ScienceDaily: Top News

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• NASA Cassini images may reveal birth of a Saturn moon
• We're over the hill at 24, study says
• Everest trek shows how some people get type II diabetes
• Severe sleep apnea linked to increased risk of stroke, cancer, death
• Penicillin redux: Rearming proven warriors for the 21st century
• 'Problem wells' source of greenhouse gas at unexpected stage of natural gas production
• Faithful allies since the Cretaceous: Symbiosis between beewolves and protective bacteria originated millions of years ago
• Fire and drought may push Amazonian forests beyond tipping point
• Plugging an ozone hole: Extreme Antarctic ozone holes have not been replicated in Arctic
• Ferns borrowed genes to flourish in low light
• Air pollution over Asia influences global weather and makes Pacific storms more intense
• Lashing out at your spouse? Check your blood sugar
• Cosmic slurp: Supercomputers help astronomers understand and predict how black holes swallow stars
• Cybersecurity researchers roll out a new heartbleed solution: Red Herring creates decoy servers, entraps, monitors hackers
• Making dams safer for fish around the world
• Beam on target! Cebaf accelerator delivered high-energy electron beams
• Babies prefer fairness -- but only if it benefits them -- in choosing a playmate
• Four new species of 'killer sponges' from the deep sea
• House windows that double as solar panels? Shiny quantum dots brighten future of solar cells
• Three new species of yellow-shouldered bats discovered in museum collections
• Patients with kidney failure to get a new lease on life
• Neuroscientists: Brain activity may mark beginning of memories
• Let the sun shine in: Redirecting sunlight to dark urban alleyways
• Puget Sound's rich waters supplied by deep, turbulent canyon
• Device turns flat surface into spherical antenna
• SpaceX’s Dragon headed to space station to create astronaut farmers
• International Space Station to beam video via laser back to Earth
• New 'tunable' semiconductors will allow better detectors, solar cells
• Nutrient-rich forests absorb more carbon
• Result of slow degradation on environmental pollutants
• Surgeons develop personalized 3-D printed kidney to simulate surgery prior to cancer operation
• Wolves at the door: Study finds recent wolf-dog hybridization in Caucasus region
• Single cell genomics technique developed to reverse-engineer developing lung
• Reduction in HPV in young women in England following national immunization program
• Detrimental effects of television viewing on sleep in young children
• Women who gain too much or too little weight during pregnancy at risk for having an overweight child
• Teaching to optimize learning or control misbehavior? Scale of disruptive behavior in schools seriously underestimated
• Genetically modified tobacco plants as an alternative for producing bioethanol
• Neanderthals and Cro-magnons did not coexist on the Iberian Peninsula, suggests re-analysis of dating
• Novel technique opens door to better solar cells, superconductors and hard drives
• Does germ plasm accelerate evolution?
• Beneficial organisms react differently to parasite drug
• Combs of light accelerate communication
• Look who's evolving now: Using robots to study evolution
• Recurrence of prostate cancer is significantly lower in men with blood group O
• New clinical definition for epilepsy improves diagnosis accuracy
• Young people with epilepsy at significantly more risk of injury
• Gene linked to pediatric kidney cancer suggests new strategies for kidney regeneration
• Tiny particles could help verify goods
• Glasses strong as steel: A fast way to find the best
• How a Silly Putty ingredient could advance stem cell therapies

NASA Cassini images may reveal birth of a Saturn moon Posted: 14 Apr 2014 03:03 PM PDT NASA's Cassini spacecraft has documented the formation of a small icy object within the rings of Saturn that may be a new moon, and may also provide clues to the formation of the planet's known moons.

We're over the hill at 24, study says Posted: 14 Apr 2014 02:22 PM PDT It's a hard pill to swallow, but if you're over 24 years of age you've already reached your peak in terms of your cognitive motor performance, according to a new study. In one of the first social science experiments to rest on big data, the researchers investigate when we start to experience an age-related decline in our cognitive motor skills and how we compensate for that.

