ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Dark chocolate could prevent heart problems in high-risk people
• X-ray 'echoes' map a supermassive black hole's environs in distant galaxies
• Cosmic calculations for exploring where stars are born
• Life scientists view biodiversity through a whole new dimension: Body size, feeding rates
• X-ray laser probes biomolecules to individual atoms
• Vertebrates share ancient neural circuitry for complex social behaviors, biologists find
• Building molecular 'cages' to fight disease
• Alzheimer's protein structure suggests new treatment directions
• Walking and running again after spinal cord injury
• Crash of the Titans: Milky Way is destined for head-on collision with Andromeda Galaxy
• SpaceX Dragon capsule returns to Earth after first commercial flight to space station
• Geoengineering for global warming: Increasing aerosols in atmosphere would make sky whiter
• Mystery of monarch butterfly migration takes new turn
• Methane on Mars is not an indication of life: UV radiation releases methane from organic materials from meteorites
• Electric moon jolts the solar wind

Dark chocolate could prevent heart problems in high-risk people Posted: 31 May 2012 05:08 PM PDT Daily consumption of dark chocolate can reduce cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and strokes, in people with metabolic syndrome (a cluster of factors that increases the risk of developing heart disease and diabetes), finds a new study

X-ray 'echoes' map a supermassive black hole's environs in distant galaxies Posted: 31 May 2012 01:57 PM PDT Astronomers have identified a long-sought X-ray "echo" that promises a new way to probe supersized black holes in distant galaxies.

Cosmic calculations for exploring where stars are born Posted: 31 May 2012 01:56 PM PDT Astrophysicists can now analyze the vast molecular clouds of gas and dust where stars are born more accurately. New research has solved equations of quantum mechanics to describe more precisely the interactions between molecules of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, the two most abundant gases in space.

Life scientists view biodiversity through a whole new dimension: Body size, feeding rates Posted: 31 May 2012 01:00 PM PDT How can blue whales, the largest animals on the planet, survive by feeding on krill, shrimp-like creatures that are the size of a penny? According to life scientists, it's all a matter of dimensions.

X-ray laser probes biomolecules to individual atoms Posted: 31 May 2012 11:57 AM PDT Scientists have demonstrated how the world's most powerful X-ray laser can assist in cracking the structures of biomolecules, and in the processes helped to pioneer critical new investigative avenues in biology.

Vertebrates share ancient neural circuitry for complex social behaviors, biologists find Posted: 31 May 2012 11:57 AM PDT Humans, fish and frogs share neural circuits responsible for a diversity of social behavior, from flashy mating displays to aggression and monogamy, that have existed for more than 450 million years, biologists have found.

Building molecular 'cages' to fight disease Posted: 31 May 2012 11:57 AM PDT Biochemists have designed specialized proteins that assemble themselves to form tiny molecular cages hundreds of times smaller than a single cell. The creation of these miniature structures may be the first step toward developing new methods of drug delivery or even designing artificial vaccines.

Alzheimer's protein structure suggests new treatment directions Posted: 31 May 2012 11:57 AM PDT The molecular structure of a protein involved in Alzheimer's disease -- and the surprising discovery that it binds cholesterol -- could lead to new therapeutics for the disease, investigators report.

Walking and running again after spinal cord injury Posted: 31 May 2012 11:57 AM PDT Rats with spinal cord injuries and severe paralysis are now walking (and running). New results show that a severed section of the spinal cord can make a comeback when its own innate intelligence and regenerative capacity -- what lead author calls the "spinal brain" -- is awakened.

Crash of the Titans: Milky Way is destined for head-on collision with Andromeda Galaxy Posted: 31 May 2012 10:54 AM PDT Astronomers can now predict with certainty the next major cosmic event to affect our galaxy, Sun, and solar system: the titanic collision of our Milky Way galaxy with the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. The Milky Way is destined to get a major makeover during the encounter, which is predicted to happen four billion years from now. It's likely the Sun will be flung into a new region of our galaxy, but our Earth and solar system are in no danger of being destroyed.

SpaceX Dragon capsule returns to Earth after first commercial flight to space station Posted: 31 May 2012 10:37 AM PDT SpaceX's Dragon capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 11:42 a.m. EDT a few hundred miles west of Baja California, Mexico, marking a successful end to the first mission by a commercial company to resupply the International Space Station.

Geoengineering for global warming: Increasing aerosols in atmosphere would make sky whiter Posted: 31 May 2012 08:26 AM PDT One idea for fighting global warming is to increase the amount of aerosols in the atmosphere, scattering incoming solar energy away from Earth's surface. But scientists theorize that this solar geoengineering could have a side effect of whitening the sky during the day. New research indicates that blocking 2 percent of the sun's light would make the sky three-to-five times brighter, as well as whiter.

Mystery of monarch butterfly migration takes new turn Posted: 31 May 2012 08:26 AM PDT A prevailing theory contends that eastern and western monarchs are genetically distinct, and that genetic mechanisms trigger their divergent migratory paths. An analysis by biologists, however, finds that the two groups are genetically mixed, suggesting environmental factors may be the key to the butterflies' choice of winter homes, and where they wind up in the spring. The distinction is important to help better understand their behavior, and to conserve the monarch flyways.

Methane on Mars is not an indication of life: UV radiation releases methane from organic materials from meteorites Posted: 31 May 2012 08:23 AM PDT It was a sensation when scientists discovered methane in Mars' atmosphere nine years ago. Many saw the presence of the gas as a clear indication of life on the inhospitable planet, as on Earth methane is produced predominantly by biological processes. Others assumed geological processes, such as volcanoes, to be the cause. Researchers have now been able to show that methane escapes from a meteorite if it is irradiated with ultraviolet light under Martian conditions.

Electric moon jolts the solar wind Posted: 31 May 2012 07:24 AM PDT With the moon as the most prominent object in the night sky and a major source of an invisible pull that creates ocean tides, many ancient cultures thought it could also affect our health or state of mind -- the word "lunacy" has its origin in this belief. Now, a powerful combination of spacecraft and computer simulations is revealing that the moon does indeed have a far-reaching, invisible influence -- not on us, but on the Sun, or more specifically, the solar wind.

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