ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• The sounds of science: Melting of iceberg creates surprising ocean din
• Dinosaurs, diets and ecological niches: Study shows recipe for success
• Mammals can 'choose' sex of offspring, study finds
• Asian origins of native American dogs confirmed
• One More Homo Species? 3D-comparative analysis confirms status of Homo floresiensis as fossil human species
• Researchers perform DNA computation in living cells
• Jagged graphene edges can slice into cell membranes
• IBEX spacecraft images the heliotail, revealing an unexpected structure
• A new way to trap light: Phenomenon could lead to new types of lasers and sensors
• Researchers create inner ear from stem cells, opening potential for new treatments
• Trees use water more efficiently as atmospheric carbon dioxide rises
• Supercooled water transforms into new form of liquid
• Pandemic risk? Troubling traits of H7N9 avian flu virus
• Huge iceberg breaks away from the Pine Island glacier in the Antarctic
• Plain surfaces transformed into low-cost touch screens
• Cloud brightening to cool seas can protect coral reefs: Targeted cooling could offer a 50-year 'breathing space' for coral protection
• Where do astronauts go when they need 'to go?'
• Astronomers witness birth of Milky Way's most massive star
• How early Earth kept warm enough to support life
• Sun's loops are displaying an optical illusion
• Don't worry, be healthy: Cheerful people significantly less likely to suffer a coronary event
• The study of resting brain connections predicts learning ability

The sounds of science: Melting of iceberg creates surprising ocean din Posted: 10 Jul 2013 06:42 PM PDT There is growing concern about how much noise humans generate in marine environments through shipping, oil exploration and other developments, but a new study has found that naturally occurring phenomena could potentially affect some ocean dwellers. Nowhere is this concern greater than in the polar regions, where the effects of global warming often first manifest themselves. The breakup of ice sheets and the calving and grounding of icebergs can create enormous sound energy, scientists say. Now a new study has found that the mere drifting of an iceberg from near Antarctica to warmer ocean waters produces startling levels of noise.

Dinosaurs, diets and ecological niches: Study shows recipe for success Posted: 10 Jul 2013 03:36 PM PDT A new scientific study answers a long-standing question in palaeontology -- how numerous species of large, plant-eating dinosaurs could co-exist successfully over geological time. Results from the largest study of dinosaurs recovered from Alberta's Dinosaur Park Formation suggest that niche partitioning was at play: adaptations in skulls and jaws allowed for distinct groups of herbivores to specialize in eating specific types of vegetation, thereby avoiding competition for valuable food sources.

Mammals can 'choose' sex of offspring, study finds Posted: 10 Jul 2013 03:29 PM PDT A new study shows that mammalian species can "choose" the sex of their offspring in order to beat the odds and produce extra grandchildren. In analyzing 90 years of breeding records from the San Diego Zoo, researchers were able to prove for the first time what has been a fundamental theory of evolutionary biology: that mammals rely on some unknown physiologic mechanism to manipulate the sex ratios of their offspring as part of a highly adaptive evolutionary strategy.

Asian origins of native American dogs confirmed Posted: 10 Jul 2013 03:25 PM PDT Once thought to have been extinct, native American dogs are on the contrary thriving, according to a recent study that links these breeds to ancient Asia.

One More Homo Species? 3D-comparative analysis confirms status of Homo floresiensis as fossil human species Posted: 10 Jul 2013 03:24 PM PDT Based on the analysis of 3-D landmark data from skull surfaces of Homo floresiensis, scientists provide compelling support for the hypothesis that Homo floresiensis was a distinct Homo species.

Researchers perform DNA computation in living cells Posted: 10 Jul 2013 11:20 AM PDT Chemists have performed a DNA-based logic-gate operation within a human cell. The research may pave the way to more complicated computations in live cells, as well as new methods of disease detection and treatment.

Jagged graphene edges can slice into cell membranes Posted: 10 Jul 2013 11:20 AM PDT Researchers have shown how tiny graphene sheets can be big trouble for cells. Sharp corners and jagged edges on the sheets puncture cell membranes, allowing the sheet to enter the cell and disrupt function. The new understanding of how graphene interacts with cells could lead to safer production of this important nanomaterial.

IBEX spacecraft images the heliotail, revealing an unexpected structure Posted: 10 Jul 2013 11:19 AM PDT NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer spacecraft recently provided the first complete pictures of the solar system's downwind region, revealing a unique and unexpected structure.

