ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Did men evolve navigation skill to find mates? Spatial ability, roaming distance linked to number of lovers
• Philae, the ‘Happy Lander’: Instruments delivering images and data from comet's surface
• Investigational medication used to resolve life-threatening seizures in children
• Atomic timekeeping, on the go: New approach may enable more stable and accurate portable atomic clocks
• Genetic tweak gave yellow fever mosquitoes a nose for human odor
• Predicting US Army suicides after hospital discharge
• Secrets in stone: Art historian cracks the code of an ancient temple
• Behavioral changes seen after sleep learning: Rotten egg smell blended with cigarette smell helps smokers' quit
• Picture emerges of how kids get head injuries
• The backwards brain? How brain maps develop to help us perceive the world
• A piece of the quantum puzzle
• Hope for those with social anxiety disorder: You may already be someone's best friend
• Latest supercomputers enable high-resolution climate models, truer simulation of extreme weather
• Amateur, professional astronomers alike thrilled by extreme storms on Uranus
• Moving cameras talk to each other to identify, track pedestrians
• Jupiter's Great Red Spot is likely a sunburn, not a blush
• Major class of fracking chemicals no more toxic than common household substances, analysis finds
• China's old-growth forests vanishing despite government policies
• Important brain reward pathway confirmed by researchers
• Software models more detailed evolutionary networks from genetic data
• Lung regeneration mechanism discovered
• HIV virulence depends on where virus inserts itself in host DNA
• Live longer? Save the planet? Better diet could nail both
• ‘Smart’ drugs won’t make smart people smarter, research concludes
• All 'quantum weirdness' may be caused by interacting parallel worlds, physicist theorizes
• Touchdown! Rosetta’s Philae probe lands on comet
• Learning languages is a workout for brains, both young, old
• A tale of two seas: Last Ice Age has shaped sharks across Europe
• Self-inflation harms kids' relationships at school
• Stock market models help researchers predict animal behavior
• Moderate consumption of sugary drinks has little impact on adolescents' metabolic health
• Marked benefits found for cancer prevention with a higher intake of fatty fish
• Genetic variant linked to better memory performance found
• Rosetta's singing comet
• A twisted world: Chemists build a molecular banister
• Non-genetic changes can help parents or offspring, not both, researchers say
• Electronic 'tongue' to ensure food quality
• Artificial retina could someday help restore vision
• Single-dose, needle-free ebola vaccine provides long-term protection in macaques
• Want to improve your putt? Try listening to jazz
• In preschoolers, office test overestimates eye's ability to change focus
• Common chemotherapeutic agent reduces resistance to virus therapy in brain tumor patients
• Predicting dengue fever outbreaks in China using Internet searches
• Facial structure predicts goals, fouls among World Cup soccer players
• New materials for more powerful solar cells
• Ant inhabitants of New York City: High diversity underfoot in urban environments
• Insights into plant growth could curb need for fertilizers
• Virtual reality speeds up rehabilitation: Integrating force feedback into therapies for impaired hands
• Best supporting actors -- in your ears? Research points to potential way to restore hearing
• New properties of microbes that cause common eye infection discovered
• A previously unrecognized flame retardant found in Americans for the first time
• Bilingual brains better equipped to process information
• Mothers nurture emotions in girls over boys, new study finds
• Furin: The answer to the ebola crises?
• Fewer surgeries with degradable implants
• European spacecraft set to harpoon a comet
• Using 3-D printers to print out self-learning robots
• Electric cars without drivers
• Understanding natural compounds when antibiotics no longer work
• Memory disorders: New targets, test to develop treatments

Did men evolve navigation skill to find mates? Spatial ability, roaming distance linked to number of lovers Posted: 13 Nov 2014 04:48 AM PST A new study of two African tribes found evidence that men evolved better navigation ability than women because men with better spatial skills – the ability to mentally manipulate objects – can roam farther and have children with more mates.

Philae, the ‘Happy Lander’: Instruments delivering images and data from comet's surface Posted: 13 Nov 2014 04:39 AM PST Rosetta's lander Philae is safely on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. First analysis of the touchdown data suggests that the lander bounced twice before settling on the surface of the comet. The lander remains unanchored to the surface, but the instruments are running and are delivering images and data.

