ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• In the genes, but which ones? Studies that linked specific genes to intelligence were largely wrong, experts say
• Neither birth nor death stops a flock, new theory shows
• CFC substitutes: Good for the ozone layer, bad for climate?
• Blood mystery solved: Two new blood types identified
• Engineers create a rainbow-colored polymer that could open the door to portable, handheld multispectral imaging devices
• Lifestyle of naked mole-rats holds lifesaving clues
• Disarming the botulinum neurotoxin
• 'Storm of the century' may become 'storm of the decade'
• Microbes may be engineered to help trap excess carbon dioxide underground
• Conformity linked to the size of a brain region

In the genes, but which ones? Studies that linked specific genes to intelligence were largely wrong, experts say Posted: 24 Feb 2012 11:05 AM PST For decades, scientists have understood that there is a genetic component to intelligence, but a new study has found both that most of the genes thought to be linked to the trait are probably not in fact related to it, and identifying intelligence's specific genetic roots may still be a long way off.

Neither birth nor death stops a flock, new theory shows Posted: 24 Feb 2012 08:11 AM PST Neither births nor deaths stop the flocking of organisms. They just keep moving, says a theoretical physicist. The notion, he says, has implications in biology and eventually could point to new cancer therapies.

CFC substitutes: Good for the ozone layer, bad for climate? Posted: 24 Feb 2012 08:07 AM PST The Montreal Protocol led to a global phase-out of most substances that deplete the ozone layer, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). A happy side-effect of the gradual ban of these products is that the Earth's climate has also benefited because CFCs are also potent greenhouse gases. However, now a "rebound effect" threatens to accelerate the rate of global warming.

Blood mystery solved: Two new blood types identified Posted: 23 Feb 2012 03:38 PM PST You probably know your blood type: A, B, AB or O. You may even know if you're Rhesus positive or negative. But how about the Langereis blood type? Or the Junior blood type? Positive or negative? Most people have never even heard of these. Yet this knowledge could be "a matter of life and death." While blood transfusion problems due to Langereis and Junior blood types are rare worldwide, several ethnic populations are at risk.

Engineers create a rainbow-colored polymer that could open the door to portable, handheld multispectral imaging devices Posted: 23 Feb 2012 03:38 PM PST Engineers have developed a one-step, low-cost method to fabricate a polymer that is rainbow-colored, reflecting many different wavelengths of light when viewed from a single perspective. The colors won't fade with time because they are produced by surface geometry, and not pigment -- the same principle that gives color to the wings of butterflies and feather of peacocks.

Lifestyle of naked mole-rats holds lifesaving clues Posted: 23 Feb 2012 03:25 PM PST A biologist thinks the subterranean lifestyle of the naked mole-rat may hold clues to keeping brain cells alive and functioning when oxygen is scarce, as during a heart attack. The key may lie in how brain cells regulate their intake of calcium, he says.

Disarming the botulinum neurotoxin Posted: 23 Feb 2012 11:26 AM PST Researchers have discovered how botulinum neurotoxin, a potential bioterrorism agent, survives the hostile environment in the stomach on its journey through the human body. Their study reveals the first 3D structure of a neurotoxin together with its bodyguard, a protein made simultaneously in the same bacterium. This new information reveals the toxin's weak spot -- a point in the journey that can be targeted with new therapeutics.

'Storm of the century' may become 'storm of the decade' Posted: 23 Feb 2012 10:32 AM PST Researchers report that projected increases in sea level and storm intensity brought on by climate change would make devastating storm surges -- the deadly and destructive mass of water pushed inland by large storms -- more frequent in low-lying coastal areas. Regions such as the New York City metropolitan area that currently experience a disastrous flood every century could instead become submerged every one or two decades.

Microbes may be engineered to help trap excess carbon dioxide underground Posted: 23 Feb 2012 07:33 AM PST In H.G. Wells' classic science-fiction novel, The War of the Worlds, bacteria save Earth from destruction when the Martian invaders succumb to infections to which humans have become immune through centuries of evolution. If a team led by researchers has its way, bacteria -- with a little assist from science -- will help prevent global destruction for real by trapping underground a greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, that threatens Earth's climate.

Conformity linked to the size of a brain region Posted: 20 Feb 2012 11:26 AM PST Every generation has its James Dean: The rebel who refuses to follow the path beaten by their peers. Now, a new study has found a link between the amount of grey matter in one specific brain region and an individual's likelihood of conforming to social pressures.

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