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Thursday, January 5, 2012

ScienceDaily: Top Science News

ScienceDaily: Top Science News


Fish mimics octopus that mimics fish

Posted: 04 Jan 2012 12:37 PM PST

Nature's game of intimidation and imitation comes full circle in the waters of Indonesia, where scientists have recorded for the first time an association between the black-marble jawfish and the mimic octopus.

New computer model explains lakes and storms on Saturn's moon Titan

Posted: 04 Jan 2012 10:48 AM PST

Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is an alien world covered in a thick atmosphere with abundant methane. Titan boasts methane clouds and fog, as well as rainstorms and plentiful lakes of liquid methane. The origins of many of these features, however, remain puzzling to scientists. Now, researchers have developed a computer model of Titan's atmosphere and methane cycle that, for the first time, explains many of these phenomena in a relatively simple and coherent way.

Leaping lizards and dinosaurs inspire robot design

Posted: 04 Jan 2012 10:48 AM PST

A new study of how lizards use their tails when leaping through the trees shows that they swing the tail upward to avoid pitching forward after a stumble. Theropod dinosaurs -- the ancestors of birds -- may have done the same. A robot model confirms the value of an actively controlled tail, demonstrating that adding a tail can stabilize robots on uneven terrain and after unexpected falls -- critical to successful search and rescue operations.

Magnetically levitated flies offer clues to future of life in space

Posted: 04 Jan 2012 10:32 AM PST

Using powerful magnets to levitate fruit flies can provide vital clues to how biological organisms are affected by weightless conditions in space, researchers say.

Flipped from head to toe: 100 years of continental drift theory

Posted: 04 Jan 2012 10:31 AM PST

Exactly 100 years ago Alfred Wegener presented his theory of continental drift to the public for the first time. Modern plate tectonics confirmed his ideas by flipping them upside down.

New materials remove carbon dioxide from smokestacks, tailpipes and even the air

Posted: 04 Jan 2012 08:51 AM PST

Scientists are reporting discovery of an improved way to remove carbon dioxide -- the major greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming -- from smokestacks and other sources, including the atmosphere. The process achieves some of the highest carbon dioxide removal capacity ever reported for real-world conditions where the air contains moisture.

Smoky pink core of Omega Nebula

Posted: 04 Jan 2012 08:19 AM PST

A new image of the Omega Nebula, captured by ESO's Very Large Telescope, is one of the sharpest of this object ever taken from the ground. It shows the dusty, rose-colored central parts of this famous stellar nursery and reveals extraordinary detail in the cosmic landscape of gas clouds, dust and newborn stars.

Relay race with single atoms: New ways of manipulating matter

Posted: 04 Jan 2012 08:17 AM PST

A relay reaction of hydrogen atoms at a single-molecule level has been observed in real-space. This way of manipulating matter could open up new ways to exchange information between novel molecular devices in future electronics.

Climate change models may vasty underestimate extinctions

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 06:10 PM PST

Predictions of the loss of animal and plant diversity around the world are common under models of future climate change. But a new study shows that because these climate models don't account for species competition and movement, they could grossly underestimate future extinctions.

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