Michigan State University prof calls for more metro, regional science councils

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CHICAGO — If science education is to flourish and if science is to be better understood by the general public, then scientists need to think more locally, Michigan State University professor Jon Miller said.

Miller and several other academics spoke at a special symposium – "C2ST: The Nation's First Metropolitan Science Council" – today at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting.

Evolution education for K-12 teachers needs beefing up, says CU-Boulder professor

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A failure to grasp the fundamentals of biological systems may be leaving K-12 teachers and students vulnerable to claims by intelligent design creationists, new-age homeopaths and other "hucksters," according to a University of Colorado at Boulder biology professor.

Researchers shed new light on connection between brain and loneliness

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Social isolation affects how people behave as well as how their brains operate, a study at the University of Chicago shows.

Locations of strain, slip identified in major earthquake fault

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CHICAGO — Deep-sea drilling into one of the most active earthquake zones on the planet is providing the first direct look at the geophysical fault properties underlying some of the world's largest earthquakes and tsunamis.

The Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE) is the first geologic study of the underwater subduction zone faults that give rise to the massive earthquakes known to seismologists as mega-thrust earthquakes.

Study finds that using wakefulness tests to detect daytime sleepiness in drivers may be unreliable

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Westchester, Ill. –A study in the Feb. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine shows that a 40 minute protocol for the Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (MWT40) is superior to a 20-minute protocol (MWT20) at detecting excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in adults who may be unable to maintain wakefulness while driving. Yet results also suggest that the test may not be completely reliable when the strong motivation to keep a driver's license enables individuals to overcome sleepiness during the test.

Study finds behavioral link between insomnia and tension-type headaches

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Westchester, Ill. –A study in the Feb. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine shows that the use of sleep or napping to relieve chronic pain caused by tension-type headaches could have the unwanted effect of decreasing the homeostatic drive for sleep, leading to reduced ability to initiate and maintain sleep at night. Use of sleep as a coping mechanism for pain over time could lead to the development of poor sleep hygiene and serve as a perpetuating factor for chronic insomnia.

Study finds behavioral link between insomnia and tension-type headaches

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Using sleep or napping to cope with chronic pain caused by tension-type headaches could lead to chronic insomnia according to a new study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center. The study, published in the February 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, found that napping to relieve headache pain could serve as a behavioral link between headache and sleep disturbance.

Biologist discusses sacred nature of sustainability

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The hot topics of global warming and environmental sustainability are concerns that fit neatly within the precepts of religious naturalism, according to Ursula Goodenough, Ph.D., professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. In addition to being a renowned cell biologist, Goodenough is a religious naturalist and the author of The Sacred Depths of Nature, a bestselling book on religious naturalism that was published in 1998.

Cosmologist Paul Davies explores notion of 'alien' life on Earth

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CHICAGO – Astrobiologists have often pondered "life as we do not know it" in the context of extraterrestrial life, says Paul Davies, an internationally acclaimed theoretical physicist and cosmologist at Arizona State University. "But," he asks, "has there been a blind spot to the possibility of 'alien' life on Earth?"

Climate change may alter malaria patterns

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Temperature is an important factor in the spread of malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases, but researchers who look at average monthly or annual temperatures are not seeing the whole picture. Global climate change will affect daily temperature variations, which can have a more pronounced effect on parasite development, according to a Penn State entomologist.