ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Robots get a feel for the world: Touch more sensitve than a human's
• Chicago woman cured of sickle cell disease
• Brothers in arms: Commensal bacteria help fight viruses
• May 2012 global temperatures second warmest on record
• Dating evidence: Relics could be of John the Baptist
• 'Facebook for animals' tested on wild great tits
• Particle physics: BaBar data hint at cracks in the Standard Model
• Black holes as particle detectors

Robots get a feel for the world: Touch more sensitve than a human's Posted: 18 Jun 2012 04:49 PM PDT What does a robot feel when it touches something? Little or nothing until now. Specially designed robots can now be equipped with a sense of touch even more sensitive than that of humans.

Chicago woman cured of sickle cell disease Posted: 18 Jun 2012 04:47 PM PDT A Chicago woman is the first Midwest patient to receive a successful stem cell transplant to cure her sickle cell disease without chemotherapy in preparation for the transplant.

Brothers in arms: Commensal bacteria help fight viruses Posted: 18 Jun 2012 12:34 PM PDT Healthy humans harbor an enormous and diverse group of bacteria and other bugs that live within their intestines. These microbial partners provide beneficial aid in multiple ways -- from helping digest food to the development of a healthy immune system. New research shows that commensal bacteria are essential to fight off viral infections.

May 2012 global temperatures second warmest on record Posted: 18 Jun 2012 12:27 PM PDT The globally-averaged temperature for May 2012 marked the second warmest May since record keeping began in 1880. May 2012 also marks the 36th consecutive May and 327th consecutive month with a global temperature above the 20th century average.

Dating evidence: Relics could be of John the Baptist Posted: 18 Jun 2012 12:12 PM PDT New dating evidence supports claims that bones found under a church floor in Bulgaria may be of John the Baptist, who is described in the Bible as a leading prophet and relative of Jesus Christ. Scientists dated a knucklebone from the right hand to the 1st century AD, a date which fits with the widely held view of when he would have lived. The researchers say they were surprised when they discovered the very early age of the remains adding, however, that dating evidence alone cannot prove the bones to be of John the Baptist.

'Facebook for animals' tested on wild great tits Posted: 18 Jun 2012 12:05 PM PDT A new way of analyzing the social networks that link individual animals to each other has been tested on wild great tits.

Particle physics: BaBar data hint at cracks in the Standard Model Posted: 18 Jun 2012 08:18 AM PDT Recently analyzed data from the BaBar experiment may suggest possible flaws in the Standard Model of particle physics, the reigning description of how the universe works on subatomic scales. The data from BaBar, a high-energy physics experiment, show that a particular type of particle decay called "B to D-star-tau-nu" happens more often than the Standard Model says it should.

Black holes as particle detectors Posted: 18 Jun 2012 07:28 AM PDT Black holes could serve as particle detectors, say scientists. Axions, a hypothetical but not improbable kind of particles, could accumulate around a black hole, creating a "boson cloud". After some time, this boson cloud would collapse, sending out characteristic gravity waves.

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