ScienceDaily: Most Popular News

---

• Regenerating plastic grows back after damage
• Extinct kitten-sized hunter discovered
• Exploring the magnetism of a single atom
• Scientists find solution to two long-standing mysteries of cuprate high-temperature superconductivity
• Humans may benefit from new insights into polar bear's adaptation to high-fat diet
• What vigilant squid can teach us about the purpose of pain
• Free radicals: What doesn't kill you may make you live longer
• Spanish, Japanese centenarians reveal genetic key to longevity
• New order of marine creatures discovered among sea anemones
• New study sheds light on survivors of the Black Death
• New tool to measure the speed of aging: Your handshake
• Early depression, anger may taint love life even 20 years later, study shows
• As carbon dioxide levels rise, some crop nutrients will fall, researchers find
• Greenland melting due equally to global warming, natural variations
• A stellar explosion on the outer reaches of the Universe provides clues about black hole formation
• Mapping the spider genome: Surprising similarities to humans
• Ancient crater points to massive meteorite strike
• Shrinking helped dinosaurs and birds to keep evolving
• Chimpanzees Show Similar Personality Traits to Humans
• Clean before you clean: What's on your toothbrush just might surprise you
• New cause of high blood pressure, heart disease discovered: Phosphate-rich foods
• Many infants still not placed on their backs to sleep

Regenerating plastic grows back after damage Posted: 08 May 2014 02:23 PM PDT Looking at a smooth sheet of plastic in a laboratory, no one would guess that an impact had recently blasted a hole through it. Researchers have developed materials that not only heal, but regenerate. Until now, self-repairing materials could only bond tiny microscopic cracks. The new regenerating materials fill in large cracks and holes by regrowing material.

Extinct kitten-sized hunter discovered Posted: 08 May 2014 02:22 PM PDT Researchers have discovered an ancient kitten-sized predator that lived in Bolivia about 13 million years ago -- one of the smallest species reported in the extinct order Sparassodonta. The species has the features of a tenacious hunter that could feed on animals its own size, the scientists say.

Exploring the magnetism of a single atom Posted: 08 May 2014 11:18 AM PDT Scientists have shown for the first time the maximum theoretical limit of energy needed to control the magnetization of a single atom. The fundamental work can have great implications for the future of magnetic research and technology.

Scientists find solution to two long-standing mysteries of cuprate high-temperature superconductivity Posted: 08 May 2014 11:17 AM PDT Scientists seeking to understand the intricacies of high-temperature superconductivity -- the ability of certain materials to carry electrical current with no energy loss -- have been particularly puzzled by a mysterious phase that emerges as charge carriers are added that appears to compete with superconductivity. It's also been a mystery why, within this "pseudogap" phase, the movement of superconducting electrons appears to be restricted to certain directions. Detailed studies of a material as it transforms from an insulator through the "pseudogap" into a full-blown superconductor links two "personality" changes of electrons at a critical point.

Humans may benefit from new insights into polar bear's adaptation to high-fat diet Posted: 08 May 2014 09:13 AM PDT The polar bear diverged from the brown bear, or grizzly, as recently as several hundred thousand years ago, according to a genome comparison by American, Chinese and Danish researchers. They pinpointed genes that underwent extreme selection over time, specifically genes that deal with fat metabolism and apparently allowed the bear to adapt to a diet unusually high in fat. These genes could provide clues to help humans deal with health problems caused by high-fat diets.

What vigilant squid can teach us about the purpose of pain Posted: 08 May 2014 09:13 AM PDT Most of us have probably felt that lasting sense of anxiety or even pain after enduring some kind of accident or injury. Now, researchers have the first evidence in any animal that there may be a very good reason for that kind of heightened sensitivity. Squid that behave with extra vigilance after experiencing even a minor injury are more likely to live to see another day, according to a report.

Free radicals: What doesn't kill you may make you live longer Posted: 08 May 2014 09:12 AM PDT What is the secret to aging more slowly and living longer? Not antioxidants, apparently. Many people believe that free radicals, the sometimes-toxic molecules produced by our bodies as we process oxygen, are the culprit behind aging. Yet a number of studies in recent years have produced evidence that the opposite may be true. A team of researchers discovered that free radicals -- also known as oxidants -- act on a molecular mechanism that, in other circumstances, tells a cell to kill itself.

Spanish, Japanese centenarians reveal genetic key to longevity Posted: 08 May 2014 06:54 AM PDT The genes of 894 men and women over the age of one hundred in Spain and Japan have revealed that the secret to longevity, at least in southern Europe, lies in a variant on chromosome 9p21.3, which had already been associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease. Centenarians live at least fifteen years longer than the average person in the West. This exceptional longevity is partially genetic, and it appears that there are a number of gene variants that may hold the key to a healthy old age life.

New order of marine creatures discovered among sea anemones Posted: 07 May 2014 06:22 PM PDT A deep-water creature once thought to be one of the world's largest sea anemones, with tentacles reaching more than 6.5 feet long, actually belongs to a new order of animals. The finding is part of a new DNA-based study that presents the first tree of life for sea anemones, a group that includes more than 1,200 species.

