Alltop.com

A new brain study reveals that the circadian clocks of people with depression are altered at the cellular level.

Every cell in our bodies runs on a 24-hour clock, tuned to the night-day, light-dark cycles that have ruled us since the dawn of humanity. The brain acts as timekeeper, keeping the cellular clock in sync with the outside world so that it can govern our appetites, sleep, moods, and much more.

But new research shows that the clock may be broken in the brains of people with depression—even at the level of the gene activity inside their brain cells.

“There really was a moment of discovery,” says Li,a research assistant professor in the department of computational medicine and bioinformatics at the University of Michigan. “It was when we realized that many of the genes that show 24-hour cycles in the normal individuals were well-known circadian rhythm genes—and when we saw that the people with depression were not synchronized to the usual solar day in terms of this gene activity. It’s as if they were living in a different time zone than the one they died in.”

Full story at Futurity.

More research news from top universities.

Photo credit: Jöshua Barnett/Flickr

Invasive “crazy ants” are displacing fire ants across the southeastern United States and may have dramatic effects on the region’s ecosystem, researchers say.

Unlike fire ants, crazy ants don’t consume most poison baits and don’t have the same kinds of colony boundaries. That means that even if they’re killed in a certain area, the supercolony survives and can swarm back over the area, says Ed LeBrun, a research associate with the invasive species research program at the University of Texas-Austin. “When you talk to folks who live in the invaded areas, they tell you they want their fire ants back.”

Full story with additional images and video at Futurity.

More research news from top universities.

Photo credit: Joe MacGown / Mississippi Entomological Museum

Kindergarten teachers say they spend most of their math instructional time teaching lessons students have already mastered, like shapes and basic counting. The findings reveal a misalignment between what the students are being taught and what they already know.

“This study is one of the first to raise the question: Is the content that teachers report teaching in kindergarten meeting the needs of the majority of their students?” says Mimi Engel, assistant professor of public policy and education at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College and lead author of the study.

Full story and video at Futurity.

More research news from top universities.

Photo credit: Kelly Teague/Flickr

The consequences of overfishing have led fisheries to rely on a handful of highly valuable shellfish—but new research shows this approach is extremely risky.

“Shellfish make a valuable contribution to our fisheries,” says Bryce Stewart, a marine ecologist and fisheries biologist at the University of York. “But we cannot just assume everything is rosy. There is an urgent need for continued improvements in management of finfish fisheries, and an ecosystem approach which rebuilds the diversity, resilience, and productivity of our oceans into the future.” Above, Prawns (otherwise known as scampi) are now the most valuable fisheries species in the UK, worth over £110 million in 2011.

Like simplified agricultural systems, these shellfisheries are unstable in the long-term and at great risk of collapse from disease, species invasions, and climate change. Warming and acidification of our oceans due to greenhouse gas emissions is expected to affect shellfish worst. Ocean acidification, in particular, will limit the ability of scallops and other shellfish to form proper shells, and lead to widespread mortality.

Full story at Futurity.

More research news from top universities.

Photo credit: Bryce Stewart

These are pictures from the Maker Faire in San Mateo, California. The Maker Faire is one of my favorite events of the year. You can learn more about the Maker Faire here. I hope that you can attend one!

(To zoom, click a photo.)

 More DIY.

\

“The speculation is over. Yahoo has acquired Tumblr, according to official statements from Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and Tumblr CEO and Founder David Karp.

In a somewhat odd press release, Yahoo promises it will not “screw up” the popular microblogging service.

“Per the agreement and our promise not to screw it up, Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business. David Karp will remain CEO. The product, service and brand will continue to be defined and developed separately with the same Tumblr irreverence, wit, and commitment to empower creators,” says Yahoo in the release.

The total price Yahoo paid for Tumblr is approximately $1.1 billion, all of it in cash.”

Announcement on Marissa Mayer’s Tumblr.

Full article on Mashable

More Yahoo!

Photo credit GeminiScarcophagi

The Powerful Benefits of Coffee!

Why drink coffee? Top reasons you should drink coffee:

1. Wake up! If you’re not a morning person, coffee helps wake you up and become more alert for the morning commute, early meetings, and responding to questions from your boss, customers, or coworkers.

2. Get an Edge: Even if you are a “morning person”, coffee can still give you an extra edge in dealing with the challenges of the day.

3. When you’re chilled to the bone: Coffee warms you up on a cold day.

4. Fresh Perspective: A cup of coffee gives you a good excuse to take a break, socialize with friends and coworkers, and step away from your work for a few minutes. Breaks can help you approach tasks with renewed vigor and creativity. When the brain starts getting stale, a coffee break can be the perfect way to recharge your battery.

Read more of the Top 10 here

h/t to Rebekah Radice for the article.

More about coffee on Alltop.

Are you your own worst critic? If your internal dialog is killing your momentum towards reaching your goals and being happy, it’s time to stop the pattern.
“The worst bullies you will ever encounter in your life are your own thoughts.”  Bryant McGill

Here are a few things that you can do to stop the negative chatter:

1.  Be aware  — pay attention to what you are saying to yourself. If you start being negative, stop yourself and move on. Dwelling on negative thoughts is not going to help you.

2. Call a friend  — run the scenario that’s going through your head by your best friend. They’ll either tell you your being silly,  offer a suggestion or maybe just listen.

So, the bad news is that you are your worst bully but the good news is that you can change it. Having the power to change your internal dialog is a pretty darn big gift. I hope you use it well.

What do you do when you’re having negative thoughts? What gets you to snap out of it?

Full article here

Photo credit Mark Turner

“The next Cascadia earthquake has the potential to be the biggest natural disaster that the United States will have to come to terms with—far bigger than Sandy or even Katrina,” says Benjamin Horton, associate professor and director of the Sea Level Research Laboratory in the department of earth and environmental science at the University of Pennsylvania.

Tiny fossils offer clues to a 1700 earthquake in the Pacific Northwest that was strong enough to cause a tsunami as far away as Japan. Through radiocarbon dating and an analysis of different species’ positions with the cores over time, the researchers were able to piece together a historical picture of the changes in land and sea level along the coastline. The research revealed how much the coast suddenly subsided during the earthquake, which infers how much the tectonic plates moved during the earthquake.

The Cascadia subduction zone is of particular interest to geologists and coastal managers because geological evidence points to recurring seismic activity along the fault line, with intervals between 300 and 500 years. With the last major event occurring in 1700, another earthquake could be on the horizon. A better understanding of how such an event might unfold has the potential to save lives.

Full story at Futurity.

More research news from top universities.

Photo credit: fickleandfreckled/Flickr

The African clawed frog, a species used around the world for biomedical research, is spreading an amphibian-killing fungus when they are released into the wild.

Researchers provide the first evidence that the frogs in California harbor a fungal infection that is decimating amphibian populations across the globe. Among 23 samples tested, the researchers identified three frogs, one found in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, that were carriers of the pathogen that has led to the decline or extinction of some 200 amphibian species worldwide.

The African clawed frog was first brought to the United States in the early 20th century for a somewhat unusual purpose: pregnancy testing. In the 1920s, it was discovered that injecting the frogs with urine from pregnant women would spur egg production in the animals. Hospitals then began routinely using the frogs to determine if female patients were pregnant.

The frogs, which Sherril Green, professor and chair of comparative medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine describes as “big, slimy, green, ugly things,” are predators and are carnivorous, devouring everything in their path, including their own species. They can grow as long as 7 inches and are extremely adaptable, often living a decade or more in the wild, where they have few local predators.

Full story at Futurity.

More research news from top universities.

Photo credit: Brian Gratwicke/Flickr