ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• NASA's Cassini watches Saturn storm choke on its own tail
• Longevity Gene: Discovery opens the door to a potential 'molecular fountain of youth'
• This is what a fish thought looks like
• Evidence of geological 'facelift' in the Appalachians
• Nanoparticles that look and act like cells
• Ozone thinning has changed ocean circulation
• Physicists shine a light on particle assembly
• Owl mystery unravelled: Scientists explain how bird can rotate its head without cutting off blood supply to brain
• Genome shows mutant gene gives pigeons fancy hairdos
• Zebrafish may hold the answer to repairing damaged retinas and returning eyesight to people
• Vegetation changes in cradle of humanity: Study raises questions about impact on human evolution
• Gene finding may lead to treatments effective against all MRSA strains
• Mystery surrounding the harnessing of fusion energy unlocked
• Study rebuts hypothesis that comet attacks ended 9,000-year-old Clovis culture
• Virtual superpowers encourage real-world empathy
• Disease not a factor in Tasmanian Tiger extinction; Humans to blame for demise of extinct Australian predator
• Aztec conquest altered genetics among early Mexico inhabitants, new DNA study shows
• 'Petri dish lens' gives hope for new eye treatments
• 'Hungry twin' stars gobble their first meals
• Cyclone did not cause 2012 record low for Arctic sea ice
• Protein origami: Quick folders are the best

NASA's Cassini watches Saturn storm choke on its own tail Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:54 AM PST Call it a Saturnian version of the Ouroboros, the mythical serpent that bites its own tail. In a new paper that provides the most detail yet about the life and death of a monstrous thunder-and-lightning storm on Saturn, scientists from NASA's Cassini mission describe how the massive storm churned around the planet until it encountered its own tail and sputtered out. It is the first time scientists have observed a storm consume itself in this way anywhere in the solar system.

Longevity Gene: Discovery opens the door to a potential 'molecular fountain of youth' Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:44 AM PST Researchers were able to turn back the molecular clock of blood stem cells of old mice by infusing them with a longevity gene. The experiment rejuvenated the aged stem cells' regenerative potential, providing new hope for the development of targeted treatments for age-related degenerative diseases.

This is what a fish thought looks like Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:44 AM PST For the first time, researchers have been able to see a thought "swim" through the brain of a living fish. The new technology is a useful tool for studies of perception. It might even find use in psychiatric drug discovery, according to authors of a new study.

Evidence of geological 'facelift' in the Appalachians Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:44 AM PST How does a mountain range maintain its youthful, rugged appearance after 200 million years without tectonic activity? Try a geological facelift -- courtesy of Earth's mantle.

Nanoparticles that look and act like cells Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:41 AM PST By cloaking nanoparticles in the membranes of white blood cells, scientists may have found a way to prevent the body from recognizing and destroying them before they deliver their drug payloads.

Ozone thinning has changed ocean circulation Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:41 AM PST A hole in the Antarctic ozone layer has changed the way that waters in the southern oceans mix, a situation that has the potential to alter the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and eventually could have an impact on global climate change.

Physicists shine a light on particle assembly Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:41 AM PST Physicists have developed a method for moving microscopic particles with the flick of a light switch. Their work relies on a blue light to prompt colloids to move and then assemble—much like birds flock and move together in flight.

Owl mystery unravelled: Scientists explain how bird can rotate its head without cutting off blood supply to brain Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:41 AM PST Medical illustrators and neurological imaging experts have figured out how night-hunting owls can almost fully rotate their heads -- by as much as 270 degrees in either direction -- without damaging the delicate blood vessels in their necks and heads, and without cutting off blood supply to their brains.

Genome shows mutant gene gives pigeons fancy hairdos Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:40 AM PST Researchers have decoded the genetic blueprint of the rock pigeon, unlocking secrets about pigeons' Middle East origins, feral pigeons' kinship with escaped racing birds, and how mutations give pigeons traits like a fancy feather hairdo known as a head crest.

Zebrafish may hold the answer to repairing damaged retinas and returning eyesight to people Posted: 31 Jan 2013 09:13 AM PST Zebrafish, the staple of genetic research, may hold the answer to repairing damaged retinas and returning eyesight to people. Researchers have discovered that a zebrafish's stem cells can selectively regenerate damaged photoreceptor cells.

Vegetation changes in cradle of humanity: Study raises questions about impact on human evolution Posted: 31 Jan 2013 09:13 AM PST What came first: the bipedal human ancestor or the grassland encroaching on the forest? A new analysis of the past 12 million years' of vegetation change in the cradle of humanity is challenging long-held beliefs about the world in which our ancestors took shape -- and, by extension, the impact it had on them.

Gene finding may lead to treatments effective against all MRSA strains Posted: 31 Jan 2013 09:06 AM PST New research has pinpointed a gene that causes the dominant strain of MRSA infection to linger on the skin longer than other strains, allowing it to be passed more readily from one person to the next. In uncovering this property, researchers have identified a novel target for developing new treatments against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Mystery surrounding the harnessing of fusion energy unlocked Posted: 31 Jan 2013 06:53 AM PST Scientists have answered the question of how the behavior of plasma -- the extremely hot gases of nuclear fusion -- can be controlled with ultra-thin lithium films on graphite walls lining thermonuclear magnetic fusion devices.

Study rebuts hypothesis that comet attacks ended 9,000-year-old Clovis culture Posted: 31 Jan 2013 06:53 AM PST Comet explosions and asteroid impacts could not have ended 9,000-year-old Clovis culture, a new study contends.

Virtual superpowers encourage real-world empathy Posted: 31 Jan 2013 06:53 AM PST Giving test subjects Superman-like flight in a virtual reality simulator makes them more likely to exhibit altruistic behavior in real life, researchers find.

Disease not a factor in Tasmanian Tiger extinction; Humans to blame for demise of extinct Australian predator Posted: 31 Jan 2013 06:53 AM PST Humans alone were responsible for the demise of Australia's iconic extinct native predator, the Tasmanian Tiger or thylacine, a new study has concluded.

Aztec conquest altered genetics among early Mexico inhabitants, new DNA study shows Posted: 31 Jan 2013 06:52 AM PST For centuries, the fate of the original Otomi inhabitants of Xaltocan, the capital of a pre-Aztec Mexican city-state, has remained unknown. Researchers have long wondered whether they assimilated with the Aztecs or abandoned the town altogether. According to new anthropological research, the answers may lie in DNA.

'Petri dish lens' gives hope for new eye treatments Posted: 31 Jan 2013 06:52 AM PST A cure for congenital sight impairment caused by lens damage is closer following new research. Scientists in Australia are closer to growing parts of the human eye in the lab. They have, for the first time, derived and purified lens epithelium -- the embryonic tissue from which the lens of the eye develops. The purity of the cells paves the way for future applications in regenerative medicine.

'Hungry twin' stars gobble their first meals Posted: 31 Jan 2013 06:52 AM PST Years of monitoring its infrared with the Spitzer instrument reveal that it becomes 10 times brighter every 25.34 days, astronomers say. This periodicity suggests that a companion to the central forming star is likely inhibiting the infall of gas and dust until its closest orbital approach, when matter eventually comes crashing down onto the protostellar "twins."

Cyclone did not cause 2012 record low for Arctic sea ice Posted: 31 Jan 2013 06:52 AM PST It came out of Siberia, swirling winds over an area that covered almost the entire Arctic basin in the normally calm late summer. It came to be known as "The Great Arctic Cyclone of August 2012," and for some observers it suggested that the historic sea ice minimum may have been caused by a freak summer storm, rather than warming temperatures. But new results show that the August cyclone was not responsible for last year's record low for Arctic sea ice.

Protein origami: Quick folders are the best Posted: 31 Jan 2013 05:44 AM PST The evolutionary history of proteins shows that protein folding is an important factor. Especially the speed of protein folding plays a key role. This was the result of computer analysis. For almost four billions of years, there has been a trend towards faster folding.

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