ScienceDaily: Most Popular News

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• Solving the puzzle of ice age climates: Southern Ocean and explanation for 'Last Glacial Maximum'
• Microbes engineered for direct conversion of biomass to fuel
• Marijuana shows potential in treating autoimmune disease
• Anti-diabetic drug slows aging and lengthens lifespan, animal study suggests
• Breakthrough in energy storage: Electrical cables that can store energy
• World's best thermometer made from light
• Leptin also influences brain cells that control appetite, researchers find
• Exciton detected in metal for first time: Microscopic quantum mechanical description of how light excites electrons in metals
• First real-time movies of the light-to-current conversion in an organic solar cell
• Pleasant smells increase facial attractiveness
• Agronomic conditions in ancient Near East 12,000 years ago

Solving the puzzle of ice age climates: Southern Ocean and explanation for 'Last Glacial Maximum' Posted: 02 Jun 2014 01:00 PM PDT The paleoclimate record for the last ice age -- a time 21,000 years ago called the "Last Glacial Maximum" (LGM) -- tells of a cold Earth whose northern continents were covered by vast ice sheets. Chemical traces from plankton fossils in deep-sea sediments reveal rearranged ocean water masses, as well as extended sea ice coverage off Antarctica. Air bubbles in ice cores show that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was far below levels seen before the Industrial Revolution.

Microbes engineered for direct conversion of biomass to fuel Posted: 02 Jun 2014 12:58 PM PDT The promise of affordable transportation fuels from biomass -- a sustainable, carbon neutral route to American energy independence -- has been left perpetually on hold by the economics of the conversion process. Researchers have overcome this hurdle allowing the direct conversion of switchgrass to fuel. The study, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, documents the direct conversion of biomass to biofuel without pre-treatment, using the engineered bacterium Caldicellulosiruptor bescii.

Marijuana shows potential in treating autoimmune disease Posted: 02 Jun 2014 12:09 PM PDT Researchers have discovered a novel pathway through which marijuana's main active constituent, THC, can suppress the body's immune functions. The recent findings show that THC can change critical molecules of epigenome called histones, leading to suppression of inflammation.

Anti-diabetic drug slows aging and lengthens lifespan, animal study suggests Posted: 02 Jun 2014 12:07 PM PDT Researchers have provided new evidence that metformin, the world's most widely used anti-diabetic drug, slows aging and increases lifespan. Scientists teased out the mechanism behind metformin's age-slowing effects: the drug causes an increase in the number of toxic oxygen molecules released in the cell and this, surprisingly, increases cell robustness and longevity in the long term.

Breakthrough in energy storage: Electrical cables that can store energy Posted: 02 Jun 2014 07:17 AM PDT Nanotechnology scientists have developed a way to both transmit and store electricity in a single lightweight copper wire. Sounds like science fiction, but it may become a reality thanks to breakthrough technology. So far electrical cables are used only to transmit electricity. However, nanotechnology scientists have developed a way to both transmit and store electricity in a single lightweight copper wire.

World's best thermometer made from light Posted: 02 Jun 2014 07:01 AM PDT Physics researchers have produced the world's most sensitive thermometer – three times more precise than the best thermometers in existence. They report they have been able to measure temperature with a precision of 30 billionths of a degree.

Leptin also influences brain cells that control appetite, researchers find Posted: 01 Jun 2014 12:09 PM PDT Twenty years after the hormone leptin was found to regulate metabolism, appetite, and weight through brain cells called neurons, researchers have found that the hormone also acts on other types of cells to control appetite. Leptin, a naturally occurring hormone, is known for its hunger-blocking effect on the hypothalamus, a region in the brain. Food intake is influenced by signals that travel from the body to the brain. Leptin is one of the molecules that signal the brain to modulate food intake.

Exciton detected in metal for first time: Microscopic quantum mechanical description of how light excites electrons in metals Posted: 01 Jun 2014 12:09 PM PDT Scientists have detected a fundamental particle of light-matter interaction in metals, the exciton for the first time. Humankind has used reflection of light from a metal mirror on a daily basis for millennia, but the quantum mechanical magic behind this familiar phenomenon is only now being uncovered.

First real-time movies of the light-to-current conversion in an organic solar cell Posted: 30 May 2014 09:44 AM PDT Scientists have reported the first real-time movies of the light-to-current conversion process in an organic solar cell. Researchers show that the quantum-mechanical, wavelike nature of electrons and their coupling to the nuclei is of fundamental importance for the charge transfer in an organic photovoltaic device.

Pleasant smells increase facial attractiveness Posted: 29 May 2014 03:16 PM PDT Women's faces are rated as more attractive in the presence of pleasant odors, according to new research. In contrast, odor pleasantness had less effect on age evaluation. The findings suggest that perfumes and scented products may, to some extent, alter how people perceive one another.

Agronomic conditions in ancient Near East 12,000 years ago Posted: 28 May 2014 07:40 AM PDT Researchers describe the characteristics of agriculture at its beginnings by comparing kernel and wood samples from ancient Near East sites —- the birthplace of Western agriculture -- with present day samples. It is the first time that direct evidences enable to know humidity and fertility conditions of crops, as well as the process of cereal domestication developed by humans from the Neolithic (12,000 years ago) to early Roman times (around 2,000 years ago).

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