ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Climate warming unlikely to cause near-term extinction of ancient Amazon trees, but multiple threats to the forest remain
• Light used to remotely trigger biochemical reactions
• Three new species of venomous primate identified; May help protect rare primate from illegal trades
• Study reveals a remarkable symmetry in black hole jets
• Predatory fungi are listening for worms, then devouring prey
• Insurance industry paying increasing attention to climate change
• Too many antibiotics? Bacterial ecology that lives on humans has changed in last 100 years
• Mouse brain cells activated, reactivated in learning and memory
• Cloud forest trees drink water through their leaves
• 12 matter particles suffice in nature: Limited number of fermions in standard model, physicists say
• Dolphin hearing system component found in insects
• Rhesus monkeys cannot hear the beat in music

Climate warming unlikely to cause near-term extinction of ancient Amazon trees, but multiple threats to the forest remain Posted: 13 Dec 2012 04:29 PM PST A new genetic analysis has revealed that many Amazon tree species are likely to survive human-caused climate warming in the coming century, contrary to previous findings that temperature increases would cause them to die out.

Light used to remotely trigger biochemical reactions Posted: 13 Dec 2012 02:23 PM PST Since Edison's first bulb, heat has been a mostly undesirable byproduct of light. Now researchers are turning light into heat at the point of need, on the nanoscale, to trigger biochemical reactions remotely on demand. The method makes use of materials derived from unique microbes -- thermophiles -- that thrive at high temperatures but shut down at room temperature.

Three new species of venomous primate identified; May help protect rare primate from illegal trades Posted: 13 Dec 2012 02:23 PM PST A venomous primate with two tongues would seem safe from the pet trade, but the big-eyed, teddy-bear face of the slow loris (Nycticebus sp.) has made them a target for illegal pet poachers throughout the animal's range in southeastern Asia and nearby islands. Researchers recently identified three new species of slow loris. The primates had originally been grouped with another species.

Study reveals a remarkable symmetry in black hole jets Posted: 13 Dec 2012 02:19 PM PST Black holes range from modest objects formed when individual stars end their lives to behemoths billions of times more massive that rule the centers of galaxies. A new study using data from NASA's Swift satellite and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope shows that high-speed jets launched from active black holes possess fundamental similarities regardless of mass, age or environment. The result provides a tantalizing hint that common physical processes are at work.

Predatory fungi are listening for worms, then devouring prey Posted: 13 Dec 2012 11:52 AM PST For over 25 years, Paul Sternberg has been studying worms -- how they develop, why they sleep, and, more recently, how they communicate. Now, he has flipped the script a bit by taking a closer look at how predatory fungi may be tapping into worm conversations to gain clues about their whereabouts.

Insurance industry paying increasing attention to climate change Posted: 13 Dec 2012 11:23 AM PST The insurance industry, the world's largest business with $4.6 trillion in revenues, is making larger efforts to manage climate change-related risks, according to a new study.

Too many antibiotics? Bacterial ecology that lives on humans has changed in last 100 years Posted: 13 Dec 2012 10:25 AM PST A new study has demonstrated that ancient DNA can be used to understand ancient human microbiomes. The microbiomes from ancient people have broad reaching implications for understanding recent changes to human health, such as what good bacteria might have been lost as a result of our current abundant use of antibiotics and aseptic practices.

Mouse brain cells activated, reactivated in learning and memory Posted: 13 Dec 2012 09:13 AM PST Memories are made of this, the song says. Now neuroscientists have for the first time shown individual mouse brain cells being switched on during learning and later reactivated during memory recall.

Cloud forest trees drink water through their leaves Posted: 13 Dec 2012 07:42 AM PST Using water flow sensors and plastic "leaves" that measure wetness, biologists have discovered that trees living in tropical montane cloud forests drink through their leaves as well as their roots. This survival strategy, also adopted by California's redwoods, tides the trees over during dry seasons, but could lead to problems as clouds disappear because of global climate change.

12 matter particles suffice in nature: Limited number of fermions in standard model, physicists say Posted: 13 Dec 2012 05:51 AM PST How many matter particles exist in nature? Particle physicists have been dealing with this question for a long time. The 12 matter particles contained in the standard model of particle physics? Or are there further particles with too high a mass to be produced by the experiments performed so far? These questions are now answered by a team of researchers in a new paper.

Dolphin hearing system component found in insects Posted: 13 Dec 2012 05:49 AM PST A hearing system component thought to be unique in toothed whales like dolphins has been discovered in insects, following research involving the University of Strathclyde.

Rhesus monkeys cannot hear the beat in music Posted: 13 Dec 2012 05:49 AM PST Beat induction, the ability to pick up regularity -- the beat --  from a varying rhythm, is not an ability that rhesus monkeys possess, researchers have found.

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