ScienceDaily: Top Science News

---

• Egypt: Sarcophagus leads to the tomb of a previously unknown pharaoh, from 3,600 Years Ago
• Genomes of modern dogs and wolves provide new insights on domestication
• Violence, infectious disease and climate change contributed to Indus civilization collapse
• Natural 3-D counterpart to graphene discovered: New form of quantum matter
• Altering the community of gut bacteria promotes health and increases lifespan
• Massive galaxy cluster verifies predictions of cosmological theory: First detection of kinetic SZ effect in an individual galaxy cluster
• Megafloods: What they leave behind
• Astronomers probe the primitive nature of a distant 'space blob'
• The way to a chimpanzee's heart is through its stomach
• Novel technology reveals aerodynamics of migrating birds flying in a V-formation
• Image perception in the blink of an eye
• First black hole orbiting a 'spinning' star
• Discovery of quantum vibrations in 'microtubules' inside brain neurons supports controversial theory of consciousness
• Hubble and Galaxy Zoo find bars and baby galaxies don't mix
• Brain regions 'tune' activity to enable attention
• Drinking and driving: Unsafe at any level, study concludes
• Symphony of life, revealed: New imaging technique captures vibrations of proteins, tiny motions critical to human life
• Scientists discover new pathway for artificial photosynthesis

Egypt: Sarcophagus leads to the tomb of a previously unknown pharaoh, from 3,600 Years Ago Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:03 PM PST Archaeologists working at the southern Egyptian site of Abydos have discovered the tomb of a previously unknown pharaoh: Woseribre Senebkay -- and the first material proof of a forgotten Abydos Dynasty, ca. 1650-1600 BC.

Genomes of modern dogs and wolves provide new insights on domestication Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:01 PM PST Dogs and wolves evolved from a common ancestor between 9,000 and 34,000 years ago, before humans transitioned to agricultural societies, according to an analysis of modern dog and wolf genomes from areas of the world thought to be centers of dog domestication.

Violence, infectious disease and climate change contributed to Indus civilization collapse Posted: 16 Jan 2014 01:20 PM PST A study of skeletal remains from the ancient city of Harappa provides evidence that inter-personal violence and infectious diseases played a role in the demise of the Indus Civilization.

Natural 3-D counterpart to graphene discovered: New form of quantum matter Posted: 16 Jan 2014 12:08 PM PST A natural 3-D counterpart to 2-D graphene with similar or even better electron mobility and velocity has been discovered. This discovery promises exciting new things to come for the high-tech industry, including much faster transistors and far more compact hard drives.

Altering the community of gut bacteria promotes health and increases lifespan Posted: 16 Jan 2014 10:06 AM PST Having the right balance of gut bacteria may be the key to enjoying a long healthy life. Scientists promoted health and increased lifespan in Drosophila by altering the symbiotic relationship between bacteria and the absorptive cells lining the intestine. The work provides a model for studying diseases associated with the aging gut, and how we go from having a young, healthy gut to one that is old and decrepit.

Massive galaxy cluster verifies predictions of cosmological theory: First detection of kinetic SZ effect in an individual galaxy cluster Posted: 16 Jan 2014 08:35 AM PST By observing a high-speed component of a massive galaxy cluster, scientists have detected for the first time in an individual object the kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect, a change in the cosmic microwave background caused by its interaction with massive moving objects.

Megafloods: What they leave behind Posted: 16 Jan 2014 08:35 AM PST South-central Idaho and the surface of Mars have an interesting geological feature in common: amphitheater-headed canyons. Researchers offer a plausible account that all these canyons were created by enormous floods.

Astronomers probe the primitive nature of a distant 'space blob' Posted: 16 Jan 2014 08:35 AM PST Himiko, a "space blob" named after a legendary queen from ancient Japan, is a simply enormous galaxy, with a hot glowing gaseous halo extending over 55,000 light-years. Not only is Himiko very large, it is extraordinarily distant, seen at a time approximately 800 million years after the Big Bang, when the universe was only 6 percent of its present size and stars and galaxies were just beginning to form.

The way to a chimpanzee's heart is through its stomach Posted: 16 Jan 2014 08:35 AM PST Researchers measured the urinary oxytocin levels in wild chimpanzees after food sharing and found them to be elevated in both donor and receiver compared to social feeding events without sharing. Furthermore, oxytocin levels were higher after food sharing than after grooming, another cooperative behavior, suggesting that food sharing might play a more important role in promoting social bonding.

Novel technology reveals aerodynamics of migrating birds flying in a V-formation Posted: 16 Jan 2014 08:29 AM PST Researchers using custom-built GPS and accelerometer loggers attached to free-flying birds on migration, have gained ground-breaking insights into the mysteries of bird flight formation.

Image perception in the blink of an eye Posted: 16 Jan 2014 06:11 AM PST Imagine seeing a dozen pictures flash by in a fraction of a second. You might think it would be impossible to identify any images you see for such a short time. However, a team of neuroscientists has found that the human brain can process entire images that the eye sees for as little as 13 milliseconds -- the first evidence of such rapid processing speed.

First black hole orbiting a 'spinning' star Posted: 16 Jan 2014 06:11 AM PST Scientists have discovered the first binary system ever known to consist of a black hole and a 'spinning' star – or more accurately, a Be-type star. Although predicted by theory, none had previously been found.

Discovery of quantum vibrations in 'microtubules' inside brain neurons supports controversial theory of consciousness Posted: 16 Jan 2014 05:51 AM PST A review and update of a controversial 20-year-old theory of consciousness claims that consciousness derives from deeper level, finer scale activities inside brain neurons. The recent discovery of quantum vibrations in "microtubules" inside brain neurons corroborates this theory, according to review authors. They suggest that EEG rhythms (brain waves) also derive from deeper level microtubule vibrations, and that from a practical standpoint, treating brain microtubule vibrations could benefit a host of mental, neurological, and cognitive conditions.

Hubble and Galaxy Zoo find bars and baby galaxies don't mix Posted: 16 Jan 2014 05:51 AM PST Harnessing the power of both the Hubble Space Telescope and the citizen science project Galaxy Zoo, scientists have found that bar-shaped features in spiral galaxies accelerate the galaxy aging process. The astronomers found that the fraction of spiral galaxies with bar features has doubled in the last eight billion years -- the latter half of the history of the universe.

Brain regions 'tune' activity to enable attention Posted: 16 Jan 2014 05:48 AM PST The brain appears to synchronize the activity of different brain regions to make it possible for a person to pay attention or concentrate on a task, scientists have learned.

Drinking and driving: Unsafe at any level, study concludes Posted: 16 Jan 2014 05:48 AM PST A study finds that even "minimally buzzed" drivers -- with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.01 percent -- are 46 percent more likely to be officially and solely blamed by accident investigators than are the sober drivers they collide with.

Symphony of life, revealed: New imaging technique captures vibrations of proteins, tiny motions critical to human life Posted: 16 Jan 2014 05:48 AM PST Like the strings on a violin or the pipes of an organ, the proteins in the human body vibrate in different patterns, scientists have long suspected. Now, a new study provides what researchers say is the first conclusive evidence that this is true.

Scientists discover new pathway for artificial photosynthesis Posted: 14 Jan 2014 05:31 PM PST Currently, the most efficient methods that we have of making fuel -- principally hydrogen -- from sunlight and water involve rare and expensive metal catalysts, like platinum. In a new study, researchers have found a new, more efficient way to link a less expensive synthetic cobalt-containing catalyst to an organic light-sensitive molecule, called a chromophore.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Top Science News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610