ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• New evidence for warm-blooded dinosaurs
• In the zone: How scientists search for habitable planets
• 'Impossible' material made with record-breaking surface area and water adsorption abilities
• High tooth replacement rates in largest dinosaurs contributed to their evolutionary success
• Uncovering a healthier remedy for chronic pain
• Nano drug crosses blood-brain tumor barrier, targets brain-tumor cells and blood vessels
• Discovery of stone monument adds new chapter to ancient Maya history: New World 'Cleopatra story' waits 1,000 years to be retold
• Great white sharks' fuel for oceanic voyages: Liver oil
• Earth's gold came from colliding dead stars
• BPA and chlorine means bad news: Modified forms of bisphenol A found to alter hormone signaling in new, disturbing ways
• A heart of gold: Gold nanofibers in engineered heart tissue can enhance electrical signalling
• Big-nosed, long-horned dinosaur discovered in Utah: Dinosaur in same family as Triceratops
• Scientists show proof-of-principle for silencing extra chromosome responsible for Down syndrome
• Elastic electronics: Stretchable gold conductor grows its own wires
• Injectable 'smart sponge' holds promise for controlled drug delivery
• Outgoing people lead happier lives
• Bird brain? Birds and humans have similar brain wiring
• Ripped apart by a black hole: Gas cloud makes closest approach to monster at center of Milky Way
• Newly discovered flux in Earth may solve missing-mantle mystery
• Parasites change bees brains, but not their behavior
• Family tree of fish yields surprises

New evidence for warm-blooded dinosaurs Posted: 17 Jul 2013 04:49 PM PDT A scientist in Australia has shown new evidence that dinosaurs were warm-blooded like birds and mammals, not cold-blooded like reptiles as commonly believed. The researchers argues that cold-blooded dinosaurs would not have had the required muscular power to prey on other animals and dominate over mammals as they did throughout the Mesozoic period.

In the zone: How scientists search for habitable planets Posted: 17 Jul 2013 02:54 PM PDT There is only one planet we know of, so far, that is drenched with life. That planet is Earth, and it has all the right conditions for critters to thrive on its surface. Do other planets beyond our solar system, called exoplanets, also host life forms? Astronomers still don't know the answer, but they search for potentially habitable planets using a handful of criteria. Ideally, they want to find planets just like Earth, since we know without a doubt that life took root here. The hunt is on for planets about the size of Earth that orbit at just the right distance from their star -- in a region termed the habitable zone.

'Impossible' material made with record-breaking surface area and water adsorption abilities Posted: 17 Jul 2013 02:29 PM PDT A novel material with world record-breaking surface area and water adsorption abilities has been synthesized by researchers in Sweden. The magnesium carbonate material that has been given the name Upsalite is foreseen to reduce the amount of energy needed to control environmental moisture in the electronics and drug formulation industry as well as in hockey rinks and ware houses. It can also be used for collection of toxic waste, chemicals or oil spill and in drug delivery systems, for odor control and sanitation after fire.

High tooth replacement rates in largest dinosaurs contributed to their evolutionary success Posted: 17 Jul 2013 02:28 PM PDT Rapid tooth replacement by sauropods, the largest dinosaurs in the fossil record, likely contributed to their evolutionary success, according to a new article. The study also hypothesizes that differences in tooth replacement rates among the giant herbivores likely meant their diets varied, an important factor that allowed multiple species to share the same ecosystems for several million years.

Uncovering a healthier remedy for chronic pain Posted: 17 Jul 2013 01:47 PM PDT Physicians and patients who are wary of addiction to pain medication and opioids may soon have a healthier and more natural alternative. A study revealed that a derivative of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), a main ingredient of over-the-counter fish oil supplements, can sooth and prevent neuropathic pain caused by injuries to the sensory system.

Nano drug crosses blood-brain tumor barrier, targets brain-tumor cells and blood vessels Posted: 17 Jul 2013 01:44 PM PDT The blood-brain barrier protects the brain from poisons but also prevents drugs from reaching brain tumors. A preclinical study shows that an experimental nanotechnology drug called SapC-DOPS crosses the tumor blood-brain barrier, targets brain-tumor cells and retards growth of tumor blood vessels. The findings also show why the agent targets tumor cells and recommend the drug's further development as a novel treatment for glioblastoma.

Discovery of stone monument adds new chapter to ancient Maya history: New World 'Cleopatra story' waits 1,000 years to be retold Posted: 17 Jul 2013 01:41 PM PDT Archaeologists tunneling beneath the main temple of the ancient Maya city of El Perú-Waka' in Guatemala have discovered a stone monument with hieroglyphic text detailing the exploits of a little-known sixth-century princess whose progeny prevailed in a bloody struggle between two of the civilization's most powerful royal dynasties.

