ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Lifelike, cost-effective robotic hand can disable IEDs
• 'Electronic nose' prototype developed: Device has applications in agriculture, industry, homeland security and the military
• Multiple factors, including climate change, led to collapse and depopulation of ancient Maya
• Thinking and choosing in the brain: Researchers study over 300 lesion patients
• Self-charging power cell converts and stores energy
• Brain's code for pronouncing vowels uncovered
• Forest razing by ancient Maya worsened droughts, says study
• Flood risk ranking reveals vulnerable cities
• Stem cells can become anything, but not without this protein
• Halo of neutrinos alters physics of exploding stars
• Intense bursts of star formation drive fierce galactic winds
• World's sea life is 'facing major shock', marine scientists warn
• Sun's plasma loops recreated in the lab to help understand solar physics
• Big picture of the universe confirmed, WiggleZ survey of more than 200,000 galaxies shows

Lifelike, cost-effective robotic hand can disable IEDs Posted: 21 Aug 2012 07:20 PM PDT Researchers have developed a cost-effective robotic hand that can be used in disarming improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.

'Electronic nose' prototype developed: Device has applications in agriculture, industry, homeland security and the military Posted: 21 Aug 2012 01:25 PM PDT Research has led to the development of an "electronic nose" prototype that can detect small quantities of harmful airborne substances.

Multiple factors, including climate change, led to collapse and depopulation of ancient Maya Posted: 21 Aug 2012 11:41 AM PDT A new analysis of complex interactions between humans and the environment preceding the 9th century collapse and abandonment of the Central Maya Lowlands in the Yucatan Peninsula points to a series of events -- some natural, like climate change; some human-made, including large-scale landscape alterations and shifts in trade routes -- that have lessons for contemporary decision-makers and sustainability scientists.

Thinking and choosing in the brain: Researchers study over 300 lesion patients Posted: 21 Aug 2012 11:41 AM PDT The frontal lobes are the largest part of the human brain, and damage to this area can result in profound impairments in reasoning and decision making. Neuroscientists studied brain-lesion patients to map brain activity in the frontal lobes. Results showed that reasoning and behavioral control are dependent on different regions of the lobes than the areas called upon when making a decision.

Self-charging power cell converts and stores energy Posted: 21 Aug 2012 11:36 AM PDT Researchers have developed a self-charging power cell that directly converts mechanical energy to chemical energy, storing the power until it is released as electrical current. The development eliminates the need to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy for charging a battery.

Brain's code for pronouncing vowels uncovered Posted: 21 Aug 2012 11:36 AM PDT Scientists have unraveled how our brain cells encode the pronunciation of individual vowels in speech. The discovery could lead to new technology that verbalizes the unspoken words of people paralyzed by injury or disease.

Forest razing by ancient Maya worsened droughts, says study Posted: 21 Aug 2012 08:50 AM PDT Prolonged drought is thought to have played a role in the collapse of the Classic Maya empire, but a recent study adds a new twist: The Maya may have made the droughts worse by clearing away forests for cities and crops, making a naturally drying climate drier.

Flood risk ranking reveals vulnerable cities Posted: 21 Aug 2012 08:47 AM PDT A new study of nine coastal cities around the world suggests that Shanghai is most vulnerable to serious flooding. European cities top the leader board for their resilience.

Stem cells can become anything, but not without this protein Posted: 21 Aug 2012 08:47 AM PDT In a finding that could be important to the use of all kinds of stem cells in treating disease, scientists have discovered the crucial role of a protein called Mof in preserving the 'stem-ness' of stem cells, and priming them to become specialized cells in mice. It plays a key role in the "epigenetics" of stem cells -- that is, helping stem cells read and use their DNA.

Halo of neutrinos alters physics of exploding stars Posted: 21 Aug 2012 06:44 AM PDT Sparse halos of neutrinos within the hearts of exploding stars exert a previously unrecognized influence on the physics of the explosion and may alter which elements can be forged by these violent events.

Intense bursts of star formation drive fierce galactic winds Posted: 21 Aug 2012 06:44 AM PDT Fierce galactic winds powered by an intense burst of star formation may blow gas right out of massive galaxies, shutting down their ability to make new stars.

World's sea life is 'facing major shock', marine scientists warn Posted: 21 Aug 2012 06:44 AM PDT Life in the world's oceans faces far greater change and risk of large-scale extinctions than at any previous time in human history, a team of the world's leading marine scientists has warned. The researchers have compared events which drove massive extinctions of sea life in the past with what is observed to be taking place in the seas and oceans globally today.

Sun's plasma loops recreated in the lab to help understand solar physics Posted: 21 Aug 2012 06:44 AM PDT In orbit around Earth is a wide range of satellites that we rely on for everything from television feeds to GPS navigation. Although these spacecraft soar high above storms on Earth, they are still vulnerable to weather from the sun. Large solar flares can cause widespread damage, which is why researchers are working to learn more about the possible precursors to solar flares called plasma loops by recreating them in the lab.

Big picture of the universe confirmed, WiggleZ survey of more than 200,000 galaxies shows Posted: 21 Aug 2012 06:40 AM PDT We know that stars group together to form galaxies, galaxies clump to make clusters and clusters gather to create structures known as superclusters. At what scale though, if at all, does this Russian doll-like structure stop? Scientists have been debating this very question for decades because clustering on large scales would be in conflict with our 'standard model' of cosmology. The current model is based on Einstein's equations assuming everything is smooth on the largest scales. If matter were instead clumpy on very large scales, then the entire model would need to be rethought.

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