ScienceDaily: Most Popular News

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• Geographic variation of human gut microbes tied to obesity
• Brain's 'sweet spot' for love found in neurological patient
• Superconductivity in orbit: Scientists find new path to loss-free electricity
• Crazy ants dominate fire ants by neutralizing their venom
• Cosmic roadmap to galactic magnetic field revealed
• Graphene's love affair with water: Water filters allow precise and fast sieving of salts and organic molecules
• Robotic construction crew needs no foreman
• Why did the orangutan come down from the trees?
• Understanding basic biology of bipolar disorder
• Mathematical beauty activates same brain region as great art or music
• Fish living near the equator will not thrive in the warmer oceans of the future
• Why white dots appear larger than equal size black dots: How Galileo's visual illusion works in the mind's eye
• New maps reveal locations of species at risk as climate changes
• Virtual avatars may impact real-world behavior

Geographic variation of human gut microbes tied to obesity Posted: 14 Feb 2014 10:09 AM PST Researchers know that obese people have a different balance of microbes in their guts: more Firmicutes, fewer Bacteroidetes. Now researchers have found that people living in northern latitudes have a greater proportion of the Firmicutes associated with obesity than do people living farther south, and a smaller proportion of Bacteroidetes. The implications are unclear, though microbes may evolve with people to better extract energy from food in colder climates.

Brain's 'sweet spot' for love found in neurological patient Posted: 14 Feb 2014 06:20 AM PST A region deep inside the brain controls how quickly people make decisions about love, according to new research. The finding, made in an examination of a 48-year-old man who suffered a stroke, provides the first causal clinical evidence that an area of the brain called the anterior insula "plays an instrumental role in love," said neuroscientist Stephanie Cacioppo, lead author of the study.

Superconductivity in orbit: Scientists find new path to loss-free electricity Posted: 13 Feb 2014 11:23 AM PST Researchers have combined atoms with multiple orbitals and precisely pinned down their electron distributions. Using advanced electron diffraction techniques, the scientists discovered that orbital fluctuations in iron-based compounds induce strongly coupled polarizations that can enhance electron pairing -- the essential mechanism behind superconductivity.

Crazy ants dominate fire ants by neutralizing their venom Posted: 13 Feb 2014 11:22 AM PST Invasive "crazy ants" are rapidly displacing fire ants in areas across the southeastern US by secreting a compound that neutralizes fire ant venom, according to a new study. It's the first known example of an insect with the ability to detoxify another insect's venom.

Cosmic roadmap to galactic magnetic field revealed Posted: 13 Feb 2014 11:22 AM PST Scientists report that recent, independent measurements have validated one of the IBEX mission's signature findings -- a mysterious "ribbon" of energy and particles at the edge of our solar system that appears to be a directional "roadmap in the sky" of the local interstellar magnetic field.

Graphene's love affair with water: Water filters allow precise and fast sieving of salts and organic molecules Posted: 13 Feb 2014 11:22 AM PST Graphene has proven itself as a wonder material with a vast range of unique properties. Among the least-known marvels of graphene is its strange love affair with water. Graphene is hydrophobic -- it repels water -- but narrow capillaries made from graphene vigorously suck in water allowing its rapid permeation, if the water layer is only one atom thick -- that is, as thin as graphene itself. This bizarre property has attracted intense academic and industrial interest with intent to develop new water filtration and desalination technologies.

Robotic construction crew needs no foreman Posted: 13 Feb 2014 11:21 AM PST On the plains of Namibia, millions of tiny termites are building a mound of soil—an 8-foot-tall "lung" for their underground nest. During a year of construction, many termites will live and die, wind and rain will erode the structure, and yet the colony's life-sustaining project will continue. Inspired by the termites' resilience and collective intelligence, a team of computer scientists and engineers has created an autonomous robotic construction crew. The system needs no supervisor, no eye in the sky, and no communication: just simple robots—any number of robots—that cooperate by modifying their environment.

Why did the orangutan come down from the trees? Posted: 13 Feb 2014 06:51 AM PST Orangutans come down from the trees and spend more time on the ground than previously realized -- but this behavior may be partly influenced by humans, a new study has found. The research is based on a large-scale analysis of orangutan terrestriality using comprehensive camera-trapping data from 16 sites across Borneo.

Understanding basic biology of bipolar disorder Posted: 13 Feb 2014 06:50 AM PST Instead of only using a standard clinical interview to determine whether individuals met the criteria for a clinical diagnosis of bipolar disorder, researchers combined the results from brain imaging, cognitive testing, and an array of temperament and behavior measures. Using the new method, they and their collaborators have identified about 50 brain and behavioral measures that are both under strong genetic control and associated with bipolar disorder. Their discoveries could be a major step toward identifying the specific genes that contribute to the illness.

Mathematical beauty activates same brain region as great art or music Posted: 12 Feb 2014 03:35 PM PST People who appreciate the beauty of mathematics activate the same part of their brain when they look at aesthetically pleasing formula as others do when appreciating art or music, suggesting that there is a neurobiological basis to beauty.

Fish living near the equator will not thrive in the warmer oceans of the future Posted: 11 Feb 2014 06:43 AM PST According to an international team of researchers, the rapid pace of climate change is threatening the future presence of fish near the equator.

Why white dots appear larger than equal size black dots: How Galileo's visual illusion works in the mind's eye Posted: 10 Feb 2014 01:13 PM PST Scientists have studied a visual illusion first discovered by Galileo Galilei, and found that it occurs because of the surprising way our eyes see lightness and darkness in the world. Their results advance our understanding of how our brains are wired for seeing white versus black objects.

New maps reveal locations of species at risk as climate changes Posted: 10 Feb 2014 06:54 AM PST An international team of scientists has produced global maps showing how fast and in which direction local climates have shifted.

Virtual avatars may impact real-world behavior Posted: 10 Feb 2014 05:32 AM PST How you represent yourself in the virtual world of video games may affect how you behave toward others in the real world, according to new research.

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