ScienceDaily: Most Popular News

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• Using sand to improve battery performance
• Something is amiss in the Universe: Cosmic accounting reveals missing light crisis
• No rest for the bleary: Interrupted sleep can be as physically detrimental as no sleep at all
• SAR11, oceans' most abundant organism, has ability to create methane
• Building much smaller, greener electronics: Atom-scale, ultra-low-power computing devices to replace transistor circuits
• The quantum dance of oxygen: Proposal for a new phase of the element, when atoms dance in quartets
• Sitting too much, not just lack of exercise, is detrimental to cardiovascular health
• Sleep deprivation leads to symptoms of schizophrenia, research shows
• Supermassive black hole blows molecular gas out of a galaxy at one million kilometers per hour
• Babies born to healthy moms worldwide are strikingly similar in size
• How two simple questions could help GPs identify patients with drinking problems

Using sand to improve battery performance Posted: 08 Jul 2014 12:39 PM PDT Researchers have created a lithium ion battery that outperforms the current industry standard by three times. The key material: sand. Yes, sand. Researchers are now focused on using silicon at the nanoscale, or billionths of a meter, level as a replacement for graphite.

Something is amiss in the Universe: Cosmic accounting reveals missing light crisis Posted: 08 Jul 2014 09:17 AM PDT Something is amiss in the Universe. There appears to be an enormous deficit of ultraviolet light in the cosmic budget. The vast reaches of empty space between galaxies are bridged by tendrils of hydrogen and helium, which can be used as a precise 'light meter.' In a recent study a team of scientists finds that the light from known populations of galaxies and quasars is not nearly enough to explain observations of intergalactic hydrogen. The difference is a stunning 400 percent.

No rest for the bleary: Interrupted sleep can be as physically detrimental as no sleep at all Posted: 08 Jul 2014 09:17 AM PDT Interrupted sleep can be as physically detrimental as no sleep at all, researchers explain in a first of its kind study. In the study, the investigators establish a causal link between interrupted sleep patterns and compromised cognitive abilities, shortened attention spans, and negative moods. The researchers discovered that interrupted sleep is equivalent to no more than four consecutive hours of sleep.

SAR11, oceans' most abundant organism, has ability to create methane Posted: 07 Jul 2014 02:11 PM PDT The oxygen-rich surface waters of the world's major oceans are supersaturated with methane -- a powerful greenhouse gas that is roughly 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide -- yet little is known about the source of this methane. A new study demonstrates the ability of some strains of the oceans' most abundant organism -- SAR11 -- to generate methane as a byproduct of breaking down a compound for its phosphorus.

Building much smaller, greener electronics: Atom-scale, ultra-low-power computing devices to replace transistor circuits Posted: 07 Jul 2014 12:25 PM PDT The digital age has resulted in a succession of smaller, cleaner and less power-hungry technologies since the days the personal computer fit atop a desk, replacing mainframe models that once filled entire rooms. Desktop PCs have since given way to smaller and smaller laptops, smartphones and devices that most of us carry around in our pockets. Scientists are now developing atom-scale, ultra-low-power computing devices to replace transistor circuits.

The quantum dance of oxygen: Proposal for a new phase of the element, when atoms dance in quartets Posted: 07 Jul 2014 12:23 PM PDT Under extremely high pressure conditions oxygen molecules group into quartets and give rise to a "dance of their magnetic moments". This results in magnetic properties never previously observed in these conditions and in theory points to the existence of a new phase of the element, called epsilon 1.

Sitting too much, not just lack of exercise, is detrimental to cardiovascular health Posted: 07 Jul 2014 11:16 AM PDT Cardiologists have found that sedentary behaviors may lower cardiorespiratory fitness levels. New evidence suggests that two hours of sedentary behavior can be just as harmful as 20 minutes of exercise is beneficial.

Sleep deprivation leads to symptoms of schizophrenia, research shows Posted: 07 Jul 2014 09:14 AM PDT Twenty-four hours of sleep deprivation can lead to conditions in healthy persons similar to the symptoms of schizophrenia. This discovery was made by an international team of researchers, who point out that this effect should be investigated more closely in persons who have to work at night. In addition, sleep deprivation may serve as a model system for the development of drugs to treat psychosis.

Supermassive black hole blows molecular gas out of a galaxy at one million kilometers per hour Posted: 07 Jul 2014 09:14 AM PDT New research has solved a long-standing mystery surrounding the evolution of galaxies, deepening our understanding of the future of the Milky Way. The supermassive black holes in the cores of some galaxies drive massive outflows of molecular hydrogen gas. As a result, most of the cold gas is expelled from the galaxies. Since cold gas is required to form new stars, this directly affects the galaxies' evolution.

Babies born to healthy moms worldwide are strikingly similar in size Posted: 07 Jul 2014 06:27 AM PDT Babies' growth in the womb and their size at birth, especially their length, are strikingly similar the world over -- when babies are born to healthy, well-educated and well-nourished mothers. That is the finding of a large study that involved almost 60,000 pregnancies in eight defined urban areas in Brazil, China, India, Italy, Kenya, Oman, the UK and USA.

How two simple questions could help GPs identify patients with drinking problems Posted: 07 Jul 2014 06:24 AM PDT Alcohol problems are often undetected in primary care but by asking two simple questions, GPs could quickly uncover which patients have drinking problems -- including patients who would otherwise remain undetected -- according to new research.

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