ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Minor variations in ice sheet size can trigger abrupt climate change
• Hospital superbug breakthrough: Antibacterial gel kills Pseudomonas aeruginosa, staphylococci and E.coli using natural proteins
• Children's drawings indicate later intelligence, study shows
• Zombie ant fungi manipulate hosts to die on the 'doorstep' of the colony
• Pygmy phenotype developed many times, adaptive to rainforest
• More than just X and Y: New genetic basis for sex determination
• 500-million-year reset for immune system
• Pigs' hearts transplanted into baboon hosts remain viable more than a year
• Recycling old car batteries into solar cells: Environmental twofer could recycle lead batteries to make solar cells
• Sun's activity influences natural climate change, ice age study shows
• Microbes can create dripstones in caves
• Genes determine traces that stress leaves behind on brains

Minor variations in ice sheet size can trigger abrupt climate change Posted: 18 Aug 2014 07:48 PM PDT Small fluctuations in the sizes of ice sheets during the last ice age were enough to trigger abrupt climate change, scientists have found. The team compared simulated model data with that retrieved from ice cores and marine sediments in a bid to find out why temperature jumps of up to ten degrees took place in far northern latitudes within just a few decades during the last ice age.

Hospital superbug breakthrough: Antibacterial gel kills Pseudomonas aeruginosa, staphylococci and E.coli using natural proteins Posted: 18 Aug 2014 07:48 PM PDT Scientists have made a breakthrough in the fight against the most resistant hospital superbugs. The team have developed the first innovative antibacterial gel that acts to kill Pseudomonas aeruginosa, staphylococci and E.coli using natural proteins. The gels have the ability to break down the thick jelly-like coating, known as biofilms, which cover bacteria making them highly resistant to current therapies, while leaving healthy cells unaffected.

Children's drawings indicate later intelligence, study shows Posted: 18 Aug 2014 05:41 PM PDT How 4-year-old children draw pictures of a child is an indicator of intelligence at age 14, according to a new study. The researchers studied 7,752 pairs of identical and non-identical twins and found that the link between drawing and later intelligence was influenced by genes.

Zombie ant fungi manipulate hosts to die on the 'doorstep' of the colony Posted: 18 Aug 2014 12:36 PM PDT A parasitic fungus that must kill its ant hosts outside their nest to reproduce and transmit their infection, manipulates its victims to die in the vicinity of the colony, ensuring a constant supply of potential new hosts, according to researchers. The fungus grows a stalk, called the stroma, which protrudes from the ant cadaver. A large round structure, known as the ascoma, forms on the stroma. Infectious spores then develop in the ascoma and are discharged onto the forest floor below, where they can infect foraging ants from the colony.

Pygmy phenotype developed many times, adaptive to rainforest Posted: 18 Aug 2014 12:36 PM PDT The small body size associated with the pygmy phenotype is probably a selective adaptation for rainforest hunter-gatherers, according to an international team of researchers. But all African pygmy phenotypes do not have the same genetic underpinning, suggesting a more recent adaptation than previously thought.

More than just X and Y: New genetic basis for sex determination Posted: 18 Aug 2014 12:36 PM PDT Men and women differ in obvious ways, and scientists have long known that genetic differences buried deep within our DNA underlie these distinctions. In the past, most research has focused on understanding how the genes that encode proteins act as sex determinants. But scientists have found that a subset of very small genes encoding short RNA molecules, called microRNAs, also play a key role in differentiating male and female tissues in the fruit fly.

500-million-year reset for immune system Posted: 18 Aug 2014 10:51 AM PDT A single factor can reset the immune system of mice to a state likely similar to what it was 500 million years ago, when the first vertebrates emerged. The model, researchers report, could provide an explanation of how the immune system had developed in the course of evolution.

Pigs' hearts transplanted into baboon hosts remain viable more than a year Posted: 18 Aug 2014 08:34 AM PDT Investigators have successfully transplanted hearts from genetically engineered piglets into baboons' abdomens and had the hearts survive for more than one year, twice as long as previously reported. This was achieved by using genetically engineered porcine donors and a more focused immunosuppression regimen in the baboon recipients, according to a new study.

Recycling old car batteries into solar cells: Environmental twofer could recycle lead batteries to make solar cells Posted: 18 Aug 2014 08:34 AM PDT This could be a classic win-win solution: A system proposed by researchers recycles materials from discarded car batteries -- a potential source of lead pollution -- into new, long-lasting solar panels that provide emissions-free power.

Sun's activity influences natural climate change, ice age study shows Posted: 18 Aug 2014 06:52 AM PDT A new study has, for the first time, reconstructed solar activity during the last ice age. The study shows that the regional climate is influenced by the sun and offers opportunities to better predict future climate conditions in certain regions.

Microbes can create dripstones in caves Posted: 18 Aug 2014 06:50 AM PDT Scientists have found that microscopic organisms can create dripstones in caves. The research illustrates how biological life can influence the formation of Earth's geology -- and the same may be happening right now on other planets.

Genes determine traces that stress leaves behind on brains Posted: 18 Aug 2014 06:48 AM PDT Our individual genetic make-up determines the effect that stress has on our emotional centers, researchers have found. Not every individual reacts in the same way to life events that produce the same degree of stress. Some grow as a result of the crisis, whereas others break down and fall ill, for example with depression. The outcome is determined by a complex interaction between depression gene versions and environmental factors.

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