks, and under financial stress a Sydney Nursing School and Sydney Medical School study has found. Results of the three-year study published today in the Australasian Journal on Ageing , involving more than 100 families, reported respite care services were not being utilised as carers often faced financial strain and had to prioritise medication requirements, equipment or other health care ahead of respite care.

Whether human or baboon, it helps to have friends. For both species, studies have shown that robust social networks lead to better health and longer lives. Now, a team of University of Pennsylvania researchers has helped show that baboon personality plays a role in these outcomes, and, like people, some baboons' personalities are better suited to making and keeping friends than others.

Researchers use precise lasers to manipulate neurons in worms' brains (Harvard Gazette) The following article by Peter Reuell originally appeared in the Harvard Gazette on September 25, 2012: I n the quest to understand how the brain turns sensory input into behavior, Harvard scientists have crossed a major threshold.

A major study of the experiences of older people moving between health and care services published today highlights significant problems in the quality of the service they received. The researchers from the University of Birmingham's Health Services Management Centre found that too often older people were excluded from decisions and carers in particular felt undervalued by statutory providers.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.-The jokes by late-night comedy television hosts can be just as effective as regular political news in spurring discussion among viewers, a new University of Michigan study shows.

UCL has today published a paper - MMR and the development of a research governance framework in UCL - that sets out how the university's research governance framework has been updated to take account of institutional issues highlighted by the case of Andrew Wakefield. Wakefield was struck off the medical register by the GMC in 2010 following an investigation into allegations of serious professional misconduct relating to his research into a possible link between autism and MMR.

Half of all people of South Asian, African and African Caribbean descent will develop diabetes by age 80, according to a new study published today. The study is the first to reveal the full extent of ethnic differences in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and also provides some answers about the causes of the increased risk.

This obscure little plant has hit on a fantastic way of making an irresistible shiny, sparkly, multi-coloured, iridescent signal to every bird in the vicinity." —Beverley Glover The 'brightest' thing in nature, the Pollia condensata fruit, does not get its blue colour from pigment but instead uses structural colour - a method of reflecting light of particular wavelengths- new research reveals.

An active lifestyle, which could involve brisk walking, gardening and doing housework, helps reduce the chance of getting breast cancer, research suggests. The study involving Oxford University researchers is thought to be the largest ever to look at physical activity and breast cancer, and included over 8,000 breast cancer cases in women.