ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Repeat act: Parallel selection tweaks many of the same genes to make big and heavy mice
• Why women wiggling in high heels could help improve prosthetic limbs and robots
• Plastic trash altering ocean habitats
• NASA's Spitzer sees the light of alien 'super-Earth'
• Is a new form of life really so alien?
• Quantum dots brighten the future of lighting
• Chemistry: Scientists unlock mystery of how 'handedness' arises in proteins, other functional molecules
• Future treatment for nearsightedness — compact fluorescent light bulbs?
• Ancient ballgame reveals more about early Mesoamerican society
• African designer and scientist fashion anti-malaria garment that wards off bugs
• Volcanoes sound-off on the life-cycles of eruptions
• Scientists tuning in to how you tune out noise
• 'Blindness’ may rapidly enhance other senses
• Gestures fulfill a big role in language
• Bats, whales, and bio-sonar: New findings about whales’ foraging behavior reveal surprising evolutionary convergence
• Built-in ear plugs: Whales may turn down their hearing sensitivity when warned of an impending loud noise
• Acoustic diode, providing one-way transmission of sound, promises to improve ultrasound imaging
• Beetle-fungus disease threatens crops and landscape trees in Southern California
• Prepregnancy obesity linked to child test scores
• Female and younger athletes take longer to overcome concussions
• Geologists map prehistoric climate changes in Canada's Yukon Territory
• Terrible twos? Study indicates finding a positive parental balance is key
• Flavonoid compound found in foods and supplements may prevent the formation of blood clots, study suggests
• Rare glimpse of world's rarest gorilla
• New battery system could reduce buildings' electric bills
• Not always safety in numbers when it comes to extinction risk
• How cannabis use during adolescence affects brain regions associated with schizophrenia
• New way to stop cancer? Block their recycling system, and tumor cells die
• Challenges in genetically engineered crop regulatory process
• Fewer suicides after antidepressive treatment for schizophrenia
• Weed-eating fish 'help protect jobs, livelihoods'
• Psychiatric medications' effect on brain structure varies
• It's official: Physics is hard
• The electronic 'Pavlov's Dog'
• First evidence of a cult in Judah at time of King David
• New material class developed: Pentamode metamaterial
• Refugees from the Ice Age: How was Europe repopulated?
• Male college students believe taking performance-enhancing drugs for sports is more unethical than using stimulants to improve grades
• Psychopathy linked to specific structural abnormalities in the brain
• Sperm crawl and collide on way to egg, say scientists

Repeat act: Parallel selection tweaks many of the same genes to make big and heavy mice Posted: 08 May 2012 07:01 PM PDT Organisms are adapted to their environment through their individual characteristics, like body size and body weight. Such complex traits are usually controlled by many genes. As a result, individuals show tremendous variations and can also show subtle gradations. Researchers have now investigated how evolution alters such traits through selection. To do this, they examined the genomes of mouse lines that were selected independently of each other for extreme body size.

Why women wiggling in high heels could help improve prosthetic limbs and robots Posted: 08 May 2012 07:01 PM PDT People walking normally, women tottering in high heels and ostriches strutting all exert the same forces on the ground despite very differently-shaped feet, according to new research. The finding suggests that prosthetic lower limbs and robots' legs could be made more efficient by making them less human-like and more like the prosthetics used by 'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius.

Plastic trash altering ocean habitats Posted: 08 May 2012 07:01 PM PDT A 100-fold upsurge in human-produced plastic garbage in the ocean is altering habitats in the marine environment, according to a new study.

NASA's Spitzer sees the light of alien 'super-Earth' Posted: 08 May 2012 02:44 PM PDT NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has detected light emanating from a "super-Earth" planet beyond our solar system for the first time. While the planet is not habitable, the detection is a historic step toward the eventual search for signs of life on other planets.

Is a new form of life really so alien? Posted: 08 May 2012 02:35 PM PDT The idea of discovering a new form of life has not only excited astronomers and astrobiologists for decades, but also the wider public. The notion that we are the only example of a successful life form in the galaxy has, for many, seemed like an unlikely statistic. A new essay examines what really constitutes "life" and the probability of discovering new life forms.