New study sheds light on survivors of the Black Death Posted: 07 May 2014 06:14 PM PDT A new study suggests that people who survived the medieval mass-killing plague known as the Black Death lived significantly longer and were healthier than people who lived before the epidemic struck in 1347. These findings have important implications for understanding emerging diseases and how they impact the health of individuals and populations of people.

New tool to measure the speed of aging: Your handshake Posted: 07 May 2014 06:14 PM PDT A strong handshake can say a lot about a person: it can indicate power, confidence, health, or aggression. Now scientists say that the strength of a person's grasp may also be one of the most useful ways to measure people's true age.

Early depression, anger may taint love life even 20 years later, study shows Posted: 07 May 2014 10:27 AM PDT Negative emotions people may have suffered as young adults can have a lasting grip on their couple relationships, well into middle age, research demonstrates. The study followed 341 people for 25 years, and found that negative emotions they may have suffered as young adults can have a lasting grip on their couple relationships, well into middle age. The fact that depression and anger experienced during the teen years clung to people, even through major life events such as child-rearing, marriages and careers was surprising, researchers note.

As carbon dioxide levels rise, some crop nutrients will fall, researchers find Posted: 07 May 2014 10:26 AM PDT Researchers have some bad news for future farmers and eaters: As carbon dioxide levels rise this century, some grains and legumes will become significantly less nutritious than they are today.

Greenland melting due equally to global warming, natural variations Posted: 07 May 2014 10:26 AM PDT Up to half of the recent warming in Greenland and neighboring parts of the Canadian Arctic may be due to climate variations that originate in the tropical Pacific and are not connected with the overall warming of the planet. The other portion is likely due to global warming.

A stellar explosion on the outer reaches of the Universe provides clues about black hole formation Posted: 07 May 2014 08:47 AM PDT On 24 October 2012 observatories across the world were alerted about a huge stellar explosion, the GRB121024A, which had been located just hours before in the Eridanus constellation. The data obtained on that explosion, which took place about 11,000 million years ago, have made it possible to reconstruct how a black hole is formed.

Mapping the spider genome: Surprising similarities to humans Posted: 07 May 2014 07:50 AM PDT For the first time ever, a group of researchers has sequenced the genome of the spider. This knowledge provides a much more qualified basis for studying features of the spider. It also shows that humans share certain genomic similarities with spiders. However, the sequencing has far greater significance for our future understanding of the spider's special properties. The researchers worked with two types of spiders, representing two of the three main groups in the spider family. One of these is a small velvet spider and the other is a tarantula.

Ancient crater points to massive meteorite strike Posted: 07 May 2014 07:50 AM PDT An eight-kilometer-wide crater suggests a meteorite strike devastated southern Alberta within the last 70 million years, experts theorize. Time and glaciers have buried and eroded much of the evidence, making it impossible at this point to say with full certainty the ring-like structure was caused by a meteorite impact, but that's what seismic and geological evidence strongly suggests.

Shrinking helped dinosaurs and birds to keep evolving Posted: 06 May 2014 04:07 PM PDT Although most dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago, one dinosaur lineage survived and lives on today as a major evolutionary success story -- the birds. A study that has 'weighed' hundreds of dinosaurs suggests that shrinking their bodies may have helped the group that became birds to continue exploiting new ecological niches throughout their evolution, and become hugely successful today.

Chimpanzees Show Similar Personality Traits to Humans Posted: 06 May 2014 08:56 AM PDT Chimpanzees have almost the same personality traits as humans, and they are structured almost identically, according to new work. The research also shows some of those traits have a neurobiological basis, and that those traits vary according to the biological sex of the individual chimpanzee.

Clean before you clean: What's on your toothbrush just might surprise you Posted: 06 May 2014 06:44 AM PDT Do you know Staphylococci, coliforms, pseudomonads, yeasts, intestinal bacteria and -- yes -- even fecal germs may be on your toothbrush? Appropriate toothbrush storage and care are important to achieving personal oral hygiene and optimally effective plaque removal. Appropriate toothbrush storage and care are important to achieving personal oral hygiene and optimally effective plaque removal

New cause of high blood pressure, heart disease discovered: Phosphate-rich foods Posted: 05 May 2014 07:42 AM PDT Phosphate-rich foods include processed cheese, Parmesan, cola, baking powder and most processed foods. Phosphates are widely used in the food industry as preservatives and pH stabilizers. When large quantities of phosphates are consumed, production of the FGF23 hormone is stimulated, which has a negative effect on the cardiovascular system.  One expert warns that "our phosphate consumption is relevant for our state of health."

Many infants still not placed on their backs to sleep Posted: 03 May 2014 05:27 AM PDT Since 1994, parents have been urged to put their babies to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. It appears many caregivers have not gotten the message, and health care providers have not done enough to educate families.

You are subscribed to email updates from Most Popular News -- ScienceDaily To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610