Great white sharks' fuel for oceanic voyages: Liver oil Posted: 17 Jul 2013 10:49 AM PDT New research shows that great white sharks power their nonstop journeys of more than 2,500 miles with energy stored as fat and oil in their massive livers. The findings provide novel insights into the biology of these ocean predators.

Earth's gold came from colliding dead stars Posted: 17 Jul 2013 10:49 AM PDT We value gold for many reasons: Its beauty, its usefulness as jewelry, and its rarity. Gold is rare on Earth in part because it's also rare in the universe. Unlike elements like carbon or iron, it cannot be created within a star. Instead, it must be born in a more cataclysmic event -- like one that occurred last month -- known as a short gamma-ray burst.

BPA and chlorine means bad news: Modified forms of bisphenol A found to alter hormone signaling in new, disturbing ways Posted: 17 Jul 2013 10:24 AM PDT The ubiquity of the endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol A led researchers to ask what it might be doing in publicly supplied, chlorinated drinking water. The answer: Chlorinated BPA has different, but no less profound effects on cell-signaling networks than unmodified BPA.

A heart of gold: Gold nanofibers in engineered heart tissue can enhance electrical signalling Posted: 17 Jul 2013 10:24 AM PDT Scientists have integrated cardiac cells with nanofibers made of real gold particles to create functional engineered cardiac tissues. With the gold particles, these tissues contract much faster and stronger as a whole, he reports, making them more viable for transplants and post-heart-attack therapies.

Big-nosed, long-horned dinosaur discovered in Utah: Dinosaur in same family as Triceratops Posted: 17 Jul 2013 10:23 AM PDT A remarkable new species of horned dinosaur has been unearthed in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, southern Utah. The huge plant-eater inhabited Laramidia, a landmass formed when a shallow sea flooded the central region of North America, isolating western and eastern portions for millions of years during the Late Cretaceous Period. The newly discovered dinosaur belongs to the same family as the famous Triceratops.

Scientists show proof-of-principle for silencing extra chromosome responsible for Down syndrome Posted: 17 Jul 2013 10:23 AM PDT Scientists have established that a naturally occurring X chromosome "off switch" can be rerouted to neutralize the extra chromosome responsible for trisomy 21, also known as Down syndrome, a genetic disorder characterized by cognitive impairment. The discovery provides the first evidence that the underlying genetic defect responsible for Down syndrome can be suppressed in cells in culture.

Elastic electronics: Stretchable gold conductor grows its own wires Posted: 17 Jul 2013 10:22 AM PDT Networks of spherical nanoparticles embedded in elastic materials may make the best stretchy conductors yet, engineering researchers have discovered.

Injectable 'smart sponge' holds promise for controlled drug delivery Posted: 17 Jul 2013 07:59 AM PDT Researchers have developed a drug delivery technique for diabetes treatment in which a sponge-like material surrounds an insulin core. The sponge expands and contracts in response to blood sugar levels to release insulin as needed. The technique could also be used for targeted drug delivery to cancer cells.

Outgoing people lead happier lives Posted: 17 Jul 2013 06:53 AM PDT Young adults who are more outgoing or more emotionally stable are happier in later life than their more introverted or less emotionally stable peers.

Bird brain? Birds and humans have similar brain wiring Posted: 17 Jul 2013 06:53 AM PDT You may have more in common with a pigeon than you realize, according to research.

Ripped apart by a black hole: Gas cloud makes closest approach to monster at center of Milky Way Posted: 17 Jul 2013 06:53 AM PDT New observations show for the first time a gas cloud being ripped apart by the supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy. The cloud is now so stretched that its front part has passed the closest point and is traveling away from the black hole at more than 10 million km/h, whilst the tail is still falling towards it.

Newly discovered flux in Earth may solve missing-mantle mystery Posted: 17 Jul 2013 02:18 AM PDT Researchers have identified a "hidden flux" of material in Earth's mantle that would make the planet's overall composition much more similar to that of meteorites.

Parasites change bees brains, but not their behavior Posted: 17 Jul 2013 02:17 AM PDT Honey bees infected with the parasitic mite, Varroa destructor, or the microsporidia, Nosema ceranae, have changes in the chemical profile of their skin and in their brains. Despite this, parasitized bees were not expelled from the hive, which, the authors say, supports the hypothesis that stressed bees leave the hive altruistically to prevent the spread of infection.

Family tree of fish yields surprises Posted: 17 Jul 2013 02:17 AM PDT The mighty tuna is more closely related to the dainty seahorse than to a marlin or sailfish. That is one of the surprises from the first comprehensive family tree, or phylogeny, of the "spiny-rayed fish," a group that includes about a third of all living vertebrate species.

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