Quantum dots brighten the future of lighting Posted: 08 May 2012 02:33 PM PDT Researchers have boosted the efficiency of a novel source of white light called quantum dots more than tenfold, making them of potential interest for commercial applications.

Chemistry: Scientists unlock mystery of how 'handedness' arises in proteins, other functional molecules Posted: 08 May 2012 01:33 PM PDT Chemists have solved a molecular mystery. The overwhelming majority of proteins and other functional molecules in our bodies display a striking molecular characteristic: They can exist in two distinct forms that are mirror images of each other, like your right hand and left hand. Surprisingly, each of our bodies prefers only one of these molecular forms.

Future treatment for nearsightedness — compact fluorescent light bulbs? Posted: 08 May 2012 01:32 PM PDT Researchers hope to use fluorescent light bulbs to slow nearsightedness, which affects 40 percent of American adults and can cause blindness.

Ancient ballgame reveals more about early Mesoamerican society Posted: 08 May 2012 12:21 PM PDT New research explores the importance of the ballgame to ancient Mesoamerican societies. Dr. Blomster's findings show how the discovery of a ballplayer figurine in the Mixteca Alta region of Oaxaca demonstrates the early participation of the region in the iconography and ideology of the game, a point that had not been previously documented by other researchers.

African designer and scientist fashion anti-malaria garment that wards off bugs Posted: 08 May 2012 12:20 PM PDT A scientist and designer from Africa have together created a fashionable hooded bodysuit embedded at the molecular level with insecticides for warding off mosquitoes infected with malaria. The outfit debuted on the runway at the Cornell Fashion Collective spring fashion show, April 28.

Volcanoes sound-off on the life-cycles of eruptions Posted: 08 May 2012 12:20 PM PDT Volcanoes emit a broad spectrum of sonic energy. In the case of basaltic eruptions, most of that acoustical energy in the infrasound range. A new study reveals that this low-frequency sound can give scientists an enhanced understanding of the behavior of volcanoes and a tool to monitor the lifecycles of their eruptions.

Scientists tuning in to how you tune out noise Posted: 08 May 2012 12:20 PM PDT Although we have little awareness that we are doing it, we spend most of our lives filtering out many of the sounds that permeate our lives and acutely focusing on others – a phenomenon known as auditory selective attention. Hearing scientists are attempting to tease apart the process.

'Blindness’ may rapidly enhance other senses Posted: 08 May 2012 12:20 PM PDT Not only is there a real connection between vision and other senses, but that connection is important to better understand the underlying mechanisms that can quickly trigger sensory changes, according to new research.

Gestures fulfill a big role in language Posted: 08 May 2012 12:20 PM PDT People of all ages and cultures gesture while speaking, some much more noticeably than others. But is gesturing uniquely tied to speech, or is it, rather, processed by the brain like any other manual action? Scientists have discovered that actual actions on objects, such as physically stirring a spoon in a cup, have less of an impact on the brain's understanding of speech than simply gesturing as if stirring a spoon in a cup.

Bats, whales, and bio-sonar: New findings about whales’ foraging behavior reveal surprising evolutionary convergence Posted: 08 May 2012 12:19 PM PDT Though they evolved separately over millions of years in different worlds of darkness, bats and toothed whales use surprisingly similar acoustic behavior to locate, track, and capture prey using echolocation, the biological equivalent of sonar. Now researchers have shown that the acoustic behavior of these two types of animals while hunting is eerily similar.

Built-in ear plugs: Whales may turn down their hearing sensitivity when warned of an impending loud noise Posted: 08 May 2012 12:19 PM PDT Toothed whales navigate through sometimes dark and murky waters by emitting clicks and then interpreting the pattern of sound that bounces back. The animals' hearing can pick up faint echoes, but that sensitivity can be a liability around loud noises. Now researchers have discovered that whales may protect their ears by lowering their hearing sensitivity when warned of an imminent loud sound.

