ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Fossil fuel formation: Key to atmosphere’s oxygen?
• Researchers urge caution around psilocybin use
• Using 'fire to fight fire' to combat disease could make it worse, tests show
• Lack of standards for infant cereals threatens child nutrition in lower-income countries
• Ancient DNA can both diminish and defend modern minds
• New class of hydrogen sulfide donor molecules
• Role for immune cells in cancer’s ability to evade immunotherapy
• Endometrial cancer mutations are detectable in uterine lavage fluid before a cancer is diagnosed
• Biologist's ant research provides long-term look at effects of climate change

Fossil fuel formation: Key to atmosphere’s oxygen? Posted: 30 Dec 2016 03:54 PM PST For the development of animals, nothing -- with the exception of DNA -- may be more important than oxygen in the atmosphere. A study now links the rise in oxygen to a rapid increase in the burial of sediment containing large amounts of carbon-rich organic matter.

Researchers urge caution around psilocybin use Posted: 30 Dec 2016 03:06 PM PST In a survey of almost 2,000 people who said they had had a past negative experience when taking psilocybin-containing 'magic mushrooms,' a researchers say that more than 10 percent believed their worst 'bad trip' had put themselves or others in harm's way, and a substantial majority called their most distressing episode one of the top 10 biggest challenges of their lives.

Using 'fire to fight fire' to combat disease could make it worse, tests show Posted: 30 Dec 2016 09:29 AM PST A treatment billed as a potential breakthrough in the fight against disease, including cancer, could back-fire and make the disease fitter and more damaging, new research has found. Ground-breaking research has found that introducing 'friendlier' less-potent strains into a population of disease-causing microbes can lead to increased disease severity.

Lack of standards for infant cereals threatens child nutrition in lower-income countries Posted: 30 Dec 2016 07:35 AM PST The first global analysis of infant cereals sold in lower-income countries highlights the need for basic quality assurance services to improve nutritional consistency and healthy growth of infants from 6 to 24 months of age.

Ancient DNA can both diminish and defend modern minds Posted: 30 Dec 2016 07:35 AM PST You've likely heard about being in the right place at the wrong time, but what about having the right genes in the wrong environment? In other words, could a genetic mutation (or allele) that puts populations at risk for illnesses in one environmental setting manifest itself in positive ways in a different setting?

New class of hydrogen sulfide donor molecules Posted: 30 Dec 2016 07:35 AM PST Researchers have designed molecules with the potential to deliver healing power to stressed cells -- such as those involved in heart attacks. The research, at a cellular level in the lab, involves organic molecules that break down to release hydrogen sulfide when triggered by oxidative stress.

Role for immune cells in cancer’s ability to evade immunotherapy Posted: 30 Dec 2016 07:32 AM PST One of the main reasons cancer remains difficult to treat is that cancer cells have developed a multitude of mechanisms that allow them to evade destruction by the immune system. One of these escape mechanisms involves a type of immune cell called myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). A recent study provides new insight into how MDSCs enable tumor cells to circumvent immune attack and offer the potential for improving cancer immunotherapy.

Endometrial cancer mutations are detectable in uterine lavage fluid before a cancer is diagnosed Posted: 30 Dec 2016 07:32 AM PST Mutations that have been linked to endometrial cancer can be found in the uterine lavage fluid of pre- and post-menopausal women both with and without detectable cancer.

Biologist's ant research provides long-term look at effects of climate change Posted: 30 Dec 2016 07:32 AM PST Many scientists have attempted to tackle how climate change will affect the natural world by determining the thermal tolerance of various species, then predicting what will happen to them as our world warms. However, this approach as a way to understand nature has its drawbacks because one species never acts alone, so comprehending how global change impacts these interactions is crucial to a holistic understanding.