ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Save the parrots: Macaw genome sequenced
• PCB concentrations same in urban and rural areas
• Biologist maps the family tree of all known snake and lizard groups
• Exotic atoms hold clues to unsolved physics puzzle at the dawn of the universe
• Human impacts on natural world underestimated
• Four new dinosaur species identified
• New Red List developed for threatened ecosystems
• Cannibal tadpoles key to understanding digestive evolution
• Brain anatomy of dyslexia is not the same in men and women, boys and girls
• Astronomers discover surprising clutch of hydrogen clouds lurking among our galactic neighbors
• Early math and reading ability linked to job and income in adulthood
• First biological evidence of a supernova
• Hit a 90 mph baseball? Scientists pinpoint how we see it coming
• Speed test of quantum versus conventional computing: Quantum computer wins
• 'Invisibility cloak' for thermal flow constructed
• World's most extreme hearing animal: The greater wax moth
• An electronic nose can tell pears and apples apart

Save the parrots: Macaw genome sequenced Posted: 08 May 2013 06:30 PM PDT In a groundbreaking move that provides new insight into avian evolution, biology and conservation, researchers have successfully sequenced the complete genome of a Scarlet macaw for the first time.

PCB concentrations same in urban and rural areas Posted: 08 May 2013 02:22 PM PDT Despite the expectation of a large environmental exposure difference, researchers report that mothers and children in East Chicago, Ind., and residents in a rural area in Iowa have the same PCB levels in their blood as residents in urbanized East Chicago.

Biologist maps the family tree of all known snake and lizard groups Posted: 08 May 2013 02:22 PM PDT Biologists have created the first large-scale evolutionary family tree for every snake and lizard around the globe.

Exotic atoms hold clues to unsolved physics puzzle at the dawn of the universe Posted: 08 May 2013 02:21 PM PDT An international team of physicists has found the first direct evidence of pear shaped nuclei in exotic atoms. The findings could advance the search for a new fundamental force in nature that could explain why the Big Bang created more matter than antimatter -- a pivotal imbalance in the history of everything.

Human impacts on natural world underestimated Posted: 08 May 2013 02:21 PM PDT A comprehensive five-year study by ecologists -- which included monitoring the activity of wolves, elks, cattle and humans -- indicates that two accepted principles of how ecosystems naturally operate could be overshadowed by the importance of human activity.

Four new dinosaur species identified Posted: 08 May 2013 02:21 PM PDT Just when dinosaur researchers thought they had a thorough knowledge of ankylosaurs, a family of squat, armor-plated, plant-eaters, along comes a graduate student with some other ideas.

New Red List developed for threatened ecosystems Posted: 08 May 2013 02:21 PM PDT Scientists have developed a new Red List system for identifying ecosystems at high risk of degradation, similar to the influential Red List for the world's threatened species.

Cannibal tadpoles key to understanding digestive evolution Posted: 08 May 2013 10:18 AM PDT A carnivorous, cannibalistic tadpole may play a role in understanding the evolution and development of digestive organs, according to new research.

Brain anatomy of dyslexia is not the same in men and women, boys and girls Posted: 08 May 2013 10:18 AM PDT Using MRI, neuroscientists have found significant differences in brain anatomy when comparing men and women with dyslexia to their non-dyslexic control groups. Their study is the first to directly compare brain anatomy of females with and without dyslexia.

Astronomers discover surprising clutch of hydrogen clouds lurking among our galactic neighbors Posted: 08 May 2013 10:17 AM PDT In a dark, starless patch of intergalactic space, astronomers have discovered a never-before-seen cluster of hydrogen clouds strewn between two nearby galaxies, Andromeda (M31) and Triangulum (M33). The researchers speculate that these rarefied blobs of gas -- each about as massive as a dwarf galaxy -- condensed out of a vast and as-yet undetected reservoir of hot, ionized gas, which could have accompanied an otherwise invisible band of dark matter.

Early math and reading ability linked to job and income in adulthood Posted: 08 May 2013 09:31 AM PDT Math and reading ability at age 7 may be linked with socioeconomic status several decades later, according to new research. The childhood abilities predict socioeconomic status in adulthood over and above associations with intelligence, education, and socioeconomic status in childhood.

First biological evidence of a supernova Posted: 08 May 2013 09:30 AM PDT In fossil remnants of bacteria, researchers have found a radioactive iron isotope that they trace back to a supernova in our cosmic neighborhood. This is the first proven biological signature of a starburst. An age determination showed that the supernova must have occurred about 2.2 million years ago, roughly around the time when the modern human developed.

Hit a 90 mph baseball? Scientists pinpoint how we see it coming Posted: 08 May 2013 09:30 AM PDT How does San Francisco Giants slugger Pablo Sandoval swat a 95 mph fastball, or tennis icon Venus Williams see the oncoming ball, let alone return her sister Serena's 120 mph serves? For the first time, vision scientists have pinpointed how the brain tracks fast-moving objects.

Speed test of quantum versus conventional computing: Quantum computer wins Posted: 08 May 2013 09:28 AM PDT A quantum computer system is "thousands of times faster" than conventional computing in solving an important problem type, a computer science professor finds.

'Invisibility cloak' for thermal flow constructed Posted: 08 May 2013 06:29 AM PDT By means of special metamaterials, light and sound can be passed around objects. Researchers have now succeeded in demonstrating that the same materials can also be used to specifically influence the propagation of heat. A structured plate of copper and silicon conducts heat around a central area without the edge being affected.

World's most extreme hearing animal: The greater wax moth Posted: 08 May 2013 06:28 AM PDT Researchers have discovered that the greater wax moth is capable of sensing sound frequencies of up to 300 kHz -- the highest recorded frequency sensitivity of any animal in the natural world.

An electronic nose can tell pears and apples apart Posted: 08 May 2013 06:28 AM PDT Engineers have created a system of sensors that detects fruit odors more effectively than the human sense of smell. For now, the device can distinguish between the odors compounds emitted by pears and apples. Scientists have created an electronic nose with 32 sensors that can identify the odors given off by chopped pears and apples.

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