RefBan

Referral Banners

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

ScienceDaily: Top Science News

ScienceDaily: Top Science News


Bones of elephant ancestor unearthed: Meet the gomphothere

Posted: 14 Jul 2014 12:24 PM PDT

An ancient ancestor of the elephant, once believed to have disappeared from North America before humans ever arrived there, might actually have roamed the continent longer than previously thought. Archaeologists have uncovered the first evidence that gomphotheres were once hunted in North America.

Running for life: How speed restricts evolutionary change of the vertebral column

Posted: 14 Jul 2014 12:24 PM PDT

One of the riddles of mammal evolution is explained: the conservation of the number of trunk vertebrae. Dutch and American researchers have shown that this conservation is due to the role of speed in survival of fast running mammals. They measured variation of 774 skeletons of fast and slow species. The researchers found that a combination of developmental and biomechanical problems prevents evolutionary change in the number of trunk vertebrae in fast, but not in slow mammals.

Genome-wide analysis reveals genetic similarities among friends: Study finds truth to 'friends are the family you choose'

Posted: 14 Jul 2014 12:23 PM PDT

If you consider your friends family, you may be on to something. A new study finds that friends who are not biologically related still resemble each other genetically.

Months before their first words, babies' brains rehearse speech mechanics

Posted: 14 Jul 2014 12:23 PM PDT

New research in 7- and 11-month-old infants shows that speech sounds stimulate areas of the brain that coordinate and plan motor movements for speech. The study suggests that baby brains start laying down the groundwork of how to form words long before they actually begin to speak.

Squishy robots: Phase-changing material could allow even low-cost robots to switch between hard and soft states

Posted: 14 Jul 2014 09:28 AM PDT

In the movie 'Terminator 2,' the shape-shifting T-1000 robot morphs into a liquid state to squeeze through tight spaces or to repair itself when harmed. Now a phase-changing material built from wax and foam, and capable of switching between hard and soft states, could allow even low-cost robots to perform the same feat.

3D printed anatomy to mark a new era for medical training

Posted: 14 Jul 2014 07:41 AM PDT

The creators of a unique kit containing anatomical body parts produced by 3D printing say it will revolutionize medical education and training, especially in countries where cadaver use is problematic. The '3D Printed Anatomy Series' is thought to be the first commercially available resource of its kind. The kit contains no human tissue, yet it provides all the major parts of the body required to teach anatomy of the limbs, chest, abdomen, head and neck.

Quantum computers? First photonic router demonstrated

Posted: 14 Jul 2014 07:41 AM PDT

Scientists have demonstrated for the first time a photonic router -- a quantum device based on a single atom that enables routing of single photons by single photons. This achievement is another step toward overcoming the difficulties in building quantum computers.

Technology produces clean-burning hydrogen fuel cheaply using carbon nanotubes

Posted: 14 Jul 2014 07:41 AM PDT

Researchers have developed a technology that could overcome a major cost barrier to make clean-burning hydrogen fuel -- a fuel that could replace expensive and environmentally harmful fossil fuels. The new technology is a novel catalyst that performs almost as well as cost-prohibitive platinum for so-called electrolysis reactions, which use electric currents to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. The Rutgers technology is also far more efficient than less-expensive catalysts investigated to-date.

Prehistoric ‘bookkeeping’ tokens continued long after invention of writing

Posted: 14 Jul 2014 07:04 AM PDT

An archaeological dig in southeast Turkey has uncovered a large number of clay tokens that were used as records of trade until the advent of writing, or so it had been believed. But the new find of tokens dates from a time when writing was commonplace -- thousands of years after it was previously assumed this technology had become obsolete. Researchers compare it to the continued use of pens in the age of the word processor.

Genetic recipe to turn stem cells to blood

Posted: 14 Jul 2014 07:01 AM PDT

The ability to reliably and safely make in the laboratory all of the different types of cells in human blood is one key step closer to reality. Stem cell researchers have discovered two genetic programs responsible for taking blank-slate stem cells and turning them into both red and the array of white cells that make up human blood.

Domestication syndrome: White patches, baby faces and tameness explained by mild neural crest deficits

Posted: 14 Jul 2014 07:01 AM PDT

More than 140 years ago, Charles Darwin noticed something peculiar about domesticated mammals. Compared to their wild ancestors, domestic species are more tame, and they also tend to display a suite of other characteristic features, including floppier ears, patches of white fur, and more juvenile faces with smaller jaws. Since Darwin's observations, the explanation for this pattern has proved elusive, but now, a new hypothesis has been proposed that could explain why breeding for tameness causes changes in such diverse traits.

No comments: