ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Chick magnet? Nest diet has big impact on attractiveness of hihi birds
• Animal bite force: Size of lunch dictates force of crunch
• Lower autism risk with folic acid supplements in pregnancy
• Stopping cold: Scientists turn off the ability to feel cold
• Picky eater fish clean up seaweeds from coral reefs
• Building a biochemistry lab on a chip
• Ancient insects shed light on biodiversity
• 'Get off my lawn:' Song sparrows escalate territorial threats
• Precision of GPS in cities improved by 90 percent
• Scientists create automated 'time machine' to reconstruct ancient languages
• New world record efficiency for thin film silicon solar cells
• Carbon sponge could soak up coal emissions
• Biological connections in microelectronics
• 'Near-miss' asteroid tracked
• New material promises better solar cells
• Color vision: Explaining primates' red-green vision

Chick magnet? Nest diet has big impact on attractiveness of hihi birds Posted: 12 Feb 2013 06:01 PM PST Chicks that stock up on their five-a-day outshine their love rivals in later life, a new study shows.

Animal bite force: Size of lunch dictates force of crunch Posted: 12 Feb 2013 06:01 PM PST Even in the same animal, not all bites are the same. A new study finds that because the force in a muscle depends on how much it is stretched, an animal's bite force depends on the size of what it is biting. The finding has direct implications for ecology and evolution.

Lower autism risk with folic acid supplements in pregnancy Posted: 12 Feb 2013 02:22 PM PST Women who took folic acid supplements in early pregnancy almost halved the risk of having a child with autism. Beginning to take folic acid supplements later in pregnancy did not reduce the risk.

Stopping cold: Scientists turn off the ability to feel cold Posted: 12 Feb 2013 02:21 PM PST Neuroscientists have isolated chills at a cellular level, identifying the sensory network of neurons in the skin that relays the sensation of cold.

Picky eater fish clean up seaweeds from coral reefs Posted: 12 Feb 2013 12:44 PM PST Using underwater video cameras to record fish feeding on South Pacific coral reefs, scientists have found that herbivorous fish can be picky eaters – a trait that could spell trouble for endangered reef systems.

Building a biochemistry lab on a chip Posted: 12 Feb 2013 10:20 AM PST Miniaturized laboratory-on-chip systems promise rapid, sensitive, and multiplexed detection of biological samples for medical diagnostics, drug discovery, and high-throughput screening. Using micro-fabrication techniques and incorporating a unique design of transistor-based heating, researchers are further advancing the use of silicon transistor and electronics into chemistry and biology for point-of-care diagnostics.

Ancient insects shed light on biodiversity Posted: 12 Feb 2013 10:20 AM PST Evolutionary biologists have discovered that modern tropical mountains' diversity patterns extended up into Canada about 50 million years ago. Their findings confirm an influential theory about change in modern species diversity across mountains, and provide evidence that global biodiversity was greater in ancient times than now.

'Get off my lawn:' Song sparrows escalate territorial threats Posted: 12 Feb 2013 10:19 AM PST Territorial song sparrows use increasingly threatening signals to ward off trespassing rivals. First an early warning that matches the intruder's song, then wing waving -- a bird's version of "flipping the bird" -- as the dispute heats up, and finally, if all other signals have failed, attack.

Precision of GPS in cities improved by 90 percent Posted: 12 Feb 2013 09:18 AM PST Researchers have developed a new system which improves the ability of a GPS to determine a vehicle's position as compared to that of conventional GPS devices by up to 90 percent, and which can be installed in any vehicle at a very low cost.

Scientists create automated 'time machine' to reconstruct ancient languages Posted: 12 Feb 2013 08:20 AM PST Ancient languages hold a treasure trove of information about the culture, politics and commerce of millennia past. Yet, reconstructing them to reveal clues into human history can require decades of painstaking work. Now, scientists have created an automated "time machine," of sorts, that will greatly accelerate and improve the process of reconstructing hundreds of ancestral languages.

New world record efficiency for thin film silicon solar cells Posted: 12 Feb 2013 08:19 AM PST Researchers have reached a remarkable 10.7 percent efficiency single-junction microcrystalline silicon solar cell, clearly surpassing the previous world record of 10.1 percent held by the Japanese company Kaneka Corporation since 1998. Such significant efficiency, independently certified, was achieved with less than two micrometers of photovoltaic active material – 100 times less than with standard techniques.

Carbon sponge could soak up coal emissions Posted: 12 Feb 2013 07:06 AM PST Emissions from coal power stations could be drastically reduced by a new, energy-efficient material that adsorbs large amounts of carbon dioxide, then releases it when exposed to sunlight.

Biological connections in microelectronics Posted: 12 Feb 2013 07:04 AM PST Miniaturization of electronic components is reaching a physical limit. While the solution of three dimensional assembly has the advantage of reducing bulk, the manufacture of electrical connections in these new products remains a technological challenge. Biologists and physicists have developed a system of self-assembled connections using actin filaments for 3-D microelectronic structures. Once the actin filaments become conductors, they join the various components of a system together.

'Near-miss' asteroid tracked Posted: 12 Feb 2013 07:04 AM PST An asteroid the size of a small office block is due to pass by Earth on Friday 15 February in one of the closest 'near-misses' in recent history. Although there is no chance of the asteroid hitting Earth, the huge rock is being closely monitored by astronomers, as part of an on-going program to monitor 'Near Earth Objects' (NEO).

New material promises better solar cells Posted: 12 Feb 2013 04:52 AM PST Researchers have shown that a recently discovered class of materials can be used to create a new kind of solar cell.

Color vision: Explaining primates' red-green vision Posted: 11 Feb 2013 08:08 AM PST Retinal neurons sensitize to colors preferred by nearby photo-receptors. Results in mice may explain primates' red-green vision.

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