Investigational medication used to resolve life-threatening seizures in children Posted: 12 Nov 2014 05:33 PM PST In its first clinical application in pediatric patients, an investigational medication has been found to effectively treat children with life-threatening and difficult-to-control epileptic seizures without side effects, according to a research report.

Atomic timekeeping, on the go: New approach may enable more stable and accurate portable atomic clocks Posted: 12 Nov 2014 05:33 PM PST What time is it? The answer, no matter what your initial reference may be -- a wristwatch, a smartphone, or an alarm clock -- will always trace back to the atomic clock.

Genetic tweak gave yellow fever mosquitoes a nose for human odor Posted: 12 Nov 2014 05:33 PM PST One of the world's deadliest mosquitoes sustains its taste for human blood thanks in part to a genetic tweak that makes it more sensitive to human odor, according to new research.

Predicting US Army suicides after hospital discharge Posted: 12 Nov 2014 05:32 PM PST Some Army suicides can be predicted with enough accuracy to justify implementing preventive interventions in patients at high risk, experts say. The study looked at 53,769 regular Army soldiers during the 12-month period following their discharge from a psychiatric facility during 2004 to 2009. Hundreds of potential predictors of post-hospital suicide were abstracted from the extensive Army and Department of Defense administrative files that contain data on all soldiers.

Secrets in stone: Art historian cracks the code of an ancient temple Posted: 12 Nov 2014 05:26 PM PST For 13 centuries, the Virupaksha Temple in Pattadakal has been one of the most recognizable landmarks in Indian art —- a towering layer cake of elaborate, hand-carved friezes populated by a bevy of Hindu deities and symbols. Now a professor of Asian art history has shown that these figures are more than just architectural decoration.

Behavioral changes seen after sleep learning: Rotten egg smell blended with cigarette smell helps smokers' quit Posted: 12 Nov 2014 05:26 PM PST The scientist who discovered that we can learn in our sleep via conditioning with odor, has now shown that smokers used fewer cigarettes after a night of olfactory training. By exposing sleeping smokers to the smell of cigarettes paired with rotten eggs or fish, the team saw a significant reduction in the amount smoked.

Picture emerges of how kids get head injuries Posted: 12 Nov 2014 05:26 PM PST A study in which more than 43,000 children were evaluated for head trauma offers an unprecedented picture of how children most frequently suffer head injuries, report physicians. The findings also indicate how often such incidents result in significant brain injuries, computerized tomography (CT) scans to assess head injuries, and neurosurgery to treat them.

The backwards brain? How brain maps develop to help us perceive the world Posted: 12 Nov 2014 01:10 PM PST Scientists reveal that physically moving forward actually trains the brain to perceive the world normally. The findings also show that, the order in which we see things could help the brain calibrate how we perceive time, as well as the objects around us.

A piece of the quantum puzzle Posted: 12 Nov 2014 11:48 AM PST Scientists have been exploring qubits (quantum bits) for quantum simulation. In this work, researchers have demonstrated a quantum version of Gauss's law. The novelty of the experiment is how the curvature was measured.

Hope for those with social anxiety disorder: You may already be someone's best friend Posted: 12 Nov 2014 11:48 AM PST Making friends is often extremely difficult for people with social anxiety disorder and to make matters worse, people with this disorder tend to assume that the friendships they do have are not of the highest quality. The problem with this perception, suggests new research, is that their friends don't necessarily see it that way.

Latest supercomputers enable high-resolution climate models, truer simulation of extreme weather Posted: 12 Nov 2014 11:48 AM PST Not long ago, it would have taken several years to run a high-resolution simulation on a global climate model. But using some of the most powerful supercomputers now available, scientists were able to complete a run in just three months. What they found was that not only were the simulations much closer to actual observations, but the high-resolution models were far better at reproducing intense storms, such as hurricanes and cyclones.

