ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Invasion of the slugs; Halted by worms
• Hubble tells a tale of galactic collisions
• Graphene joins the race to redefine the ampere
• Non-inherited mutations account for many heart defects
• Four new genetic risk factors for testicular cancer identified
• Nano-breakthrough: Solving the case of the herringbone crystal
• Climate change will cause widespread global-scale loss of common plants and animals, researchers predict
• Gene associated with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis identified
• Research on cilia heats up: Implications for hearing, vision loss and kidney disease
• Carnivorous plant throws out 'junk' DNA
• Better dyes for imaging technology
• War spawns new approaches for wounded service members' pain care

Invasion of the slugs; Halted by worms Posted: 12 May 2013 05:16 PM PDT The gardener's best friend, the earthworm, is great at protecting leaves from being chomped by slugs, suggests new research. Although they lurk in the soil, they seem to protect the plants above ground. Increasing plant diversity also decreases the amount of damage slugs do to individual plants.

Hubble tells a tale of galactic collisions Posted: 12 May 2013 11:53 AM PDT When we look into the distant cosmos, the great majority of the objects we see are galaxies: immense gatherings of stars, planets, gas, dust, and dark matter, showing up in all kind of shapes. A new Hubble picture registers several, but the galaxy catalogued as 2MASX J05210136-2521450 stands out at a glance due to its interesting shape.

Graphene joins the race to redefine the ampere Posted: 12 May 2013 11:12 AM PDT New research could pave the way for redefining the ampere in terms of fundamental constants of physics. The world's first graphene single-electron pump provides the speed of electron flow needed to create a new standard for electrical current based on electron charge.

Non-inherited mutations account for many heart defects Posted: 12 May 2013 11:12 AM PDT New mutations that are absent in parents but appear in their offspring account for at least 10 percent of severe congenital heart disease, reveals a massive genomics study.

Four new genetic risk factors for testicular cancer identified Posted: 12 May 2013 11:12 AM PDT A new study looking at the genomes of more than 13,000 men identified four new genetic variants associated with an increased risk of testicular cancer, the most commonly diagnosed type in young men today.

Nano-breakthrough: Solving the case of the herringbone crystal Posted: 12 May 2013 11:12 AM PDT Leading nanoscientists created beautiful, tiled patterns with flat nanocrystals, but they were left with a mystery: Why did some sets of crystals arrange themselves in an alternating, herringbone style? To find out, they turned to experts in computer simulation.

Climate change will cause widespread global-scale loss of common plants and animals, researchers predict Posted: 12 May 2013 11:09 AM PDT Climate change will cause widespread global-scale loss of common plants and animals. More than half of common plants and one third of the animals could see a dramatic decline this century due to climate change, according to new research. The study looked at 50,000 globally widespread and common species and found that more than one half of the plants and one third of the animals will lose more than half of their climatic range by 2080 if nothing is done to reduce the amount of global warming and slow it down.

Gene associated with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis identified Posted: 12 May 2013 11:09 AM PDT Researchers have identified the first gene to be associated with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (also called AIS) across Asian and Caucasian populations. The gene is involved in the growth and development of the spine during childhood.

Research on cilia heats up: Implications for hearing, vision loss and kidney disease Posted: 12 May 2013 11:06 AM PDT Experiments have unearthed clues about which protein signaling molecules are allowed into hollow, hair-like "antennae," called cilia, that alert cells to critical changes in their environments.

Carnivorous plant throws out 'junk' DNA Posted: 12 May 2013 11:05 AM PDT The newly sequenced genome of the carnivorous bladderwort contradicts the notion that vast quantities of noncoding 'junk' DNA are crucial for complex life.

Better dyes for imaging technology Posted: 12 May 2013 07:55 AM PDT From microscopes to MRI scanners, imaging technology is growing ever more vital in the world's hospitals, whether for the diagnosis of illness or for research into new cures. Imaging technology requires dyes or contrast agents of some sort. Current contrast agents and dyes are expensive, difficult to work with and far from ideal. Now, chemists have discovered a new dye and proved its worth against any of the dyes currently available.

War spawns new approaches for wounded service members' pain care Posted: 11 May 2013 04:48 PM PDT Better body armor and rapid aeromedical evacuations enable American service members to survive blasts that would have proved fatal in Vietnam or even the first Gulf War, but they pose new challenges to military medicine – how to deal with the excruciating pain of injuries, especially severe burns from IED blasts that body armor can't protect.

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