Quake jeopardizes endangered pandas

BEIJING, June 13 (UPI) -- Ninety percent of China's endangered pandas are in jeopardy after May's massive earthquake destroyed their last remaining habitat, scientists said.

Physical Activity: Not Just A 'Walk In The Park'

Scientists reveal that there is little or no relationship between living near green spaces and participation in physical activity.

Hox Genes Control Path Of Neurons Responsible For Nervous System Development

Scientists demonstrate that pontine neuron migration in mice is controlled by specific Hox genes. They show that by knocking out the expression of the Hoxa2 gene the path of the...

Cool weather impacts corn, soybean yields

CHAMPAIGN, Ill., June 12 (UPI) -- A University of Illinois study finds some U.S. farmers planting or replanting corn and soybeans after June 20 might see yields decline...

Key Regulator Of DNA Mutations Identified

As a general rule, your DNA is not something you want rearranged. But there are exceptions -- especially when it comes to fighting infections. Since the number of microbes in...

Woolly-mammoth gene study changes extinction theory

Mechanism explains link between apolipoprotein E and Alzheimer's disease

Scientists have discovered a previously unknown mechanism by which apolipoprotein E, a molecule whose mutation is linked to Alzheimer's disease (AD), stimulates degradation of sticky amyloid beta (A-beta) protein within...

UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News

NASA: Mars Lander ready to sprinkle soil … New synthetic molecule kills cancer … Pregnancy diet can affect sheep's gender … Computer model may predict disease timing ... Health/Science news...

VIDEO: New Tiger Initiative Launched

Conservationists, nonprofits, and celebrities from around the world are teaming up to help the World Bank and its partners save wild tigers.

"Makeover" Birds Get Testosterone Jolt

Male barn swallows whose breasts were artificially colored red were coveted by females and spurned by males, responses that changed their bodies' chemistry, a new study found.

Chemical changes may help detect colon cancer early

LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists said on Tuesday they had identified subtle chemical changes that allow abnormal cells to multiply out of control, a finding that could help detect colon...

The cause of all hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy type II cases has been established

A major discovery that details the existence of a neuronal specific form of the WNK1 gene, henceforth referred to as the WNK1/HSN2 isoform, was recently completed by the research group...

New synthetic molecule kills cancer

JERUSALEM, June 10 (UPI) -- Israeli scientists say they have created a synthetic molecule that holds promise for a new family of anti-cancer drugs.

Monkeys that go fishing discovered

Researchers discover gene linked to adult-onset obesity

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered a gene that may provide a clue as to why obesity rates increase with age. The research was published today in...

Native birds outwit exotic predators

Research has found that the New Zealand bellbird can change its nesting behaviour to avoid exotic predators, raising hopes for other island birds in similar situations.

Large Areas Of Conservation Land Needed To Save Small Frogs, Turtles And Other Marine Species

Scientists were surprised with findings of a recent study that reveals many animal species believed to persist in small contained areas actually need broad, landscape level conservation to survive. Overall,...

Major League Baseball Teams With Greater Circadian Advantage Are More Likely To Succeed

The magnitude of circadian advantage influences the outcome of Major League Baseball games in that teams with greater circadian advantage are more likely to win. Crossing multiple time zones further...

Potential Biomarkers For Pancreatic Cancer Identified

Scientists report the identification of proteins that appear in increased numbers at an early stage of pancreatic tumor development in a mouse model and may be a useful tool in...

Arsenic And New Rice

Amid recent reports of dangerous levels of arsenic being found in some baby rice products, scientists have found a protein in plants that could help to reduce the toxic content...

How The Brain Can Protect Against Cancer

Researchers hypothesized that beta-endorphin peptide producing neurons do not just make us feel good, but also play roles in regulating the stress response and immune functions to control tumor growth...

Report: Rare chicken's numbers on the decline

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Lesser prairie chickens have been reduced to a fraction of their population across five states, says a conservation group that is ratcheting up the pressure on...

Sweet Talking: Artificial Vesicles And Bacterial Cells Communicate By Way Of Sugar Components

For an organism to develop and function, the individual cells must exchange information, or communicate, with each other. Is it possible to learn their language and "talk to" the cells?...

Mammalian Neurogenesis Breaks Into The Most Static Brain Region

Fifteen years ago, the discovery of adult neurogenesis (the production of new neurons) in the highly static, non-renewable mammalian brain was a breakthrough in neuroscience. Now new neuronal progenitors were...

Parasitoid Turns Its Host Into A Bodyguard

A research team offer evidence that behavioral changes of a host are beneficial to the parasite in the field. They studied a moth, the caterpillars of which can be parasitized...

To Stop a Seizure

An acidic brain blocks convulsions in mice—but only if they have the right ion channel

Chinese parks 'sell tiger wine'

Illegal "tiger bone wine" is being made and sold by a number of animals parks in China, say campaigners.

Octopods, squid show signs of contamination

New evidence that chemical contaminants are finding their way into the deep-sea food web has been found in deep-sea squids and octopods, including the strange-looking “vampire squid". These species are...