ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Exploding stars prove Newton's law of gravity unchanged over cosmic time
• Einstein's 'spooky' theory may lead to ultra-secure Internet
• Missing hormone in birds: Leptin found in mallard duck, peregrine falcon and zebra finch
• Small wireless pacemaker safe, effective in early testing
• Life lessons: Children learn aggressive ways of thinking and behaving from violent video games, study finds
• Shock-absorbing 'goo' discovered in bone
• 'RoboClam' replicates a clam's ability to burrow while using little energy
• Unconscious mind can detect a liar -- even when the conscious mind fails
• DNA from fossils reveal origin of Norwegian lemmings

Exploding stars prove Newton's law of gravity unchanged over cosmic time Posted: 24 Mar 2014 08:02 PM PDT Australian astronomers have combined all observations of supernovae ever made to determine that the strength of gravity has remained unchanged over the last nine billion years. Newton's gravitational constant, known as G, describes the attractive force between two objects, together with the separation between them and their masses. It has been previously suggested that G could have been slowly changing over the 13.8 billion years since the Big Bang. But researchers have now analyzed the light given off by 580 supernova explosions in the nearby and far Universe and have shown that the strength of gravity has not changed.

Einstein's 'spooky' theory may lead to ultra-secure Internet Posted: 24 Mar 2014 07:45 PM PDT Einstein's skepticism about quantum mechanics may lead to an ultra-secure Internet, a new paper suggests. In 1935, Einstein and researchers highlighted a 'spooky' theory in quantum mechanics, which is the strange way entangled particles stay connected even when separated by large distances. In the new research, the authors show that entangled messages "can be shared between more than two people and may provide unprecedented security for a future quantum Internet."

Missing hormone in birds: Leptin found in mallard duck, peregrine falcon and zebra finch Posted: 24 Mar 2014 03:42 PM PDT How does the Arctic tern (a sea bird) fly more than 80,000 miles in its roundtrip North Pole-to-South Pole migration? How does the Emperor penguin incubate eggs for months during the Antarctic winter without eating? These physiological gymnastics would usually be influenced by leptin, the hormone that regulates body fat storage, metabolism and appetite. However, leptin has gone missing in birds -- until now.

Small wireless pacemaker safe, effective in early testing Posted: 24 Mar 2014 03:15 PM PDT A battery-sized, wireless pacemaker was safe and effective in early testing. The smaller leadless device may reduce the risk of complications that occur with traditional pacemakers. After three months, the new pacemakers were functioning well, the researchers found. They are continuing to track the patients and expect to report longer-term outcomes later this year.

Life lessons: Children learn aggressive ways of thinking and behaving from violent video games, study finds Posted: 24 Mar 2014 03:12 PM PDT Children who repeatedly play violent video games are learning thought patterns that will stick with them and influence behaviors as they grow older, according to a new study. The effect is the same regardless of age, gender or culture. The lead researcher says it is really no different than learning math or to play the piano.

Shock-absorbing 'goo' discovered in bone Posted: 24 Mar 2014 12:40 PM PDT New findings show that much of the mineral from which bone is made consists of 'goo' trapped between tiny crystals, allowing movement between them. It is this flexibility that stops bones from shattering. Latest research shows that the chemical citrate -- a by-product of natural cell metabolism -- is mixed with water to create a viscous fluid that is trapped between the nano-scale crystals that form our bones. This fluid allows enough movement, or 'slip', between these crystals so that bones are flexible, and don't shatter under pressure. It is the inbuilt shock absorber in bone that, until now, was unknown.

'RoboClam' replicates a clam's ability to burrow while using little energy Posted: 24 Mar 2014 08:19 AM PDT The Atlantic razor clam uses very little energy to burrow into undersea soil at high speed. Now a detailed insight into how the animal digs has led to the development of a robotic clam that can perform the same trick.

Unconscious mind can detect a liar -- even when the conscious mind fails Posted: 24 Mar 2014 07:45 AM PDT When it comes to detecting deceit, your automatic associations may be more accurate than conscious thought in pegging truth-tellers and liars, according to research. The findings suggest that conscious awareness may hinder our ability to detect whether someone is lying, perhaps because we tend to seek out behaviors that are supposedly stereotypical of liars, like averted eyes or fidgeting. But those behaviors may not be all that indicative of an untrustworthy person.

DNA from fossils reveal origin of Norwegian lemmings Posted: 24 Mar 2014 06:02 AM PDT A new ancient DNA study shows that the Norwegian lemming has a unique history. In contrast to other mammals in Fennoscandia, the Norwegian lemming may have survived the last Ice Age in the far north, sealed off from the rest of the world by gigantic ice sheets.

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