3 Effect of music on cognitive function Internet 'threatens' rare species 4 Non-smokers lung cancer gene clue 5 Infertility prostate cancer clue 7 Setback for cancer test hopes 9 BPA found beached and at sea 11 Better sleuthing through chemistry 13 You really can freeze hot water faster than cold* 14 The Tree That Changed the World 15 Make Solar Light, Not War 18 There’s No Brewsky in the Food Pyramid 20 Junk Food Jones Is Wired In Your Brain 21 For Cornell Library "The Time Of The Singing Of Birds Is Come" 22 Sleeping sickness 'breakthrough' 27 The Vietnam Wars: ‘The Lotus Eaters’ 28 Next Big Thing in English: Knowing They Know That You Know 30 The Toxic Side of Being, Literally, Green 33 Larger Than Life 35 E.P.A. to Limit Water Pollution From Mining 37 Concern over non-native species 38 Blocking gene boosts radiotherapy 40 For a rare few, driving and cell phones go well together 42 Warmth in the dark age 43 Why Earth Wasn't One Big Ball of Ice 4 Billion Years Ago 44 Proteins in Unroasted Coffee Beans May Become Next-Generation Insecticides 46 Like Patients, Engineered Mice Falter at Working Memory Tasks 47 Computer Model Predicts Shifts in Carbon Absorption by Forest Canopies 49 Extracting Information from Starlight 51 Astronomers See Historical Supernova from a New Angle 53 Tattletale Pills: Engineers Design Pill That Signals It Has Been Swallowed 55 Toward Making the Blind See: Gene Therapy Restores Vision in Mice 57 From a Classical Laser to a 'Quantum Laser' 59 Ice Sheet Melt Identified as Trigger of 'Big Freeze' 61 Why Certain Symmetries Are Never Observed in Nature 63 Words Easily Trigger Painful Memories 66 Microbial Answer to Plastic Pollution? 68 Jaw Bone Grown from Adult Stem Cells 69 Secret to Healing Chronic Wounds Might Lie in Tiny Pieces of Silent RNA 71 New 'Smart' Roof Reads the Thermometer, Saves Energy in Hot and Cold Climates 74 Existing antibiotic might help keep wraps on AIDS virus 76 The skinny on indoor ozone 77 Unequal Leg Length Tied to Osteoarthritis, Study Finds 80 Scientists Address 'Wrinkles' in Transparent Film Development 82 Traces of Early Native Americans -- In Sunflower Genes 84 Sistema de Infotecas Centrales Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila Computer Model Reveals Neurons Coordinating Their Messaging 87 Nanotechnologists Reveal the Frictional Characteristics of Atomically Thin Sheets 89 Turning Noise Into Vision: New Way to Reveal Images of Hidden Objects 91 Fat Clue to Triggering Latent Tuberculosis 93 Chocolate Might Reduce Blood Pressure and Risk of Heart Disease, Research Suggests 95 Opposing Functions of Key Molecule in Development of Organisms 98 New Procedure Could Speed Cell Phone Testing 100 New Study Investigates Infection of Human Cells in Space 102 Early Detection of Age-Related Memory Deficits in Mice 104 Racetrack Ion Trap Is a Contender in Quantum Computing Quest 106 Significant Step Toward Lightweight Batteries 108 New Method for Producing Proteins Critical to Medical Research 110 Molecular Middle Managers Make More Decisions Than Bosses 112 Insulin-producing cells can renegerate in diabetic mice 114 Picking our brains: How many ways can we be conscious? 115 Only mind games will make us save power 116 Ice plumbing is protecting Greenland from warm summers 118 Which is the greenest US city of all? 120 When will a Mediterranean tsunami hit Italy? 121 Tidal power? No thanks 122 Why space shuttle exhaust races to the poles 124 Electric cars jostle for position on the power grid 125 Making the most of a second look 127 Oceanology: Robot 'gliders' swim the undersea world 128 Electronic car bugs: What drivers need to know 130 Skin as a source of drug pollution 133 Inca cemetery holds brutal glimpses of Spanish violence 134 Colony of Young Stars Shines in New Spitzer Image 136 Young Men Who Smoke Have Lower IQs, Study Finds 138 Ocean Acidification: 'Evil Twin' Threatens World's Oceans, Scientists Warn 140 Higher Fat at Breakfast May Be Healthier Than You Think 142 Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust: Space Telescopes Image Remains of Collapsed Star 144 Exploration in Toddlers Activated by Fathers 146 New Path to Solar Energy Via Solid-State Photovoltaics 148 Advances Reported in Quest for Drugs Targeting Childhood Cancer 150 What If All Software Was Open Source? A Code to Unlock the Desktop 152 Dinosaur Skull Changed Shape During Growth 154 Leonardo Da Vinci's 'The Last Supper' Reveals More Secrets 156 Evidence-Based Medicine Theory Can Be Applied to Frequent Flying 157 Was a Giant Comet Responsible for a North American Catastrophe in 11,000 BC? 159 Grand Unified Theory of AI 161 Carbon Nanostructures: Elixir or Poison? 164 Fabled 'Vegetable Lamb' Plant Contains Potential Treatment for Osteoporosis 166 Anti-Counterfeit Drugs With Help of RFID 167 Children Use Space to Think About Time 169 New eco-threat: falling population 171 The Rules About How Parents Should Make Rules 173 Are We Overselling The Sunshine Vitamin? 