ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Moa's ark: Why the female giant moa was about twice the size of the male
• Researchers create next-generation Alzheimer's disease model
• Advancing secure communications: A better single-photon emitter for quantum cryptography
• Striped like a badger: New genus of bat identified in South Sudan
• Copper surfaces reduce the rate of health care-acquired infections in the ICU
• Major depression: Great success with pacemaker electrodes, small study suggests
• Neolithic Iceman Ötzi had bad teeth: Periodontitis, tooth decay, accident-related dental damage in ice mummy
• Environmental change triggers rapid evolution
• Polluting plastic particles invade the Great Lakes
• Retired star found with planets and debris disc
• Peel-and-stick thin film solar cells
• Month of birth impacts immune system development

Moa's ark: Why the female giant moa was about twice the size of the male Posted: 09 Apr 2013 06:19 PM PDT The evolutionary reason for the massive difference in size between male and female giant moa -- the extinct giant birds of New Zealand -- has been revealed for the first time.

Researchers create next-generation Alzheimer's disease model Posted: 09 Apr 2013 02:34 PM PDT A new genetically engineered lab rat that has the full array of brain changes associated with Alzheimer's disease supports the idea that increases in a molecule called beta-amyloid in the brain causes the disease.

Advancing secure communications: A better single-photon emitter for quantum cryptography Posted: 09 Apr 2013 11:50 AM PDT In a development that could make the advanced form of secure communications known as quantum cryptography more practical, researchers have demonstrated a simpler, more efficient single-photon emitter that can be made using traditional semiconductor processing techniques.

Striped like a badger: New genus of bat identified in South Sudan Posted: 09 Apr 2013 08:16 AM PDT Researchers have identified a new genus of bat, Niumbaha, after discovering a rare specimen in South Sudan. The word means "rare" or "unusual" in Zande, the language of the Azande people in Western Equatoria State, where the bat was captured. The bat is just the fifth specimen of its kind ever collected, and the first in South Sudan, which gained its independence in 2011.

Copper surfaces reduce the rate of health care-acquired infections in the ICU Posted: 09 Apr 2013 08:00 AM PDT Placement of copper objects in intensive care unit hospital rooms reduced the number of healthcare-acquired infections in patients by more than half, according to a new study.

Major depression: Great success with pacemaker electrodes, small study suggests Posted: 09 Apr 2013 07:59 AM PDT Researchers implanted pacemaker electrodes into the medial forebrain bundle in the brains of patients suffering from major depression with amazing results: In six out of seven patients, symptoms improved both considerably and rapidly. The method of Deep Brain Stimulation had already been tested on various structures within the brain, but with clearly lesser effect.

Neolithic Iceman Ötzi had bad teeth: Periodontitis, tooth decay, accident-related dental damage in ice mummy Posted: 09 Apr 2013 07:59 AM PDT For the first time, researchers have been able to provide evidence of periodontitis, tooth decay and accident-related dental damage in the ice mummy 'Ötzi'. The latest scientific findings provide interesting information on the dietary patterns of the Neolithic Iceman and on the evolution of medically significant oral pathologies.

Environmental change triggers rapid evolution Posted: 09 Apr 2013 06:54 AM PDT Environmental change can drive hard-wired evolutionary changes in animal species in a matter of generations. A new study overturns the common assumption that evolution only occurs gradually over hundreds or thousands of years.

Polluting plastic particles invade the Great Lakes Posted: 09 Apr 2013 06:54 AM PDT Floating plastic debris -- which helps populate the infamous "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" in the Pacific Ocean -- has become a problem in the Great Lakes, the largest body of fresh water in the world.

Retired star found with planets and debris disc Posted: 09 Apr 2013 06:12 AM PDT The European Space Agency's Herschel space observatory has provided the first images of a dust belt -- produced by colliding comets or asteroids -- orbiting a subgiant star known to host a planetary system.

Peel-and-stick thin film solar cells Posted: 09 Apr 2013 06:07 AM PDT Scientists have fabricated peel-and-stick thin film solar cells (TFSCs). The Si wafer is clean and reusable. Moreover, as the peeled-off TFSCs from the Si wafer are thin, light-weight, and flexible, it can be attached onto any form or shape of surface like a sticker.

Month of birth impacts immune system development Posted: 08 Apr 2013 03:46 PM PDT Newborn babies' immune system development and levels of vitamin D have been found to vary according to their month of birth, according to new research.

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