Everest trek shows how some people get type II diabetes Posted: 14 Apr 2014 02:21 PM PDT Scientists have gained new insights into the molecular process of how some people get type II diabetes, which could lead to new ways of preventing people from getting the condition. The research, which took place on Mount Everest, assessed the mechanisms by which low oxygen levels in the body -- known as hypoxia -- are associated with the development of insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is when cells fail to respond to insulin in the body. Insulin enables the body to regulate sugar levels. Too much sugar can be toxic and leads to type II diabetes.

Severe sleep apnea linked to increased risk of stroke, cancer, death Posted: 14 Apr 2014 12:44 PM PDT Moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea is independently associated with an increased risk of stroke, cancer and death. Results of the 20-year follow-up study show that people with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea were four times more likely to die (hazard ratio = 4.2), nearly four times more likely to have a stroke (HR = 3.7), three times more likely to die from cancer (HR = 3.4), and 2.5 times more likely to develop cancer. Results were adjusted for potential confounding factors such as body mass index, smoking status, total cholesterol and blood pressure.

Penicillin redux: Rearming proven warriors for the 21st century Posted: 14 Apr 2014 12:44 PM PDT Drug-resistant bacteria like MRSA are hard to treat because so many antibiotics are ineffective against them. A team of researchers has shown a new way to reclaim the power of penicillin and similar drugs against so-called "superbugs." "In the United States every year, around 100,000 patients die of bacteria-induced infections," a researcher said. "And the problem is increasing because bacteria are building resistance. It's a really, really big problem, not only for individual patients, but also for society."

'Problem wells' source of greenhouse gas at unexpected stage of natural gas production Posted: 14 Apr 2014 12:44 PM PDT High levels of the greenhouse gas methane were found above shale gas wells at a production point not thought to be an important emissions source. The findings could have implications for the evaluation of the environmental impacts from natural gas production. The study, which is one of only a few to use a so-called "top down" approach that measures methane gas levels in the air above wells, identified seven individual well pads with high emission levels during the drilling stage.

Faithful allies since the Cretaceous: Symbiosis between beewolves and protective bacteria originated millions of years ago Posted: 14 Apr 2014 12:44 PM PDT Scientists have discovered that certain wasps tightly control mother-to-offspring transmission of their bacterial symbionts. This stabilizes the symbiotic alliance and contributed to its persistence over the past 68-110 million years.

Fire and drought may push Amazonian forests beyond tipping point Posted: 14 Apr 2014 12:44 PM PDT Future simulations of climate in the Amazon suggest a longer dry season leading to more drought and fires. Scientists have published a new study on the impacts of fire and drought on Amazon tree mortality. Their article found that prolonged droughts caused more intense and widespread wildfires, which consumed more forests in Amazonia than previously understood.

Plugging an ozone hole: Extreme Antarctic ozone holes have not been replicated in Arctic Posted: 14 Apr 2014 12:44 PM PDT Since the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole, scientists, policymakers, and the public have wondered whether we might someday see a similarly extreme depletion of ozone over the Arctic. But a new study finds some cause for optimism: Ozone levels in the Arctic haven't yet sunk to the extreme lows seen in Antarctica, in part because international efforts to limit ozone-depleting chemicals have been successful.

Ferns borrowed genes to flourish in low light Posted: 14 Apr 2014 12:44 PM PDT During the age of the dinosaurs, the arrival of flowering plants as competitors could have spelled doom for primitive ferns. Instead, ferns diversified and flourished under the new canopy -- using a mysterious gene that helped them adapt to low-light environments. Scientists have now pinpointed the curious origins of this gene and determined that it was transferred to ferns from a group of unassuming, mossy plants called hornworts.

