ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Weighing the Milky Way: Researchers devise precise method for calculating the mass of galaxies
• Vision-correcting display makes reading glasses so yesterday
• 'Killer sperm' prevents mating between worm species
• The Quantum Cheshire Cat: Can neutrons be located at a different place than their own spin?
• Social origins of intelligence in the brain
• Diet affects males' and females' gut microbes differently
• Evolution in rainforest flies points to climate change survival
• Microscopic rowing -- without a cox: Cells' whip-like appendages can synchronize their movements
• Healthy lifestyle may buffer against stress-related cell aging
• Lead pollution beat explorers to South Pole, persists today
• Cassini spacecraft reveals 101 geysers and more on icy Saturn moon
• Impact of Deepwater Horizon oil spill on coral is deeper and broader than predicted
• Global warming amplifier: Rising water vapor in upper troposphere to intensify climate change
• Learning the smell of fear: Mothers teach babies their own fears via odor, animal study shows
• Fist bumping beats germ-spreading handshake
• New protein structure could help treat Alzheimer's, related diseases
• 'Holy grail' of battery design achieved: Stable lithium anode

Weighing the Milky Way: Researchers devise precise method for calculating the mass of galaxies Posted: 29 Jul 2014 07:49 PM PDT Does the Milky Way look fat in this picture? Has Andromeda been taking skinny selfies? Using a new, more accurate method for measuring the mass of galaxies, and international group of researchers has shown that the Milky Way has half the Mass of the Andromeda Galaxy.

Vision-correcting display makes reading glasses so yesterday Posted: 29 Jul 2014 12:29 PM PDT Researchers are developing vision-correcting displays that can compensate for a viewer's visual impairments to create sharp images without the need for glasses or contact lenses. The technology could potentially help those who currently need corrective lenses to use their smartphones, tablets and computers, and could one day aid people with more complex visual problems.

'Killer sperm' prevents mating between worm species Posted: 29 Jul 2014 11:20 AM PDT Most cross-species mating is merely unsuccessful in producing offspring. However, when researchers mated Caenorhabditis worms of different species, they found that the lifespan of the female worms and their number of progeny were drastically reduced compared with females that mated with the same species. In addition, females that survived cross-species mating were often sterile, even if they subsequently mated with their own species.

The Quantum Cheshire Cat: Can neutrons be located at a different place than their own spin? Posted: 29 Jul 2014 09:38 AM PDT Can neutrons be located at a different place than their own spin? A quantum experiment demonstrates a new kind of quantum paradox. The Cheshire Cat featured in Lewis Caroll's novel "Alice in Wonderland" is a remarkable creature: it disappears, leaving its grin behind. Can an object be separated from its properties? It is possible in the quantum world. In an experiment, neutrons travel along a different path than one of their properties -- their magnetic moment. This "Quantum Cheshire Cat" could be used to make high precision measurements less sensitive to external perturbations.

Social origins of intelligence in the brain Posted: 29 Jul 2014 08:54 AM PDT By studying the injuries and aptitudes of Vietnam War veterans who suffered penetrating head wounds during the war, scientists are tackling -- and beginning to answer -- longstanding questions about how the brain works. The researchers found that brain regions that contribute to optimal social functioning also are vital to general intelligence and to emotional intelligence. This finding bolsters the view that general intelligence emerges from the emotional and social context of one's life.

Diet affects males' and females' gut microbes differently Posted: 29 Jul 2014 08:54 AM PDT The microbes living in the guts of males and females react differently to diet, even when the diets are identical, according to a new study. These results suggest that therapies designed to improve human health and treat diseases through nutrition might need to be tailored for each sex.

Evolution in rainforest flies points to climate change survival Posted: 29 Jul 2014 06:32 AM PDT Scientists believe some tropical species may be able to evolve and adapt to the effects of climate change. The new findings suggests some sensitive rainforest-restricted species may survive climate change and avoid extinction. But only if the change is not too abrupt and dramatically beyond the conditions that a species currently experiences.

Microscopic rowing -- without a cox: Cells' whip-like appendages can synchronize their movements Posted: 29 Jul 2014 05:45 AM PDT New research shows that the whip-like appendages on many types of cells are able to synchronize their movements solely through interactions with the fluid that surrounds them.

Healthy lifestyle may buffer against stress-related cell aging Posted: 29 Jul 2014 04:35 AM PDT A new study shows that while the impact of life's stressors accumulate overtime and accelerate cellular aging, these negative effects may be reduced by maintaining a healthy diet, exercising and sleeping well.

Lead pollution beat explorers to South Pole, persists today Posted: 28 Jul 2014 06:19 PM PDT Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first man to reach the South Pole in December 1911. More than 100 years later, an international team of scientists has proven that air pollution from industrial activities arrived to the planet's southern pole long before any human. Using data from 16 ice cores, industrial lead contamination was pervasive throughout Antarctica by the late 19th century.

Cassini spacecraft reveals 101 geysers and more on icy Saturn moon Posted: 28 Jul 2014 04:15 PM PDT Scientists using mission data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft have identified 101 distinct geysers erupting on Saturn's icy moon Enceladus. Their analysis suggests it is possible for liquid water to reach from the moon's underground sea all the way to its surface.

Impact of Deepwater Horizon oil spill on coral is deeper and broader than predicted Posted: 28 Jul 2014 12:39 PM PDT A new discovery of two additional coral communities showing signs of damage from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill expands the impact footprint of the 2010 spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Global warming amplifier: Rising water vapor in upper troposphere to intensify climate change Posted: 28 Jul 2014 12:39 PM PDT A new study from scientists at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and colleagues confirms rising levels of water vapor in the upper troposphere -- a key amplifier of global warming -- will intensify climate change impacts over the next decades. The new study is the first to show that increased water vapor concentrations in the atmosphere are a direct result of human activities.

Learning the smell of fear: Mothers teach babies their own fears via odor, animal study shows Posted: 28 Jul 2014 12:36 PM PDT Babies can learn what to fear in the first days of life just by smelling the odor of their distressed mothers', new research suggests. And not just "natural" fears: If a mother experienced something before pregnancy that made her fear something specific, her baby will quickly learn to fear it too -- through her odor when she feels fear.

Fist bumping beats germ-spreading handshake Posted: 28 Jul 2014 09:37 AM PDT "Fist bumping" transmits significantly fewer bacteria than either handshaking or high-fiving, while still addressing the cultural expectation of hand-to-hand contact between patients and clinicians, according to a new study.

New protein structure could help treat Alzheimer's, related diseases Posted: 28 Jul 2014 09:37 AM PDT Bioengineers have a designed a peptide structure that can stop the harmful changes of the body's normal proteins into a state that's linked to widespread diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and Lou Gehrig's disease.

'Holy grail' of battery design achieved: Stable lithium anode Posted: 27 Jul 2014 01:57 PM PDT Researchers report that they have taken a big step toward accomplishing what battery designers have been trying to do for decades -- design a pure lithium anode. All batteries have three basic components: an electrolyte to provide electrons, an anode to discharge those electrons, and a cathode to receive them. The nanosphere layer of a newly created battery design resembles a honeycomb: it creates a flexible, uniform and non-reactive film that protects the unstable lithium from the drawbacks that have made it such a challenge.

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