ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Earliest record of copulating insects discovered
• Russian fireball yields scientific treasure trove: Researchers obtain crucial data from meteoroid impact
• Rare new microbe found in two spacecraft clean rooms
• From one collapsing star, two black holes form and fuse
• Bringing sun's light and energy to interior rooms: Innovative solar technology may lead to interior lighting revolution
• Multitasking neurons filter and decide: How neural circuits identify information needed for decisions
• Monkeys use minds to move two virtual arms
• Earliest marker for autism found in young infants
• RNA controls splicing during gene expression, further evidence of 'RNA world' origin in modern life
• New explanation for infection susceptibility in newborns: It is all about helping beneficial bacteria colonize the gut
• X-rays reveal inner structure of Earth's ancient magma ocean
• Newly discovered predatory dinosaur 'king of gore' reveals the origins of T. rex
• Inkjet-based circuits created at fraction of time and cost
• Three-dimensional carbon goes metallic
• Scientists solve major piece in the origin of biological complexity

Earliest record of copulating insects discovered Posted: 06 Nov 2013 05:24 PM PST Scientists have found the oldest fossil depicting copulating insects in northeastern China.

Russian fireball yields scientific treasure trove: Researchers obtain crucial data from meteoroid impact Posted: 06 Nov 2013 01:41 PM PST A team of NASA and international scientists for the first time have gathered a detailed understanding of the effects on Earth from a small asteroid impact. The unprecedented data obtained as the result of the airburst of a meteoroid over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk on Feb. 15, 2013, has revolutionized scientists' understanding of this natural phenomenon.

Rare new microbe found in two spacecraft clean rooms Posted: 06 Nov 2013 01:26 PM PST A rare, recently discovered microbe that survives on very little to eat has been found in two places on Earth: spacecraft clean rooms in Florida and South America. Microbiologists often do thorough surveys of bacteria and other microbes in spacecraft clean rooms. Fewer microbes live there than in almost any other environment on Earth, but the surveys are important for knowing what might hitch a ride into space. If extraterrestrial life is ever found, it would be readily checked against the census of a few hundred types of microbes detected in spacecraft clean rooms.

From one collapsing star, two black holes form and fuse Posted: 06 Nov 2013 12:24 PM PST Over billions of years, small black holes can slowly grow into supermassive black holes by taking on mass from their surroundings, and also by merging with other black holes. But this slow process can't explain how supermassive black holes existing in the early universe would have formed less than one billion years after the Big Bang. New findings help to test a model that solves this problem.

Bringing sun's light and energy to interior rooms: Innovative solar technology may lead to interior lighting revolution Posted: 06 Nov 2013 12:24 PM PST Researchers have seen the light -- a bright, powerful light -- and it just might change the future of how building interiors are brightened. In fact, that light comes directly from the sun. And with the help of tiny, electrofluidic cells and a series of open-air "ducts," sunlight can naturally illuminate windowless work spaces deep inside office buildings and excess energy can be harnessed, stored and directed to other applications.

Multitasking neurons filter and decide: How neural circuits identify information needed for decisions Posted: 06 Nov 2013 11:13 AM PST Using brain recordings and a computer model, an interdisciplinary team confounds the conventional wisdom about how the brain sorts out relevant versus irrelevant sensory inputs in making choices.

Monkeys use minds to move two virtual arms Posted: 06 Nov 2013 11:12 AM PST Monkeys have learned to control the movement of both arms on an avatar using just their brain activity.

Earliest marker for autism found in young infants Posted: 06 Nov 2013 10:20 AM PST Eye contact during early infancy may be a key to early identification of autism, according to a new study. The study reveals the earliest sign of developing autism ever observed -- a steady decline in attention to others' eyes within the first two to six months of life.

RNA controls splicing during gene expression, further evidence of 'RNA world' origin in modern life Posted: 06 Nov 2013 10:19 AM PST RNA is the key functional component of spliceosomes, molecular machines that control how genes are expressed, report scientists. The discovery establishes that RNA, not protein, is responsible for catalyzing this fundamental biological process and enriches the hypothesis that life on Earth began in a world based solely on RNA.

New explanation for infection susceptibility in newborns: It is all about helping beneficial bacteria colonize the gut Posted: 06 Nov 2013 10:19 AM PST Cells that allow helpful bacteria to safely colonize the intestines of newborn infants also suppress their immune systems to make them more vulnerable to infections, according to new research. The study could prompt a major shift in how medicine views the threat of neonatal infections -- and how researchers go about looking for new strategies to stop it, said scientists who conducted the study.

X-rays reveal inner structure of Earth's ancient magma ocean Posted: 06 Nov 2013 10:19 AM PST Using the world's most brilliant X-ray source, scientists have for the first time peered into molten magma at conditions of the deep Earth mantle. The analysis revealed that molten basalt changes its structure when exposed to pressure of up to 60 gigapascals.

Newly discovered predatory dinosaur 'king of gore' reveals the origins of T. rex Posted: 06 Nov 2013 10:18 AM PST A dinosaur belonging to the same evolutionary branch as the famous Tyrannosaurus rex has just been discovered. Lythronax argestes possesses several unique features, a short narrow snout with a wide back of the skull with forward-oriented eyes. Lythronax translates as "king of gore."

Inkjet-based circuits created at fraction of time and cost Posted: 06 Nov 2013 09:20 AM PST Researchers have developed a novel method to rapidly and cheaply make electrical circuits by printing them with commodity inkjet printers and off-the-shelf materials. For about $300 in equipment costs, anyone can produce working electrical circuits in the 60 seconds it takes to print them.

Three-dimensional carbon goes metallic Posted: 06 Nov 2013 08:41 AM PST A theoretical, three-dimensional form of carbon that is metallic under ambient temperature and pressure has been discovered by an international research team. The findings may significantly advance carbon science.

Scientists solve major piece in the origin of biological complexity Posted: 06 Nov 2013 04:38 AM PST Scientists have puzzled for centuries over how and why multicellular organisms evolved the almost universal trait of using single cells, such as eggs and sperm, to reproduce. Now researchers have set a big piece of that puzzle into place by applying experimental evolution to transform a single-celled algae into a multicellular one that reproduces by dispersing single cells.

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