ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Artificial cells take their first steps
• Discrepancy in Greenland temperatures during end of last ice age resolved
• Coffee genome sheds light on the evolution of caffeine
• Clues to trapping carbon dioxide in rock: Calcium carbonate takes multiple, simultaneous roads to different minerals
• Archerfish target shoot with 'skillfully thrown' water
• How the brain finds what it's looking for
• Life forms appeared at least 60 million years earlier than previously thought
• Time flies: Breakthrough study identifies genetic link between circadian clock and seasonal timing
• Mantle plumes crack continents
• Dreadnoughtus: Gigantic, exceptionally complete sauropod dinosaur
• How good is the fossil record? New study casts doubt on their usefulness
• First Neanderthal rock engraving found in Gibraltar: Abstract art older than thought?
• Ancient mammal relatives were active at night 100 million years before origin of mammals
• How much gravity is enough?
• Brain circuit differences reflect divisions in social status

Artificial cells take their first steps Posted: 04 Sep 2014 11:19 AM PDT Using only a few ingredients, a biophysicist and his team have successfully implemented a minimalistic model of the cell that can change its shape and move on its own. They describe how they turned this goal into reality in a new article.

Discrepancy in Greenland temperatures during end of last ice age resolved Posted: 04 Sep 2014 11:19 AM PDT A new study of three ice cores from Greenland documents the warming of the large ice sheet at the end of the last ice age -- resolving a long-standing paradox over when that warming occurred.

Coffee genome sheds light on the evolution of caffeine Posted: 04 Sep 2014 11:19 AM PDT An international research team has sequenced the genome of the coffee plant Coffea canephora. By comparing genes in the coffee, tea and chocolate plants, the scientists show that enzymes involved in making caffeine likely evolved independently in these three organisms. More than 8.7 million tons of coffee was produced in 2013; it is the principal agricultural product of many tropical nations.

Clues to trapping carbon dioxide in rock: Calcium carbonate takes multiple, simultaneous roads to different minerals Posted: 04 Sep 2014 11:18 AM PDT Researchers used a powerful microscope that allows them to see the birth of calcium carbonate crystals in real time, giving them a peek at how different calcium carbonate crystals form.

Archerfish target shoot with 'skillfully thrown' water Posted: 04 Sep 2014 10:15 AM PDT Archerfish hunt by shooting jets of water at unsuspecting prey on leaves or twigs above, knocking them into the water below before gobbling them up. Now, a study finds that those fish are much more adaptable and skillful target-shooters than anyone had given them credit for. The fish really do use water as a tool making them the first known tool-using animal to adaptively change the hydrodynamic properties of a free jet of water.

How the brain finds what it's looking for Posted: 04 Sep 2014 10:11 AM PDT A brain region that appears central to perceiving the combination of color and motion has been identified by researchers. These neurons shift in sensitivity toward different colors and directions depending on what is being attended. The study sheds light on a key neurological process.

Life forms appeared at least 60 million years earlier than previously thought Posted: 04 Sep 2014 09:12 AM PDT Life forms appeared at least 60 million years earlier than previously thought. They added oxygen to our atmosphere, which led to the evolution of complex life.

Time flies: Breakthrough study identifies genetic link between circadian clock and seasonal timing Posted: 04 Sep 2014 09:11 AM PDT New insights into day-length measurement in flies have been uncovered by researchers. The study has corroborated previous observations that flies developed under short days become significantly more cold-resistant compared with flies raised in long-days, suggesting that this response can be used to study seasonal photoperiodic timing. Photoperiodism is the physiological reaction of organisms to the length of day or night, occurring in both plants and animals.

Mantle plumes crack continents Posted: 04 Sep 2014 07:38 AM PDT Using a simulation with an unprecedentedly high resolution, Earth scientists have shown that magma columns in the Earth's interior can cause continental breakup -- but only if the Earth's skin is already taut.

Dreadnoughtus: Gigantic, exceptionally complete sauropod dinosaur Posted: 04 Sep 2014 06:30 AM PDT The new 65-ton (59,300 kg) dinosaur species Dreadnoughtus schrani is the largest land animal for which body mass can be accurately calculated. Its skeleton is the most complete ever found of its type, with over 70 percent of the bones, excluding the head, represented. Because all previously discovered supermassive dinosaurs are known from relatively fragmentary remains, Dreadnoughtus offers an unprecedented window into the anatomy and biomechanics of the largest animals to ever walk the Earth.

How good is the fossil record? New study casts doubt on their usefulness Posted: 04 Sep 2014 05:46 AM PDT Do all the millions of fossils in museums around the world give a balanced view of the history of life, or is the record too incomplete to be sure? This question was first recognized by Charles Darwin and has worried scientists ever since.

First Neanderthal rock engraving found in Gibraltar: Abstract art older than thought? Posted: 04 Sep 2014 05:45 AM PDT The first example of a rock engraving attributed to Neanderthals has been discovered in Gorham's Cave, Gibraltar. Dated at over 39,000 years old, it consists of a deeply impressed cross-hatching carved into rock. Its analysis calls into question the view that the production of representational and abstract depictions on cave walls was a cultural innovation introduced into Europe by modern humans. On the contrary, the findings support the hypothesis that Neanderthals had a symbolic material culture.

Ancient mammal relatives were active at night 100 million years before origin of mammals Posted: 03 Sep 2014 05:41 PM PDT New study reveals that nocturnality has older origin than previously thought. Synapsids, living about 300 million years ago, were probably active at night.

How much gravity is enough? Posted: 03 Sep 2014 01:35 PM PDT Keeping upright in a low-gravity environment is not easy, and NASA documents abound with examples of astronauts falling on the lunar surface. Now, a new study suggests that the reason for all these moon mishaps might be because its gravity isn't sufficient to provide astronauts with unambiguous information on which way is 'up'.

Brain circuit differences reflect divisions in social status Posted: 02 Sep 2014 11:42 AM PDT Life at opposite ends of primate social hierarchies is linked to specific brain networks, research has shown. The more dominant you are, the bigger some brain regions are. If your social position is more subordinate, other brain regions are bigger.

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