ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Magnetic 'force field' shields giant gas cloud during collision with Milky Way
• Former missile-tracking telescope helps reveal fate of baby pulsar
• First look at diverse life below rare tallgrass prairies
• Is global heating hiding out in the oceans? Parts of Pacific warming 15 times faster than in past 10,000 years
• Gene found to foster synapse formation in the brain
• Most detailed picture yet of key AIDS protein
• Underwater robots influence complex swimming behaviors of schooling fish
• Dogs know a left-sided wag from a right
• Butterflies show origin of species as an evolutionary process, not a single event
• Could a Milky Way supernova be visible from Earth in next 50 years?
• Geoengineering the climate could reduce vital rains
• Patient in 'vegetative state' not just aware, but paying attention, study suggests
• Seeing in the dark: Most people can see their body's movement in the absence of light

Magnetic 'force field' shields giant gas cloud during collision with Milky Way Posted: 31 Oct 2013 12:34 PM PDT Doom may be averted for the Smith Cloud, a gigantic streamer of hydrogen gas that is on a collision course with the Milky Way Galaxy. Astronomers have discovered a magnetic field deep in the cloud's interior, which may protect it during its meteoric plunge into the disk of our Galaxy.

Former missile-tracking telescope helps reveal fate of baby pulsar Posted: 31 Oct 2013 11:29 AM PDT A radio telescope once used to track ballistic missiles has helped astronomers determine how the magnetic field structure and rotation of the young and rapidly rotating Crab pulsar evolves with time.

First look at diverse life below rare tallgrass prairies Posted: 31 Oct 2013 11:27 AM PDT For the first time, biologists have gotten a peek at a vitally important community that once called the tallgrass prairie home: The diverse assortment of microbes that thrived in the dark, rich soils beneath the grass.

Is global heating hiding out in the oceans? Parts of Pacific warming 15 times faster than in past 10,000 years Posted: 31 Oct 2013 11:27 AM PDT In a reconstruction of Pacific Ocean temperatures in the last 10,000 years, researchers have found that its middle depths have warmed 15 times faster in the last 60 years than they did during apparent natural warming cycles in the previous 10,000.

Gene found to foster synapse formation in the brain Posted: 31 Oct 2013 11:26 AM PDT Researchers say they have found that a gene already implicated in human speech disorders and epilepsy is also needed for vocalizations and synapse formation in mice. The finding, they say, adds to scientific understanding of how language develops, as well as the way synapses — the connections among brain cells that enable us to think — are formed.

Most detailed picture yet of key AIDS protein Posted: 31 Oct 2013 11:26 AM PDT Scientists have determined the first atomic-level structure of the tripartite HIV envelope protein—long considered one of the most difficult targets in structural biology and of great value for medical science.

Underwater robots influence complex swimming behaviors of schooling fish Posted: 31 Oct 2013 09:52 AM PDT Scientists have demonstrated how underwater robots can be used to understand and influence the complex swimming behaviors of schooling fish. Robotic fish have an impact on collective animal behavior.

Dogs know a left-sided wag from a right Posted: 31 Oct 2013 09:49 AM PDT You might think a wagging tail is a wagging tail, but for dogs there is more to it than that. Dogs recognize and respond differently when their fellow canines wag to the right than they do when they wag to the left. The findings show that dogs, like humans, have asymmetrically organized brains, with the left and right sides playing different roles.

Butterflies show origin of species as an evolutionary process, not a single event Posted: 31 Oct 2013 09:49 AM PDT The evolution of new species might not be as hard as it seems, even when diverging populations remain in contact and continue to produce offspring. That's the conclusion of studies that examine the full genome sequences of 32 Heliconius butterflies from the Central American rain forest, representing five different species.

Could a Milky Way supernova be visible from Earth in next 50 years? Posted: 31 Oct 2013 09:46 AM PDT Astronomers have calculated the odds that, sometime during the next 50 years, a supernova occurring in our home galaxy will be visible from Earth. The good news: they've calculated the odds to be nearly 100 percent that such a supernova would be visible to telescopes in the form of infrared radiation. The bad news: the odds are much lower -- dipping to 20 percent or less -- that the shining stellar spectacle would be visible to the naked eye in the nighttime sky.

Geoengineering the climate could reduce vital rains Posted: 31 Oct 2013 09:46 AM PDT Although a significant build-up in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would alter worldwide precipitation patterns, geoengineering would also interfere with rainfall and snowfall. An international study finds that "geoengineering" could result in monsoonal rains in North America, East Asia, and other regions dropping by 5-7 percent compared to preindustrial conditions because of less evaporation and reduced plant emissions of water.

Patient in 'vegetative state' not just aware, but paying attention, study suggests Posted: 31 Oct 2013 08:05 AM PDT A patient in a seemingly vegetative state, unable to move or speak, showed signs of attentive awareness that had not been detected before, a new study reveals.

Seeing in the dark: Most people can see their body's movement in the absence of light Posted: 31 Oct 2013 06:04 AM PDT With the help of computerized eye trackers, a new cognitive science study finds that at least 50 percent of people can see the movement of their own hand even in the absence of all light.

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