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October 16, 2012

Your World of Science News

Top Story

Boys with Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease treated with stem cells
Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco have succeeded in transplanting neural stem cells into four boys with Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease. Imaging tests showed that the stem cells allowed for an increase in myelin, the brain cell insulator that is eaten away by the disease, according to the study published in Science Translational Medicine. Researchers said that since there was no control group, larger studies must be performed. Los Angeles Times/Science Now blog(tiered subscription model) (10/12)

Science in the News

Technique combines magnets and nanoparticles to target cancer cells
Korean researchers have discovered a way to destroy cancer cells selectively by combining an applied magnetic field and zinc-doped iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles. The technique has been shown to be effective in both colon cancer tissue samples in the lab and tumor cells found in zebrafish. MedGadget.com (10/11)

NASA's rover scoops up a second sample of Martian soil
NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has completed a second scooping of dirt on the Red Planet using its Collection and Handling for In-Situ Martian Rock Analysis instrument. Curiosity will perform the cleaning procedure for several more days as it scoops more soil and shakes it to remove any terrestrial contaminants and dump unnecessary dirt. Discovery (10/15)

Solar wind is probably the source of hydrogen in lunar soil
Solar wind is the likely source of hydrogen in trace amounts of lunar water, according to a study in the journal Nature Geoscience. Scientists observed the hydrogen content in the samples of moon's surface that astronauts brought to Earth over several decades and discovered an increasing amounts of hydrogen in the soil in the form of water from 2008 to last year. They believe that the water came from solar wind as it lacks deuterium, similar to solar wind as the heavier isotope is devoured by fusion inside the sun. Los Angeles Times/Science Now blog(tiered subscription model) (10/15)

Amateur astronomers discover four-star planetary system
A group of amateur astronomers from the Yale University-led Planet Hunters initiative discovered a planet, called PH1, with two suns orbited by another two stars. The gas giant planet, bigger than Neptune, is the first of its kind that astronomers have discovered. "The discovery of these systems is forcing us to go back to the drawing board to understand how such planets can assemble and evolve in these dynamically challenging environments," said Meg Schwamb, a postdoctoral fellow at Yale's physics department and Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. Space.com (10/15)

Asian butterfly has venom similar to that of sea snail, study says
The wings of Asian butterfly Hebomoia glaucippe contains venom similar to that of predatory sea snail Conus marmoreus, according to a study in the online version of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The species might use the poison as a defense instead of a weapon since it has many predators, including birds, orchid mantis and ants, researchers wrote. LiveScience.com (10/15)

"Sponging" dolphin mothers teach the trick to daughters
Female dolphins who use sponges to catch fish in Western Australia pass the rare hunting trick to their daughters, according to a study by University of New South Wales researchers. Dolphins hold sponges in their snouts to protect themselves while capturing crustaceans and fish. "What's unique about the sponging behavior is that only about 5% of dolphins use the sponges as a tool, and it's only one maternal line," said Anna Kopps at the University of New South Wales Evolution Ecologist Research Centre. Reuters (10/15)

Research Policy Regulations

FDA gives OK for autism cord blood stem cell study
The FDA has approved a study that will use the stored umbilical cord blood of children with autism to treat the condition. The study will be undertaken by researchers at the Sutter Neuroscience Institute in California and will involve 30 participants. Researchers will look for an effect on language and behavior. Examiner.com (10/14)

SmartQuote

It is only in sorrow bad weather masters us; in joy we face the storm and defy it."

--Amelia Barr,
British novelist

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