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Tuesday, November 4, 2014

ScienceDaily: Most Popular News

ScienceDaily: Most Popular News


Lack of oxygen delayed the rise of animals on Earth

Posted: 31 Oct 2014 09:12 AM PDT

Scientists have long speculated as to why animal species didn't flourish sooner, once sufficient oxygen covered the Earth's surface. Animals began to prosper at the end of the Proterozoic period -- but what about the billion-year stretch before that, when most researchers think there also was plenty of oxygen? Yale University researcher Noah Planavsky and his colleagues found that oxygen levels during the 'boring billion' period were only 0.1 percent of what they are today.

'Himalayan Viagra' fuels caterpillar fungus gold rush

Posted: 30 Oct 2014 01:50 PM PDT

Overwhelmed by speculators trying to cash-in on a prized medicinal fungus known as Himalayan Viagra, two isolated Tibetan communities have managed to do at the local level what world leaders often fail to do on a global scale -- implement a successful system for the sustainable harvest of a precious natural resource, suggests new research.

People change their moral values to benefit themselves over others

Posted: 30 Oct 2014 01:30 PM PDT

People are quick to change their moral values depending on which rule means more cash for them instead of others, a study shows. The researchers conclude that the "Pursuit of self-interest is tempered by the constraints of coordination. People seek not only to benefit themselves but also to persuade other people that they are morally right in doing so."

Magma pancakes beneath Indonesia's Lake Toba: Subsurface sources of mega-eruptions

Posted: 30 Oct 2014 11:20 AM PDT

The tremendous amounts of lava that are emitted during super-eruptions accumulate over millions of years prior to the event in the Earth's crust. These reservoirs consist of magma that intrudes into the crust in the form of numerous horizontally oriented sheets resting on top of each other like a pile of pancakes.

Running robots of future may learn from world's best two-legged runners: Birds

Posted: 29 Oct 2014 05:41 PM PDT

With an eye toward making better running robots, researchers have made surprising new findings about some of nature's most energy efficient bipeds -- running birds. Their skills may have evolved from the time of the dinosaurs and they may now be superior to any other bipedal runners -- including humans.

Emergent behavior lets bubbles 'sense' environment

Posted: 27 Oct 2014 07:05 AM PDT

Tiny, soapy bubbles can reorganize their membranes to let material flow in and out in response to the surrounding environment, according to researchers. This behavior could be exploited in creating microbubbles that deliver drugs or other payloads inside the body -- and could help us understand how the very first living cells on Earth might have survived billions of years ago.

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