Air pollution over Asia influences global weather and makes Pacific storms more intense Posted: 14 Apr 2014 12:44 PM PDT In the first study of its kind, scientists have compared air pollution rates from 1850 to 2000 and found that anthropogenic (human-made) particles from Asia impact the Pacific storm track that can influence weather over much of the world.

Lashing out at your spouse? Check your blood sugar Posted: 14 Apr 2014 12:44 PM PDT Lower levels of blood sugar may make married people angrier at their spouses and even more likely to lash out aggressively, new research reveals. Researchers found that levels of blood glucose in married people, measured each night, predicted how angry they would be with their spouse that evening.

Cosmic slurp: Supercomputers help astronomers understand and predict how black holes swallow stars Posted: 14 Apr 2014 12:08 PM PDT A 'tidal disruption' occurs when a star orbits too close to a black hole and gets usurped. Researchers are using supercomputers to simulate tidal disruptions to better understand the dynamics of the process. Doing so will help astronomers find many more possible candidates of tidal disruptions in sky surveys and reveal details of how stars and black holes interact.

Cybersecurity researchers roll out a new heartbleed solution: Red Herring creates decoy servers, entraps, monitors hackers Posted: 14 Apr 2014 12:06 PM PDT As companies scrambled in recent days to address the latest cybersecurity bug known as Heartbleed, researchers demonstrate a solution that fixes the vulnerability, and also detects and entraps hackers who might be using it to steal sensitive data.

Making dams safer for fish around the world Posted: 14 Apr 2014 11:08 AM PDT The pressure changes that many fish experience when they travel through the turbulent waters near a dam can seriously injure or kill the fish. Scientists from around the world, including areas like Southeast Asia and Brazil where huge dams are planned or under construction, are working together to protect fish from the phenomenon, known as barotrauma.

Beam on target! Cebaf accelerator delivered high-energy electron beams Posted: 14 Apr 2014 11:08 AM PDT Late on April 1, the crown jewel of the Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility sparkled its way into a new era. Following an upgrade of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility, the CEBAF accelerator delivered the highest-energy electron beams it has ever produced into a target in an experimental hall, recording the first data of the 12 GeV era.

Babies prefer fairness -- but only if it benefits them -- in choosing a playmate Posted: 14 Apr 2014 10:40 AM PDT Babies as young as 15 months preferred people with the same ethnicity as themselves -- a phenomenon known as in-group bias, or favoring people who have the same characteristics as oneself. The findings show that 15-month-old babies value a person's fairness -- whether or not an experimenter equally distributes toys -- unless babies see that the experimenter unevenly distributed toys in a way that benefits a person of the same race as the infant.

Four new species of 'killer sponges' from the deep sea Posted: 14 Apr 2014 10:40 AM PDT Killer sponges sound like creatures from a B-grade horror movie. In fact, they thrive in the lightless depths of the deep sea. Scientists first discovered that some sponges are carnivorous about 20 years ago. Since then only seven carnivorous species have been found in all of the northeastern Pacific. A new article describes four new species of carnivorous sponges living on the deep seafloor, from the Pacific Northwest to Baja California.

House windows that double as solar panels? Shiny quantum dots brighten future of solar cells Posted: 14 Apr 2014 09:38 AM PDT A house window that doubles as a solar panel could be on the horizon, thanks to recent quantum-dot work. Scientists have demonstrated that superior light-emitting properties of quantum dots can be applied in solar energy by helping more efficiently harvest sunlight.

Three new species of yellow-shouldered bats discovered in museum collections Posted: 14 Apr 2014 09:37 AM PDT Scientists have reconstructed the phylogeny and biological history for the Yellow-shouldered bats in the New World tropics, the region of the Earth surrounding the equator. In-depth analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences uncovered three species new to science, each having previously been confused with another species.

Patients with kidney failure to get a new lease on life Posted: 14 Apr 2014 09:36 AM PDT A European research consortium has been developing a wearable artificial kidney that would make it possible for dialysis patients to lead a more full and active life while adding another 10 to 16 years to their life expectancy.

