ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Psychologist discovers intricacies about lying
• Hibernating lemurs hint at the secrets of sleep
• DNA changes during pregnancy persist into childhood
• Look at what i'm saying: Engineers show brain depends on vision to hear
• West Antarctica ice sheet existed 20 million years earlier than previously thought
• Experimental compound reverses down syndrome-like learning deficits in mice
• New laser-based tool could dramatically improve the accuracy of brain tumor surgery
• Genetic similarities between bats and dolphins discovered
• Training the older brain in 3-D: Video game enhances cognitive control
• New low-temperature chemical reaction explained
• Alzheimer's 'missing link' found: Promising target for new drugs
• Childhood adversity linked to higher risk of early death
• 'Seeing' faces through touch: Brain may code facial information in shared representation between vision and haptics
• Better hygiene in wealthy nations may increase Alzheimer's risk, study suggests
• Gravity variations over Earth much bigger than previously thought
• Using harsh verbal discipline with teens found to be harmful
• Blue light observations indicate water-rich atmosphere of super-Earth
• Bizarre alignment of planetary nebulae

Psychologist discovers intricacies about lying Posted: 04 Sep 2013 05:51 PM PDT How you remember a lie may be impacted profoundly by how you lie, according to a new study. The study examines two kinds of lies -- false descriptions and false denials -- and the different cognitive machinery that we use to record and retrieve them.

Hibernating lemurs hint at the secrets of sleep Posted: 04 Sep 2013 05:41 PM PDT By studying hibernation, scientists are providing a window into why humans sleep. Observations of a little-known primate called the fat-tailed dwarf lemur in captivity and the wild has revealed that it goes for days without the deepest part of sleep during its winter hibernation season. The findings support the idea that sleep plays a role in regulating body temperature and metabolism.

DNA changes during pregnancy persist into childhood Posted: 04 Sep 2013 05:41 PM PDT Even before they are born, babies accumulate changes in their DNA through a process called DNA methylation that may interfere with gene expression, and in turn, their health as they grow up. But until now it's been unclear just how long these changes during the prenatal period persist. In a new study, researchers establish that signs of DNA methylation persist through early childhood.

Look at what i'm saying: Engineers show brain depends on vision to hear Posted: 04 Sep 2013 05:35 PM PDT Bioengineers have discovered our understanding of language may depend more heavily on vision than previously thought: under the right conditions, what you see can override what you hear.

West Antarctica ice sheet existed 20 million years earlier than previously thought Posted: 04 Sep 2013 11:10 AM PDT The results of new research mark the beginning of a new paradigm for our understanding of the history of Earth's great global ice sheets. The research shows that, contrary to the popularly held scientific view, an ice sheet on West Antarctica existed 20 million years earlier than previously thought.

Experimental compound reverses down syndrome-like learning deficits in mice Posted: 04 Sep 2013 11:09 AM PDT Researchers have identified a compound that dramatically bolsters learning and memory when given to mice with a Down syndrome-like condition on the day of birth. The single-dose treatment appears to enable the cerebellum of the rodents' brains to grow to a normal size.

New laser-based tool could dramatically improve the accuracy of brain tumor surgery Posted: 04 Sep 2013 11:09 AM PDT A new laser-based technology may make brain tumor surgery much more accurate, allowing surgeons to tell cancer tissue from normal brain at the microscopic level while they are operating, and avoid leaving behind cells that could spawn a new tumor.

Genetic similarities between bats and dolphins discovered Posted: 04 Sep 2013 10:25 AM PDT The evolution of similar traits in different species, a process known as convergent evolution, is widespread not only at the physical level, but also at the genetic level, according to new research.

Training the older brain in 3-D: Video game enhances cognitive control Posted: 04 Sep 2013 10:25 AM PDT Scientists have found a way to reverse some of the negative effects of aging on the brain, using a video game designed to improve cognitive control.

New low-temperature chemical reaction explained Posted: 04 Sep 2013 10:03 AM PDT Unusual reaction, never fully understood, is important to fuel combustion, atmospheric chemistry and biochemistry. In all the centuries that humans have studied chemical reactions, just 36 basic types of reactions have been found. Now, a 37th type of reaction can be added to the list.

Alzheimer's 'missing link' found: Promising target for new drugs Posted: 04 Sep 2013 10:03 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a protein that is the missing link in the complicated chain of events that lead to Alzheimer's disease, they report in the Sept. 4 issue of the journal Neuron. Researchers also found that blocking the protein with an existing drug can restore memory in mice with brain damage that mimics the disease.

Childhood adversity linked to higher risk of early death Posted: 04 Sep 2013 07:54 AM PDT Traumatic childhood experiences are linked to an increased risk of early death, according to new research.

'Seeing' faces through touch: Brain may code facial information in shared representation between vision and haptics Posted: 04 Sep 2013 07:54 AM PDT Our sense of touch can contribute to our ability to perceive faces, according to new research. The findings suggest that facial information may be coded in a shared representation between vision and haptics in the brain.

Better hygiene in wealthy nations may increase Alzheimer's risk, study suggests Posted: 04 Sep 2013 07:53 AM PDT New research has found a 'very significant' relationship between a nation's wealth and hygiene and the Alzheimer's 'burden' on its population. High-income, highly industrialized countries with large urban areas and better hygiene exhibit much higher rates of Alzheimer's.

Gravity variations over Earth much bigger than previously thought Posted: 04 Sep 2013 07:53 AM PDT Scientists have created the highest-resolution maps of Earth's gravity field to date -- showing gravitational variations up to 40 percent larger than previously assumed. New gravity maps revealed the variations of free-fall gravity over Earth were much bigger than previously thought.

Using harsh verbal discipline with teens found to be harmful Posted: 04 Sep 2013 06:40 AM PDT A longitudinal study of 967 two-parent families and their children has found that harsh verbal discipline, the psychological force causing emotional pain or discomfort to correct or control behavior, in early adolescence can be harmful to teens later. Researchers found that harsh verbal discipline can cause teens to misbehave at school, lie to parents, steal, or fight. Moreover, parents' hostility increases the risk of delinquency and fosters anger, irritability, and belligerence in adolescents.

Blue light observations indicate water-rich atmosphere of super-Earth Posted: 04 Sep 2013 06:32 AM PDT Astronomers and planetary scientists have observed planetary transits of super-Earth GJ 1214 b (Gilese 1214 b). The team investigated whether this planet has an atmosphere rich in water or hydrogen. The observations show that the sky of this planet does not show a strong Rayleigh scattering feature, which a cloudless hydrogen-dominated atmosphere would predict. When combined with the findings of previous observations in other colors, this new observational result implies that GJ 1214 b is likely to have a water-rich atmosphere.

Bizarre alignment of planetary nebulae Posted: 04 Sep 2013 06:32 AM PDT The final stages of life for a star like our Sun result in the star blowing its outer layers out into the surrounding space, forming objects known as planetary nebulae in a wide range of beautiful and striking shapes. One type of such nebulae, known as bipolar planetary nebulae, create ghostly hourglass or butterfly shapes around their parent stars. A new study by astronomers now shows surprising similarities between some of these nebulae: many of them line up in the sky in the same way.

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