Better sleep is associated with improved academic success

According to a research abstract that will be presented on Wednesday, June 10, at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, getting more high-quality sleep is associated with better academic performance. The positive relationship is...

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Climate change and the mystery of the shrinking sheep

Changing winter conditions are causing Scotland's wild Soay sheep to get smaller despite the evolutionary benefits of having a large body, researchers report in a study that shows how climate...

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Galaxies coming of age in cosmic blobs

This composite image shows one of the brightest objects observed in a study of 29 blobs located in a single field. Glowing hydrogen gas in the blob is shown by a Lyman-alpha optical image (colored yellow) from the Subaru telescope. A galaxy located in the blob is visible in a broadband optical image (white) from the Hubble Space Telescope and an infrared image from the Spitzer Space Telescope (red). Finally, the Chandra X-ray Observatory image (blue) shows evidence for a growing supermassive black hole in the center of the galaxy. Radiation and outflows from this active black hole are lighting up and heating the gas in the blob.The "coming of age" of galaxies and black holes has been pinpointed, thanks to new data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes. This discovery helps resolve the true...

Size did matter -- evidence of giant sperm found in microfossils

In the competition for a partner, males typically have to vie with each other – be it with a colorful plumage, a large set of antlers or a seductive courtship...

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Geographic profiling applied to track hunting patterns of white sharks in South Africa

University of Miami's Neil Hammerschlag and collaborators from the University of British Columbia and Texas State University collected data on 340 natural predatory attacks by white sharks on Cape fur seals in False Bay, South Africa. They found that spatial patterns of shark predation were not random and that smaller sharks had more dispersed prey search patterns and lower kill success rates than larger sharks.Predation is one of the most fundamental and fascinating interactions in nature, and sharks are some of the fiercest predators on Earth. However, their hunting pattern is difficult to study...

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University of Colorado team finds definitive evidence for ancient lake on Mars

This is reconstructed landscape showing the Shalbatana lake on Mars as it may have looked roughly 3.4 billion years ago. Data used in reconstruction are from NASA and the European Space Agency.A University of Colorado at Boulder research team has discovered the first definitive evidence of shorelines on Mars, an indication of a deep, ancient lake there and a finding with...

Common fish species has 'human' ability to learn

Although worlds apart, the way fish learn could be closer to humans' way of thinking than previously believed, suggests a new research study.

Cancer screening fear is fueled by lack of information says review covering nearly 6,000 women

Fear plays a major role in whether women decide to go for cancer screening or not, but healthcare providers underestimate how much women need to know and wrongly assume that...

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Fog lifted on 'dark' gamma-ray bursts, mysterious counterparts to bursts with an afterglow

This is an artist's illustration of a gamma-ray burst occurring in a dusty region of intense star formation. If a dust cloud lies between the burst and Earth, the optical light will be almost entirely absorbed, but the gamma-rays and X-rays will easily penetrate the dust. New evidence suggests that most "dark" gamma-ray bursts -- those without optical afterglows -- form in similar dusty environments.Gamma-ray bursts, with their ability to pierce through gas and dust to shine brightly across the universe, are revealing areas of intense star formation and stellar death where astronomers have...

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Sands of Gobi Desert yield new species of nut-cracking dinosaur

The skull of <i>Psittacosaurus gobiensis</i> (pictured here with the skull of a modern macaw) presents the first solid evidence of nut-eating in any dinosaur.Plants or meat: That's about all that fossils ever tell paleontologists about a dinosaur's diet. But the skull characteristics of a new species of parrot-beaked dinosaur and its associated gizzard...

Good news and bad for dad this Father's Day

It was long believed that conception does not involve a meeting of equals. The egg is a relatively large, impressive biological factory compared with the tiny sperm, which delivers to...

Water vapor jets spewing from Saturn's icy moon, Enceladus, are not the result of geysers from an underground ocean as envisioned by some planetary scientists but may be caused by water evaporation or ice vaporization, according to a new University of Colorado at Boulder study.

Sleep apnea occurring during REM sleep is significantly associated with type 2 diabetes

A multi-ethnic study in the June 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine reports that there is a statistically significant relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) episodes occurring...

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Beaked, bird-like dinosaur tells story of finger evolution

This image shows a reconstruction of <i>Limusaurus</i> with no evidence of feather structures.Scientists have discovered a unique beaked, plant-eating dinosaur in China. The finding, they say, demonstrates that theropod, or bird-footed, dinosaurs were more ecologically diverse in the Jurassic period than previously...

VLBA locates superenergetic bursts near giant black hole

Using a worldwide combination of diverse telescopes, astronomers have discovered that a giant galaxy's bursts of very high energy gamma rays are coming from a region very close to the...

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Mayo researchers: Dramatic outcomes in prostate cancer study

Two Mayo Clinic patients whose prostate cancer had been considered inoperable are now cancer free thanks in part to an experimental drug therapy that was used in combination with...

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Scientists create first comprehensive computer model of sunspots

The interface between a sunspot's central and outer regions shows a complex structure.In a breakthrough that will help scientists unlock mysteries of the sun and its impacts on Earth, scientists have created the first-ever comprehensive computer model of sunspots. The resulting visuals...

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Alaska researchers contribute to national climate change report

Two University of the Alaska Fairbanks researchers are among key contributors to a new national report that details visible effects of climate change in the United States and how today's...

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Stress makes your hair go gray

Those pesky graying hairs that tend to crop up with age really are signs of stress, reveals a new report in the June 12 issue of Cell, a Cell Press...

The battle for CRTC2: How obesity increases the risk for diabetes

Marc Montminy (left) and Yiguo Wang are researchers with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.Obesity is probably the most important factor in the development of insulin resistance, but science's understanding of the chain of events is still spotty. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute...

European satellites probe a new magnetar

SGR 0501+4516, illustrated here in an artist concept, is a member of a select class of objects called magnetars. These stellar remnants are the most magnetized objects in the cosmos. Only 15 are known.On Aug. 22, 2008, NASA's Swift satellite reported multiple blasts of radiation from a rare object known as a soft gamma repeater, or SGR. Now, astronomers report an in-depth study...

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New focus on the moon

This Locator Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera's Narrow Angle Camera image shows the position of the first two images. This image is 253x1000 pixels or 3,542 meters (2.2 miles) wide by 14,000 meters (8.7 miles) long.NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) has taken and received its first images of the Moon, kicking off the year-long mapping mission of Earth's nearest celestial neighbor. The LROC imaging...

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