Scientists have showed that lowering intake of the type of fat common in a Western diet helps prevent prostate cancer in mice, the first finding of its kind in a mouse model that closely mimics human cancer, researchers said. The study focused on fat from corn oil, which is made up primarily of omega-6 fatty acids, or the polyunsaturated fat commonly found in the Western diet.<img src="http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~4/290880734" height="1" width="1"/>
The Etruscan shrew (Suncus etruscus) is one of the world's smallest mammals. It is about four centimetres long and weighs merely two grams. Being a nocturnal animal, it hunts predominantly with its sense of touch. "As quick as a flash, the Etruscan shrew scans its prey and adapts, when necessary, its hunting strategy," explained one of the researchers. "Thus, no prey escapes."<img src="http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~4/291733159" height="1" width="1"/>
Transplantation of muscle-derived stem cells may provide a safe and effective treatment for patients suffering from urinary incontinence following a surgical procedure. Patients with incontinence resulting from iatrogenic sphincter damage may benefit from this therapy.<img src="http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~4/291867067" height="1" width="1"/>
Scientists are investigating the characteristics of various types of materials for their use in the generation and measurement of precise movements. When the arms of a robot move to pick up an egg or an electric lamp, the greatest precision possible is essential. To this end, advances in the science and technology of materials have provided the design and control of systems equipped with sensors and actuators built with new materials.<img src="http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~4/291694791" height="1" width="1"/>
Smaller primates expend no more energy climbing than they do walking. This surprising discovery may explain the evolutionary edge that encouraged the tiny ancestors of modern humans, apes and monkeys to climb into the trees about 65 million years ago and stay there.<img src="http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~4/291867065" height="1" width="1"/>
The newest analysis of trace gases trapped in Antarctic ice cores now provide a reasonable view of greenhouse gas concentrations as much as 800,000 years into the past, and are further confirming the link between greenhouse gas levels and global warming, scientists have reported in Nature.<img src="http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~4/291867066" height="1" width="1"/>
Genes known to cause spinal mutations in chick and mouse model systems also play an important role in human patients with congenital vertebral abnormalities. Working with samples from 31 patients at Boston Children's Hospital with various congenital vertebral defects, the team sequenced five genes thought to be involved in the malformations.<img src="http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~4/291867070" height="1" width="1"/>
Scientists have improved the efficiency of an important type of solar cell from 21.9 to 23.2 percent (a relative improvement of 6 per cent). The efficiency improvement is achieved by the use of an ultra-thin aluminum oxide layer at the front of the cell, and it brings a breakthrough in the use of solar energy a step closer. The costs of applying the thin layer of aluminum oxide are expected to be relatively low.<img src="http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~4/291867069" height="1" width="1"/>
By targeting a common virus, doctors may be able to extend the lives of patients diagnosed with the most prevalent and deadly type of brain tumor. A type of herpes virus called human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is found in up to 80 percent of Americans, though the virus normally produces very few clinical symptoms, is dormant, and usually undetectable in most people.<img src="http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~4/291774548" height="1" width="1"/>
As Charles Darwin showed nearly 150 years ago, bird beaks are exquisitely adapted to the birds' feeding strategy. A team of mathematicians and engineers has now explained exactly how some shorebirds use their long, thin beaks to defy gravity and transport food into their mouths. Some species rely exclusively on a feeding mechanism that takes advantage of water's surface tension, and so are extremely vulnerable to oil spills.<img src="http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~4/291867068" height="1" width="1"/>
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