Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, September 15
The week began with a bit of science news that caught the attention of just about everyone who has ever taken a shower. Microbiologists examined shower heads in nine U.S. cities and found that the innocuous-seeming pieces of hardware often harbor hordes of bacteria that spray out of the nozzle when the shower is turned on. Although the study‘s findings sound alarming, researchers were quick to point out that microbes are omnipresent in our daily environment and that a healthy person’s immune system can easily handle this bacterial bath. They suggest that only people with immune disorders need be concerned.

PLoS ONE, September 16
In a new report in this open access journal, researchers describe a cell phone app designed to help both professional scientists and citizen scientists. The program allows people to collect data on a subject like the changing habitat of a rare species by recording notes, photos, or videos on their smart phones; the program would then use the phones’ GPS system to determine the user’s location and to plot the data on a map. It’s a nifty research method that is bound to become more prevalent as smart phones find their way into more people’s hands.

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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, September 8
In one of the more visually pleasing bits of science news, researchers put over-ripe bananas under an ultraviolet light and revealed the pretty patterns that appeared on the bananas’ skin. Each brown spot on a banana was ringed with a bright blue glowing halo, which the study suggests might serve as a signal to animals that the fruit is ready for eating. And speaking of eating: Another study notes that half of the fish consumed by people around the globe now comes from fish farms. This might sound like good news in the sustainability department–until you remember that those farms use feed made from wild fish harvested from the sea. Finally, researchers found new evidence that the most aggressive forms of prostate cancer are linked to a viral infection, and suggest that the virus could even be sexually transmitted. The results of the study could soon help screen for people with the more severe form of the cancer.

Nature Genetics, September
Three new genes have been linked to a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s, according to two separate research groups. Two of the genes play a part in clearing away the toxic amyloid proteins that form plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. While the research doesn’t have any immediate applications for treating Alzheimer’s, every bit of information helps as scientists seek to understand the origins of the baffling disease.

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Nature Nanotechnology, advance publication August 30
While we’re still waiting for a cure to cancer, we’re grateful that researchers are also working to find ways to diagnose it faster, more easily, and more accurately, to improve patients’ odds of successful treatment. Along those lines, Israeli researchers announced their invention of a breathalyzer that can detect lung cancer. The device they describe in Nature Nanotech isn’t the first to detect the volatile organic compounds produced by cancer cells in patients’ breath, but previous devices required that a breath sample be manipulated and analyzed in the lab; the new gadget can give a read-out within minutes.80beats › Edit — WordPress

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, September 1
In the days after the devastating May 2008 earthquake in China’s Sichuan province, some researchers set out to determine the disaster’s immediate impact on the brains of healthy survivors. Using MRI scans, the researchers found functional changes in the survivors’ brains, namely increased activity in the regions involved in emotions and memory, but decreased connectivity between other brain regions. The study suggests that traumatized brains may be both overloaded and uncoordinated. This week also brought news of modest progress in the effort to cure type 1 diabetes, sometimes called juvenile diabetes. Harvard Stem Cell Institute co-director Doug Melton (whose two children are diabetic) published a study showing that diabetics’ own skin cells can be transformed into insulin-producing pancreatic cells. The cells haven’t yet been declared safe to transplant into human patients, and even if they were the nature of diabetes, an autoimmune disorder, means that they would be destroyed by the patient’s own immune system. But the achievement means that researchers can put both diabetics’ pancreatic cells and their immune cells together in the lab, to search for what triggers the disease.

Biology Letters, advance online publication September 2
Cotton-top tamarin monkeys were treated like royalty in this latest experiment: a professional cellist composed music that was specially designed to speak to their little monkey souls. The study found that the monkeys responded emotionally to the cello music composed for them, which was loosely based on the sounds tamarins make in the wild. Music based on contented monkey calls made the listeners calmer and more social, while the tunes based on distressed monkey noises made them jumpy and agitated. They didn’t respond at all to human music, except, oddly, to Metallica. They liked it.

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Biology Letters, August 23
A fossilized feather has proved that birds had already developed fancy plumage 40 million years ago. Using scanning electron microscopy, researchers examined tiny structures on the feather and determined them to be melanosomes, the organelles inside pigment cells that determine coloration. The organization of the melanosomes resembled patterns seen in the iridescent feathers of birds like starlings and grackles, according to the study. This finding is just the latest progress from a team working to discover the colors of prehistoric birds and even feathered dinosaurs.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, August 25
In a study that probably provoked fierce debate in text messages, emails, and blogs simultaneously, researchers found that people who frequently multitask are actually bad at multitasking. The researchers expected multitaskers to be better than average at organizing information and switching between tasks quickly, but found just the opposite. Elsewhere in the journal, researchers examined the genome of honeybees and offered a partial explanation of colony collapse disorder. The study suggests that a variety of viruses are damaging the bees’ ability to make proteins that are needed to protect them from all the other slings and arrows of the world, like bacterial infections and food shortages. While this is an incremental step towards understanding what is destroying honeybee hives around the country, every little bit helps.