A new way to trap light: Phenomenon could lead to new types of lasers and sensors Posted: 10 Jul 2013 11:18 AM PDT There are several ways to "trap" a beam of light -- usually with mirrors, other reflective surfaces, or high-tech materials such as photonic crystals. But now researchers have discovered a new method to trap light that could find a wide variety of applications.

Researchers create inner ear from stem cells, opening potential for new treatments Posted: 10 Jul 2013 11:18 AM PDT Scientists have transformed mouse embryonic stem cells into key structures of the inner ear. The discovery provides new insights into the sensory organ's developmental process and sets the stage for laboratory models of disease, drug discovery and potential treatments for hearing loss and balance disorders.

Trees use water more efficiently as atmospheric carbon dioxide rises Posted: 10 Jul 2013 11:18 AM PDT Though studies have long predicted that more efficient forest water use would result from increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, biologists, using data collected in the northeastern US, and elsewhere around the world, showed that forests were responding much more than the predictions of even the most state-of-the-art computer models.

Supercooled water transforms into new form of liquid Posted: 10 Jul 2013 11:08 AM PDT Researchers have identified that water, when chilled to a very low temperature, transforms into a new form of liquid. Through a simulation performed in "supercooled" water, the research team confirmed a "liquid-liquid" phase transition at 207 Kelvins, or 87 degrees below zero on the Fahrenheit scale.

Pandemic risk? Troubling traits of H7N9 avian flu virus Posted: 10 Jul 2013 11:08 AM PDT The emerging H7N9 avian influenza virus responsible for at least 37 deaths in China has qualities that could potentially spark a global outbreak of flu, according to a new study.

Huge iceberg breaks away from the Pine Island glacier in the Antarctic Posted: 10 Jul 2013 07:40 AM PDT On July 8, 2013, a huge area of the ice shelf broke away from the Pine Island glacier, the longest and fastest flowing glacier in the Antarctic, and is now floating in the Amundsen Sea in the form of a very large iceberg.

Plain surfaces transformed into low-cost touch screens Posted: 10 Jul 2013 07:40 AM PDT A low cost system, based on the principles of vibration and imaging that is able to track the movements of multiple fingers and of objects, can turn almost any surface into a touch-screen.

Cloud brightening to cool seas can protect coral reefs: Targeted cooling could offer a 50-year 'breathing space' for coral protection Posted: 10 Jul 2013 07:34 AM PDT The seeding of marine clouds to cool sea surface temperatures could protect threatened coral reefs from being bleached by warming oceans. Recent research proposes that a targeted version of the geo-engineering technique could give coral a fifty year 'breathing space' to recover from acidification and warming.

Where do astronauts go when they need 'to go?' Posted: 10 Jul 2013 07:31 AM PDT The first American man in space had no place "to go," and urinating in space was a tough problem for engineers to solve. A new article discusses the considerations necessary to accommodate this most basic physiological function.

Astronomers witness birth of Milky Way's most massive star Posted: 10 Jul 2013 03:22 AM PDT Scientists have observed in unprecedented detail the birth of a massive star within a dark cloud core about 10,000 light years from Earth.

How early Earth kept warm enough to support life Posted: 09 Jul 2013 12:56 PM PDT Solving the "faint young sun paradox" -- explaining how early Earth was warm and habitable for life beginning more than three billion years ago even though the sun was 20 percent dimmer than today -- may not be as difficult as believed, says a new study.

Sun's loops are displaying an optical illusion Posted: 09 Jul 2013 12:56 PM PDT To understand how the corona is heated, some astronomers study coronal loops. These structures are shaped like an upside-down U and show where magnetic field lines are funneling solar gases or plasma. Our best photos of the sun suggest that these loops are a constant width, like strands of rope. However, new work shows that this is an optical illusion; the loops are actually tapered, wider at the top and narrower at the ends. This finding has important implications for coronal heating.

Don't worry, be healthy: Cheerful people significantly less likely to suffer a coronary event Posted: 09 Jul 2013 12:55 PM PDT People with cheerful temperaments are significantly less likely to suffer a coronary event such as a heart attack or sudden cardiac death, new Johns Hopkins research suggests.

The study of resting brain connections predicts learning ability Posted: 09 Jul 2013 08:52 AM PDT An innovative neurocognitive study shows that the individual variability that exists in brain connections affects people's learning ability and, in turn, the learning process produces a change in brain networks associated with the trained areas.

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