ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Shading Earth: Delivering solar geoengineering materials to combat global warming may be feasible and affordable
• Photonic interactions measured at atomic level
• Surviving drought: Discovery may help protect crops from stressors
• Microbes help hyenas communicate via scent
• 'Promiscuous' enzymes still prevalent in metabolism: Challenges fundamental notion of enzyme specificity and efficiency
• Monogamy and the immune system: Differences in sexual behavior impact bacteria hosted and genes that control immunity
• Plants' fungi allies may not help store climate change's extra carbon
• Human and soil bacteria swap antibiotic-resistance genes
• 'Weird chemistry' by microbe is prime source of ocean methane
• Evolution of mustards' spice: Plants developed chemical defense against bugs, specific to where they live
• Ancient Denisovan genome: Relationships between Denisovans and present-day humans revealed
• Uncoiling the cucumber's enigma: Biological mechanism for coiling, and unusual type of spring discovered
• People merge supernatural and scientific beliefs when reasoning with the unknown, study shows
• Surprisingly bright superbubble in nearby nebula
• Calorie Restriction Does Not Affect Survival: Study Of Monkeys Also Suggests Some Health Benefits
• Record-breaking stellar explosion helps astronomers understand far-off galaxy

Shading Earth: Delivering solar geoengineering materials to combat global warming may be feasible and affordable Posted: 30 Aug 2012 04:10 PM PDT A cost analysis of the technologies needed to transport materials into the stratosphere to reduce the amount of sunlight hitting Earth and therefore reduce the effects of global climate change has shown that they are both feasible and affordable. The study has shown that the basic technology currently exists and could be assembled and implemented in a number of different forms for less than USD $5 billion a year.

Photonic interactions measured at atomic level Posted: 30 Aug 2012 02:33 PM PDT By measuring the unique properties of light on the scale of a single atom, researchers believe that they have characterized the limits of metal's ability in devices that enhance light.

Surviving drought: Discovery may help protect crops from stressors Posted: 30 Aug 2012 02:31 PM PDT New findings of a key genetic mechanism in plant hormone signaling may help save crops from stress and help address human hunger.

Microbes help hyenas communicate via scent Posted: 30 Aug 2012 12:23 PM PDT Bacteria in hyenas' scent glands may be the key controllers of communication. New research shows a clear relationship between the diversity of hyena clans and the distinct microbial communities that reside in their scent glands.

'Promiscuous' enzymes still prevalent in metabolism: Challenges fundamental notion of enzyme specificity and efficiency Posted: 30 Aug 2012 12:23 PM PDT Open an undergraduate biochemistry textbook and you will learn that enzymes are highly efficient and specific in catalyzing chemical reactions in living organisms, and that they evolved to this state from their "sloppy" and "promiscuous" ancestors to allow cells to grow more efficiently. This fundamental paradigm is being challenged in a new study by bioengineers who reported in the journal Science what a few enzymologists have suspected for years: many enzymes are still pretty sloppy and promiscuous, catalyzing multiple chemical reactions in living cells, for reasons that were previously not well understood.

Monogamy and the immune system: Differences in sexual behavior impact bacteria hosted and genes that control immunity Posted: 30 Aug 2012 11:14 AM PDT Researchers examined the differences between two species of mice -- one monogamous and one promiscuous -- on a microscopic and molecular level. They discovered that the lifestyles of the two mice had a direct impact on the bacterial communities that reside within the female reproductive tract. These differences correlate with enhanced diversifying selection on genes related to immunity against bacterial diseases.

Plants' fungi allies may not help store climate change's extra carbon Posted: 30 Aug 2012 11:13 AM PDT Fungi found in plants may not be the answer to mitigating climate change by storing additional carbon in soils as some previously thought, according to plant biologists.

Human and soil bacteria swap antibiotic-resistance genes Posted: 30 Aug 2012 11:13 AM PDT Soil bacteria and bacteria that cause human diseases have recently swapped at least seven antibiotic-resistance genes, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report Aug. 31 in Science.

'Weird chemistry' by microbe is prime source of ocean methane Posted: 30 Aug 2012 11:13 AM PDT Up to four percent of the methane on Earth comes from the ocean's oxygen-rich waters, but scientists have been unable to identify the source of this potent greenhouse gas. Now researchers report that they have found the culprit: A bit of "weird chemistry" practiced by the most abundant microbes on the planet.

Evolution of mustards' spice: Plants developed chemical defense against bugs, specific to where they live Posted: 30 Aug 2012 11:13 AM PDT The tangy taste a mustard plant develops to discourage insect predators can be the difference between life and death for the plants. A new study has used this trait and its regional variations to conquer the difficult task of measuring the evolution of complex traits in a natural environment.

Ancient Denisovan genome: Relationships between Denisovans and present-day humans revealed Posted: 30 Aug 2012 11:12 AM PDT Researchers have described the Denisovan genome, illuminating the relationships between Denisovans and present-day humans.

Uncoiling the cucumber's enigma: Biological mechanism for coiling, and unusual type of spring discovered Posted: 30 Aug 2012 11:12 AM PDT In the creeping plant's tendrils, researchers discover a biological mechanism for coiling and stumble upon an unusual type of spring.

People merge supernatural and scientific beliefs when reasoning with the unknown, study shows Posted: 30 Aug 2012 10:53 AM PDT A new psychology study finds adults are more likely than children to find supernatural explanations for existential questions.

Surprisingly bright superbubble in nearby nebula Posted: 30 Aug 2012 10:04 AM PDT A new composite image shows a superbubble in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, located about 160,000 light years from Earth. Many new stars, some of them very massive, are forming in the star cluster NGC 1929, which is embedded in the nebula N44.

Calorie Restriction Does Not Affect Survival: Study Of Monkeys Also Suggests Some Health Benefits Posted: 30 Aug 2012 05:51 AM PDT Scientists have found that calorie restriction -- a diet composed of approximately 30 percent fewer calories but with the same nutrients of a standard diet -- does not extend years of life or reduce age-related deaths in a 23-year study of rhesus monkeys. However, calorie restriction did extend certain aspects of health.

Record-breaking stellar explosion helps astronomers understand far-off galaxy Posted: 30 Aug 2012 03:58 AM PDT Astronomers took advantage of the most distant supernova of its type to probe a galaxy some 9.5 billion light years away. The light from the exploding star, allowed astronomers to confirm that the gas environment between the stars in the distant galaxy is "reassuringly normal."

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