176 For Hoarders, The Mess Begins In The Mind 179 Seeking Emotional Clues Without Facial Cues 181 Surprisingly, Family Time Has Grown 184 Pregnancy exercise 'slims babies' 186 Sheet of Four Pairs of Molecules Less Than One Nanometer Wide 188 Dangerous Plaques in Blood Vessels Rupture by Overproducing Protein-Busting Enzymes 190 Opportunity Surpasses 20 Kilometers of Total Driving 193 Did Climate Influence Angkor's Collapse? 194 Protected Forest Areas May Be Critical Strategy for Slowing Climate Change 196 Atlantic 'Conveyor Belt' Not Slowing, NASA Study Finds 198 Cutting Fat -- And Calories -- From Cakes and Frostings 200 2 Infoteca’s E-Journal No. 110 April 2010 Sistema de Infotecas Centrales Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila Effect of music on cognitive function Playing an instrument seems to make learning math and foreign languages easier, but researchers aren’t sure why. By Melissa Healy March 1, 2010 Taylor Bredberg is an ardent fan of the indie band Grizzly Bear and the TV series "Lost," an amateur filmmaker and a doodler of figures that bring to mind Tim Burton's kinetic grostesques. But if those interests make him a pretty normal teenager, Bredberg's eight-year relationship with the piano may have made him a little more unusual: He is a kid with the attention span of an anesthesiologist, the persistence and discipline of an Olympic athlete and the emotional range of an artist. "Piano has shaped me, yeah," says Bredberg, who began taking lessons after his family discovered him, at 7, plinking out on his own the pieces his older sister was learning in lessons. "In terms of discipline and creativity, I'd have been a much different person if I hadn't played piano." Once a week, Bredberg studies the instrument at the elite Colburn School for Performing Arts in Los Angeles. And he practices for several hours a day, favoring pieces by the Russian composers who are his favorites: Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Stravinsky. When he feels more delicate, he favors Debussy. As a freshman, Bredberg has been learning to speak Russian as well, and he finds Algebra 2 a cinch. "It's always been pretty understandable to me. It's very logical," he says. He recognizes the challenge of learning math as one that requires the same methodical patience it takes to learn Prokofiev's 3rd Sonata in A minor, his current project: "I've just gotten used to repeating one phrase until I can play it at the proper speed, and well, and musically," he says. "I guess that can contribute to not getting frustrated after having to repeat so many [math] problems." Kids like Taylor Bredberg underscore a key problem that researchers have in understanding the link between music-making and cognitive performance. Bredberg hails from the kind of educated family in which music instruction is more common to begin with — an environmental advantage that may account for his particular mental strengths. To truly learn what music-making can do for academic skills, researchers say they must pluck kids from a wider range of family environments and offer them music lessons, rather than just study kids whose families have sought out musical instruction for them. That's the only way they will be able to disentangle the effects of early environment from those of musical instruction, they say. http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-0301-brain-music-kids-20100301,0,3845859.story 3 Infoteca’s E-Journal No. 110 April 2010 Sistema de Infotecas Centrales Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila Internet 'threatens' rare species Conservationists say the internet has emerged as one of the biggest threats to endangered species. Campaigners say it is easier than ever before to buy and sell anything from live baby lions to polar bear pelts on online auction sites and chatrooms. The findings were presented at the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), which is meeting in Doha, Qatar. Several proposals to give endangered species more protection were defeated. Delegates will vote on changes to the trade in ivory later this week. Web effect "The internet is becoming the dominant factor overall in the global trade in protected species," said Paul Todd of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. He said thousands of endangered species are regularly traded on the internet, as buyers and sellers take advantage of the anonymity - and vast global market - the world wide web can offer. Those trying to police illegal sales say the size of problem is almost impossible to estimate. They say the US is the biggest market, but that Europe, China, Russia and Australia also play a large part. On Sunday, delegates voted to ban all international trade in a rare type of Iranian salamander, the Kaiser's Spotted Newt, which the World Wildlife Fund says has been devastated by the internet trade.