ScienceDaily: Most Popular News

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• Finding infant Earths and potential life just got easier
• Source of volcanoes may be much closer than thought: Geophysicists challenge traditional theory underlying origin of mid-plate volcanoes
• A new look at the finer details of rust show an assumed atomic structure has been wrong all along
• Electric eels deliver taser-like shocks
• New revelations on dark matter and relic neutrinos
• Don’t worry, be happy: Just go to bed earlier
• Uncovering one of humankind’s most ancient lineages
• Pulsars with black holes could hold the 'Holy Grail' of gravity
• How red wine prevents cancer
• Arabian sea humpback whales isolated for 70,000 years
• World’s fastest 2-D camera, 100 billion frames per second, may enable new scientific discoveries
• 'Mirage Earth' exoplanets may have burned away chances for life
• Gut bacteria from a worm can degrade plastic
• Blows to head damage brain's 'garbage truck,' accelerate dementia

Finding infant Earths and potential life just got easier Posted: 04 Dec 2014 11:31 AM PST Among the billions and billions of stars in the sky, where should astronomers look for infant Earths where life might develop? New research shows where -- and when -- infant Earths are most likely to be found.

Source of volcanoes may be much closer than thought: Geophysicists challenge traditional theory underlying origin of mid-plate volcanoes Posted: 04 Dec 2014 11:31 AM PST Geophysicists point to a super-hot layer beneath the tectonic plates as the place of origin for volcanoes, as opposed to deep within the Earth's core.

A new look at the finer details of rust show an assumed atomic structure has been wrong all along Posted: 04 Dec 2014 11:26 AM PST Scientists have been studying the behavior of iron oxide surfaces. The atomic structure of iron oxide, which had been assumed to be well-established, turned out to be wrong. The behavior of iron oxide is governed by missing iron atoms in the atomic layer directly below the surface. This is a big surprise with potential applications in chemical catalysis, electronics or medicine.

Electric eels deliver taser-like shocks Posted: 04 Dec 2014 11:06 AM PST The electric eel -- the scaleless Amazonian fish that can deliver an electrical jolt strong enough to knock down a full-grown horse -- possesses an electroshock system uncannily similar to a Taser. That is the conclusion of a nine-month study of the way in which the electric eel uses high-voltage electrical discharges to locate and incapacitate its prey.

New revelations on dark matter and relic neutrinos Posted: 04 Dec 2014 09:13 AM PST Satellite have been studying relic radiation (the most ancient light in the Universe). This light has been measured precisely across the entire sky for the first time, in both intensity and polarization, thereby producing the oldest image of the Universe. This primordial light lets us "see" some of the most elusive particles in the Universe: dark matter and relic neutrinos. Between 2009 and 2013, the Planck satellite observed relic radiation, sometimes called cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. Today, with a full analysis of the data, the quality of the map is now such that the imprints left by dark matter and relic neutrinos are clearly visible.

Don’t worry, be happy: Just go to bed earlier Posted: 04 Dec 2014 06:11 AM PST Researchers link late evenings to repetitive negative thoughts. When you go to bed, and how long you sleep at a time, might actually make it difficult for you to stop worrying. So say researchers, who found that people who sleep for shorter periods of time and go to bed very late at night are often overwhelmed with more negative thoughts than those who keep more regular sleeping hours.

Uncovering one of humankind’s most ancient lineages Posted: 04 Dec 2014 04:41 AM PST Scientists have successfully discovered one of modern humans' ancient lineages through the sequencing of genes of the Southern African Khoisan tribespeople. This is the first time that the history of humankind populations has been analyzed and matched to Earth's climatic conditions over the last 200,000 years.

Pulsars with black holes could hold the 'Holy Grail' of gravity Posted: 04 Dec 2014 04:41 AM PST The intermittent light emitted by pulsars, the most precise timekeepers in the universe, allows scientists to verify Einstein's theory of relativity, especially when these objects are paired up with another neutron star or white dwarf that interferes with their gravity. However, this theory could be analysed much more effectively if a pulsar with a black hole were found, except in two particular cases, according to researchers. Pulsars are very dense neutron stars that are the size of a city (their radius approaches ten kilometers), which, like lighthouses for the universe, emit gamma radiation beams or X-rays when they rotate up to hundreds of times per second. These characteristics make them ideal for testing the validity of the theory of general relativity, published by Einstein between 1915 and 1916.

How red wine prevents cancer Posted: 03 Dec 2014 01:11 PM PST 'Alcohol damages cells and resveratrol kills damaged cells,' says a scientist who studied red wine and its relationship to preventing cancer. "Alcohol bombards your genes. Your body has ways to repair this damage, but with enough alcohol eventually some damage isn't fixed. That's why excessive alcohol use is a factor in head and neck cancer. Now, resveratrol challenges these cells -- the ones with unrepaired DNA damage are killed, so they can't go on to cause cancer. Alcohol damages cells and resveratrol kills damaged cells," he says.

Arabian sea humpback whales isolated for 70,000 years Posted: 03 Dec 2014 12:18 PM PST Scientists have made a fascinating discovery in the northern Indian Ocean: humpback whales inhabiting the Arabian Sea are the most genetically distinct humpback whales in the world and may be the most isolated whale population on earth. The results suggest they have remained separate from other humpback whale populations for perhaps 70,000 years, extremely unusual in a species famed for long distance migrations.

World’s fastest 2-D camera, 100 billion frames per second, may enable new scientific discoveries Posted: 03 Dec 2014 11:24 AM PST A team of biomedical engineers has developed the world's fastest receive-only 2-D camera, a device that can capture events up to 100 billion frames per second.

'Mirage Earth' exoplanets may have burned away chances for life Posted: 03 Dec 2014 09:48 AM PST Planets orbiting close to low-mass stars — easily the most common stars in the universe — are prime targets in the search for extraterrestrial life. But new research led by an astronomy graduate student indicates some such planets may have long since lost their chance at hosting life because of intense heat during their formative years.

Gut bacteria from a worm can degrade plastic Posted: 03 Dec 2014 08:11 AM PST Plastic is well-known for sticking around in the environment for years without breaking down, contributing significantly to litter and landfills. But scientists have now discovered that bacteria from the guts of a worm known to munch on food packaging can degrade polyethylene, the most common plastic.The finding could lead to new ways to help get rid of the otherwise persistent waste, the scientists say.

Blows to head damage brain's 'garbage truck,' accelerate dementia Posted: 02 Dec 2014 03:33 PM PST Traumatic brain injury can disrupt the function of the brain's waste removal system, research confirms. When this occurs, toxic proteins may accumulate in the brain, setting the stage for the onset of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

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