news 2013

28 November 2013 Tens of millions of stars and galaxies, among them hundreds of thousands that are unexpectedly fading or brightening, have been catalogued properly for the first time. Professor Bryan Gaensler , Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics ( CAASTRO ) based in the School of Physics at the University of Sydney, Australia, and Dr Greg Madsen at the University of Cambridge, undertook this formidable challenge by combining photographic and digital data from two major astronomical surveys of the sky, separated by sixty years.

Researchers have shown that a single monomer of the protein tau can be enough to kick-start an aggregation process which may explain the onset of Alzheimer's in the brain. It is one piece in the puzzle that could provide us with an explanation as to why head injuries may be connected to Alzheimer's. It's not necessarily correct - but it is plausible.

Scientists are a step closer to understanding how some of the brain's 100 billion nerve cells co-ordinate their communication. The study is published in the journal Cell Reports. The University of Bristol research team investigated some of the chemical processes that underpin how brain cells co-ordinate their communication.

A new app has been developed by researchers at Cardiff University that enables users to measure their understanding of different groups in society. The 'Masquerade' app is based on The Imitation Game (IMGAME); a new research method that can be used to compare societies across space and time. IMGAME is innovative in its combination of collecting quantitative measures as well as qualitative data by asking sociological questions.

Puberty can be a tough time for all youth, but for girls who have been sexually abused, it spells double trouble. Sexually abused girls reach puberty before other girls, a new study finds, and early puberty increases their risk of having emotional problems. "Early maturing girls are already more vulnerable to mood problems than other kids, but this risk seems to be magnified for girls with histories of sexual abuse," said Jane Mendle, assistant professor of human development in Cornell's College of Human Ecology, whose study was published online (Aug.

Study shows that preventive benefits of healthy behaviour begin early and last for years. People at high risk of developing diabetes can prevent its onset if they exercise, improve their diet and make one other lifestyle change such as seeking counselling or quitting smoking, according to recently published findings from medical researchers at the University of Alberta.

Data miners have been hard at work trying to figure out the attributes of Twitter users - such as gender and age - that aren't explicitly revealed on Twitter feeds. That information could be hugely valuable to marketers, enabling them to target messages to their desired audience. Nearly all the research done so far, however, has focused on English users and content.

Researchers believe findings could help the many individuals for whom anti-depressants offer little or no relief Modafinil has actions on a number of neurotransmitter systems. This may explain why adding it to traditional anti-depressants has beneficial effects on the symptoms experienced by depressed patients Professor Barbara Sahakian A new study has concluded that taking the drug modafinil, typically used to treat sleep disorders, in combination with antidepressants reduces the severity of depression more effectively than taking antidepressants alone.

UK researchers have discovered a gene that regulates alcohol consumption and when faulty can cause excessive drinking. They have also identified the mechanism underlying this phenomenon. The study showed that normal mice show no interest in alcohol and drink little or no alcohol when offered a free choice between a bottle of water and a bottle of diluted alcohol.

In magneto-electric materials, electric and magnetic vibrations can be coupled to "electromagnons". High hopes are placed on this technology, a breakthrough could now be achieved at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien).

A gene mutation for excessive alcohol drinking found Sussex researchers are among a team of UK scientists who have discovered a gene that regulates alcohol consumption and, when faulty, can cause excessive drinking. They have also identified the mechanism underlying this phenomenon. The study showed that normal mice show no interest in alcohol and drink little or no alcohol when offered a free choice between a bottle of water and a bottle of diluted alcohol.

UK researchers have discovered a gene that regulates alcohol consumption and, when faulty, can cause excessive drinking in mice. The study found that normal mice drink little or no alcohol when offered a free choice between a bottle of water and a bottle of diluted alcohol. However, mice with a mutation in the gene Gabrb1 overwhelmingly preferred drinking alcohol over water, choosing to consume almost 85 per cent of their daily fluid as drinks containing alcohol.

Research has suggested that a particular gene in the brain's reward system contributes to overeating and obesity in adults. This same variant has now been linked to childhood obesity and tasty food choices, particularly for girls, according to a new study by Dr. Patricia Silveira and Prof. Michael Meaney of McGill University and Dr. Robert Levitan of the University of Toronto.

Scientists and clinicians from five leading UK universities will begin a groundbreaking trial next year to test a possible cure for HIV infection. Efforts to cure HIV in the past have been thwarted by the virus's ability to lie dormant inside blood cells without being detected. The new therapy combines standard antiretroviral drugs with two new weapons: a drug that reactivates dormant HIV, and a vaccine that induces the immune system to destroy the infected cells.

Crushed by habitat loss and poaching, Asian elephants are at risk, and their future rests heavily on captive breeding programs. A collaborative study between Cornell and Smithsonian scientists has found a key clue to why these programs have been difficult to manage. Published in the journal PLOS-ONE in August, their findings could transform how sperm is collected to preserve this endangered species.

A new mechanism that regulates the way blood vessels grow and connect to each other has been discovered by an international team of researchers at Karolinska Institutet, and Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany. The knowledge might open up new opportunities for future cancer therapy. The study is published in the scientific journal PNAS.

Scientists have discovered how drugs that have been used for 60 years to kill the parasite that causes sleeping sickness actually work. Research has revealed that the drugs used to attack Trypanosoma brucei enter through pores in the parasite's cells known as aquaporins which function as water channels.

Results published today in The Lancet give the most detailed picture yet of the British population's sex lives over the last 10 years, as part of the third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal) survey. Over 15,000 adults aged 16-74 participated in s between September 2010 and August 2012.

A new study, published in The Lancet as part of the third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal) survey, systematically assesses the association between individuals' general health and their sex lives, finding that close to one in six (17%) of men and women in Britain say that their health affects their sex life.

26 November 2013 Many people look back at their time on the Great Barrier Reef by viewing holiday snaps. Scientists have taken an even longer look back at the Great Barrier Reef via another image caught in time - deepwater fossils - which reveal the important role the deepwater reef plays in the health of the whole reef.