ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Two new species of horned dinosaur named
• Early evolution of life: Study of ribosome evolution challenges 'RNA World' hypothesis
• Correcting human mitochondrial mutations
• Extensive taste loss found in mammals: Feeding preferences shaped by taste receptors
• First consumption of abundant life form, Archaea, discovered
• Statue, chapels and animal mummies found in Egypt
• Ancestor of biggest dinosaurs: First dinosaur discovered in Spain dates back 15 million years earlier than thought
• 3-D Printer with Nano-Precision
• World's tallest man stops growing
• Greenland ice sheet may melt completely with 1.6 degrees of global warming
• Nanotube technology leading to new era of fast, lower-cost medical diagnostics
• Magnetic moon: Magnetic anomalies on moon are result of asteroid collision
• NASA Mars Orbiter catches twister in action
• Citizen scientists reveal a bubbly Milky Way

Two new species of horned dinosaur named Posted: 12 Mar 2012 04:28 PM PDT Two new horned dinosaurs have been named based on fossils collected from Alberta, Canada. The new species, Unescopceratops koppelhusae and Gryphoceratops morrisoni, are from the Leptoceratopsidae family of horned dinosaurs. The herbivores lived during the Late Cretaceous period between 75 to 83 million years ago.

Early evolution of life: Study of ribosome evolution challenges 'RNA World' hypothesis Posted: 12 Mar 2012 04:28 PM PDT In the beginning -- of the ribosome, the cell's protein-building workbench -- there were ribonucleic acids, the molecules we call RNA that today perform a host of vital functions in cells. And according to a new analysis, even before the ribosome's many working parts were recruited for protein synthesis, proteins also were on the scene and interacting with RNA. This finding challenges a long-held hypothesis about the early evolution of life.

Correcting human mitochondrial mutations Posted: 12 Mar 2012 12:26 PM PDT Researchers have identified, for the first time, a generic way to correct mutations in human mitochondrial DNA by targeting corrective RNAs, a finding with implications for treating a host of mitochondrial diseases.

Extensive taste loss found in mammals: Feeding preferences shaped by taste receptors Posted: 12 Mar 2012 12:26 PM PDT Scientists report frequent loss of sweet taste in mammalian species that are exclusive meat eaters. Further, two sea-dwelling mammals that swallow their food whole have extensive taste loss. Many sweet-blind species eat only meat, demonstrating that a liking for sweets is frequently lost during the evolution of diet specialization.

First consumption of abundant life form, Archaea, discovered Posted: 12 Mar 2012 11:03 AM PDT Scientists have documented for the first time that animals can and do consume Archaea – a type of single-celled microorganism thought to be among the most abundant life forms on Earth. Archaea that consume the greenhouse gas methane were in turn eaten by worms living at deep-sea cold seeps off Costa Rica and the West Coast of the United States.

Statue, chapels and animal mummies found in Egypt Posted: 12 Mar 2012 11:02 AM PDT A wooden statue of a king, a private offering chapel, a monumental building and remains of over 80 animal mummies found in Abydos, Egypt, reveal intriguing information about ritual activity associated with the great gods.

Ancestor of biggest dinosaurs: First dinosaur discovered in Spain dates back 15 million years earlier than thought Posted: 12 Mar 2012 07:20 AM PDT The dinosaur Aragosaurus ischiaticus, discovered 25 years ago in Teruel, is from 15 million years earlier than originally thought. Its new dating means that it was the ancestor of the Titanosauriforms, which includes the biggest dinosaurs.

3-D Printer with Nano-Precision Posted: 12 Mar 2012 07:19 AM PDT Printing three-dimensional objects with incredibly fine details is now possible using "two-photon lithography". With this technology, tiny structures on a nanometer scale can be fabricated. Researchers have now made a major breakthrough in speeding up this printing technique.

World's tallest man stops growing Posted: 12 Mar 2012 07:14 AM PDT The world's tallest man appears to have stopped growing following treatment at the University of Virginia Medical Center, earning the medical center a mention in the 2012 Guinness World Records.

Greenland ice sheet may melt completely with 1.6 degrees of global warming Posted: 11 Mar 2012 09:32 PM PDT The Greenland ice sheet is likely to be more vulnerable to global warming than previously thought. The temperature threshold for melting the ice sheet completely is in the range of 0.8 to 3.2 degrees Celsius of global warming, with a best estimate of 1.6 degrees above pre-industrial levels, shows a new study.

Nanotube technology leading to new era of fast, lower-cost medical diagnostics Posted: 09 Mar 2012 07:56 AM PST Researchers have tapped into the extraordinary power of carbon "nanotubes" to increase the speed of biological sensors, a technology that might one day allow a doctor to routinely perform lab tests in minutes, speeding diagnosis and treatment while reducing costs. The new findings have almost tripled the speed of prototype nano-biosensors, and should find applications not only in medicine but in toxicology, environmental monitoring, new drug development and other fields.

Magnetic moon: Magnetic anomalies on moon are result of asteroid collision Posted: 08 Mar 2012 11:32 AM PST Astronomers have proposed a surprisingly simple explanation for magnetic anomalies that have baffled scientists since the mid-1960s -- they are remnants of a massive asteroid. The researchers believe an asteroid slammed into the moon approximately four billion years ago, leaving behind an enormous crater and iron-rich, highly magnetic rock.

NASA Mars Orbiter catches twister in action Posted: 07 Mar 2012 08:11 AM PST An afternoon whirlwind on Mars lofts a twisting column of dust more than half a mile (800 meters) high in an image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Citizen scientists reveal a bubbly Milky Way Posted: 07 Mar 2012 08:11 AM PST A team of volunteers has pored over observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and discovered more than 5,000 "bubbles" in the disk of our Milky Way galaxy. Young, hot stars blow these bubbles into surrounding gas and dust, indicating areas of brand new star formation.

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