Neuroscientists: Brain activity may mark beginning of memories Posted: 14 Apr 2014 09:35 AM PDT By tracking brain activity when an animal stops to look around its environment, neuroscientists can mark the birth of a memory. The hippocampus is the brain's warehouse for long- and short-term processing of episodic memories, such as memories of a specific experience like a trip to Maine or a recent dinner. What no one knew was what happens in the hippocampus the moment an experience imprints itself as a memory. New research is lending clues to what they call "spatial mapping functions" in the brain.

Let the sun shine in: Redirecting sunlight to dark urban alleyways Posted: 14 Apr 2014 08:24 AM PDT In response to ever-crowded urban conditions in developing countries, researchers in Egypt have developed an inexpensive way of re-directing natural sunlight into dimly lit streets and alleys, where lack of sun is linked to health problems. The new optical device can increase brightness in alleyways by up to 400 percent.

Puget Sound's rich waters supplied by deep, turbulent canyon Posted: 14 Apr 2014 08:24 AM PDT Oceanographers have made the first detailed measurements of fast-flowing water and intense mixing in a submarine canyon just off the Washington coast.

Device turns flat surface into spherical antenna Posted: 14 Apr 2014 08:20 AM PDT By depositing an array of tiny, metallic, U-shaped structures onto a dielectric material, scientists have created a new artificial surface that can bend and focus electromagnetic waves the same way an antenna does.

SpaceX’s Dragon headed to space station to create astronaut farmers Posted: 14 Apr 2014 07:33 AM PDT "Enter the Dragon" takes on a whole new meaning this month as SpaceX's Dragon capsule heads to the International Space Station for its third commercial resupply mission on April 14. During the SpaceX-3 mission, the Dragon capsule not only will deliver cargo to the orbiting laboratory, but it also will return science samples and hardware to Earth.

International Space Station to beam video via laser back to Earth Posted: 14 Apr 2014 07:30 AM PDT A team of about 20 working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., through the lab's Phaeton early-career-hire program, led the development of the Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS) investigation, which is preparing for an April 14 launch to the International Space Station aboard the SpaceX-3 mission. The goal? NASA's first optical communication experiment on the orbital laboratory.

New 'tunable' semiconductors will allow better detectors, solar cells Posted: 14 Apr 2014 07:12 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a way to use existing semiconductors to detect a far wider range of light than is now possible, well into the infrared range. The team hopes to use the technology in detectors, obviously, but also in improved solar cells that could absorb infrared light as well as the sun's visible rays.

Nutrient-rich forests absorb more carbon Posted: 14 Apr 2014 07:11 AM PDT The ability of forests to sequester carbon from the atmosphere depends on nutrients available in the forest soils, shows new research from an international team of researchers. "This paper produces the first evidence that to really understand the carbon cycle, you have to look into issues of nutrient cycling within the soil," said one of the researchers.

Result of slow degradation on environmental pollutants Posted: 14 Apr 2014 07:11 AM PDT Why do environmental pollutants accumulate in the cold polar regions? This may not only be due to the fact that many substances are less volatile at low temperatures, as has been long suspected, but also to their extremely slow natural degradation. Although persistent environmental pollutants have been and continue to be released worldwide, the Arctic and Antarctic regions are significantly more contaminated than elsewhere. The marine animals living there have some of the highest levels of persistent organic pollutant (POP) contamination of any creatures.

Surgeons develop personalized 3-D printed kidney to simulate surgery prior to cancer operation Posted: 14 Apr 2014 07:08 AM PDT For the first time, surgeons have used 3-D printing to produce exact models of tumor-containing kidneys, allowing them to simulate surgery prior to the real operation. These models can be personalized to each patient, giving doctors a 3-D model of each individual's tumor. The ability to produce exact 3-dimensional models of objects means that 3D printing is set to revolutionize many fields.

