ScienceDaily: Top Science News

---

• Superbugs from space offer new source of power
• Caught in the act: Scientists discover microbes speciating
• Injectable gel could repair tissue damaged by heart attack
• Fastest wind from stellar-mass black hole
• Origin of photosynthesis revealed: Genome analysis of 'living fossil' sheds light on the evolution of plants
• Rare element, tellurium, detected for the first time in ancient stars
• Is fructose being blamed unfairly for obesity epidemic?
• Step forward in effort to regenerate damaged nerves
• Molecular basis of touch sensation: Researchers identify new function of a well-known gene
• Evolution of staph 'superbug' traced between humans and livestock
• Hubble reveals a new class of extrasolar planet
• Gene affecting the ability to sleep discovered in fruit flies
• 300-million-year-old forest discovered preserved in volanic ash
• One step closer to a new kilogram
• Toward better electronics: Researchers develop new way to oxidize promising graphene
• How the tiger got its stripes: Proving Turing's tiger stripe theory
• Glaciers: A window into human impact on the global carbon cycle

Superbugs from space offer new source of power Posted: 21 Feb 2012 06:26 PM PST Scientists have created a "designer slime" that can double the electrical output of existing microbial fuel cells. Bacillus stratosphericus -- a microbe commonly found in high concentrations in the stratosphere orbiting Earth with the satellites -- is a key component of a new 'super' biofilm.

Caught in the act: Scientists discover microbes speciating Posted: 21 Feb 2012 06:25 PM PST Not that long ago in a hot spring in Kamchatka, Russia, two groups of genetically indistinguishable microbes decided to part ways. They began evolving into different species – despite the fact that they still encountered one another in their acidic, boiling habitat and even exchanged some genes from time to time, researchers report. This is the first example of what the researchers call sympatric speciation in a microorganism.

Injectable gel could repair tissue damaged by heart attack Posted: 21 Feb 2012 01:57 PM PST Researchers have developed a new injectable hydrogel that could be an effective and safe treatment for tissue damage caused by heart attacks.

Fastest wind from stellar-mass black hole Posted: 21 Feb 2012 11:58 AM PST Astronomers have clocked the fastest wind yet discovered blowing off a disk around a stellar-mass black hole. This result has important implications for understanding how this type of black hole behaves.

Origin of photosynthesis revealed: Genome analysis of 'living fossil' sheds light on the evolution of plants Posted: 21 Feb 2012 09:54 AM PST Evolutionary biologists have shed light on the early events leading to photosynthesis, the result of the sequencing of 70 million base pair nuclear genome of the one-celled alga Cyanophora. They consider this study the final piece of the puzzle to understand the origin of photosynthesis in eukaryotes.

Rare element, tellurium, detected for the first time in ancient stars Posted: 21 Feb 2012 09:51 AM PST Researchers has detected the element tellurium for the first time in three ancient stars. Tellurium is rare on Earth.

Is fructose being blamed unfairly for obesity epidemic? Posted: 21 Feb 2012 09:50 AM PST Is fructose being unfairly blamed for the obesity epidemic? Or do we just eat and drink too many calories? Researchers reviewed more than 40 published studies on whether the fructose molecule itself causes weight gain. In 31 "isocaloric" trials they reviewed, participants ate a similar number of calories, but one group ate pure fructose and the other ate non-fructose carbohydrates. The fructose group did not gain weight.

Step forward in effort to regenerate damaged nerves Posted: 21 Feb 2012 09:50 AM PST Scientists have taken a step forward toward the goal of repairing nerves in such patients more effectively. In a new study, researchers report that a surprising set of cells may hold potential for nerve transplants.

Molecular basis of touch sensation: Researchers identify new function of a well-known gene Posted: 21 Feb 2012 09:48 AM PST A gene known to control lens development in mice and humans is also crucial for the development of neurons responsible for mechanosensory function, as neurobiologists have now discovered. They found that in mice in which they had removed the c-Maf gene in the nerve cells, touch sensation is impaired. This similarly applies to human carriers of a mutant c-Maf gene.

Evolution of staph 'superbug' traced between humans and livestock Posted: 21 Feb 2012 09:47 AM PST A strain of the potentially deadly antibiotic-resistant bacterium known as MRSA has jumped from livestock to humans, according to a new study.

Hubble reveals a new class of extrasolar planet Posted: 21 Feb 2012 07:37 AM PST Observations by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have come up with a new class of planet, a waterworld enshrouded by a thick, steamy atmosphere. It's smaller than Uranus but larger than Earth.

Gene affecting the ability to sleep discovered in fruit flies Posted: 20 Feb 2012 06:10 PM PST On the surface, it's simple: when night falls, our bodies get sleepy. But behind the scenes, a series of complex molecular events, controlled by our genes, is hard at work to make us groggy. Now, research suggests that a newly identified gene known as insomniac may play a role in keeping us asleep. By cloning and testing this gene in fruit flies researchers say they have discovered an entirely new mechanism by which sleep is regulated.

300-million-year-old forest discovered preserved in volanic ash Posted: 20 Feb 2012 01:13 PM PST Pompeii-like, a 300-million-year-old tropical forest was preserved in ash when a volcano erupted in what is today northern China. Paleobotanists have reconstructed this fossilized forest, lending insight into the ecology and climate of its time.

One step closer to a new kilogram Posted: 20 Feb 2012 06:06 AM PST Researchers have produced technology capable of accurate measurements of Planck's constant, which is a significant step towards changing the international definition of the kilogram -- currently based on a lump of platinum-iridium metal kept in Paris, France.

Toward better electronics: Researchers develop new way to oxidize promising graphene Posted: 19 Feb 2012 11:33 AM PST Many experts think graphene could change the face of electronics -- especially if the scientific community can overcome a major challenge intrinsic to the material. Oxidation could be the answer.

How the tiger got its stripes: Proving Turing's tiger stripe theory Posted: 19 Feb 2012 11:33 AM PST Researchers have provided the first experimental evidence confirming a great British mathematician's theory of how biological patterns such as tiger stripes or leopard spots are formed.

Glaciers: A window into human impact on the global carbon cycle Posted: 19 Feb 2012 11:33 AM PST New clues as to how the Earth's remote ecosystems have been influenced by the industrial revolution are locked, frozen in the ice of glaciers.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Top Science News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610