ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Intensity of hurricanes: New study helps improve predictions of storm intensity
• Bacteria manipulate salt to build shelters to hibernate
• Steam energy from the sun: New spongelike structure converts solar energy into steam
• Saharan dust is key to formation of Bahamas' Great Bank, study finds
• Brain's dynamic duel underlies win-win choices
• 'Naïve' pluripotent human embryonic stem cells created
• Maltreatment affects the way children's genes are activated
• Bacteria swim with whole body, not just propellers
• Rearchers eliminate HIV virus from cultured human cells for first time

Intensity of hurricanes: New study helps improve predictions of storm intensity Posted: 25 Jul 2014 08:08 AM PDT While predicting the path of hurricanes has gotten better, little has been done to improve predicting a storm's intensity. That is, until now. "The air-water interface -- whether it had significant waves or significant spray -- is a big factor in storm intensity," said one expert involved in a new study. "Hurricanes gain heat energy through the interface and they lose mechanical energy at the interface."

Bacteria manipulate salt to build shelters to hibernate Posted: 25 Jul 2014 05:03 AM PDT For the first time, researchers have detected an unknown interaction between microorganisms and salt. When Escherichia coli cells are introduced into a droplet of salt water that is left to dry, bacteria manipulate the sodium chloride crystallization to create biomineralogical biosaline 3-D morphologically complex formations, where they hibernate. Afterwards, simply by rehydrating the material, bacteria are revived. The discovery was made by chance with a home microscope.

Steam energy from the sun: New spongelike structure converts solar energy into steam Posted: 24 Jul 2014 06:39 PM PDT A new material structure generates steam by soaking up the sun. The structure -- a layer of graphite flakes and an underlying carbon foam -- is a porous, insulating material structure that floats on water. When sunlight hits the structure's surface, it creates a hotspot in the graphite, drawing water up through the material's pores, where it evaporates as steam. The brighter the light, the more steam is generated.

Saharan dust is key to formation of Bahamas' Great Bank, study finds Posted: 24 Jul 2014 03:29 PM PDT Saharan dust played a major role in the formation of the Bahamas islands, a new study suggests. Researchers showed that iron-rich Saharan dust provides the nutrients necessary for specialized bacteria to produce the island chain's carbonate-based foundation. Persistent winds across Africa's 3.5-million square mile Sahara Desert lifts mineral-rich sand into the atmosphere where it travels the nearly 5,000-mile northwest journey towards the U.S. and Caribbean.

Brain's dynamic duel underlies win-win choices Posted: 24 Jul 2014 02:20 PM PDT People choosing between two or more equally positive outcomes experience paradoxical feelings of pleasure and anxiety, feelings associated with activity in different regions of the brain, according to research. In the study, participants made choices between paired products with different or similar values. Choosing between two items of high value evoked the most positive feelings and the greatest anxiety.

'Naïve' pluripotent human embryonic stem cells created Posted: 24 Jul 2014 09:36 AM PDT Embryonic stem cell (ESC) research has been hampered by the inability to transfer research and tools from mouse ESC studies to their human counterparts, in part because human ESCs are "primed" and slightly less plastic than the mouse cells. Now researchers have discovered how to manipulate and maintain human ESCs into a "naïve" or base pluripotent state similar to that of mouse ESCs without the use of any reprogramming factors.

Maltreatment affects the way children's genes are activated Posted: 24 Jul 2014 06:42 AM PDT In a new study, researchers found that maltreatment affects the way children's genes are activated, which has implications for their long-term development and health. The researchers examined DNA methylation, a biomechanical mechanism that helps cells control which genes are turned on or off, in the blood of 56 children ages 11 to 14. Disruptions in this system affect emotional behavior, stress levels, and the immune system. These findings echo those of earlier studies of rodents.

Bacteria swim with whole body, not just propellers Posted: 21 Jul 2014 12:19 PM PDT Many bacteria swim using flagella, corkscrew-like appendages that push or pull bacterial cells like tiny propellers. It's long been assumed that the flagella do all the work during swimming, while the rest of the cell body is just along for the ride. But new research shows that a helical movement of the cell body generates thrust and helps the organism to swim.

Rearchers eliminate HIV virus from cultured human cells for first time Posted: 21 Jul 2014 12:19 PM PDT The HIV-1 virus has proved to be tenacious, inserting its genome permanently into its victims' DNA, forcing patients to take a lifelong drug regimen to control the virus and prevent a fresh attack. Now, a team of researchers has designed a way to snip out the integrated HIV-1 genes for good.

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