Amateur, professional astronomers alike thrilled by extreme storms on Uranus Posted: 12 Nov 2014 11:48 AM PST The normally bland face of Uranus has become increasingly stormy, with enormous cloud systems so bright that for the first time, amateur astronomers are able to see details in the planet's hazy blue-green atmosphere. Astronomers first observed the storms in the infrared using the Keck telescope. When amateurs learned of the storms, they turned their optical telescopes on the planet and saw different but equally impressive storms.

Moving cameras talk to each other to identify, track pedestrians Posted: 12 Nov 2014 11:47 AM PST Electrical engineers have developed a way to automatically track people across moving and still cameras by using an algorithm that trains the networked cameras to learn one another's differences.

Jupiter's Great Red Spot is likely a sunburn, not a blush Posted: 12 Nov 2014 10:32 AM PST The ruddy color of Jupiter's Great Red Spot is likely a product of simple chemicals being broken apart by sunlight in the planet's upper atmosphere, according to a new analysis of data from NASA's Cassini mission. The results contradict the other leading theory for the origin of the spot's striking color -- that the reddish chemicals come from beneath Jupiter's clouds.

Major class of fracking chemicals no more toxic than common household substances, analysis finds Posted: 12 Nov 2014 10:21 AM PST The 'surfactant' chemicals found in samples of fracking fluid collected in five states were no more toxic than substances commonly found in homes, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis.

China's old-growth forests vanishing despite government policies Posted: 12 Nov 2014 10:21 AM PST China's anti-logging, conservation and ecotourism policies are accelerating the loss of old-growth forests in one of the world's most ecologically fragile places, according to studies. The findings shed new light on the complex interactions between China's development and conservation policies and their impact on the most diverse temperate forests in the world, in "Shangri-La" in northwest Yunnan Province.

Important brain reward pathway confirmed by researchers Posted: 12 Nov 2014 10:21 AM PST Details of the role of glutamate, the brain's excitatory chemical, in a drug reward pathway have been identified for the first time. This discovery in rodents shows that stimulation of glutamate neurons in a specific brain region leads to activation of dopamine-containing neurons in the brain's reward circuit.

Software models more detailed evolutionary networks from genetic data Posted: 12 Nov 2014 10:21 AM PST Computer scientists have developed software to build more accurate evolutionary networks from genomic data sets. A "maximum likelihood" method allows PhyloNet to infer network models that better describe the evolution of certain groups of species than do tree models.

Lung regeneration mechanism discovered Posted: 12 Nov 2014 10:21 AM PST A research team reports on the role of certain lung stem cells in regenerating lungs damaged by disease. Their work sheds light on the inner workings of the still-emerging concept of lung regeneration and points to potential therapeutic strategies that harness these lung stem cells.

HIV virulence depends on where virus inserts itself in host DNA Posted: 12 Nov 2014 10:21 AM PST The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can insert itself at different locations in the DNA of its human host -- and this specific integration site determines how quickly the disease progresses, report researchers.

Live longer? Save the planet? Better diet could nail both Posted: 12 Nov 2014 10:20 AM PST A new study shows how a shift away from this trajectory and toward healthier traditional Mediterranean, pescatarian or vegetarian diets could not only boost human lifespan and quality of life, but also slash greenhouse gas emissions and save habitat for endangered species.

‘Smart’ drugs won’t make smart people smarter, research concludes Posted: 12 Nov 2014 10:19 AM PST It is claimed one in five students have taken the 'smart' drug Modafinil to boost their ability to study and improve their chances of exam success. But new research into the effects of Modafinil has shown that healthy students could find their performance impaired by the drug.

All 'quantum weirdness' may be caused by interacting parallel worlds, physicist theorizes Posted: 12 Nov 2014 10:19 AM PST A new theory of quantum mechanics was developed by Bill Poirier, a chemical physicist. The theory discusses parallel worlds' existence and the quantum effects observed in nature.

Touchdown! Rosetta’s Philae probe lands on comet Posted: 12 Nov 2014 09:48 AM PST The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission has soft-landed its Philae probe on a comet, the first time in history that such an extraordinary feat has been achieved. After a tense wait during the seven-hour descent to the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the signal confirming the successful touchdown arrived on Earth at 16:03 GMT (17:03 CET).

