News tagged with functional change

Prion proteins play powerful role in survival, evolution of wild yeast strains

Prions, the much-maligned proteins most commonly known for causing "mad cow" disease, are commonly used in yeast to produce beneficial traits in the wild. Moreover, such traits can be passed on to subsequent generations and ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Feb 15, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Biodiversity enhances ecosystems global drylands: researchers

An international team of researchers including Dr. Bertrand Boeken of the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev suggest in a new study that plant biodiversity preservation is ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 30, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Diverse ecosystems are crucial climate change buffer

Preserving diverse plant life will be crucial to buffer the negative effects of climate change and desertification in in the world's drylands, according to a new landmark study.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 12, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Parasite loads an underlying cause of salmon mortality, linked to land use changes

A recent study suggests that parasites in fish, including threatened species of Oregon coho salmon, may have more profound impacts on fish health than has been assumed, and could be one of the key mechanisms ...

Biology / Ecology

created Aug 15, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Like humans, chimps are born with immature forebrains

In both chimpanzees and humans, portions of the brain that are critical for complex cognitive functions, including decision-making, self-awareness and creativity, are immature at birth. But there are important differences, ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Aug 11, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers develop hardware encryption for new computer memory technology

Security concerns are one of the key obstacles to the adoption of new non-volatile main memory (NVMM) technology in next-generation computers, which would improve computer start times and boost memory capacity. But now researchers ...

Technology / Computer Sciences

created May 17, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (4) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Acupuncture changes brain's perception and processing of pain

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers have captured pictures of the brain while patients experienced a pain stimulus with and without acupuncture to determine acupuncture's effect on how the brain ...

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Nov 30, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

Protein linked to problems with executive thinking skills

New research shows that a high level of C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker for inflammation in the blood, is associated with brain changes that are linked to problems with executive thinking skills. The study is published ...

Medicine & Health / Medical research

created Mar 29, 2010 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Why King Kong failed to impress

Humans have the same receptors for detecting odors related to sex as do other apes and primates. But each species uses them in different ways, stemming from the way the genes for these receptors have evolved over time, according ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 2 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Alcoholism's effect on sleep persists during long periods of sobriety

A study in the Oct.1 issue of the journal Sleep shows that long-term alcoholism affects sleep even after long periods of abstinence, and the pattern of this effect is similar in both men and women.

Medicine & Health / Health

created Oct 01, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0