Wolves at the door: Study finds recent wolf-dog hybridization in Caucasus region Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:21 AM PDT Hybridization of wolves with shepherd dogs in the Caucasus region might be more common, and more recent, than previously thought, according to new research. Scientists found recent hybrid ancestry in about ten percent of the dogs and wolves sampled. About two to three percent of the sampled wolves and dogs were identified as first-generation hybrids.

Single cell genomics technique developed to reverse-engineer developing lung Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:21 AM PDT In a feat of reverse tissue engineering, researchers took lung cells from the embryos of mice at different points in their development cycles, and recorded what genes were active in each cell at each time. They studied lung cells, but the technique is applicable to any type of cell. "This lays out a playbook for how to do reverse tissue engineering," said the leader of the research team.

Reduction in HPV in young women in England following national immunization program Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:21 AM PDT A reduction in two High Risk human papillomavirus types in sexually-active young women in England has been seen, following the introduction of a national immunization program. "The data provide reassurance that the high efficacy against HPV infection in women reported in clinical trials can be effectively realized in practice, and in a program achieving high coverage amongst young females. These data adds to our confidence that the HPV immunization program will achieve its aim of reducing cervical cancer," researchers concluded.

Detrimental effects of television viewing on sleep in young children Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:21 AM PDT A study following more than 1,800 children from ages 6 months to nearly 8 years found a small but consistent association between increased television viewing and shorter sleep duration. The presence of a television in the room where a child sleeps also was associated with less sleep, particularly in minority children.

Women who gain too much or too little weight during pregnancy at risk for having an overweight child Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:21 AM PDT Gaining both too much or too little weight during pregnancy appears to increase the risk of having an overweight or obese child, according to a study. In one of the largest studies to examine current Institute of Medicine recommendations regarding pregnancy weight gain in relation to childhood obesity, researchers reviewed the electronic health records of 4,145 racially diverse females who had completed a health survey between 2007 and 2009 and subsequently had a baby.

Teaching to optimize learning or control misbehavior? Scale of disruptive behavior in schools seriously underestimated Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:20 AM PDT The true extent of poor pupil behavior in schools is seriously underestimated, according to an academic. The research raises the question of the extent to which there is a right to learn in classrooms. The researcher argues that behavior cannot be interpreted as satisfactory if some pupils are impeding the learning of others and if teachers are not able to teach the class in a way that focuses primarily on optimizing pupil learning rather than on control issues.

Genetically modified tobacco plants as an alternative for producing bioethanol Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:20 AM PDT Tobacco, a high-density crop which is mown several times throughout its cycle, can produce as much as 160 tonnes of fresh matter per hectare and become a source of biomass suitable for producing bioethanol. As one researcher explained, "tobacco plants as a source of biomass for producing bioethanol could be an alternative to traditional tobacco growing which is in decline in the USA and in Europe because it cannot compete with emerging countries like China".

Neanderthals and Cro-magnons did not coexist on the Iberian Peninsula, suggests re-analysis of dating Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:20 AM PDT The meeting between a Neanderthal and one of the first humans, which we used to picture in our minds, did not happen on the Iberian Peninsula. That is the conclusion reached by an scientists after redoing the dating of the remains in three caves located on the route through the Pyrenees of the first beings of our species: L'Arbreda, Labeko Koba and La Viña.

Novel technique opens door to better solar cells, superconductors and hard drives Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:19 AM PDT A new invention solves long-standing mystery in the physics of condensed matter and enhances our understanding of interfaces between materials.

Does germ plasm accelerate evolution? Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:19 AM PDT Scientists have challenged a long held belief about the way certain species of vertebrates evolved. They found that genes evolve more rapidly in species containing germ plasm. The results came about as they put to the test a novel theory that early developmental events dramatically alter the vertebrate body plan and the way evolution proceeds.