Learning languages is a workout for brains, both young, old Posted: 12 Nov 2014 09:02 AM PST Learning a new language changes your brain network both structurally and functionally, according to researchers. "Like physical exercise, the more you use specific areas of your brain, the more it grows and gets stronger," said the lead investigator.

A tale of two seas: Last Ice Age has shaped sharks across Europe Posted: 12 Nov 2014 09:02 AM PST Shark populations in the Mediterranean are highly divided, an international team of scientists has shown. The study used genetic techniques to investigate the population structure of the small-spotted shark, Scyliorhinus canicula. The species is common throughout Europe and has been eaten since ancient times, as documented in Roman mosaics.

Self-inflation harms kids' relationships at school Posted: 12 Nov 2014 09:02 AM PST 'I am the smartest kid in class.' We all want our kids to be self-confident, but unrealistic perceptions of their academic abilities can be harmful. These unrealistic views, a new study of eighth-graders finds, damage the a child's relationship with others in the classroom: The more one student feels unrealistically superior to another, the less the two students like each other.

Stock market models help researchers predict animal behavior Posted: 12 Nov 2014 09:01 AM PST Modeling used to forecast fluctuations in the stock market has been discovered to predict aspects of animal behavior. The movement of zebrafish when mapped is very similar to the stochastic jump process, a mathematical model used by financial engineers. The model could improve the effectiveness of experiments, minimize the number of fish used, and allow researchers to make better use of their data following experiments.

Moderate consumption of sugary drinks has little impact on adolescents' metabolic health Posted: 12 Nov 2014 09:01 AM PST Short-term, moderate consumption of high-fructose and high-glucose beverages has little impact on the metabolic health of weight-stable, physically active adolescents, scientists have found. The study measured several aspects of metabolic health, including insulin sensitivity and cholesterol levels, after participants had consumed moderate amounts of either high-glucose or high-fructose beverages every day for two weeks.

Marked benefits found for cancer prevention with a higher intake of fatty fish Posted: 12 Nov 2014 09:01 AM PST A new research review will once again have people asking for a second helping of wild Alaskan salmon at the dinner table. While several other studies have recently challenged the long-held belief of the benefits of a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids, this new study cites compelling evidence that eating the right kinds of fatty fish, in the right quantity, and prepared the right way, can in fact help prevent the body's development of adenocarcinomas, a common type of cancerous tumor.

Genetic variant linked to better memory performance found Posted: 12 Nov 2014 08:59 AM PST People with a newly identified genetic variant perform better on certain types of memory tests, a discovery that may point the way to new treatments for the memory impairments caused by Alzheimer's disease or other age-associated conditions, experts report.

Rosetta's singing comet Posted: 11 Nov 2014 08:11 AM PST A set of instruments on the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft has picked up a mysterious "song" from Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. On Wednesday, Nov. 12, Rosetta will attempt the first-ever soft landing on a comet when it dispatches its Philae lander to the surface of comet 67P.

A twisted world: Chemists build a molecular banister Posted: 12 Nov 2014 07:27 AM PST Chemists have succeeded in twisting a molecule by combining molecular strands of differing lengths. The longer strand winds around a central axis like a staircase banister, creating a helical structure that exhibits special physical properties.

Non-genetic changes can help parents or offspring, not both, researchers say Posted: 12 Nov 2014 07:26 AM PST A new study challenges current theory about how an organism changes physical characteristics because of its environment. Current theory says similar conditions will favor phenotype changes within and across generations of organisms. This experiment, which involved about 25 lineages of Daphnia, contradicts that thought.

Electronic 'tongue' to ensure food quality Posted: 12 Nov 2014 07:26 AM PST An electronic 'tongue' could one day sample food and drinks as a quality check before they hit store shelves. Or it could someday monitor water for pollutants or test blood for signs of disease. With an eye toward these applications, scientists are reporting the development of a new, inexpensive and highly sensitive version of such a device.

Artificial retina could someday help restore vision Posted: 12 Nov 2014 07:25 AM PST The loss of eyesight, often caused by retinal degeneration, is a life-altering health issue for many people, especially as they age. But a new development toward a prosthetic retina could help counter conditions that result from problems with this crucial part of the eye.

