ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Leatherback sea turtle could be extinct within 20 years at last stronghold in the Pacific Ocean
• Researchers test holographic technique for restoring vision
• Eating well could help spread disease, water flea study suggests
• Non-brittle glass possible: In probing mysteries of glass, researchers find a key to toughness
• Connecting the (quantum) dots: First viable high-speed quantum computer moves closer
• Cell discovery could hold key to causes of inherited diseases
• Clever battery completes stretchable electronics package: Can stretch, twist and bend -- and return to normal shape
• Infrared digital holography allows firefighters to see through flames, image moving people
• Blueprint for an artificial brain: Scientists experiment with memristors that imitate natural nerves
• Unlimited source of human kidney cells created
• Newly observed properties of vacuums: Light particles illuminate the vacuum
• Sleep reinforces learning
• 'NanoVelcro' device to grab single cancer cells from blood: Improvement enables 'liquid biopsies' for metastatic melanoma

Leatherback sea turtle could be extinct within 20 years at last stronghold in the Pacific Ocean Posted: 26 Feb 2013 11:12 AM PST An international team led by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has documented a 78 percent decline in the number of nests of the critically endangered leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) at the turtle's last stronghold in the Pacific Ocean.

Researchers test holographic technique for restoring vision Posted: 26 Feb 2013 10:42 AM PST Researchers are testing the power of holography to artificially stimulate cells in the eye, with hopes of developing a new strategy for bionic vision restoration. Computer-generated holography, they say, could be used in conjunction with a technique called optogenetics, which uses gene therapy to deliver light-sensitive proteins to damaged retinal nerve cells. In conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP), these light-sensing cells degenerate and lead to blindness.

Eating well could help spread disease, water flea study suggests Posted: 26 Feb 2013 09:05 AM PST Plentiful food can accelerate the spread of infections, scientists have shown in a study of water fleas. Scientists studying bacterial infections in tiny water fleas have discovered that increasing their supply of food can speed up the spread of infection.

Non-brittle glass possible: In probing mysteries of glass, researchers find a key to toughness Posted: 26 Feb 2013 08:40 AM PST Glass doesn't have to be brittle. Scientists propose a way of predicting whether a given glass will be brittle or ductile -- a property typically associated with metals like steel or aluminum -- and assert that any glass could have either quality.

Connecting the (quantum) dots: First viable high-speed quantum computer moves closer Posted: 26 Feb 2013 08:40 AM PST Scientists have developed a new method that better preserves the units necessary to power lightning-fast electronics, known as qubits. Hole spins, rather than electron spins, can keep quantum bits in the same physical state up to 10 times longer than before, the report finds.

Cell discovery could hold key to causes of inherited diseases Posted: 26 Feb 2013 08:38 AM PST Fresh insights into the protective seal that surrounds the DNA of our cells could help develop treatments for inherited muscle, brain, bone and skin disorders. Researchers have discovered that the proteins within this coating -- known as the nuclear envelope -- vary greatly between cells in different organs of the body.

Clever battery completes stretchable electronics package: Can stretch, twist and bend -- and return to normal shape Posted: 26 Feb 2013 08:38 AM PST Researchers have demonstrated a stretchable lithium-ion battery -- a flexible device capable of powering their innovative stretchable electronics. The battery can stretch up to 300 percent of its original size and still function -- even when stretched, folded, twisted and mounted on a human elbow. The battery enables true integration of electronics and power into a small, stretchable package that is wirelessly rechargeable.

Infrared digital holography allows firefighters to see through flames, image moving people Posted: 26 Feb 2013 07:14 AM PST Firefighters now have a new tool that could help save lives. A team of researchers have developed a new technique using digital holography that can "see" people through intense flames -- the first time a holographic recording of a live person has been achieved while the body is moving. The new technique allows imaging through both.

Blueprint for an artificial brain: Scientists experiment with memristors that imitate natural nerves Posted: 26 Feb 2013 07:14 AM PST Scientists have long been dreaming about building a computer that would work like a brain. This is because a brain is far more energy-saving than a computer, it can learn by itself, and it doesn't need any programming. Scientists are experimenting with memristors -- electronic microcomponents that imitate natural nerves.

Unlimited source of human kidney cells created Posted: 26 Feb 2013 06:21 AM PST Researchers have successfully generated human kidney cells from human embryonic stem cells in vitro1. Specifically, they produced the renal cells under artificial conditions in the lab without using animals or organs. This has not been possible until now.

Newly observed properties of vacuums: Light particles illuminate the vacuum Posted: 26 Feb 2013 06:21 AM PST Researchers have succeeded in showing experimentally that vacuums have properties not previously observed. According to the laws of quantum mechanics, it is a state with abundant potentials. Vacuums contain momentarily appearing and disappearing virtual pairs, which can be converted into detectable light particles.

Sleep reinforces learning Posted: 26 Feb 2013 05:11 AM PST During sleep, our brains store what we have learned during the day a process even more effective in children than in adults.

'NanoVelcro' device to grab single cancer cells from blood: Improvement enables 'liquid biopsies' for metastatic melanoma Posted: 25 Feb 2013 06:22 AM PST Researchers have refined a method they previously developed for capturing and analyzing cancer cells that break away from patients' tumors and circulate in the blood. With the improvements to their device, which uses a Velcro-like nanoscale technology, they can now detect and isolate single cancer cells from patient blood samples for analysis.

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