ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Global rise in type 1 diabetes may be linked to reduced exposure to pathogens in early life
• Hormone combination shows promise in the treatment of obesity and diabetes
• Scientists find origins of teamwork in our nearest relative the chimpanzee
• Experiments find strongest shapes with 3-D printing
• Slabs of ancient tectonic plate still lodged under California
• Skulls of early humans carry telltale signs of inbreeding
• Elite athletes also excel at some cognitive tasks
• Petroleum use, greenhouse gas emissions of automobiles could drop 80 percent by 2050: U.S. report
• Oxygen-poor 'boring' ocean challenged evolution of early life
• Ten times more hurricane surges in future, new research predicts
• Computer models show how deep carbon could return to Earth's surface
• Curiosity Mars rover sees trend in water presence
• Causing collapse: Can one affect an atom's spin just by adjusting the way it is measured?
• Earth's interior cycles contribute to long-term sea-level and climate change, researchers find
• Male lions use ambush hunting strategy
• Putting the clock in 'cock-a-doodle-doo'
• Famous supernova reveals clues about crucial cosmic distance markers
• Depression stems from miscommunication between brain cells; Study challenges role of serotonin in depression
• Antarctica's first whale skeleton found with nine new deep-sea species
• It's in the cards: Human evolution influences gamblers' decisions
• Leaping lunar dust: Electrically charged dust near shadowed craters can get lofted above Moon's surface

Global rise in type 1 diabetes may be linked to reduced exposure to pathogens in early life Posted: 18 Mar 2013 05:33 PM PDT Countries with lower mortality from infectious disease exhibit higher rates of type 1 diabetes, according to a new study. The findings suggest that the as yet unexplained global rise in type 1 diabetes may be linked to reduced exposure to pathogens in early life.

Hormone combination shows promise in the treatment of obesity and diabetes Posted: 18 Mar 2013 05:33 PM PDT A new treatment combining two hormones can reduce appetite, according to new research. This early study provides 'first in human' evidence that a combined therapy using the hormones glucagon and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) may form the basis for a new treatment for obesity and diabetes in the future.

Scientists find origins of teamwork in our nearest relative the chimpanzee Posted: 18 Mar 2013 05:33 PM PDT Teamwork has been fundamental in humanity's greatest achievements but scientists have found that working together has its evolutionary roots in our nearest primate relatives – chimpanzees.

Experiments find strongest shapes with 3-D printing Posted: 18 Mar 2013 05:29 PM PDT Physicists are using 3-D printing to test complex qualities of shapes made via the computer. They are studying"jamming" and the structural properties of shapes.

Slabs of ancient tectonic plate still lodged under California Posted: 18 Mar 2013 03:04 PM PDT The Isabella anomaly -- the seismic signal of a large mass of cool, dehydrated material about 100 kilometers beneath central California -- is in fact a surviving slab of the Farallon oceanic plate, according to new research. Most of the Farallon plate was driven deep into the Earth's mantle as the Pacific and North American plates began converging around 100 million years, eventually coming together to form the San Andreas fault.

Skulls of early humans carry telltale signs of inbreeding Posted: 18 Mar 2013 03:04 PM PDT Buried for 100,000 years at Xujiayao in the Nihewan Basin of northern China, the recovered skull pieces of an early human exhibit a now-rare congenital deformation that indicates inbreeding might well have been common among our ancestors, new research suggests.

Elite athletes also excel at some cognitive tasks Posted: 18 Mar 2013 12:16 PM PDT New research suggests that elite athletes -- Olympic medalists in volleyball, for example -- perform better than the rest of us in yet another way. These athletes excel not only in their sport of choice but also in how fast their brains take in and respond to new information -- cognitive abilities that are important on and off the court.

Petroleum use, greenhouse gas emissions of automobiles could drop 80 percent by 2050: U.S. report Posted: 18 Mar 2013 12:16 PM PDT A new report finds that by the year 2050, the United States may be able to reduce petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent for light-duty vehicles -- cars and small trucks -- via a combination of more efficient vehicles; the use of alternative fuels like biofuels, electricity, and hydrogen; and strong government policies to overcome high costs and influence consumer choices.

Oxygen-poor 'boring' ocean challenged evolution of early life Posted: 18 Mar 2013 12:15 PM PDT Biogeochemists have filled in a billion-year gap in our understanding of conditions in the early ocean during a critical time in life's history on Earth. During the period 1.8 to 0.8 billion years ago, oxygen likely remained low in the atmosphere and ocean, with marine life dominated by bacteria. The ocean was oxygen-free and iron-rich in the deepest waters and hydrogen sulfide-containing over limited regions on the ocean margins.

