A. One of the Nation's Leading Centers for Autism Research
Narrator: This is Science Today. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 out of 166 children in this country are affected with autism. Neurologist David Amaral, the research director of the M.I.N.D. Institute at the University of California, Davis, says there are three cardinal features of autism.
Amaral: The first and foremost is they have a problem having social interactions with other people. But there are two other features as well. One is impairment in communication and the third is repetitive behaviors. They'll either have repetitive motor behaviors or they'll say the same words over and over and over again.
Narrator: The M.I.N.D. Institute, which stands for Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, is one of the nation's leading centers for autism research.
Amaral: We have a team that ranges all the way from molecular biology and genetics up to immunology, up to brain science, up to even treatment research. And what we hope is that by getting all this information on a large group of kids, things are going to start hanging together.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
Class of PCBs Causes Developmental Abnormalities in Rat Pups
Narrator: This is Science Today. A class of PCBs that was not considered particularly hazardous in the past has been found to cause developmental abnormalities in rat pups. Study leader Dr. Michael Merzenich of the University of California , San Francisco simulated the levels that had been recorded in human babies that were breast fed by mothers exposed to high levels of the toxicant. The consequence in the rat study was significant.
Merzenich: It basically frustrated the normal plastic process of the brain so that developmental progressions were very abnormal and the brain remained into adulthood in a very primitive, underdeveloped state.
Narrator: PCBs were mostly used as coolants and lubricants and were banned in the late 1970s, but they degrade very slowly and accumulate in the fat tissues of those exposed to contaminated fish, soil, water and air in high risk environments.
Merzenich: Really what these studies strongly indicate is that they raise a caution – a flag of warning and a concern that we hope will be aggressively addressed by other scientists.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
The Importance of Understanding Evolution
Narrator: This is Science Today. In simple terms, biological evolution is a change in a population's inherited traits from generation to generation. Albert Bennett, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California , Irvine says it's important to understand evolution because it's essentially about the ability of biological systems to cope with change.
Bennett: For whatever reason, we live in a very changing world. The world has always been changing and populations of organisms are always trying to keep up with climate change or with the invasion of another kind of animal or plant into their environment. They're always trying to cope with those sorts of things. Or within a new disease organism arises, trying to cope with that – all of these are evolution.
Narrator: Bennett's expertise is the evolutionary and comparative physiology of animals. For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
Caffeine is Not the Best Option for the Sleep Deprived
Narrator: This is Science Today. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that adults need seven to nine hours of sleep per night. But a national poll of women and sleep has found that more than half of the women surveyed are getting fewer than one or two nights of good sleep each week. Study leader, Kathryn Lee, a professor in the School of Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco says sixty-five percent of these women drink caffeinated beverages to cope with the lack of sleep.
Lee: One of the issues is that they take in so much caffeine that helps them get through their fatigue and gives them more energy, but it's a very temporary fix and they end up being very fatigued in the afternoon, after that caffeine's worn off.
Narrator: Lee says rather than reach for a caffeinated beverage during the day to make up for sleep deprivation, go for a walk.
Lee: Being active will help you sleep better at night. Studies have shown that if you have an exercise program you get more deep sleep during the night and feel more rested during the day.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E. New Insight into the Fundamental Nature of the Universe
Narrator: This is Science Today. For the first time, a research team has detected a subatomic particle called the top quark without its antimatter partner. This discovery could help scientists better understand the fundamental nature of the universe. Research physicist Ann Heinsen of the University of California , Riverside co-led the team of fifty international scientists.
Heinson: What the group does – we're looking for is the top quarks produced on their own without their anti-particles, which has never been seen before.
Narrator: The team used the world's highest energy particle accelerator to detect the top quark – an ingredient of the ‘nuclear soup' caused by the Big Bang.
Heinson: Just after the Big Bang, there are several periods – all of which occur within a tiny fraction of a second, as the universe cooled and expanded, the energy became less and then different types of particles decoupled from other ones and so at that point when one might call it a nuclear soup is long before the particles have clustered together through gravity into stars and galaxies.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