Beneficial organisms react differently to parasite drug Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:19 AM PDT The substance ivermectin has been used for more than thirty years all over the world to combat parasites like roundworms, lice and mites in humans, livestock and pets. The active ingredient belongs to the chemical group of avermectins, which generally disrupt cell transport and thus attack pests. When ivermectin is excreted in the feces of treated animals, at overly high doses it also harms dung-degrading beneficial insects like dung beetles and dung flies. This impairs the functioning of the ecosystem. In extreme cases the dung is not decomposed and the pasture is destroyed.

Combs of light accelerate communication Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:19 AM PDT Miniaturized optical frequency comb sources allow for transmission of data streams of several terabits per second over hundreds of kilometers. The results may contribute to accelerating data transmission in large computing centers and worldwide communication networks.

Look who's evolving now: Using robots to study evolution Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:19 AM PDT Scientists have demonstrated the usefulness of robots in studying evolution.  They successfully used a colony of rodent-like robots to watch different mating strategies evolve.  The work not only generated interesting and unexpected results, but it has also helped validate the use of robots in the study of evolution.

Recurrence of prostate cancer is significantly lower in men with blood group O Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:19 AM PDT A man's blood group can affect the chance of a recurrence of prostate cancer after surgery, according to new research. This is the first time that this relationship has been demonstrated. Specifically, this new study has shown that patients with blood group O had a significantly decreased risk of cancer recurrence after radical prostatectomy.

New clinical definition for epilepsy improves diagnosis accuracy Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:19 AM PDT An expert task force has created a new definition for epilepsy that refines the scope of patients diagnosed with this brain disease. The study provides a greater level of detail to diagnose epilepsy by including individuals with two unprovoked seizures, and those with one unprovoked seizure and other factors that increase risk of seizure recurrence.

Young people with epilepsy at significantly more risk of injury Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:19 AM PDT Children and young adults with epilepsy are more likely to suffer broken bones, burns and poisonings compared to those without the neurological disorder, new research has found. The results, taken in tandem with previous research findings, highlight the need for further research into whether young people with the condition are at greater risk from an overdose, accidental or intentional, of their epilepsy drugs or other medication.

Gene linked to pediatric kidney cancer suggests new strategies for kidney regeneration Posted: 13 Apr 2014 02:17 PM PDT Nearly one-third of cases of Wilms tumor, a pediatric cancer of the kidney, are linked to a gene called Lin28, according to research. Mice engineered to express Lin28 in their kidneys developed Wilms tumor, which regressed when Lin28 was withdrawn, indicating that strategies aimed at blocking or deactivating the gene hold therapeutic promise. Studies also suggest that controlled expression of Lin28 can promote kidney development and therefore may hold clues to regeneration of damaged adult kidneys.

Tiny particles could help verify goods Posted: 13 Apr 2014 11:00 AM PDT Chemical engineers hope smartphone-readable microparticles could crack down on counterfeiting. Some 2 to 5 percent of all international trade involves counterfeit goods, according to a 2013 United Nations report. These illicit products -- which include electronics, automotive and aircraft parts, pharmaceuticals, and food -- can pose safety risks and cost governments and private companies hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Many strategies have been developed to try to label legitimate products and prevent illegal trade -- but these tags are often too easy to fake, are unreliable, or cost too much to implement, according to researchers who have developed a new alternative.

Glasses strong as steel: A fast way to find the best Posted: 13 Apr 2014 10:59 AM PDT Scientists have devised a dramatically faster way of identifying and characterizing complex alloys known as bulk metallic glasses, a versatile type of pliable glass that's stronger than steel. The new method allows researchers to screen about 3,000 alloys per day and simultaneously ascertain certain properties, such as melting temperature and malleability.

How a Silly Putty ingredient could advance stem cell therapies Posted: 13 Apr 2014 10:59 AM PDT The sponginess of the environment where human embryonic stem cells are growing affects the type of specialized cells they eventually become, a study shows. The researchers coaxed human embryonic stem cells to turn into working spinal cord cells more efficiently by growing the cells on a soft, utrafine carpet made of a key ingredient in Silly Putty.

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