New fossils suggest whales and hippos are close kin
...found in Pakistan last year resolve a longstanding controversy over the origin of whales, confirming that the giant sea creatures evolved from early ancestors of sheep, deer and hippopotami and suggesting that hippos may be the closest living relatives of whales. The new finds, reported in the Sept. 21 issue of......e the obvious benefits of this treatment, there is controversy regarding its application. Clinical trials indicate that the risk of venous thromboembolism (clotting of the veins) is about two to three times higher among current users of oral hormone replacement therapy containing estradiol, conjugated equine es...Study shows that aspirin and warfarin are equally effective for stroke prevention
...ecurrent stroke by about 25 percent. Part of the controversy about aspirin versus warfarin for stroke prevention has been the thinking among clinicians that warfarin may be a better blood thinner than aspirin to prevent almost all forms of stroke, but that it has greater side effects, increased risk of hemorrh...Low doses of radiation in nature may pose more risk
...are poorly understood and have been the subject of controversy for decades. In the study, the researchers found that when they beamed alpha particles at only one in 10 cells, the results were almost the same as if they had beamed them at all the cells. If you only hit 10 percent of the cells...January media highlights: GEOLOGY and GSA TODAY
...include a slushball tossed into the Snowball Earth controversy with Daniel Condons evidence of unfrozen sea areas during the Neoproteroizoic glaciations. Robert Speijer and Abdel-Mohsen Morsi provide data from Egypt that indicates significant polar ice caps existed during what had been thought to be a global gre...Most definitive study yet shows tiny particles in air are linked to lung cancer
...oot in the air have been the focus of considerable controversy since 1997, when the Environmental Protection Agency issued new regulations tightening its standards to cover particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers (a human hair is 100 micrometers thick). Industry fought the regulations, but the EPA prevailed and t...Humans emerged 'out of Africa' again and again
...logical Sciences. Templetons contributions to the controversy of recent human evolution include dashing the popular Eve Theory because of flaws he detected in researchers 1987 computer analyses. In 1998, he published a paper in American Anthropologist that explained humans as one race, instead of a species wi...Salamanders change spots: Was it environmental stress?
...until the late 1980s. Zamudio admits to scientific controversy over using museum samples and measuring them against contemporary specimens, because the older samples can fade or shrink. "But our animals were taken from the same two places, so we are only pooling samples over time. Our historical salamander sam...Stem cells help brain repair, make new neurons and blood vessels after stroke
...ompatibility of donated stem cells and the ethical controversy surrounding embryonic stem cells. They also want to identify which bone marrow stem cell types are targeted for this repair and how they are called to the site of injury, suspecting that inflammation may be part of this homing process. We tried ...Researchers discover clues to whale evolution
...st whales were mainly land animals, and resolved a controversy over the relationships of whales, showing that they are most closely related to modern even-toed ungulates (such as pigs, hippos, camels, deer, and sheep) than to an extinct group of meat-eating mammals....Scientists find protein at the intersection of genetics, development, and environment
...hor on the study. This would circumvent the public controversy surrounding genetically modified organisms, which derive their traits from exotic genes transplanted into them. Manipulating the Hsp90 buffer may identify useful naturally-occurring variants, such as plants which grow better in poor soil or have incr...DNA testing identifies suspect bacteria in coral reef disease
...consistent phenomenon. There has been considerable controversy as to whether black band disease is caused by environmental stress or is an infectious disease, or both, Fouke said. Factors thought to contribute to the disease are increases in sea surface temperature and possibly the dumping of sewage and other p...Although controversial, stem cell therapies exhibit potential in biotechnology markets
...es a tantalizing option for researchers. Heated controversy has arisen over the ethics of using embryonic stem cells, extracted from either very early embryos or fetuses. The United States has now limited stem cell use to a relatively small number of existing cell lines. Stem cells are pluripotent, possess...UCI Samueli School researchers to study wetlands impact on coastal water quality
...ion. The UCI-led study will help resolve a growing controversy over whether coastal wetlands filter out fecal pollution from urban sources or generate it. "We've known for some time that coastal wetlands are a critical habitat for rare and endangered species," Grant said. "The issue is whether animal feces relea...Bacterial alterations source of persistent COPD lung infections
...edical Center in Buffalo, NY have ended decades of controversy by proving populations of infectious bacteria are changing constantly in the lungs of COPD patients, allowing the bacteria to strike again and again sometimes with deadly results. Their findings, appearing in the August 15th issue of The New England...Report focuses on the science and safety of genetically modified crops
...tortillas have focused media attention and stirred controversy about genetically modified organisms. While new approaches in agricultural biotechnology have improved crop quality and yield, the incorporation of genes from other organisms into food plants has raised concerns about possible health risks and enviro...Scientists confirm age of the oldest meteorite collision on Earth
...n of the dinosaurs," he said. He also pointed to controversy about the fossil record, noting that the oldest known microbial fossils have been found in rocks 3.4 to 3.5 billion years old roughly the same age as the ancient meteorite collision documented in the Science study. Could the meteorite somehow have...Long-term studies show most intersex adults happy with gender assignments at birth
...on a female. Although historically there has been controversy over which is the best gender assignment for these children, they are often assigned to female gender by parents and doctors, undergoing surgeries and hormone treatments, to be reared as girls. Of the 39 participants in this study, 21 were raised as ...New findings reconfirm toxicity of Pfiesteria cultures
...ly found in many estuaries," said Burkholder. "The controversy here is not a culture availability issue. This multi-laboratory study shows that it is, instead, a culturing issue. It is really important for laboratories to use procedures that allow Pfiesteria to express toxicity." At the same conference on Thurs......ammary glands-and is already shedding light on the controversy over the evolution of dinosaur scales into avian feathers. A paper describing this work, "The Morphogenesis of Feathers", authored by principal investigator and Keck School pathology professor Cheng-Ming Chuong and his colleagues, was selected for ad...