ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Astronomers discover new exoplanet similar in size to Earth; Planet Kepler-21b found using space and ground-based observations
• NASA's Swift finds a gamma-ray burst with a dual personality
• Trail of 'stone breadcrumbs' reveals the identity of one of the first human groups to leave Africa
• Abrupt permafrost thaw increases climate threat, experts say
• Earthquakes: Water as a lubricant
• In a star's final days, astronomers hunt 'signal of impending doom'
• Astronomers look to neighboring galaxy for star formation insight
• Setting the stage for life: Scientists make key discovery about the atmosphere of early Earth
• Earthquake friction effect demonstrated at the nanoscale
• Violent video games alter brain function in young men
• Making a light-harvesting antenna from scratch: Biomimetic antenna for gathering sunlight may one day transform solar-powered devices
• Body rebuilding: Researchers regenerate muscle in mice
• Psychopaths' brains show differences in structure and function

Astronomers discover new exoplanet similar in size to Earth; Planet Kepler-21b found using space and ground-based observations Posted: 30 Nov 2011 02:56 PM PST The NASA Kepler Mission is designed to survey a portion of our region of the Milky Way Galaxy to discover Earth-size planets in or near the "habitable zone," the region in a planetary system where liquid water can exist, and determine how many of the billions of stars in our galaxy have such planets. It now has another planet to add to its growing list. Researchers have shown that one of the brightest stars in the Kepler star field has a planet with a radius only 1.6 that of Earth's radius and a mass no greater that 10 earth masses, circling its parent star with a 2.8 day period.

NASA's Swift finds a gamma-ray burst with a dual personality Posted: 30 Nov 2011 02:10 PM PST A peculiar cosmic explosion first detected by NASA's Swift observatory on Christmas Day 2010 was caused either by a novel type of supernova located billions of light-years away or an unusual collision much closer to home, within our own galaxy.

Trail of 'stone breadcrumbs' reveals the identity of one of the first human groups to leave Africa Posted: 30 Nov 2011 02:10 PM PST A series of new archaeological discoveries in the Sultanate of Oman, nestled in the southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, reveals the timing and identity of one of the first modern human groups to migrate out of Africa, according to new research.

Abrupt permafrost thaw increases climate threat, experts say Posted: 30 Nov 2011 01:15 PM PST As the Arctic warms, greenhouse gases will be released from thawing permafrost faster and at significantly higher levels than previous estimates, according to a survey of international experts. Permafrost thaw will release approximately the same amount of carbon as deforestation. However, the effect of thawing permafrost on climate will be 2.5 times greater because emissions include methane, a more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Earthquakes: Water as a lubricant Posted: 30 Nov 2011 11:22 AM PST Geophysicists have established a mode of action that can explain the irregular distribution of strong earthquakes at the San Andreas Fault in California. The scientists examined the electrical conductivity of the rocks at great depths, which is closely related to the water content within the rocks. From the pattern of electrical conductivity and seismic activity they were able to deduce that rock water acts as a lubricant.

In a star's final days, astronomers hunt 'signal of impending doom' Posted: 30 Nov 2011 11:22 AM PST An otherwise nondescript binary star system in the Whirlpool Galaxy has brought astronomers tantalizingly close to their goal of observing a star just before it goes supernova.

Astronomers look to neighboring galaxy for star formation insight Posted: 30 Nov 2011 11:19 AM PST An international team of astronomers has mapped in detail the star-birthing regions of the nearest star-forming galaxy to our own, a step toward understanding the conditions surrounding star creation. They found a large number of relatively low-mass clouds of molecular hydrogen -- material for star forming -- and found a correlation between young massive stars and molecular clouds.

Setting the stage for life: Scientists make key discovery about the atmosphere of early Earth Posted: 30 Nov 2011 11:18 AM PST Scientists have used the oldest minerals on Earth to reconstruct the atmospheric conditions present on Earth very soon after its birth. The findings are the first direct evidence of what the ancient atmosphere of the planet was like soon after its formation and directly challenge years of research on the type of atmosphere out of which life arose on the planet.

Earthquake friction effect demonstrated at the nanoscale Posted: 30 Nov 2011 11:18 AM PST Earthquakes are some of the most daunting natural disasters that scientists try to analyze. Though Earth's major fault lines are well known, there is little scientists can do to predict when an earthquake will occur or how strong it will be. And, though earthquakes involve millions of tons of rock, a team of researchers has helped discover an aspect of friction on the nanoscale that may lead to a better understanding of the disasters.

Violent video games alter brain function in young men Posted: 30 Nov 2011 06:52 AM PST A functional magnetic resonance imaging analysis of long-term effects of violent video game play on the brain has found changes in brain regions associated with cognitive function and emotional control in young adult men after one week of game play.

Making a light-harvesting antenna from scratch: Biomimetic antenna for gathering sunlight may one day transform solar-powered devices Posted: 29 Nov 2011 11:20 AM PST Scientists have succeeded in making a light-harvesting antenna from scratch. The new antenna, modeled on the chlorosome found in green bacteria, is a giant assembly of pigment molecules. Perhaps nature's most spectacular light-harvesting antennae, chlorosomes allow green bacteria to photosynthesize even in the dim light in ocean deeps.

Body rebuilding: Researchers regenerate muscle in mice Posted: 29 Nov 2011 08:23 AM PST Scientists have regenerated functional muscle tissue in mice, opening the door for a new clinical therapy for major muscle trauma. The team used a novel protocol to coax human muscle cells into a stem cell-like state and grew the reprogrammed cells on biopolymer microthreads. Surprisingly, the microthreads seemed to accelerate the regeneration process by recruiting progenitor mouse muscle cells, suggesting that they alone could become a therapeutic tool.

Psychopaths' brains show differences in structure and function Posted: 22 Nov 2011 08:09 PM PST Images of prisoners' brains show important differences between those who are diagnosed as psychopaths and those who aren't, according to a new study.

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