ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Study demonstrates that one extinction leads to another
• Widespread local 'extinctions' in tropical forest ‘remnants’
• An artificial retina with the capacity to restore normal vision
• Scientists can now block heroin, morphine addiction
• Researchers simulate volcanic eruptions: Large-scale experiment to shed light on powerful natural disaster
• Fish are warmer, faster, stronger: Unexpected benefits of living in a changing climate, biologists find
• Mutation in male moth's antenna lets him find a female at the other end of a football field
• Closing in on the border between primordial plasma and ordinary matter
• Macabre finds in the bog at Alken Enge, Denmark: Skeletal remains of hundreds of warriors unearthed
• Vaccine for heart disease? New discovery points to possibility
• Old skull bone rediscovered in mammals

Study demonstrates that one extinction leads to another Posted: 14 Aug 2012 06:35 PM PDT When a carnivore becomes extinct, other predatory species could soon follow, according to new research. Scientists have previously put forward this theory, but now biologists have carried out the first experiment to show it. The study shows how the demise of one carnivore species can indirectly cause another to become extinct. The research team believes any extinction can create a ripple effect across a food web, with far-reaching consequences for many other animals.

Widespread local 'extinctions' in tropical forest ‘remnants’ Posted: 14 Aug 2012 06:34 PM PDT The small fragments of tropical forests left behind after deforestation are suffering extensive species extinction, according to new research.

An artificial retina with the capacity to restore normal vision Posted: 14 Aug 2012 06:33 PM PDT For the first time, researchers decipher the retina's neural code for brain communication to create novel, more effective prosthetic retinal device for blindness.

Scientists can now block heroin, morphine addiction Posted: 14 Aug 2012 06:32 PM PDT In a major breakthrough, an international team of scientists has proven that addiction to morphine and heroin can be blocked, while at the same time increasing pain relief.

Researchers simulate volcanic eruptions: Large-scale experiment to shed light on powerful natural disaster Posted: 14 Aug 2012 11:20 AM PDT A rare large-scale attempt to simulate volcanic eruptions will provide much-needed insight into one of Earth's most powerful and mysterious natural disasters.

Fish are warmer, faster, stronger: Unexpected benefits of living in a changing climate, biologists find Posted: 14 Aug 2012 10:51 AM PDT Biologists suggest that growing up at warmer temperatures helps some aquatic animals cope with climate change, raising questions about the limits of adaptation. They found that when embryos raised in warm water experienced temperature variation as adults, they could swim faster and their muscle was better suited for aerobic exercise.

Mutation in male moth's antenna lets him find a female at the other end of a football field Posted: 14 Aug 2012 09:11 AM PDT A female moth sitting on a goal post could attract a male moth on the other end of a football field. And even if she switched her scent over time, the male could still find her because of a mutation to a single gene in his antenna.

Closing in on the border between primordial plasma and ordinary matter Posted: 14 Aug 2012 08:09 AM PDT Scientists have observed first glimpses of a possible boundary separating ordinary nuclear matter, composed of protons and neutrons, from the seething soup of their constituent quarks and gluons that permeated the early universe.

Macabre finds in the bog at Alken Enge, Denmark: Skeletal remains of hundreds of warriors unearthed Posted: 14 Aug 2012 07:03 AM PDT A fractured skull and a thighbone hacked in half. Finds of damaged human bones along with axes, spears, clubs and shields confirm that the bog at Alken Enge was the site of violent conflict.

Vaccine for heart disease? New discovery points to possibility Posted: 14 Aug 2012 07:02 AM PDT Researchers have identified the specific type of immune cells that orchestrate the inflammatory attack on the artery wall, which is a major contributor to plaque buildup in heart disease. Further, researchers discovered that these immune cells are launching their attack in response to normal proteins that the body mistakes as being foreign, an autoimmune type response that points up the possibility of developing a tolerogenic vaccine for heart disease.

Old skull bone rediscovered in mammals Posted: 14 Aug 2012 05:54 AM PDT Although clearly discernible in the embryo, shortly afterwards it fuses with other bones beyond recognition. Consequently, researchers have often missed it. Now, however, paleontologists have rediscovered it: the "os interparietale", a skull bone also referred to as the interparietal. Using imaging methods, they were able to detect its presence in all mammals – including humans, which is new as it was previously believed to have been lost in the course of evolution.

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