Single-dose, needle-free ebola vaccine provides long-term protection in macaques Posted: 12 Nov 2014 07:25 AM PST Scientists have demonstrated for the first time that a single-dose, needleless Ebola vaccine given to primates through their noses and lungs protected them against infection for at least 21 weeks.

Want to improve your putt? Try listening to jazz Posted: 12 Nov 2014 07:25 AM PST Listening to jazz music while putting can boost your performance on the putting green, according to new research. While any kind of music improves performance compared to listening to no music at all, jazz is the most effective musical genre for improving putting.

In preschoolers, office test overestimates eye's ability to change focus Posted: 12 Nov 2014 07:25 AM PST In preschool-aged children, a simple test performed in the ophthalmologist's or optometrist's office greatly overestimates the eye's ability to "flex and focus" in order to see small objects clearly, reports a study.

Common chemotherapeutic agent reduces resistance to virus therapy in brain tumor patients Posted: 12 Nov 2014 07:25 AM PST The common chemotherapeutic agent cyclophosphamide can help improve the success of oncolytic virus therapy in patients with malignant gliomas, a common type of brain tumor, researchers have found. Oncolytic virus therapy is an innovative therapeutic approach that uses viruses to target and kill cancer cells. The viruses can be modified to allow them to target specific cancer cells or to deliver therapy-modifying genes.

Predicting dengue fever outbreaks in China using Internet searches Posted: 12 Nov 2014 06:31 AM PST The habit of searching online for a diagnosis before visiting the doctor can be a powerful predictor of infectious diseases outbreaks, researchers have found. Now studies show that combining information from monitoring internet search metrics such as Baidu (China's equivalent of Google), with a web-based infectious disease alert system from reported cases and environmental factors hold the key to improving early warning systems and reducing the deadly effects of dengue fever in China.

Facial structure predicts goals, fouls among World Cup soccer players Posted: 12 Nov 2014 06:31 AM PST The structure of a soccer player's face can predict his performance on the field -- including his likelihood of scoring goals, making assists and committing fouls -- according to a new study.

New materials for more powerful solar cells Posted: 12 Nov 2014 06:31 AM PST Applying a thin film of metallic oxide significantly boosts the performance of solar panel cells. Researchers have developed a new class of materials comprising elements such as bismuth, iron, chromium, and oxygen. These 'multiferroic' materials absorb solar radiation and possess unique electrical and magnetic properties.

Ant inhabitants of New York City: High diversity underfoot in urban environments Posted: 12 Nov 2014 06:31 AM PST Cities have more species diversity than you'd expect. A study of ants in Manhattan found not only a wide range of species, but also significant differences in the levels of biodiversity in different urban areas.

Insights into plant growth could curb need for fertilizers Posted: 12 Nov 2014 06:31 AM PST New insights into how plants regulate their absorption of an essential nutrient could help avoid pollution caused by excess use of fertilizer, experts say. The findings could lead to the development of crop varieties that need less of the primary nutrient -- nitrogen -- than conventional crops. It could also inform how much nitrogen should be added to plant feed.

Virtual reality speeds up rehabilitation: Integrating force feedback into therapies for impaired hands Posted: 12 Nov 2014 06:30 AM PST A novel training program uses haptic technology for impaired hands that cannot function normally. This program is unique as it provides force feedback, which creates a true sense of weight to the user through the control device.

Best supporting actors -- in your ears? Research points to potential way to restore hearing Posted: 12 Nov 2014 06:30 AM PST There's a cast of characters deep inside your ears -- many kinds of tiny cells working together to allow you to hear. The lead actors, called hair cells, play the crucial role in carrying sound signals to the brain. But new research shows that when it comes to restoring lost hearing ability, the spotlight may fall on some of the ear's supporting actors – and their understudies.

New properties of microbes that cause common eye infection discovered Posted: 12 Nov 2014 05:45 AM PST The power of new genomic technology has been used by scientists to discover that microbes that commonly infect the eye have special, previously unknown properties. These properties are predicted to allow the bacterium -- Streptococcus pneumoniae -- to specifically stick to the surface of the eye, grow, and cause damage and inflammation.

