ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Icarus experiment measures neutrino speed: Even neutrinos are not faster than light
• Fundamental steps needed now in global redesign of Earth system governance, experts say
• Common virus can lead to life-threatening conditions in children
• Ultracold experiments heat up quantum research
• Past in monsoon changes linked to major shifts in Indian civilizations
• Nanopills release drugs directly from the inside of cells
• Highly exposed to phthalates as fetuses, female mice have altered reproductive lives
• Live cells 'printed' using standard inkjet printer
• Glacier-fed river systems threatened by climate change
• Checking off symptoms online affects our perceptions of risk
• Increase in Arctic shipping is risk to marine mammals
• Early spring drives butterfly population declines: 'Ahead-of-time' snowmelt triggers chains of events in the Mormon Fritillary butterfly
• Straintronics: Engineers create piezoelectric graphene
• Brain imaging study finds evidence of basis for caregiving impulse
• Nano rescues skin: Shrimp shell nanotech for wound healing and anti-aging face cream
• Lyme disease surge predicted for Northeastern US: Due to acorns and mice, not mild winter
• First step taken to image ultra-fast movements in chemical reactions
• Glittering Jewels of Messier 9
• Australian saltwater crocodiles are world’s most powerful biters
• New technique lights up the creation of holograms
• White rice increases risk of Type 2 diabetes
• European grasslands challenge rainforests as the most species-rich spaces on Earth
• Deprived of sex, jilted flies drink more alcohol

Icarus experiment measures neutrino speed: Even neutrinos are not faster than light Posted: 16 Mar 2012 05:47 PM PDT The ICARUS experiment at the Italian Gran Sasso laboratory has reported a new measurement of the time of flight of neutrinos from CERN to Gran Sasso. The ICARUS measurement, using last year's short pulsed beam from CERN, indicates that the neutrinos do not exceed the speed of light on their journey between the two laboratories. This is at odds with the initial measurement reported by OPERA last September.

Fundamental steps needed now in global redesign of Earth system governance, experts say Posted: 16 Mar 2012 04:53 PM PDT Some 32 social scientists and researchers from around the world have concluded that fundamental reforms of global environmental governance are needed to avoid dangerous changes in the Earth system. The scientists argued in the journal Science that the time is now for a "constitutional moment" in world politics.

Common virus can lead to life-threatening conditions in children Posted: 16 Mar 2012 02:51 PM PDT Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a common virus that infects the lungs and breathing passage ways. Though it may only produce minor cold symptoms in adults, it can lead to serious illness in young children and those with compromised immune systems.

Ultracold experiments heat up quantum research Posted: 16 Mar 2012 02:51 PM PDT Physicists have experimentally demonstrated for the first time that atoms chilled to temperatures near absolute zero may behave like seemingly unrelated natural systems of vastly different scales, offering potential insights into links between the atomic realm and deep questions of cosmology.

Past in monsoon changes linked to major shifts in Indian civilizations Posted: 16 Mar 2012 11:58 AM PDT A fundamental shift in the Indian monsoon has occurred over the last few millennia, from a steady humid monsoon that favored lush vegetation to extended periods of drought, researchers report. Their study has implications for our understanding of the monsoon's response to climate change.

Nanopills release drugs directly from the inside of cells Posted: 16 Mar 2012 11:57 AM PDT Researchers in Spain have created nanoparticles which can release drugs directly from the cells' interior. The technology, which has been named "nanopills," was licensed to a firm that has verified its tolerance by administering it in vivo.

Highly exposed to phthalates as fetuses, female mice have altered reproductive lives Posted: 16 Mar 2012 08:26 AM PDT Many environmental and public health officials are concerned about the potential health effects of phthalates, which are common chemicals used to make plastics softer and more pliable. In the first study to examine what effect in utero doses of phthalates have on the reproductive system of mice, toxicologists found that extremely high doses were associated with significant changes, such as a shortened reproductive lifespan and abnormal cell growth in mammary glands.

Live cells 'printed' using standard inkjet printer Posted: 16 Mar 2012 08:26 AM PDT Researchers have found a way to create temporary holes in the membranes of live cells using a standard inkjet printer. Creating temporary pores allow researchers to put molecules inside of cells that wouldn't otherwise fit, and study how the cells react.

Glacier-fed river systems threatened by climate change Posted: 16 Mar 2012 08:26 AM PDT As glaciers vanish due to global warming, so will those species dependent upon the icy runoff.

