ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Do parasites upset food web theory?
• Body clocks linked to osteoarthritis
• X-rays reveal new picture of 'dinobird' plumage patterns
• Video gamers really do see more: Gamers capture more information faster for visual decision-making
• Marks on Martian dunes may be tracks of dry-ice sleds
• Shining a light on cool pools of gas in the galaxy
• Black hole naps amidst stellar chaos
• New tasks become as simple as waving a hand with brain-computer interfaces
• Why fruit ripens and spoils: Thousands of plant genes activated by ethylene gas
• You're so vain: Study links social media use and narcissism
• Wood not so green a biofuel? Logging may have greater impact on carbon emissions than previously thought
• Perfect pitch may not be absolute after all
• Obesity can be predicted from infancy, researchers find
• Scientists discover new layer of the human cornea
• Fractal patterns spontaneously emerge during bacterial cell growth
• Modern humans did not settle in Asia before eruption of Sumatra volcano 74,000 years ago, study finds
• Frequent soccer ball 'heading' may lead to brain injury

Do parasites upset food web theory? Posted: 11 Jun 2013 05:46 PM PDT Parasites comprise a large proportion of the diversity of species in every ecosystem, but are rarely included in analyses or models of food webs. If parasites play different roles from other predators and prey, however, their inclusion could fundamentally alter our understanding of how food webs are organized. A new article has shown that including parasites does alter the structure of food webs, but most changes occur because of an increase in diversity and complexity.

Body clocks linked to osteoarthritis Posted: 11 Jun 2013 05:45 PM PDT Scheduled exercise, regular meals and the periodic warming and cooling of joints could be used to relieve the symptoms of osteoarthritis according to scientists. Their research may also help explain why older people are more prone to developing this common joint disorder.

X-rays reveal new picture of 'dinobird' plumage patterns Posted: 11 Jun 2013 05:45 PM PDT The first complete chemical analysis of feathers from Archaeopteryx, a famous fossil linking dinosaurs and birds, reveals that the feathers of this early bird were patterned – light in colour, with a dark edge and tip to the feather ­­– rather than all black, as previously thought.

Video gamers really do see more: Gamers capture more information faster for visual decision-making Posted: 11 Jun 2013 01:19 PM PDT Hours spent at the video gaming console not only train a player's hands to work the buttons on the controller, they probably also train the brain to make better and faster use of visual input, according to researchers.

Marks on Martian dunes may be tracks of dry-ice sleds Posted: 11 Jun 2013 11:51 AM PDT NASA research indicates hunks of frozen carbon dioxide -- dry ice -- may glide down some Martian sand dunes on cushions of gas similar to miniature hovercraft, plowing furrows as they go. Researchers deduced this process could explain one enigmatic class of gullies seen on Martian sand dunes by examining images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and performing experiments on sand dunes in Utah and California.

Shining a light on cool pools of gas in the galaxy Posted: 11 Jun 2013 11:48 AM PDT Newly formed stars shine brightly, practically crying out, "Hey, look at me!" But not everything in our Milky Way galaxy is easy to see. The bulk of material between the stars in the galaxy -- the cool hydrogen gas from which stars spring -- is nearly impossible to find.

Black hole naps amidst stellar chaos Posted: 11 Jun 2013 11:45 AM PDT Nearly a decade ago, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory caught signs of what appeared to be a black hole snacking on gas at the middle of the nearby Sculptor galaxy. Now, NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), which sees higher-energy X-ray light, has taken a peek and found the black hole asleep.

New tasks become as simple as waving a hand with brain-computer interfaces Posted: 11 Jun 2013 11:33 AM PDT Researchers have demonstrated that when humans use brain-computer interfaces, the brain behaves much like it does when completing simple motor skills such as kicking a ball, typing or waving a hand. Learning to control a robotic arm or a prosthetic limb could become second nature for people who are paralyzed.

Why fruit ripens and spoils: Thousands of plant genes activated by ethylene gas Posted: 11 Jun 2013 11:33 AM PDT It's common wisdom that one rotten apple in a barrel spoils all the other apples, and that an apple ripens a green banana if they are put together in a paper bag. Ways to ripen, or spoil, fruit have been known for thousands of years -- as the Bible can attest -- but now the genes underlying these phenomena of nature have been revealed. Scientists have now traced the thousands of genes in a plant that are activated once ethylene, a gas that acts as a plant growth hormone, is released.

You're so vain: Study links social media use and narcissism Posted: 11 Jun 2013 09:21 AM PDT Facebook is a mirror and Twitter is a megaphone, according to a new study exploring how social media reflect and amplify the culture's growing levels of narcissism.

Wood not so green a biofuel? Logging may have greater impact on carbon emissions than previously thought Posted: 11 Jun 2013 09:21 AM PDT Using wood for energy is considered cleaner than fossil fuels, but a new study finds that logging may release large amounts of carbon stored in deep forest soils.

Perfect pitch may not be absolute after all Posted: 11 Jun 2013 09:20 AM PDT People who think they have perfect pitch may not be as in tune as they think, according to a new study in which people failed to notice a gradual change in pitch while listening to music. When tested afterward, people said notes that were in tune at the beginning sounded out of tune.

Obesity can be predicted from infancy, researchers find Posted: 11 Jun 2013 08:17 AM PDT Infants as young as two months old already exhibit growth patterns that can predict the child's weight by age 5, according to researchers.

Scientists discover new layer of the human cornea Posted: 11 Jun 2013 05:42 AM PDT Scientists have discovered a previously undetected layer in the cornea, the clear window at the front of the human eye. The breakthrough could help surgeons to dramatically improve outcomes for patients undergoing corneal grafts and transplants.

Fractal patterns spontaneously emerge during bacterial cell growth Posted: 11 Jun 2013 05:41 AM PDT Despite bacterial colonies always forming circular shapes as they grow, their cells form internal divisions which are highly asymmetrical and branched. These fractal (self-similar) patterns are due to the physical forces and local instabilities that are a natural part of bacterial cell growth, a new study reveals. The research has important implications for the emerging field of synthetic biology.

Modern humans did not settle in Asia before eruption of Sumatra volcano 74,000 years ago, study finds Posted: 11 Jun 2013 05:41 AM PDT When did modern humans settle in Asia and what route did they take from humankind's African homeland? New research refutes a recent theory that there is archaeological evidence for the presence of modern humans in southern Asia before the super-eruption of the Mount Toba volcano in Sumatra.

Frequent soccer ball 'heading' may lead to brain injury Posted: 11 Jun 2013 05:22 AM PDT Researchers have shown that soccer players who frequently head the ball have brain abnormalities resembling those found in patients with concussion (mild traumatic brain injury). The study used advanced imaging techniques and cognitive tests that assessed memory.

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