ScienceDaily: Top Science News |
- How songbirds learn to sing: Mathematical model explains how birds correct mistakes to say on key
- Black piranha, megapiranha have most powerful bites of fish living or extinct, researcher finds
- Maya scholar debunks world-ending myth
- Clays on Mars: More plentiful than expected
- Meteorite triggered scientific 'Gold Rush'
- Major source of evolutionary differences among species uncovered
- New kind of magnetism discovered: Experiments demonstrate ‘quantum spin liquid'
- Traffic congestion can be alleviated throughout a metropolitan area by altering trips in specific neighborhoods, model shows
- Genomic 'hotspots' offer clues to causes of autism, other disorders
- Scientists create nanoscale window to biological world
- Dragonflies have human-like 'selective attention'
- Archaeologists date world's oldest timber constructions
- Super-fine sound beam could one day be an invisible scalpel
| How songbirds learn to sing: Mathematical model explains how birds correct mistakes to say on key Posted: 20 Dec 2012 02:18 PM PST Scientists studying how songbirds stay on key have developed a statistical explanation for why some things are harder for the brain to learn than others, building the first mathematical model that uses a bird's previous sensorimotor experience to predict its ability to learn. Their results show that adult birds correct small errors in their songs more rapidly and robustly than large errors.  |
| Black piranha, megapiranha have most powerful bites of fish living or extinct, researcher finds Posted: 20 Dec 2012 01:07 PM PST The black piranha and the extinct giant piranha, or megapiranha, have the most powerful bites of carnivorous fishes, living or extinct, once body size is taken into account, researchers find. Their study highlights the piranhas' specialized jaw morphology, which allows them to attack and bite chunks out of much larger prey.  |
| Maya scholar debunks world-ending myth Posted: 20 Dec 2012 12:38 PM PST As we hurtle toward the end of 2012, the conversation about a certain date with roots in an ancient Maya calendar has reached a fever pitch. Dec. 21, 2012, has taken over popular culture this year: It's been the subject of movies, books and news shows. The date and its supposed prophecy that the world will come to an end has been the subject of water cooler conversations and international media attention. But the truth regarding the date, according to renowned Maya scholar David Stuart, is that the day is indeed meaningful -- but not in the way you might think.  |
| Clays on Mars: More plentiful than expected Posted: 20 Dec 2012 11:42 AM PST A new study indicates that clay minerals, rocks that usually form when water is present for long periods of time, cover a larger portion of Mars than previously thought.  |
| Meteorite triggered scientific 'Gold Rush' Posted: 20 Dec 2012 11:41 AM PST A meteorite that exploded as a fireball over California's Sierra foothills this past spring was among the fastest, rarest meteorites known to have hit the Earth, and it traveled a highly eccentric orbital route to get here.  |
| Major source of evolutionary differences among species uncovered Posted: 20 Dec 2012 11:41 AM PST Researchers have uncovered a genetic basis for fundamental differences between humans and other vertebrates that could also help explain why humans are susceptible to diseases not found in other species.  |
| New kind of magnetism discovered: Experiments demonstrate ‘quantum spin liquid' Posted: 20 Dec 2012 11:37 AM PST Following up on earlier theoretical predictions, researchers have now demonstrated experimentally the existence of a fundamentally new kind of magnetic behavior, adding to the two previously known states of magnetism. The experiments demonstrate "quantum spin liquid," which could have applications in new computer memory storage.  |
| Posted: 20 Dec 2012 11:37 AM PST A new study shows that traffic congestion can be alleviated throughout a metropolitan area by altering the trips of drivers in specific neighborhoods.  |
| Genomic 'hotspots' offer clues to causes of autism, other disorders Posted: 20 Dec 2012 11:35 AM PST Scientists have discovered that "random" mutations in the genome are not quite so random after all. Their study shows that the DNA sequence in some regions of the human genome is quite volatile and can mutate ten times more frequently than the rest of the genome.  |
| Scientists create nanoscale window to biological world Posted: 20 Dec 2012 11:33 AM PST Researchers have invented a way to directly image biological structures at their most fundamental level and in their natural habitats.  |
| Dragonflies have human-like 'selective attention' Posted: 20 Dec 2012 11:32 AM PST In a discovery that may prove important for cognitive science, our understanding of nature and applications for robot vision, researchers have found evidence that the dragonfly is capable of higher-level thought processes when hunting its prey.  |
| Archaeologists date world's oldest timber constructions Posted: 20 Dec 2012 05:01 AM PST A research team has succeeded in precisely dating four water wells built by the first Central European agricultural civilization with the help of dendrochronology or growth ring dating. The wells were excavated at settlements in the Greater Leipzig region and are the oldest known timber constructions in the world. They were built by the Linear Pottery culture, which existed from roughly 5600 to 4900 BC.  |
| Super-fine sound beam could one day be an invisible scalpel Posted: 19 Dec 2012 02:39 PM PST A carbon-nanotube-coated lens that converts light to sound can focus high-pressure sound waves to finer points than ever before. The engineering researchers who developed the new therapeutic ultrasound approach say it could lead to an invisible knife for noninvasive surgery.  |
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