ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Researchers debunk myth of 'right-brained' and 'left-brained' personality traits
• Beetles in rubber boots: Scientists study ladybugs' feet
• Dwarf galaxy caught ramming into a large spiral
• Preschoolers inability to estimate quantity relates to later math difficulty
• Raising the IQ of smart windows: Embedded nanocrystals provide selective control over visible light and heat-producing near-infrared light
• Teleported by electronic circuit: Physicists 'beam' information
• Cancer's origins revealed: Genetic imprints and signatures left by DNA-damaging processes that lead to cancer identified
• A magnetar at the heart of our Milky Way
• Extreme weather events fuel climate change
• Targeting aggressive prostate cancer: How non-coding RNAs fuel cancer growth
• Earth orbit changes key to Antarctic warming that ended last ice age
• Plastic solar cells' new design promises bright future
• First documented report of swimming and diving in apes
• Burmese long-tailed macaques' use of stone tools is being threatened by human activity in Thailand

Researchers debunk myth of 'right-brained' and 'left-brained' personality traits Posted: 14 Aug 2013 04:05 PM PDT Neuroscientists now assert that there is no evidence within brain imaging that indicates some people are right-brained or left-brained. For years in popular culture, the terms left-brained and right-brained have come to refer to personality types, with an assumption that some people use the right side of their brain more, while some use the left side more. Researchers have debunked that myth through identifying specific networks in the left and right brain that process lateralized functions.

Beetles in rubber boots: Scientists study ladybugs' feet Posted: 14 Aug 2013 11:47 AM PDT During their evolution, insects have developed various unique features to survive in their environment. The knowledge of the working principles of insects' microstructures holds great potential for the development of new materials, which could be of use to humans. With this idea scientists have investigated how insects manage to efficiently cling to diverse surfaces.

Dwarf galaxy caught ramming into a large spiral Posted: 14 Aug 2013 11:47 AM PDT Astronomers have observed a massive cloud of multimillion-degree gas in a galaxy about 60 million light years from Earth. The hot gas cloud is likely caused by a collision between a dwarf galaxy and a much larger galaxy called NGC 1232.

Preschoolers inability to estimate quantity relates to later math difficulty Posted: 14 Aug 2013 10:25 AM PDT Preschool children who showed less ability to estimate the number of objects in a group were 2.4 times more likely to have a later mathematical learning disability than other young people, according to psychologists.

Raising the IQ of smart windows: Embedded nanocrystals provide selective control over visible light and heat-producing near-infrared light Posted: 14 Aug 2013 10:24 AM PDT Researchers have designed a new material to make smart windows even smarter. The material is a thin coating of nanocrystals embedded in glass that can dynamically modify sunlight as it passes through a window. Unlike existing technologies, the coating provides selective control over visible light and heat-producing near-infrared light, so windows can maximize both energy savings and occupant comfort in a wide range of climates.

Teleported by electronic circuit: Physicists 'beam' information Posted: 14 Aug 2013 10:24 AM PDT Researchers cannot "beam" humans or objects through space yet, a feat sometimes alluded to in science fiction movies. They managed, however, to teleport information from A to B -- for the first time in an electronic circuit.

Cancer's origins revealed: Genetic imprints and signatures left by DNA-damaging processes that lead to cancer identified Posted: 14 Aug 2013 10:24 AM PDT Scientists have provided the first comprehensive genomic map of mutational processes that drive tumour development. Together, these mutational processes explain the majority of mutations found in 30 of the most common cancer types.

A magnetar at the heart of our Milky Way Posted: 14 Aug 2013 10:23 AM PDT Astronomers have discovered a magnetar at the centre of our Milky Way. This pulsar has an extremely strong magnetic field and enables researchers to investigate the direct vicinity of the black hole at the heart of the galaxy. Scientists have, for the first time, measured the strength of the magnetic field around this central source and were able to show that the latter is fed by magnetic fields. These control the inflow of mass into the black hole, also explaining the x-ray emissions of this gravity trap.

Extreme weather events fuel climate change Posted: 14 Aug 2013 10:23 AM PDT In 2003, Central and Southern Europe sweltered in a heatwave that set alarm bells ringing for researchers. It was one of the first large-scale extreme weather events which scientists were able to use to document in detail how heat and drought affected the carbon cycle (the exchange of carbon dioxide between the terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere). Measurements indicated that the extreme weather events had a much greater impact on the carbon balance than had previously been assumed. It is possible that droughts, heat waves and storms weaken the buffer effect exerted by terrestrial ecosystems on the climate system. In the past 50 years, plants and the soil have absorbed up to 30% of the carbon dioxide that humans have set free, primarily from fossil fuels.

Targeting aggressive prostate cancer: How non-coding RNAs fuel cancer growth Posted: 14 Aug 2013 10:22 AM PDT Researchers have identified a key mechanism behind aggressive prostate cancer that spurs tumor growth and metastasis and makes cancers resistant to treatment.

Earth orbit changes key to Antarctic warming that ended last ice age Posted: 14 Aug 2013 10:22 AM PDT New research from an ice core taken from West Antarctica shows that the warming that ended the last ice age in Antarctica began at least two, and perhaps four, millennia earlier than previously thought.

Plastic solar cells' new design promises bright future Posted: 14 Aug 2013 07:14 AM PDT Harvesting energy directly from sunlight to generate electricity using photovoltaic technologies is a very promising method for producing electricity in an environmentally benign fashion. Polymer solar cells offer unique attractions, but the challenge has been improving their power-conversion efficiency. Now a research team reports the design and synthesis of new polymer semiconductors and reports polymer solar cells with fill factors of 80 percent -- a first. This number is close to that of silicon solar cells.

First documented report of swimming and diving in apes Posted: 14 Aug 2013 07:02 AM PDT Two researchers have provided the first video-based observation of swimming and diving apes. Instead of the usual dog-paddle stroke used by most terrestrial mammals, these animals use a kind of breaststroke. The swimming strokes peculiar to humans and apes might be the result of an earlier adaptation to an arboreal life.

Burmese long-tailed macaques' use of stone tools is being threatened by human activity in Thailand Posted: 14 Aug 2013 07:01 AM PDT The Burmese long-tailed macaques' use of stone tools is being threatened by human activity in Thailand.

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