Ten times more hurricane surges in future, new research predicts Posted: 18 Mar 2013 12:15 PM PDT How much worse will the frequency of extreme storm surges get as temperatures rise in the future? How many extreme storm surges like that from Hurricane Katrina, which hit the U.S. coast in 2005, will there be as a result of global warming? New research shows that there will be a tenfold increase in frequency if the climate becomes two degrees Celsius warmer.

Computer models show how deep carbon could return to Earth's surface Posted: 18 Mar 2013 12:15 PM PDT Computer simulations of water under extreme pressure are helping geochemists understand how carbon might be recycled from hundreds of miles below the Earth's surface.

Curiosity Mars rover sees trend in water presence Posted: 18 Mar 2013 10:33 AM PDT NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has seen evidence of water-bearing minerals in rocks near where it had already found clay minerals inside a drilled rock.

Causing collapse: Can one affect an atom's spin just by adjusting the way it is measured? Posted: 18 Mar 2013 10:30 AM PDT One of the most basic laws of quantum mechanics is that a system can be in more than one state -- it can exist in multiple realities -- at once. This phenomenon, known as the superposition principle, exists only so long as the system is not observed or measured in any way. As soon as such a system is measured, its superposition collapses into a single state. Thus, we, who are constantly observing and measuring, experience the world around us as existing in a single reality. Researchers now suggest one can affect an atom's spin just by adjusting the way it is measured.

Earth's interior cycles contribute to long-term sea-level and climate change, researchers find Posted: 18 Mar 2013 10:28 AM PDT Ancient rises in sea levels and global warming are partially attributable to cyclical activity below Earth's surface, researchers have concluded in an analysis of geological studies. However, changes spurred by Earth's interior are gradual, taking place in periods ranging from 60 million to 140 million years -- far less rapidly than those brought on by human activity.

Male lions use ambush hunting strategy Posted: 18 Mar 2013 10:26 AM PDT It has long been believed that male lions are dependent on females when it comes to hunting. But new evidence suggests that male lions are, in fact, very successful hunters in their own right. A new report shows that male lions use dense savanna vegetation for ambush-style hunting in Africa.

Putting the clock in 'cock-a-doodle-doo' Posted: 18 Mar 2013 10:26 AM PDT Of course, roosters crow with the dawn. But are they simply reacting to the environment, or do they really know what time of day it is? Researchers have evidence that puts the clock in "cock-a-doodle-doo.

Famous supernova reveals clues about crucial cosmic distance markers Posted: 18 Mar 2013 10:11 AM PDT A new study using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory points to the origin of a famous supernova. This supernova, discovered in 1604 by Johannes Kepler, belongs to an important class of objects that are used to measure the rate of expansion of the Universe.

Depression stems from miscommunication between brain cells; Study challenges role of serotonin in depression Posted: 18 Mar 2013 07:53 AM PDT A new study suggests that depression results from a disturbance in the ability of brain cells to communicate with each other. The study indicates a major shift in our understanding of how depression is caused and how it should be treated. Instead of focusing on the levels of hormone-like brain chemicals, such as serotonin, the scientists found that the transmission of excitatory signals between cells becomes abnormal in depression.

Antarctica's first whale skeleton found with nine new deep-sea species Posted: 18 Mar 2013 07:49 AM PDT Marine biologists have, for the first time, found a whale skeleton on the ocean floor near Antarctica, giving new insights into life in the sea depths. The discovery was made almost a mile below the surface in an undersea crater and includes the find of at least nine new species of deep-sea organisms thriving on the bones.

It's in the cards: Human evolution influences gamblers' decisions Posted: 18 Mar 2013 07:47 AM PDT New research suggests evolution, or basic survival techniques adapted by early humans, influences the decisions gamblers make when placing bets. The findings may help to explain why some treatment options for problem gamblers often don't work, the researchers say.

Leaping lunar dust: Electrically charged dust near shadowed craters can get lofted above Moon's surface Posted: 18 Mar 2013 07:43 AM PDT Electrically charged lunar dust near shadowed craters can get lofted above the surface and jump over the shadowed region, bouncing back and forth between sunlit areas on opposite sides, according to new calculations by NASA scientists.

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