Acoustic diode, providing one-way transmission of sound, promises to improve ultrasound imaging Posted: 08 May 2012 12:19 PM PDT An acoustic diode, enabling the one-way transmission of sound waves, could dramatically improve the quality of medical ultrasound imaging and lead to better sound dampening materials. Such a device has now been created.

Beetle-fungus disease threatens crops and landscape trees in Southern California Posted: 08 May 2012 11:26 AM PDT A plant pathologist has identified a fungus that has been linked to the branch dieback and general decline of several backyard avocado and landscape trees in residential neighborhoods of Los Angeles County. The fungus, which caused avocado dieback in Israel, is a new species of Fusarium and is transmitted by the Tea Shot Hole Borer, a beetle no larger than a sesame seed.

Prepregnancy obesity linked to child test scores Posted: 08 May 2012 11:25 AM PDT Women who are obese before they become pregnant are at higher risk of having children with lower cognitive function - as measured by math and reading tests taken between ages 5 to 7 years - than are mothers with a healthy prepregnancy weight, new research suggests.

Female and younger athletes take longer to overcome concussions Posted: 08 May 2012 09:45 AM PDT Female athletes and younger athletes take longer to recover from concussions, findings that call for physicians and athletic trainers to take sex and age into account when dealing with the injury.

Geologists map prehistoric climate changes in Canada's Yukon Territory Posted: 08 May 2012 09:45 AM PDT Scientists have analyzed sedimentary and geochemical records of water-level changes in Rantin Lake, located in the boreal forest of Canada's southeastern Yukon Territory.

Terrible twos? Study indicates finding a positive parental balance is key Posted: 08 May 2012 09:45 AM PDT Wondering why your toddler is acting up? Researchers say it may be time to take a look at your parental style -- and your partner's.

Flavonoid compound found in foods and supplements may prevent the formation of blood clots, study suggests Posted: 08 May 2012 09:45 AM PDT A compound called rutin, commonly found in fruits and vegetables and sold over the counter as a dietary supplement, has been shown to inhibit the formation of blood clots in an animal model of thrombosis.

Rare glimpse of world's rarest gorilla Posted: 08 May 2012 09:45 AM PDT Conservationists working in Cameroon's Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary have collected the first camera trap video footage of the Cross River gorilla. With fewer than 250 individuals remaining, Cross River gorillas are the world's rarest gorilla and a notoriously elusive species rarely observed directly by field researchers.

New battery system could reduce buildings' electric bills Posted: 08 May 2012 08:28 AM PDT The team of scientists who has been developing innovative low-cost batteries that are safe, non-toxic, and reliable with fast discharge rates and high energy densities, announced that it has built an operating prototype zinc anode battery system. The large-scale commercialization of the battery would start later this year.

Not always safety in numbers when it comes to extinction risk Posted: 08 May 2012 08:28 AM PDT A basic tenet underpinning scientists' understanding of extinction is that more abundant species persist longer than their less abundant counterparts. A new study reveals a much more complex relationship. A team of scientists analyzed more than 46,000 fossils from 52 sites and found that greater numbers did indeed help clam-like brachiopods survive the Ordovician extinction. Surprisingly, abundance did not help brachiopod species persist for extended periods outside of the extinction event.

How cannabis use during adolescence affects brain regions associated with schizophrenia Posted: 08 May 2012 08:27 AM PDT New research has shown physical changes to exist in specific brain areas implicated in schizophrenia following the use of cannabis during adolescence. The research has shown how cannabis use during adolescence can interact with a gene, called the COMT gene, to cause physical changes in the brain.

New way to stop cancer? Block their recycling system, and tumor cells die Posted: 08 May 2012 08:27 AM PDT All cells have the ability to recycle unwanted or damaged proteins and reuse the building blocks as food. But cancer cells have ramped up the system, called autophagy, and rely on it to escape damage in the face of chemotherapy and other treatments. Now, researchers have developed a potent new drug that clogs up the recycling machinery and kills tumor cells in mouse models.

