ScienceDaily: Top Science News

---

• Climate change, not human activity, led to megafauna extinction
• Boosting 'cellular garbage disposal' can delay the aging process
• Bats use blood to reshape tongue for feeding
• NASA's Spitzer puts planets in a petri dish
• Wind, not water, formed mound on Mars, new analysis suggests
• New device can extract human DNA with full genetic data in minutes
• More than a good eye: Robot uses arms, location and more to discover objects
• Do-it-yourself invisibility with 3-D printing
• Engineers manipulate a buckyball by inserting a single water molecule
• Ubiquitous engineered nanomaterials can cause lung inflammation: Substances are used in everything from paint to sporting equipment
• Flame retardants, used in everyday products, may be toxic to children: Lower intelligence, hyperactivity seen
• Reversal of the Black Widow myth: Some male spiders prefer to eat old females rather than mate with them
• Invisible pattern can put a stop to counterfeit designer clothing
• Microwave oven cooks up solar cell material

Climate change, not human activity, led to megafauna extinction Posted: 06 May 2013 03:17 PM PDT Most species of gigantic animals that once roamed Australia had disappeared by the time people arrived, a major review of the available evidence has concluded. The research challenges the claim that humans were primarily responsible for the demise of the megafauna in a proposed "extinction window" between 40,000 and 50,000 years ago, and points the finger instead at climate change.

Boosting 'cellular garbage disposal' can delay the aging process Posted: 06 May 2013 03:16 PM PDT Biologists have identified a gene, previously implicated in Parkinson's disease, that can delay the onset of aging and extend the healthy life span of fruit flies. This research has important potential implications for aging and disease in humans. The gene, Parkin, serves at least two vital functions. By increasing Parkin activity, the scientists extended the lifespan of the flies by more than 25 percent.

Bats use blood to reshape tongue for feeding Posted: 06 May 2013 03:14 PM PDT Scientists have found that a species of bat uses blood flow to reshape its tongue while feeding. The quick dynamic action makes the tongue an effective "mop" for nectar and could even inspire new industrial designs.

NASA's Spitzer puts planets in a petri dish Posted: 06 May 2013 01:10 PM PDT Our galaxy is teeming with a wild variety of planets. In addition to our solar system's eight near-and-dear planets, there are more than 800 so-called exoplanets known to circle stars beyond our sun. One of the first "species" of exoplanets to be discovered is the hot Jupiters, also known as roasters. These are gas giants like Jupiters, but they orbit closely to their stars, blistering under the heat. Thanks to NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, researchers are beginning to dissect this exotic class of planets, revealing raging winds and other aspects of their turbulent nature.

Wind, not water, formed mound on Mars, new analysis suggests Posted: 06 May 2013 10:24 AM PDT Researchers suggest that Mars' roughly 3.5-mile high Mount Sharp most likely emerged as strong winds carried dust and sand into Gale Crater where the mound sits. If correct, the research could dilute expectations that the mound is the remnant of a massive lake, which would have important implications for understanding Mars' past habitability.

New device can extract human DNA with full genetic data in minutes Posted: 06 May 2013 10:21 AM PDT Engineers have created a device that can extract human DNA from fluid samples in a simpler, more efficient and environmentally friendly way than conventional methods.

More than a good eye: Robot uses arms, location and more to discover objects Posted: 06 May 2013 08:40 AM PDT A robot can struggle to discover objects in its surroundings when it relies on computer vision alone. But by taking advantage of all of the information available to it -- an object's location, size, shape and even whether it can be lifted -- a robot can continually discover and refine its understanding of objects, say researchers.

Do-it-yourself invisibility with 3-D printing Posted: 06 May 2013 07:33 AM PDT Seven years ago, Duke University engineers demonstrated the first working invisibility cloak in complex laboratory experiments. Now it appears creating a simple cloak has become a lot simpler.

Engineers manipulate a buckyball by inserting a single water molecule Posted: 06 May 2013 07:33 AM PDT Engineering researchers have developed a technique to isolate a single water molecule inside a buckyball and drive motion of the "big" nonpolar ball through the encapsulated "small" polar H2O molecule, a controlling transport mechanism in a nanochannel under an external electric field. This method could lead to new applications including effective ways to control drug delivery and to assemble C60-based functional 3D structures at the nanoscale level.

Ubiquitous engineered nanomaterials can cause lung inflammation: Substances are used in everything from paint to sporting equipment Posted: 06 May 2013 07:33 AM PDT Scientists have found that breathing ultrafine particles from a large family of materials that increasingly are found in a host of household and commercial products, from sunscreens to the ink in copy machines to super-strong but lightweight sporting equipment, can cause lung inflammation and damage.

Flame retardants, used in everyday products, may be toxic to children: Lower intelligence, hyperactivity seen Posted: 06 May 2013 06:54 AM PDT Chemicals called polybrominated diphenyl ethers have been used for decades to reduce fires in everyday products such as baby strollers, carpeting and electronics. A new study shows that prenatal exposure to the flame retardants is associated with lower intelligence and hyperactivity in early childhood.

Reversal of the Black Widow myth: Some male spiders prefer to eat old females rather than mate with them Posted: 06 May 2013 06:51 AM PDT The Black Widow spider gets its name from the popular belief that female spiders eat their male suitors after mating. However, a new study has shown that the tendency to consume a potential mate is also true of some types of male spider. The study finds that male spiders of the Micaria sociabilis species are more likely to eat the females than be eaten.

Invisible pattern can put a stop to counterfeit designer clothing Posted: 06 May 2013 06:51 AM PDT There is now a way to differentiate between designer clothing and knockoffs. Researchers have produced a thread with unique optical properties, which can be used to create invisible patterns in fabrics that are only visible under polarized light.

Microwave oven cooks up solar cell material Posted: 06 May 2013 06:49 AM PDT Metallurgists used an old microwave oven to produce a nanocrystal semiconductor rapidly using cheap, abundant and less toxic metals than other semiconductors. They hope it will be used for more efficient photovoltaic solar cells and LED lights, biological sensors and systems to convert waste heat to electricity.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Top Science News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610