Checking off symptoms online affects our perceptions of risk Posted: 16 Mar 2012 08:26 AM PDT You've been feeling under the weather. You Google your symptoms. A half-hour later, you're convinced it's nothing serious -- or afraid you have cancer. More than 60 percent of Americans get their health information online, and a majority of those decide whether to see a doctor based on what they find. "Wow, this is an era of self-diagnosis," thought Arizona State University psychologist Virginia Kwan, learning that statistic. Psychologists have asked how might online information affect individual health decisions?

Increase in Arctic shipping is risk to marine mammals Posted: 16 Mar 2012 08:25 AM PDT A rapid increase in shipping in the formerly ice-choked waterways of the Arctic poses a significant increase in risk to the region's marine mammals and the local communities that rely on them for food security and cultural identity, according to experts.

Early spring drives butterfly population declines: 'Ahead-of-time' snowmelt triggers chains of events in the Mormon Fritillary butterfly Posted: 16 Mar 2012 07:16 AM PDT Early snowmelt caused by climate change in the Colorado Rocky Mountains snowballs into two chains of events: a decrease in the number of flowers, which, in turn, decreases available nectar. The result is decline in a population of the Mormon Fritillary butterfly, Speyeria mormonia.

Straintronics: Engineers create piezoelectric graphene Posted: 16 Mar 2012 06:45 AM PDT By depositing atoms on one side of a grid of the "miracle material" graphene, researchers ave engineered piezoelectricity into a nanoscale material for the first time. The implications could yield dramatic degree of control in nanotechnology.

Brain imaging study finds evidence of basis for caregiving impulse Posted: 16 Mar 2012 06:45 AM PDT Distinct patterns of activity -- which may indicate a predisposition to care for infants -- appear in the brains of adults who view an image of an infant face -- even when the child is not theirs, according to a study by an international team of researchers.

Nano rescues skin: Shrimp shell nanotech for wound healing and anti-aging face cream Posted: 16 Mar 2012 06:44 AM PDT Nanoparticles containing chitosan have been shown to have effective antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus saprophyticus and Escherichia coli. The materials could be used as a protective wound-healing material to avoid opportunistic infection as well as working to facilitate wound healing.

Lyme disease surge predicted for Northeastern US: Due to acorns and mice, not mild winter Posted: 16 Mar 2012 06:44 AM PDT The northeastern US should prepare for a surge in Lyme disease this spring. And we can blame fluctuations in acorns and mouse populations, not the mild winter.

First step taken to image ultra-fast movements in chemical reactions Posted: 16 Mar 2012 06:40 AM PDT Researchers have fired ultra-fast shots of light at oxygen, nitrogen and carbon monoxide molecules as part of a development aimed at mapping the astonishingly quick movements of atoms within molecules, as well as the charges that surround them. The ultra-short laser that spans only a few hundred attoseconds – an attosecond is equivalent to one quintillionth of a second – was fired in a sample of molecules and could pave the way towards imaging the movement of atoms and their electrons as they undergo a chemical reaction – one of the holy grails of chemistry research.

Glittering Jewels of Messier 9 Posted: 16 Mar 2012 06:40 AM PDT The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced the so far most detailed image so far of Messier 9, a globular star cluster located close to the centre of the galaxy. This ball of stars is too faint to see with the naked eye, yet Hubble can see over 250 000 individual stars shining in it.

Australian saltwater crocodiles are world’s most powerful biters Posted: 16 Mar 2012 06:34 AM PDT Marine biologists have been pondering a particularly painful-sounding question: How hard do alligators and crocodiles bite? The answer is a bite force value of 3,700 pounds for a 17-foot saltwater crocodile (as well as tooth pressures of 350,000 pounds per square inch). That's the highest bite force ever recorded.

New technique lights up the creation of holograms Posted: 16 Mar 2012 06:34 AM PDT Researchers have developed a unique way to create full-color holograms with the aid of surface plasmons.

White rice increases risk of Type 2 diabetes Posted: 15 Mar 2012 07:57 PM PDT The risk of Type 2 diabetes is significantly increased if white rice is eaten regularly, claims a new study.

European grasslands challenge rainforests as the most species-rich spaces on Earth Posted: 15 Mar 2012 07:57 PM PDT The city of Manila holds the human world record for the most densely populated space and now an international team of ecologists are seeking the natural equivalent, the most species rich area on earth. The team's findings reveal the record is contested between South America's tropical rainforests and Central European meadows.

Deprived of sex, jilted flies drink more alcohol Posted: 15 Mar 2012 11:50 AM PDT Scientists have discovered that a tiny molecule in the fly's brain called neuropeptide F governs this behavior—as the levels of the molecule change in their brains, the flies' behavior changes as well.

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