science Buzz

Aggressive dog ownership is not always a sign of attempted dominance or actual delinquency. A new study finds that younger people who are disagreeable are more likely to prefer aggressive dogs, confirming the conventional wisdom that dogs match the personality of their owners. - ScienceDaily.com - 12 Reads

The first robots reached the world of industry over 60 years ago. Since then, for security reasons, they have performed their work isolated in cages, and that prevented collaboration between workers and machines. Researches are embarking on a new era by incorporating into European industry the first robot capable of working shoulder to shoulder with people. - ScienceDaily.com - 11 Reads

Scientists have determined the genome sequences of a dozen strains of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria known to be resistant to vancomycin, an antibiotic of last resort. The researchers demonstrated that resistance arose independently in each strain, and identified shared features among the strains that may have helped them acquire vancomycin resistance and evade human immune defenses. - ScienceDaily.com - 12 Reads

Plants show a higher variation in chromosome numbers than animals do, mainly because of polyploidy -- the occurrence of more than two sets of chromosomes. In plants, polyploidy can cause reproductive isolation and the consequent onset of new species. Researchers now set out to estimate to what extent polyploidy is involved in the onset of the Italian endemic plants. - ScienceDaily.com - 11 Reads

SpaceX’s launch to the International Space Station opens a new era in commercial spaceflight -- and raises questions about what laws govern private space companies and what legal obstacles affect future human space travel. - ScienceDaily.com - 11 Reads

New research points to the naturally produced protein apolipoprotein A-IV as a potential target for a new diabetes therapeutic. - ScienceDaily.com - 10 Reads

New research suggests that a significant proportion of children with asthma failing Step 4 or greater therapy may have severe asthma with fungal sensitization. - ScienceDaily.com - 10 Reads

Pavement deflection under vehicle tires makes for a continuous uphill drive that increases fuel consumption, new research shows. A new study by civil engineers at MIT shows that using stiffer pavements on the nation’s roads could reduce vehicle fuel consumption by as much as 3 percent — a savings that could add up to 273 million barrels of crude oil per year, or $15.6 billion at today’s oil prices. This would result in an accompanying annual decrease in CO2 emissions of 46.5 million metric tons. - ScienceDaily.com - 10 Reads

LONDON (AP) -- A London museum is putting the conductor's baton in visitors' hands, allowing guests to direct a virtual orchestra using three-dimensional motion sensors.... - Associated Press - 15 Reads

PONCA CITY, Okla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--University Multispectral Laboratories (UML), a not-for-profit research, development, test, evaluation and training (RDT&E) institution serving a growing number of government agencies and military commands, announced today that it has entered into a business collaboration agreement with Navmar Applied Sciences Corporation (NASC), Inc. to pursue joint scientific and commercialization projects for a wide range of potential defense, homeland security and energ - BusinessWire - 11 Reads