A previously unrecognized flame retardant found in Americans for the first time Posted: 12 Nov 2014 05:45 AM PST A new study has found the carcinogenic flame retardant TCEP in the bodies of Americans. The study evaluated urinary levels of several phosphate flame retardant metabolites, like TCEP, which have been largely under the radar. Six metabolites were found in urine samples from California residents. People with the highest metabolite levels of two carcinogenic flame retardants also had the highest levels in their house dust, which were previously tested.

Bilingual brains better equipped to process information Posted: 12 Nov 2014 05:45 AM PST Speaking more than one language is good for the brain, according to new research that indicates bilingual speakers process information more efficiently and more easily than those who know a single language. The benefits occur because the bilingual brain is constantly activating both languages and choosing which language to use and which to ignore, said a researcher.

Mothers nurture emotions in girls over boys, new study finds Posted: 12 Nov 2014 05:45 AM PST Conversations mothers have with their daughters tend to contain more emotional words and content, than the conversations they have with their sons, new research has found. "This inevitably leads to girls growing up more attuned to their emotions then boys. Having this edge to be more expressive and cope well with emotions may matter more than ever in the workplace, as more companies are starting to recognize the advantages of high emotional intelligence when it comes to positions such as sales, teams and leadership," authors note.

Furin: The answer to the ebola crises? Posted: 12 Nov 2014 05:42 AM PST With an estimated fatality rate of 52%, the need to discover a cure for Ebola has never been more urgent. New research suggests that scientists currently investigating potential cures for the Ebola virus should focus more attention on the protein furin. Furin is responsible for activating certain proteins and is involved in the processing and maturation of viral and bacterial preproteins.

Fewer surgeries with degradable implants Posted: 12 Nov 2014 05:42 AM PST Until now, in cases of bone fracture, doctors have used implants made of steel and titanium, which have to be removed after healing. To spare patients burdensome interventions, researchers are working on a bone substitute that completely degrades in the body. Towards this end, material combinations of metal and ceramic are being used.

European spacecraft set to harpoon a comet Posted: 11 Nov 2014 08:11 AM PST Early tomorrow morning (Nov. 12), the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft will deploy its comet lander, "Philae." A little over seven hours later (8 a.m. PST/11 a.m. EST), the experiment-laden, harpoon-firing Philae is scheduled to touch down on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It will be the first time in history that a spacecraft has attempted a soft landing on a comet. Rosetta is an international mission led by the European Space Agency (ESA), with instruments provided by its member states, and additional support and instruments provided by NASA.

Using 3-D printers to print out self-learning robots Posted: 12 Nov 2014 05:41 AM PST On the third floor of the Department of Informatics in a university in Norway a there is a robotics laboratory which looks like a playroom. This is where researchers are testing how their robots can figure out how to move past barriers and other obstacles. The robotics team are currently comparing the performance of five robots which in theory should be equally good. Three of the five robots have four legs, one has three, another has six. The fewer legs, the less energy is consumed. One of the robots is fitted with single-joint legs. The others have legs with two joints.

Electric cars without drivers Posted: 12 Nov 2014 05:41 AM PST E-Mobile will park independently in the future and will also be able to find the next charging station without a driver. Researchers are working on electric cars that can travel short distances autonomously. On the basis of cost-effective sensors, they are developing a dynamic model that perceives the environmental situation.

Understanding natural compounds when antibiotics no longer work Posted: 12 Nov 2014 05:41 AM PST Medicine is drifting towards a major problem. An increasing number of bacteria is no longer sensitive to known antibiotics. Doctors urgently need to find new ways of fighting these multi-resistant pathogens. To address the problem, pharmaceutical research is turning back to the source of most of our drugs: nature.

Memory disorders: New targets, test to develop treatments Posted: 12 Nov 2014 05:41 AM PST In a pair of related studies, scientists have identified a number of new therapeutic targets for memory disorders and have developed a new screening test to uncover compounds that may one day work against those disorders.

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