ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Removing doubt over croc snout clout
• They hunt, they kill, they cheat: Single-celled algae shed light on social lives of microbes
• Physicists help show math behind growth of 'coffee rings'
• Ancient Earth's geochemistry: Some tectonic processes driving volcanic activity occurred 3.8 billion years ago
• Severe climate jeopardizing Amazon forest, study finds
• Light switch inside brain: Laser controls individual nerve cells in mouse
• Heat waves, storms, flooding: Climate change to profoundly affect U.S. Midwest in coming decades
• Nanowires fuel breakthrough for solar energy
• Thin film solar cells: New world record for solar cell efficiency
• Good bacteria in the intestine prevent diabetes, study suggests
• Black silicon can take efficiency of solar cells to new levels
• Genetic admixture in southern Africa
• Soft nanoscale 'Lego' built in the computer
• ChemCam follows the 'Yellowknife Road' to Martian wet area

Removing doubt over croc snout clout Posted: 18 Jan 2013 08:50 PM PST Researchers have shown how the shape of a crocodile's snout could determine its ability to feast on certain types of prey, from large mammals to small fish.

They hunt, they kill, they cheat: Single-celled algae shed light on social lives of microbes Posted: 18 Jan 2013 02:23 PM PST Cheating is rampant among microscopically small algae, biologists have discovered. Their study adds to the emerging view that microbes often have active social lives. Future research could potentially open up new approaches to control or counteract toxic algal blooms.

Physicists help show math behind growth of 'coffee rings' Posted: 18 Jan 2013 02:23 PM PST Last year, physicists showed how to undo the "coffee-ring effect," a commonplace occurrence when drops of liquid with suspended particles dry, leaving a ring-shaped stain at the drop's edges. Now the team is exploring how those particles stack up as they reach the drop's edge, and they discovered that different particles make smoother or rougher deposition profiles at the drop edge depending on their shape.

Ancient Earth's geochemistry: Some tectonic processes driving volcanic activity occurred 3.8 billion years ago Posted: 18 Jan 2013 10:01 AM PST Researchers still have much to learn about the volcanism that shaped our planet's early history. New evidence demonstrates that some of the tectonic processes driving volcanic activity, such as those taking place today, were occurring as early as 3.8 billion years ago.

Severe climate jeopardizing Amazon forest, study finds Posted: 18 Jan 2013 08:17 AM PST An area of the Amazon rainforest twice the size of California continues to suffer from the effects of a megadrought that began in 2005, finds a new NASA-led study. These results, together with observed recurrences of droughts every few years and associated damage to the forests in southern and western Amazonia in the past decade, suggest these rainforests may be showing the first signs of potential large-scale degradation due to climate change.

Light switch inside brain: Laser controls individual nerve cells in mouse Posted: 18 Jan 2013 08:15 AM PST Activating and deactivating individual nerve cells in the brain is something many neuroscientists wish they could do, as it would help them to better understand how the brain works. Scientists have now developed an implant that is able to genetically modify specific nerve cells, control them with light stimuli, and measure their electrical activity all at the same time.

Heat waves, storms, flooding: Climate change to profoundly affect U.S. Midwest in coming decades Posted: 18 Jan 2013 07:41 AM PST In the coming decades, climate change will lead to more frequent and more intense Midwest heat waves while degrading air and water quality and threatening public health. Intense rainstorms and floods will become more common, and existing risks to the Great Lakes will be exacerbated, according to a new report.

Nanowires fuel breakthrough for solar energy Posted: 18 Jan 2013 03:47 AM PST Nanowires could pave the way for more efficient and cheaper solar cells. Research on solar cell nanowires is on the rise globally. Until now the unattained dream figure was ten per cent efficiency -- but now researchers are able to report an efficiency of 13.8 per cent.

Thin film solar cells: New world record for solar cell efficiency Posted: 18 Jan 2013 03:47 AM PST In a remarkable feat, scientists have developed thin film solar cells on flexible polymer foils with a new record efficiency of 20.4% for converting sunlight into electricity. The cells are based on CIGS semiconducting material (copper indium gallium (di)selenide) known for its potential to provide cost-effective solar electricity. The technology is currently awaiting scale-up for industrial applications.

Good bacteria in the intestine prevent diabetes, study suggests Posted: 18 Jan 2013 03:47 AM PST All humans have enormous numbers of bacteria and other micro-organisms in the lower intestine. New research suggests that the influence of the intestinal bacteria extends deep inside the body to influence the likelihood of getting diabetes. Scientists have been able to show that intestinal bacteria, especially in male mice, can produce biochemicals and hormones that stop diabetes developing.

Black silicon can take efficiency of solar cells to new levels Posted: 18 Jan 2013 03:47 AM PST Scientists have demonstrated results that show a huge improvement in the light absorption and the surface passivation on silicon nanostructures. This has been achieved by applying atomic layer coating. The results advance the development of devices that require high sensitivity light response such as high efficiency solar cells.

Genetic admixture in southern Africa Posted: 17 Jan 2013 10:30 AM PST Researchers have investigated the maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA of 500 individuals from southern Africa speaking different Khoisan and Bantu languages. Their results demonstrate that Khoisan foragers were genetically more diverse than previously known. Divergent mtDNA lineages from indigenous Khoisan groups were incorporated into the genepool of the immigrating Bantu-speaking agriculturalists through admixture, and have thus survived until the present day, although the Khoisan-speaking source populations themselves have become extinct.

Soft nanoscale 'Lego' built in the computer Posted: 17 Jan 2013 07:58 AM PST Scientists have developed a new method for the construction of building blocks at the nanoscale.

ChemCam follows the 'Yellowknife Road' to Martian wet area Posted: 16 Jan 2013 07:36 AM PST Researchers have tracked a trail of minerals that point to the prior presence of water at the Curiosity rover site on Mars.

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