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Through the eyes of a burglar: Study provides insights on habits and motivations, importance of security

Thu, 16/05/2013 - 8:09pm
One way to understand what motivates and deters burglars is to ask them. A researcher did just that. He led a research team that gathered survey responses from more than 400 convicted offenders that resulted in an unprecedented look into the minds of burglars, providing insight into intruders’ motivations and methods.
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Bach to the blues, our emotions match music to colors

Thu, 16/05/2013 - 7:12pm
Whether we're listening to Bach or the blues, our brains are wired to make music-color connections depending on how the melodies make us feel, according to new research. For instance, Mozart's jaunty Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major is most often associated with bright yellow and orange, whereas his dour Requiem in D minor is more likely to be linked to dark, bluish gray.
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Research into carbon storage in Arctic tundra reveals unexpected insight into ecosystem resiliency

Thu, 16/05/2013 - 6:27pm
When a doctoral student and her advisor went north not long ago to study how long-term warming in the Arctic affects carbon storage, they had made certain assumptions.
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Gene involved in neurodegeneration keeps clock running: Scientists identify another gene important to morning wake-up call

Thu, 16/05/2013 - 6:26pm
Scientists have shown a gene involved in neurodegenerative disease also plays a critical role in the proper function of the circadian clock. In a study of the common fruit fly, the researchers found the gene, called Ataxin-2, keeps the clock responsible for sleeping and waking on a 24-hour rhythm. Without the gene, the rhythm of the fruit fly's sleep-wake cycle is disturbed, making waking up on a regular schedule difficult for the fly.
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Can math models of gaming strategies be used to detect terrorism networks?

Thu, 16/05/2013 - 6:26pm
Mathematicians have developed a mathematical model to disrupt the flow of information in a complex real-world network, such as a terrorist organization, using minimal resources.
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Artificial forest for solar water-splitting: First fully integrated artificial photosynthesis nanosystem

Thu, 16/05/2013 - 6:26pm
Researchers have created the first fully integrated artificial photosynthesis nanosystem. While "artificial leaf" is the popular term for such a system, the key to this success was an "artificial forest."
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Researchers shocked by new statistics on head injuries among people who are homeless

Thu, 16/05/2013 - 6:26pm
Men who are heavy drinkers and homeless for long periods of time have 400 times the number of head injuries as the general population, according to a new study by researchers who said they were shocked by their findings.
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World's biggest ice sheets likely more stable than previously believed

Thu, 16/05/2013 - 6:25pm
A new study suggests that the previous connections scientists made between ancient shoreline height and ice volumes are erroneous and that perhaps our ice sheets were more stable in the past than we originally thought. The study found that the Earth's hot mantle pushed up segments of ancient shorelines over millions of years, making them appear higher now than they originally were millions of years ago.
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World's melting glaciers making large contribution to sea rise

Thu, 16/05/2013 - 6:25pm
While 99 percent of Earth's land ice is locked up in the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, the remaining ice in the world's glaciers contributed just as much to sea rise as the two ice sheets combined from 2003 to 2009, says a new study.
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Returning genetic incidental findings without patient consent violates basic rights, experts say

Thu, 16/05/2013 - 6:25pm
Scientists push back against recent American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics recommendations, and offer compelling reasons why patient autonomy must remain firmly in place as science advances.
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Accelerated aging in children: Promising treatment for progeria within reach

Thu, 16/05/2013 - 6:25pm
Pharmaceuticals that inhibit a specific enzyme may be useful in treating progeria, or accelerated aging in children. A new study indicates that the development of progeria in mice was inhibited upon reducing the production of this enzyme.
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Asian lady beetles use biological weapons against their European relatives

Thu, 16/05/2013 - 6:25pm
Once introduced for biological pest control, Asian lady beetle populations have been increasing uncontrollably. Scientists have now found the reason for the animal's success. Its body fluid contains microsporidia, fungus-like protozoa that parasitize body cells and can cause immense harm to their host. The Asian lady beetle is obviously resistant to these parasites. However, transferred to native species, microsporidia can be lethal.
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Scientific insurgents say 'Journal Impact Factors' distort science

Thu, 16/05/2013 - 6:25pm
An ad hoc coalition of unlikely insurgents -- scientists, journal editors and publishers, scholarly societies, and research funders across many scientific disciplines -- today posted an international declaration calling on the world scientific community to eliminate the role of the journal impact factor in evaluating research for funding, hiring, promotion, or institutional effectiveness.
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Beautiful 'flowers' self-assemble in a beaker

Thu, 16/05/2013 - 6:22pm
With the hand of nature trained on a beaker of chemical fluid, the most delicate flower structures have been formed in a laboratory -- and not at the scale of inches, but microns. These minuscule sculptures, curved and delicate, don't resemble the cubic or jagged forms normally associated with crystals, though that's what they are. Rather, fields of carnations and marigolds seem to bloom from the surface of a submerged glass slide, assembling themselves a molecule at a time.
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Endothelium, heal thyself

Thu, 16/05/2013 - 4:39pm
Investigators publish new findings showing that the endothelium's efficient barrier function relies on an enormous self-restorative capacity.
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Security risks found in sensors for heart devices, consumer electronics

Thu, 16/05/2013 - 4:39pm
The type of sensors that pick up the rhythm of a beating heart in implanted cardiac defibrillators and pacemakers are vulnerable to tampering, according to a new study conducted in controlled laboratory conditions.
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Fishing for memories: How long-term memories are processed to guide behavior

Thu, 16/05/2013 - 4:39pm
In our interaction with our environment we constantly refer to past experiences stored as memories to guide behavioral decisions. But how memories are formed, stored and then retrieved to assist decision-making remains a mystery. By observing whole-brain activity in live zebrafish, researchers have visualized for the first time how information stored as long-term memory in the cerebral cortex is processed to guide behavioral choices.
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DNA-guided assembly yields novel ribbon-like nanostructures

Thu, 16/05/2013 - 4:39pm
DNA "linker" strands coax nano-sized rods to line up in way unlike any other spontaneous arrangement of rod-shaped objects. The arrangement -- with the rods forming "rungs" on ladder-like ribbons -- could result in the fabrication of new nanostructured materials with desired properties.
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Invasive 'crazy ants' are displacing fire ants in areas throughout southeastern U.S.

Thu, 16/05/2013 - 4:39pm
Invasive "crazy ants" are displacing fire ants in areas across the southeastern United States, according to researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. It's the latest in a history of ant invasions from the southern hemisphere and may prove to have dramatic effects on the ecosystem of the region.
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Fast and painless way to better mental arithmetic? Yes, there might actually be a way

Thu, 16/05/2013 - 4:39pm
In the future, if you want to improve your ability to manipulate numbers in your head, you might just plug yourself in. So say researchers who report on studies of a harmless form of brain stimulation applied to an area known to be important for math ability.
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