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Thursday, September 26, 2013

ScienceDaily: Top Science News

ScienceDaily: Top Science News


Nanoparticle vaccine: Particles that deliver vaccines directly to mucosal surfaces could defend against many infectious diseases

Posted: 25 Sep 2013 11:15 AM PDT

Many viruses and bacteria infect humans through mucosal surfaces, such as those in the lungs, gastrointestinal tract and reproductive tract. To help fight these pathogens, scientists are working on vaccines that can establish a front line of defense at mucosal surfaces, potentially defending against many infectious diseases.

Seeing light in a new light: Scientists create never-before-seen form of matter

Posted: 25 Sep 2013 10:23 AM PDT

Scientists have managed to coax photons into binding together to form molecules -- a state of matter that, until recently, had been purely theoretical.

Global study reveals new hotspots of fish biodiversity

Posted: 25 Sep 2013 10:23 AM PDT

Teeming with species, tropical coral reefs have been long thought to be the areas of greatest biodiversity for fishes and other marine life -- and thus most deserving of resources for conservation. But a new global study of reef fishes reveals a surprise: when measured by factors other than the traditional species count -- instead using features such as a species' role in an ecosystem -- new hotspots of biodiversity emerge, including some nutrient-rich, temperate waters.

'X-shape' not true picture of chromosome structure, new imaging technique reveals

Posted: 25 Sep 2013 10:23 AM PDT

A new method for visualising chromosomes is painting a truer picture of their shape, which is rarely like the X-shaped blob of DNA most of us are familiar with.

Ancient soils reveal clues to early life on Earth

Posted: 25 Sep 2013 10:23 AM PDT

Oxygen appeared in the atmosphere up to 700 million years earlier than we previously thought, according to new research, raising new questions about the evolution of early life.

Engineers build computer using carbon nanotube technology

Posted: 25 Sep 2013 10:23 AM PDT

Silicon chips could soon hit physical limits preventing them from getting smaller and faster. Carbon nanotube technology has been seen as a potential successor. But so far no one's been able to put all the pieces together. Stanford's CNT computer is therefore an important proof of principle. And while this is a bare-bones device, the processes used to create the world's first CNT computer are designed to scale.

Whale mass stranding attributed to sonar mapping for first time

Posted: 25 Sep 2013 10:22 AM PDT

An independent scientific review panel has concluded that the mass stranding of approximately 100 melon-headed whales in the Loza Lagoon system in northwest Madagascar in 2008 was primarily triggered by acoustic stimuli, more specifically, a multi-beam echosounder system operated by a survey vessel contracted by ExxonMobil Exploration and Production (Northern Madagascar) Limited.

'Jekyll and Hyde' star morphs from radio to X-ray pulsar and back again

Posted: 25 Sep 2013 10:22 AM PDT

Astronomers have uncovered the strange case of a neutron star with the peculiar ability to transform from a radio pulsar into an X-ray pulsar and back again. This star's capricious behavior appears to be fueled by a nearby companion star and may give new insights into the birth of millisecond pulsars.

Commonly prescribed statin linked to memory impairment, study in rats suggests

Posted: 25 Sep 2013 08:24 AM PDT

New research that looked at whether two commonly prescribed statin medicines, used to lower low-density lipoprotein or 'bad cholesterol' levels in the blood, can adversely affect cognitive function has found that one of the drugs tested caused memory impairment in rats.

Alpine archaeology reveals high life through the ages

Posted: 25 Sep 2013 08:24 AM PDT

Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of human activity in the high slopes of the French Alps dating back over 8000 years.

With carbon nanotubes, a path to flexible, low-cost sensors: Potential applications range from air-quality monitors to electronic skin

Posted: 25 Sep 2013 07:28 AM PDT

Researchers are showing the way toward low-cost, industrial-scale manufacturing of a new family of electronic devices. A leading example is a gas sensor that could be integrated into food packaging to gauge freshness, or into compact wireless air-quality monitors. Flexible pressure and temperature sensors could be built into electronic skin. All these devices can be made with carbon nanotubes, sprayed like ink onto flexible plastic sheets or other substrates.

Wormlike hematite photoanode breaks the world-record for solar hydrogen production efficiency

Posted: 25 Sep 2013 07:28 AM PDT

Scientists have developed a "wormlike" hematite photoanode that can convert sunlight and water to clean hydrogen energy with a record-breaking high efficiency of 5.3 percent.

Turning plastic bags into high-tech materials

Posted: 25 Sep 2013 07:26 AM PDT

Researchers have developed a process for turning waste plastic bags into a high-tech nanomaterial. The innovative nanotechnology uses non-biodegradable plastic grocery bags to make 'carbon nanotube membranes' -- highly sophisticated and expensive materials with a variety of potential advanced applications including filtration, sensing, energy storage and a range of biomedical innovations.

New genus of electric fish discovered in 'lost world' of South America

Posted: 25 Sep 2013 06:22 AM PDT

A previously unknown genus of electric fish has been identified in a remote region of South America by team of international researchers. The Akawaio penak, a thin, eel-like electric fish, was discovered in the shallow, murky waters of the upper Mazaruni River is northern Guyana.

China's synthetic gas plants would be greenhouse giants

Posted: 25 Sep 2013 06:22 AM PDT

Coal-powered synthetic natural gas plants being planned in China would produce seven times more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional natural gas plants, and use up to 100 times the water as shale gas production, according to a new study.

'Microbial clock' may help determine time of death

Posted: 24 Sep 2013 12:39 PM PDT

An intriguing study may provide a powerful new tool in the quiver of forensic scientists attempting to determine the time of death in cases involving human corpses: A microbial clock.

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