ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Early spring means more bat girls
• Largest known crocodile could swallow a human
• Ancient volcanic blast provides more evidence of water on early Mars
• Hubble to use moon as mirror to see Venus transit
• Less is more, for female cowbirds: Findings contradict sexual selection theory
• New muscular dystrophy treatment approach developed using human stem cells
• What is your dog thinking? Brain scans unleash canine secrets
• Anthropologists discover new research use for dental plaque: Examining diets of ancient peoples

Early spring means more bat girls Posted: 04 May 2012 02:20 PM PDT A study on bats suggests that bats produce twice as many female babies as male ones in years when spring comes early.

Largest known crocodile could swallow a human Posted: 04 May 2012 02:19 PM PDT A crocodile large enough to swallow humans once lived in East Africa, according to new research. It may have exceeded 27 feet in length. By comparison, the largest recorded Nile crocodile was less than 21 feet, and most are much smaller.

Ancient volcanic blast provides more evidence of water on early Mars Posted: 04 May 2012 10:57 AM PDT Georgia Tech Assistant Professor Josef Dufek's new findings provide more evidence that early Mars was saturated with water and that its atmosphere was considerably thicker, at least 20 times more dense, than it is today.

Hubble to use moon as mirror to see Venus transit Posted: 04 May 2012 10:57 AM PDT NASA's Hubble Space Telescope will study Venus's atmosphere during an upcoming opportunity where Venus is passing in front of the Sun. Hubble cannot look at the Sun directly, so astronomers are planning to point the telescope at the Moon, using it as a mirror. The next time Venus will pass in front of the Sun will be in the year 2117.

Less is more, for female cowbirds: Findings contradict sexual selection theory Posted: 04 May 2012 08:05 AM PDT More modest male displays attract the females when it comes to brown-headed cowbirds, contrary to sexual selection theory, according to new research. While sexual selection theory predicts that females should find more flamboyant displays the most sexually attractive, the opposite holds true for brown-headed cowbirds, a small songbird common in North America.

New muscular dystrophy treatment approach developed using human stem cells Posted: 04 May 2012 08:05 AM PDT Researchers have effectively treated muscular dystrophy in mice using human stem cells derived from a new process that -- for the first time -- makes the production of human muscle cells from stem cells efficient and effective.

What is your dog thinking? Brain scans unleash canine secrets Posted: 04 May 2012 08:05 AM PDT Researchers have developed a new methodology to scan the brains of alert dogs and explore the minds of the oldest domesticated species. The technique uses harmless functional magnetic resonance imaging, the same tool that is unlocking secrets of the human brain. The brain images of a fully awake, unrestrained dog, thought to be the first, opens up a door for understanding canine cognition and inter-species communication.

Anthropologists discover new research use for dental plaque: Examining diets of ancient peoples Posted: 02 May 2012 03:48 PM PDT While we may brush and floss tirelessly and our dentists may scrape and pick at our teeth to minimize the formation of plaque known as tartar or dental calculus, anthropologists may be rejoicing at the fact that past civilizations were not so careful with dental hygiene. Researchers have discovered that particles of plaque removed from teeth of ancient populations may provide clues about their diets.

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