ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• How to thrive in battery acid and among toxic metals
• Astronomers find 'lost' supernova
• Is this peptide a key to happiness? Findings suggests possible new treatment for depression, other disorders
• Engineering breakthrough promises significantly more efficient solar cells
• Support cells found in human brain make mice smarter
• Reconstruction of Earth climate history shows significance of recent temperature rise
• Bees get a buzz from flower nectar containing caffeine
• New 3-D reconstructions show buried flood channels on Mars
• Sniff, sniff: New form of animal communication discovered
• Hubble finds 'birth certificate' of oldest known star
• Sea floor earthquake zones can act like a 'magnifying lens' strengthening tsunamis beyond what was through possible
• Industrial chemicals found in food samples
• Generations of cloned mice with normal lifespans created: 25th generation and counting
• Researchers discover workings of brain's 'GPS system'
• Light shed on ancient origin of life
• How birds of different feathers flock together
• Bright comet in the evening sky
• Epigenetics: Neurons remember because they move genes in space
• Siberian fossil revealed to be one of the oldest known domestic dogs
• Processed meat linked to premature death, large study finds

How to thrive in battery acid and among toxic metals Posted: 07 Mar 2013 04:06 PM PST In the movie Alien, the title character is an extraterrestrial creature that can survive brutal heat and resist the effects of toxins. In real life, organisms with similar traits exist, such as the "extremophile" red alga Galdieria sulphuraria. In hot springs in Yellowstone National Park, Galdieria uses energy from the sun to produce sugars through photosynthesis. In the darkness of old mineshafts in drainage as caustic as battery acid, it feeds on bacteria and survives high concentrations of arsenic and heavy metals. How has a one-celled alga acquired such flexibility and resilience?

Astronomers find 'lost' supernova Posted: 07 Mar 2013 01:16 PM PST Supernova explosions of massive stars are common in spiral galaxies like the Milky Way, where new stars are forming all the time. They are almost never seen in elliptical galaxies where star formation has nearly ceased. As a result, astronomers were surprised to find a young-looking supernova in an old galaxy.

Is this peptide a key to happiness? Findings suggests possible new treatment for depression, other disorders Posted: 07 Mar 2013 11:57 AM PST For the first time in humans, scientists have measured the release of a specific peptide, that greatly increased when subjects were happy, but decreased when they were sad. The findings have implications for the treatment of depression.

Engineering breakthrough promises significantly more efficient solar cells Posted: 07 Mar 2013 11:57 AM PST A new technique could lead to significantly more efficient solar cells. Quantum dot photovoltaics offers the potential for low-cost, large-area solar power -- however these devices are not yet highly efficient in the infrared portion of the sun's spectrum, which is responsible for half of the sun's power that reaches Earth. The solution? Spectrally tuned, solution-processed plasmonic nanoparticles. These particles, researchers say, provide unprecedented control over light's propagation and absorption.

Support cells found in human brain make mice smarter Posted: 07 Mar 2013 11:53 AM PST Glial cells -- a family of cells found in the human central nervous system and, until recently, considered mere "housekeepers" -- now appear to be essential to the unique complexity of the human brain. Scientists reached this conclusion after demonstrating that when transplanted into mice, these human cells could influence communication within the brain, allowing the animals to learn more rapidly.

Reconstruction of Earth climate history shows significance of recent temperature rise Posted: 07 Mar 2013 11:53 AM PST Using data from 73 sites around the world, scientists have been able to reconstruct Earth's temperature history back to the end of the last Ice Age, revealing that the planet today is warmer than it has been during 70 to 80 percent of the time over the last 11,300 years.

Bees get a buzz from flower nectar containing caffeine Posted: 07 Mar 2013 11:52 AM PST You may need a cup of coffee to kick start the day but it seems honeybees also get their buzz from drinking flower nectar containing caffeine.

New 3-D reconstructions show buried flood channels on Mars Posted: 07 Mar 2013 11:52 AM PST New maps of the subsurface of Mars show for the first time buried channels below the surface of the red planet. Understanding the source and scale of the young channels present in Elysium Planitia -- an expanse of plains along the equator, and the youngest volcanic region on the planet -- is essential to comprehend recent Martian hydrologic activity and determine if such floods could have induced climate change.

Sniff, sniff: New form of animal communication discovered Posted: 07 Mar 2013 11:51 AM PST Sniffing has been observed to also serve as a method for rats to communicate —- a fundamental discovery that may help scientists identify brain regions critical for interpreting communications cues and what brain malfunctions may cause some complex social disorders.

Hubble finds 'birth certificate' of oldest known star Posted: 07 Mar 2013 11:51 AM PST Astronomers have taken an important step closer to finding the birth certificate of a star that's been around for a very long time. The star could be as old as 14.5 billion years (plus or minus 0.8 billion years), which at first glance would make it older than the universe's calculated age of about 13.8 billion years, an obvious dilemma.

Sea floor earthquake zones can act like a 'magnifying lens' strengthening tsunamis beyond what was through possible Posted: 07 Mar 2013 09:48 AM PST Until now, it was largely believed that the maximum tsunami height onshore could not exceed the depth of the seafloor. But new research shows that when focusing occurs, that scaling relationship breaks down and flooding can be up to 50 percent deeper with waves that do not lose height as they get closer to shore.

Industrial chemicals found in food samples Posted: 07 Mar 2013 09:47 AM PST Researchers have discovered phthalates, industrial chemicals, in common foods purchased in the United States. Phthalates can be found in a variety of products and food packaging material, child-care articles and medical devices.

Generations of cloned mice with normal lifespans created: 25th generation and counting Posted: 07 Mar 2013 09:29 AM PST Using the technique that created Dolly the sheep, researchers have identified a way to produce healthy mouse clones that live a normal lifespan and can be sequentially cloned indefinitely.

Researchers discover workings of brain's 'GPS system' Posted: 07 Mar 2013 08:07 AM PST A new study pro­vides evi­dence for how the brain determines the body's location as it moves through its surroundings.

Light shed on ancient origin of life Posted: 07 Mar 2013 08:06 AM PST Researchers discovered important genetic clues about the history of microorganisms called archaea and the origins of life itself in the first ever study of its kind. Results of their study shed light on one of Earth's oldest life forms.

How birds of different feathers flock together Posted: 07 Mar 2013 06:23 AM PST When different species of birds flock together, their flight formations are determined by social dynamics both between and within species.

Bright comet in the evening sky Posted: 07 Mar 2013 06:23 AM PST Skywatchers in the northern hemisphere should enjoy a rare treat in the next few weeks, as Comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS enters the evening sky. Although the brightness of comets is notoriously difficult to predict, it looks as though this object may even be visible to the naked eye in the second half of March. Discovered by and named after the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii, the comet was first detected in June 2011, when it was an extremely faint object 1.2 billion km from the Sun. Looking at its path, astronomers soon realized that it could become very bright at its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) on March 10 this year.

Epigenetics: Neurons remember because they move genes in space Posted: 07 Mar 2013 06:23 AM PST How do neurons store information about past events? A previously unknown mechanism of memory trace formation has been discovered. It appears that at least some events are remembered thanks to ... geometry.

Siberian fossil revealed to be one of the oldest known domestic dogs Posted: 06 Mar 2013 07:11 PM PST Analysis of DNA extracted from a fossil tooth recovered in southern Siberia confirms that the tooth belonged to one of the oldest known ancestors of the modern dog.

Processed meat linked to premature death, large study finds Posted: 06 Mar 2013 07:09 PM PST In a huge study of half a million men and women, researchers have demonstrated an association between processed meat and cardiovascular disease and cancer.

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