ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Black hole growth found to be out of sync
• Highest-energy light from a solar flare ever detected
• Global warming threat seen in fertile soil of northeastern U.S. forests
• New evidence supports theory of extraterrestrial impact
• Neighbor galaxies may have brushed closely, astronomers find
• Never too late to quit: Quitting smoking reduces mortality, even in older patients
• Humans are primary cause of global ocean warming over past 50 years
• Wing bling: For female butterflies, flashier is better
• New spin on antifreeze: Researchers create ultra slippery anti-ice and anti-frost surfaces
• Molecular imaging finds link between low dopamine levels and aggression
• Nanoparticles in polluted air, smoke & nanotechnology products have serious impact on health
• Theorem unifies superfluids and other weird materials
• Scientists reveal structure of bacterial chainmail
• Physicists discover mechanisms of wrinkle and crumple formation

Black hole growth found to be out of sync Posted: 11 Jun 2012 04:46 PM PDT New evidence from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory challenges prevailing ideas about how black holes grow in the centers of galaxies. Astronomers long have thought that a supermassive black hole and the bulge of stars at the center of its host galaxy grow at the same rate -- the bigger the bulge, the bigger the black hole. However, a new study of Chandra data has revealed two nearby galaxies with supermassive black holes that are growing faster than the galaxies themselves.

Highest-energy light from a solar flare ever detected Posted: 11 Jun 2012 04:37 PM PDT During a powerful solar blast on March 7, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected the highest-energy light ever associated with an eruption on the sun. The discovery heralds Fermi's new role as a solar observatory, a powerful new tool for understanding solar outbursts during the sun's maximum period of activity.

Global warming threat seen in fertile soil of northeastern U.S. forests Posted: 11 Jun 2012 04:37 PM PDT Vast stores of carbon in U.S. forest soils could be released by rising global temperatures, according to a new study. Scientists found that heating soil in Wisconsin and North Carolina woodlands by 10 and 20 degrees increased the release of carbon dioxide by up to eight times. They showed for the first time that most carbon in topsoil is vulnerable to this warming effect.

New evidence supports theory of extraterrestrial impact Posted: 11 Jun 2012 04:36 PM PDT Scientists have discovered melt-glass material in a thin layer of sedimentary rock in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Syria. According to the researchers, the material -- which dates back nearly 13,000 years -- was formed at temperatures of 1,700 to 2,200 degrees Celsius (3,100 to 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit), and is the result of a cosmic body impacting Earth.

Neighbor galaxies may have brushed closely, astronomers find Posted: 11 Jun 2012 04:36 PM PDT New observations confirm a tenuous "bridge" of hydrogen gas streaming between two prominent members of our Local Group of galaxies -- the Andromeda Galaxy and the Triangulum Galaxy. This indicates the two may have had a close encounter in the distant past.

Never too late to quit: Quitting smoking reduces mortality, even in older patients Posted: 11 Jun 2012 04:33 PM PDT An analysis of available medical literature suggests smoking was linked to increased mortality in older patients and that smoking cessation was associated with reduced mortality at an older age.

Humans are primary cause of global ocean warming over past 50 years Posted: 11 Jun 2012 12:32 PM PDT Scientists have shown that the observed ocean warming over the last 50 years is consistent with climate models only if the models include the impacts of observed increases in greenhouse gas during the 20th century.

Wing bling: For female butterflies, flashier is better Posted: 11 Jun 2012 12:31 PM PDT If female butterflies are programmed to identify males of their species by the patterns of spots on their wings, how can new wing patterns evolve in males? The answer is that while females are predisposed to prefer a specific pattern, they learn to like flashier ones more, according to a new study.

New spin on antifreeze: Researchers create ultra slippery anti-ice and anti-frost surfaces Posted: 11 Jun 2012 10:43 AM PDT Researchers have invented a way to keep any metal surface free of ice and frost. The treated surfaces quickly shed even tiny, incipient condensation droplets or frost simply through gravity. The technology prevents ice sheets from developing on surfaces -- and any ice that does form, slides off effortlessly.

Molecular imaging finds link between low dopamine levels and aggression Posted: 11 Jun 2012 10:40 AM PDT Out of control competitive aggression could be a result of a lagging neurotransmitter called dopamine, say researchers. During a computer game against a putative cheating adversary, participants who had a lower capacity to synthesize this neurotransmitter in the brain were more distracted from their basic motivation to earn money and were more likely to act out with aggression.

Nanoparticles in polluted air, smoke & nanotechnology products have serious impact on health Posted: 11 Jun 2012 07:53 AM PDT New groundbreaking research has found that exposure to nanoparticles can have a serious impact on health, linking it to rheumatoid arthritis and the development of other serious autoimmune diseases. The findings have health and safety implications for the manufacture, use and ultimate disposal of nanotechnology products and materials. They also identified new cellular targets for the development of potential drug therapies in combating the development of autoimmune diseases.

Theorem unifies superfluids and other weird materials Posted: 11 Jun 2012 06:23 AM PDT Despite physicists' fascination with the weird behavior of materials at extremely low temperatures -- 11 Nobel Prizes have been awarded in the area -- a unified explanation of materials like superfluids and Bose-Einstein condensates remained elusive. Now, physicists have demonstrated that counting the number of Nambu-Goldstone bosons in a material reveals the material's behavior at low temperatures, allowing the prediction of behavior and design of new materials with spooky properties.

Scientists reveal structure of bacterial chainmail Posted: 10 Jun 2012 12:15 PM PDT Scientists have uncovered the structure of the protective protein coat which surrounds many bacteria like a miniature suit of armor. The research has far ranging consequences in helping us understand how some pathogenic bacteria infect humans and animals, and could help us develop new vaccines.

Physicists discover mechanisms of wrinkle and crumple formation Posted: 08 Jun 2012 10:57 AM PDT How a featureless sheet develops a complex shape has long remained elusive, but now physicists have identified a fundamental mechanism by which such complex patterns emerge spontaneously.

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