Challenges in genetically engineered crop regulatory process Posted: 08 May 2012 08:27 AM PDT A new innovation can completely reshape an industry -- inspiring both optimism and debate. The development of genetically engineered (GE) crops in the 1980's ignited a buzz in the agricultural community with the potential for higher crop yields and better nutritional content, along with the reduction of herbicide and pesticide use. GE crops grew to play a significant role in the U.S., with more than 160 million acres of farmland used to produce GE crops in 2011.

Fewer suicides after antidepressive treatment for schizophrenia Posted: 08 May 2012 07:39 AM PDT Antidepressive drugs reduce the mortality rate of schizophrenic patients, while treatment with bensodiazepines greatly increases it, especially as regards suicide. Giving several antipsychotics simultaneously, however, seems to have no effect at all. This according to a new study examining different drug combinations administered to patients with schizophrenia.

Weed-eating fish 'help protect jobs, livelihoods' Posted: 08 May 2012 07:39 AM PDT Jobs, livelihoods and ecotourism industries can benefit from having a diverse supply of weed-eating fish on the world's coral reefs, marine researchers say. Despite their small size, relative to the sharks, whales, and turtles that often get more attention, herbivorous fish play a vital role in maintaining the health of coral reefs, which support the livelihoods of 500 million people worldwide, say researchers.

Psychiatric medications' effect on brain structure varies Posted: 08 May 2012 07:39 AM PDT It is increasingly recognized that chronic psychotropic drug treatment may lead to structural remodeling of the brain. Indeed, clinical studies in humans present an intriguing picture: Antipsychotics, used for the treatment of schizophrenia and psychosis, may contribute to cortical gray matter loss in patients, whereas lithium, used for the treatment of bipolar disorder and mania, may preserve gray matter in patients.

It's official: Physics is hard Posted: 08 May 2012 07:38 AM PDT Scientists have conducted scientific research on the difficulty –- from a computational complexity theory perspective -- of addressing some of the challenges of physics.

The electronic 'Pavlov's Dog' Posted: 08 May 2012 07:38 AM PDT Nanotechnology scientists and memory researchers have redesigned a mental learning process using electronic circuits.

First evidence of a cult in Judah at time of King David Posted: 08 May 2012 07:38 AM PDT Archaeologists have discovered objects that for the first time shed light on how a cult was organized in Judah at the time of King David. During recent archaeological excavations at Khirbet Qeiyafa, a fortified city in Judah adjacent to the Valley of Elah, Garfinkel and colleagues uncovered rich assemblages of pottery, stone and metal tools, and many art and cult objects.

New material class developed: Pentamode metamaterial Posted: 08 May 2012 07:38 AM PDT Engineers have succeeded in realizing a new material class through the manufacturing of a stable crystalline metafluid, a pentamode metamaterial. Using new nanostructuring methods, these materials can now be realized for the first time with any conceivable mechanical properties.

Refugees from the Ice Age: How was Europe repopulated? Posted: 08 May 2012 06:43 AM PDT Scientists have used DNA analysis to gain important new insights into how human beings repopulated Europe as the Ice Age relaxed its grip.

Male college students believe taking performance-enhancing drugs for sports is more unethical than using stimulants to improve grades Posted: 08 May 2012 06:39 AM PDT In the eyes of young college men, it's more unethical to use steroids to get an edge in sports than it is to use prescription stimulants to enhance one's grades, according to new research.

Psychopathy linked to specific structural abnormalities in the brain Posted: 07 May 2012 01:46 PM PDT New research provides the strongest evidence to date that psychopathy is linked to specific structural abnormalities in the brain. The study is the first to confirm that psychopathy is a distinct neurodevelopmental subgroup of anti-social personality disorder.

Sperm crawl and collide on way to egg, say scientists Posted: 07 May 2012 12:41 PM PDT Scientists have shed new light on how sperm navigate the female reproductive tract, "crawling" along the channel walls and swimming around corners -- with frequent collisions.

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