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Nature, August 20
Sometimes the big news is also really, really small. A paper published on Nature‘s Web site on Sunday describes how researchers made the world’s smallest laser, composed of a single nanoparticle measuring only 44 nanometers across. Researchers say the tiny devices could one day be the foundation for optical computers that use circuits made of light instead of electrical impulses. Another article in the journal has implications for the future of agriculture and how we’ll feed the planet’s booming population: A study of rice plants that can survive severe flooding found that two so-called SNORKEL genes are responsible. The hardy plants don’t produce high rice yields, but researchers say they can now try adding the genes to high-yield varieties to create a super plant for flood-prone regions.

The Annals of Internal Medicine, August 18
What killed Mozart? Maybe strep throat. While the medical sleuths who came up with this hypothesis acknowledge that there’s no way to test it–Mozart’s body vanished into a common grave that was later dug up to make room for more–their analysis of medical records in 1790s Vienna make strep a likely cause. The study found that edema was a common cause of death, which can be a complication of a strep infection; this could explain the severe swelling reported in Mozart’s final illness

Science, August 21
One paper in Science may have received wide coverage partially because of the pretty pictures. Researchers found five new species of deep-sea worms that are thought to fling out luminescent green “bombs” when attacked by predators. The bombs don’t do any damage, but they do distract the predator for long enough for the worm to make its escape. Beyond the nifty visuals, the study is also a reminder of how little we know about life in the ocean depths. Another study published on Science‘s Web site shows that even though we’re still trying to find out what organisms currently grace our planet, we’re not holding back from trying to create entirely new synthetic life. Genetics pioneer Craig Venter announced that his team successfully took the genome from one species of bacteria, transplanted it into yeast cells for tinkering, and then placed the genome in a different bacterial species. The new organism “booted up” and came to life, Venter reports.

Current Biology, August 20
It’s so satisfying when science confirms a commonly held belief. This week, researchers found that people who are told to walk a straight course through the forest or desert really do end up going in circles. The study found that people trying to navigate without the aid the sun, moon, a map, or any obvious and looming landscapes walked a looping path. When the test subjects were later shown the course they followed on a GPS mapper, they were shocked. In another paper, scientists determined that our two nostrils are rivals for our brain’s attention. When test subjects were rigged up with a device that simultaneously piped one scent (roses) to one nostril and another scent (magic markers) to the second, the subjects detected the two scents in an alternating pattern, instead of a single odor that was a combination of the two.

New England Journal of Medicine, August 20
Many drug addiction counselors endorse harm reduction policies for hard-core heroin addicts, which can include supplying clean needles or “safe injection rooms” where addicts can shoot up, on the principle that such moves can reduce diseases and criminal behavior associated with addiction. Now, a new study has tested out the next controversial step in harm reduction: providing “prescription heroin” to addicts in a clinical setting. The study found that addicts who were given heroin were more likely to stick with a treatment program than those given methadone, and also reduced their criminal activity outside the clinic.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, July 28
A paper describing how a chemical compound closely related to a common blue food dye could help repair spinal injuries got a hefty dose of attention this week, garnering extravagant headlines like “Can Blue M&Ms cure paralysis?” Despite the oversimplified hype, the findings are exciting: spinal-damaged rats that were given the drug recovered the ability to limp about, with only one side effect–a slight blueish hue. Another report published online established  DNA “barcode” system for plants: two sections of DNA that will serve as a unique identifier for every species. Botanists have been squabbling over which genetic sequences to use for years; now that they’ve settled the matter they can begin to build a genetic library that will allow for quick plant identification across the world.

Pediatrics, August issue
An 18-year-long study found that autistic children do not have more gastrointestinal problems than other children, refuting a notion that has gained some currency with families of autistic children. The researchers note that some parents have adjusted their autistic children’s diets in hopes of altering the children’s symptoms, and call for a halt to such practices. Autistic kids should not be put on dairy-free or gluten-free diets without a proper diagnosis of dairy or gluten intolerance, the researchers say, because such restrictive diets can cause nutritional deficiencies.

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