ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Stressed-out tadpoles grow larger tails to escape predators
• Modeling Jupiter and Saturn's possible origins
• New report confirms almost half of Africa's lions facing extinction
• The making of Antarctica's hidden fjords
• Human Y chromosome much older than previously thought
• Obesity makes fat cells act like they're infected
• Green tea extract interferes with the formation of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease
• More storms like Sandy? Arctic ice loss amplified Superstorm Sandy violence
• New fossils of crocodilian, hippo-like species from Panama
• New evidence that comets could have seeded life on Earth
• Jupiter's icy moon: Window into Europa's ocean lies right at the surface
• Amputee phantom pain linked to brain retaining picture of missing limb
• Remains of extinct giant camel discovered in High Arctic
• Mental picture of others can be seen using fMRI, finds new study
• Viruses: More survival tricks than previously thought
• How the brain loses and regains consciousness: Brain patterns produced by general anesthesia revealed
• New research confirms plight of bumble bees, persistence of other bees in Northeast
• Protein synthesis blocker may hold key to reducing effects of traumatic events

Stressed-out tadpoles grow larger tails to escape predators Posted: 05 Mar 2013 05:02 PM PST When people or animals are thrust into threatening situations such as combat or attack by a predator, stress hormones are released to help prepare the organism to defend itself or to rapidly escape from danger —- the so-called fight-or-flight response. Now researchers have demonstrated for the first time that stress hormones are also responsible for altering the body shape of developing animals, in this case the humble tadpole, so they are better equipped to survive predator attacks.

Modeling Jupiter and Saturn's possible origins Posted: 05 Mar 2013 02:46 PM PST New theoretical modeling provides clues to how the gas giant planets in our solar system -- Jupiter and Saturn -- might have formed and evolved.

New report confirms almost half of Africa's lions facing extinction Posted: 05 Mar 2013 02:46 PM PST A new report concludes that nearly half of Africa's wild lion populations may decline to near extinction over the next 20-40 years without urgent conservation measures. The plight of many lion populations is so bleak, the report concludes that fencing them in -- and fencing humans out -- may be their only hope for survival.

The making of Antarctica's hidden fjords Posted: 05 Mar 2013 01:03 PM PST Antarctica's topography began changing from flat to fjord-filled starting about 34 million years ago, according to a new report from a team of geoscientists.

Human Y chromosome much older than previously thought Posted: 05 Mar 2013 11:58 AM PST The discovery and analysis of an extremely rare African American Y chromosome push back the time of the most recent common ancestor for the Y chromosome lineage tree to 338,000 years ago. This time predates the age of the oldest known anatomically modern human fossils.

Obesity makes fat cells act like they're infected Posted: 05 Mar 2013 11:51 AM PST Scientists report that a high calorie diet causes fat cells to act as if under pathogenic attack. The researchers have identified a root cause of the diet-caused fat tissue inflammation that has baffled medical researchers for decades.

Green tea extract interferes with the formation of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease Posted: 05 Mar 2013 11:51 AM PST Researchers have found a new potential benefit of a molecule in green tea: preventing the misfolding of specific proteins in the brain.

More storms like Sandy? Arctic ice loss amplified Superstorm Sandy violence Posted: 05 Mar 2013 11:51 AM PST Researchers have shown that the severe loss of summertime Arctic sea ice – attributed to greenhouse warming – appears to increase the frequency of atmospheric blocking events like the one that steered Hurricane Sandy into the US Northeast.

New fossils of crocodilian, hippo-like species from Panama Posted: 05 Mar 2013 11:51 AM PST Paleontologists have discovered remarkably well-preserved fossils of two crocodilians and a mammal previously unknown to science during recent Panama Canal excavations that began in 2009.

New evidence that comets could have seeded life on Earth Posted: 05 Mar 2013 10:14 AM PST Scientists have shown that complex molecules can form on icy dust in space, suggesting that comets may have brought these molecules to Earth and seeded the growth of more complex building blocks of life. The team zapped icy snowballs of carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons, producing complex molecules, such as dipeptides, that are capable of catalyzing the formation of more complex structures.

Jupiter's icy moon: Window into Europa's ocean lies right at the surface Posted: 05 Mar 2013 10:12 AM PST If you could lick the surface of Jupiter's icy moon Europa, you would actually be sampling a bit of the ocean beneath, according to astronomers. Astronomers have found the strongest evidence yet that salty water from the vast liquid ocean beneath Europa's frozen exterior actually makes its way to the surface.

Amputee phantom pain linked to brain retaining picture of missing limb Posted: 05 Mar 2013 10:10 AM PST Changes in the brain following amputation have been linked to pain arising from the missing limb, called "phantom pain," in a brain imaging study. Arm amputees experiencing the most phantom limb pain were found to maintain stronger representation of the missing hand in the brain -- to the point where it was indistinguishable from people with both hands.

Remains of extinct giant camel discovered in High Arctic Posted: 05 Mar 2013 10:10 AM PST Remains of an extinct giant camel have been discovered on Ellesmere Island in Canada's High Arctic. The evidence collected is from 30 fragments of a leg bone, dating to about three-and-a-half million years ago from the mid-Pliocene Epoch, when the planet was undergoing a global warm phase.

Mental picture of others can be seen using fMRI, finds new study Posted: 05 Mar 2013 06:10 AM PST It is possible to tell who a person is thinking about by analyzing images of his or her brain. Our mental models of people produce unique patterns of brain activation, which can be detected using advanced imaging techniques according to a new study.

Viruses: More survival tricks than previously thought Posted: 05 Mar 2013 05:07 AM PST Among eukaryotes with modified nuclear genetic codes, viruses are unknown. Until now it had been believed that the modifications to the genetic code effectively prevented new viral infections. However, researchers have now reported the first example of a virus that can be shown to have crossed the boundary from organisms using the standard genetic code to those with an alternate genetic code.

How the brain loses and regains consciousness: Brain patterns produced by general anesthesia revealed Posted: 04 Mar 2013 06:15 PM PST Since the mid-1800s, doctors have used drugs to induce general anesthesia in patients undergoing surgery. Despite their widespread use, little is known about how these drugs create such a profound loss of consciousness. In a new study, researchers have identified distinctive brain patterns associated with different stages of general anesthesia. The findings shed light on how one commonly used anesthesia drug exerts its effects, and could help doctors better monitor patients during surgery and prevent rare cases of patients waking up during operations.

New research confirms plight of bumble bees, persistence of other bees in Northeast Posted: 04 Mar 2013 01:16 PM PST A new study shows that although certain bumble bees are at risk, other bee species in the northeastern United States persisted across a 140-year period despite expanding human populations and changing land use. The study informs conservation efforts aimed at protecting native bee species and the important pollinator services they provide.

Protein synthesis blocker may hold key to reducing effects of traumatic events Posted: 04 Mar 2013 01:16 PM PST Reducing fear and stress following a traumatic event could be as simple as providing a protein synthesis blocker to the brain, report a team of researchers in a new paper.

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