ScienceDaily: Most Popular News

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• Earth-size 'diamond' in space: Remarkable white dwarf star possibly coldest, dimmest ever detected
• New evidence bolsters Higgs boson discovery: Confirmation of particle responsible for mass
• Association found between maternal exposure to agricultural pesticides and autism
• Sensitive? Emotional? Empathetic? It could be in your genes
• Concentrating solar power: Study shows greater potential
• The ICEMAN study: How keeping cool could spur metabolic benefits
• Mysterious 'magic island' appears on Saturn's moon Titan
• Brain's balancing act discovered: Wiring determines if neurons communicate
• Super-stretchable yarn is made of graphene
• Oldest ever schistosomiasis egg found may be first proof of early human technology exacerbating disease burden
• Swiftly moving gas streamer eclipses supermassive black hole
• In hairless man, arthritis drug spurs hair growth -- lots
• Crucial security problem in Google Play: Thousands of secret keys found in android apps
• Genetic code for diabetes in Greenland broken by scientists
• Hippocampal activity during music listening exposes the memory-boosting power of music
• With light echoes, the invisible becomes visible

Earth-size 'diamond' in space: Remarkable white dwarf star possibly coldest, dimmest ever detected Posted: 23 Jun 2014 10:13 AM PDT Astronomers have identified possibly the coldest, faintest white dwarf star ever detected. This ancient stellar remnant is so cool that its carbon has crystallized, forming -- in effect -- an Earth-size diamond in space. The object in this new study is likely the same age as the Milky Way, approximately 11 billion years old.

New evidence bolsters Higgs boson discovery: Confirmation of particle responsible for mass Posted: 23 Jun 2014 09:10 AM PDT If evidence of the Higgs boson revealed two years ago was the smoking gun, particle physicists have now found a few of the bullets. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) has just published research that details evidence of the direct decay of the Higgs boson to fermions, among the particles anticipated by the Standard Model of physics. The finding fits what researchers expected to see amid the massive amount of data provided by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

Association found between maternal exposure to agricultural pesticides and autism Posted: 23 Jun 2014 06:29 AM PDT Pregnant women who lived in close proximity to fields and farms where chemical pesticides were applied experienced a two-thirds increased risk of having a child with autism spectrum disorder or other developmental delay, a study by researchers has found. The study examined associations between specific classes of pesticides, including organophosphates, pyrethroids and carbamates, applied during the study participants' pregnancies and later diagnoses of autism and developmental delay in their offspring.

Sensitive? Emotional? Empathetic? It could be in your genes Posted: 23 Jun 2014 06:18 AM PDT Do you jump to help the less fortunate or cry during sad movie scenes? If yes, you may be among the 20 percent of our population that is genetically pre-disposed to empathy, according to a study. The results provide further evidence that highly sensitive people are generally highly tuned into their environment, and provide evidence that especially high levels of awareness and emotional responsiveness are fundamental features of humans characterized as HSPs.

Concentrating solar power: Study shows greater potential Posted: 22 Jun 2014 11:22 AM PDT Concentrating solar power could supply a large fraction of the power supply in a decarbonized energy system, shows a new study of the technology and its potential practical application.

The ICEMAN study: How keeping cool could spur metabolic benefits Posted: 22 Jun 2014 11:22 AM PDT A new study demonstrates that ambient temperatures can influence the growth or loss of brown fat in people. Cool environments stimulate growth, warm environments loss. The study results clearly show the 'plasticity' of brown fat in humans.

Mysterious 'magic island' appears on Saturn's moon Titan Posted: 22 Jun 2014 11:21 AM PDT Astronomers have discovered a bright, mysterious geologic object – where one never existed – on Cassini mission radar images of Ligeia Mare, the second-largest sea on Saturn's moon Titan. Scientifically speaking, this spot is considered a "transient feature," but the astronomers have playfully dubbed it "Magic Island."

Brain's balancing act discovered: Wiring determines if neurons communicate Posted: 22 Jun 2014 11:21 AM PDT A fundamental mechanism by which the brain maintains its internal balance has been discovered by researchers. The mechanism involves the brain's most basic inner wiring and the processes that control whether a neuron relays information to other neurons or suppresses the transmission of information.

Super-stretchable yarn is made of graphene Posted: 20 Jun 2014 11:37 AM PDT Researchers have developed a simple, scalable method of making graphene oxide fibers that are strong, stretchable and can be easily scrolled into yarns with strengths approaching that of Kevlar.

Oldest ever schistosomiasis egg found may be first proof of early human technology exacerbating disease burden Posted: 19 Jun 2014 05:54 PM PDT The discovery of a schistosomiasis parasite egg in a 6200-year-old grave at a prehistoric town by the Euphrates river in Syria may be the first evidence that agricultural irrigation systems in the Middle East contributed to disease burden, according to new research. Schistosomiasis is a disease caused by several species of flatworm parasites that live in the blood vessels of the bladder and intestines.

Swiftly moving gas streamer eclipses supermassive black hole Posted: 19 Jun 2014 11:20 AM PDT An international team of astronomers has discovered unexpected behavior from the supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy NGC 5548. Their findings may provide new insights into the interactions of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies.

In hairless man, arthritis drug spurs hair growth -- lots Posted: 19 Jun 2014 09:53 AM PDT A man with almost no hair on his body has grown a full head of it after a novel treatment. There is currently no cure or long-term treatment for alopecia universalis, the disease that left the 25-year-old patient bare of hair. This is the first reported case of a successful targeted treatment for the rare, highly visible disease.

Crucial security problem in Google Play: Thousands of secret keys found in android apps Posted: 18 Jun 2014 01:39 PM PDT Researchers have discovered a crucial security problem in Google Play, the official Android app store. The study is the first to make a large-scale measurement of the huge marketplace, using PlayDrone, a tool they developed to circumvent Google security to successfully download Google Play apps and recover their sources.

Genetic code for diabetes in Greenland broken by scientists Posted: 18 Jun 2014 11:00 AM PDT New ground-breaking genetics research explains the high incidence of type 2 diabetes in the Greenlandic population, based on blood samples from 5,000 people or approximately 10% of the population. "Several epidemiological studies have looked at the health implications of the transition from life as sealers and hunters in small isolated communities to a modern lifestyle with appreciable dietary changes. Perhaps the gene variant which has been identified can be interpreted as a sign of natural selection as the traditional Greenlandic diet consisted primarily of protein and fat from sea animals," one researcher said.

Hippocampal activity during music listening exposes the memory-boosting power of music Posted: 18 Jun 2014 07:05 AM PDT For the first time the hippocampus —- a brain structure crucial for creating long-lasting memories —- has been observed to be active in response to recurring musical phrases while listening to music. Thus, the hippocampal involvement in long-term memory may be less specific than previously thought, indicating that short and long-term memory processes may depend on each other after all.

With light echoes, the invisible becomes visible Posted: 17 Jun 2014 06:32 AM PDT Scientists have developed a novel camera system which can see around the corner without using a mirror. Using diffusely reflected light, it reconstructs the shape of objects outside of the field of view. A laser shines on the wall; a camera watches the scene. Nothing more than white ingrain wallpaper with a bright spot of light can be seen through the lens. A computer records these initially unremarkable images and as the data is processed further, little by little, the outlines of an object appear on a screen.

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