ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Scientists name new species of cetacean: The Australian humpback dolphin
• 'Active' surfaces control what's on them: Scientists develop treated surfaces that can actively control how fluids or particles move
• Companion planets can increase old worlds' chance at life
• Recent use of some birth control pills may increase breast cancer risk, study suggests
• Scientists find new calorie-burning switch in brown fat
• Study of twins discovers gene mutation linked to short sleep duration
• Wildfires and other burns play bigger role in climate change
• Groundbreaking research maps cultural history by mapping mobility of notable intellectuals
• Chemists create nanofibers using unprecedented new method, reminiscent of fibers found in living cells
• Asteroid impacts significantly altered ancient Earth
• Fermi satellite detects gamma-rays from exploding novae: Surprising discovery dispels long-held idea
• C. difficile vaccine proves safe, 100 percent effective in animal models
• The 'memory' of starvation is in your genes
• 'Rewired' mice show signs of longer lives with fewer age-related illnesses
• Shrinking dinosaurs evolved into flying birds
• Study advances 'DNA revolution,' tells butterflies' evolutionary history
• Depression as a risk factor for dementia: Link is independent of dementia-related brain changes

Scientists name new species of cetacean: The Australian humpback dolphin Posted: 01 Aug 2014 09:50 AM PDT Scientists examining a taxonomically confused group of marine mammals have officially named a species new to science: the Australian humpback dolphin, Sousa sahulensis.

'Active' surfaces control what's on them: Scientists develop treated surfaces that can actively control how fluids or particles move Posted: 01 Aug 2014 07:50 AM PDT Researchers have developed a new way of making surfaces that can actively control how fluids or particles move across them. The work might enable new kinds of biomedical or microfluidic devices, or solar panels that could automatically clean themselves of dust and grit.

Companion planets can increase old worlds' chance at life Posted: 01 Aug 2014 06:12 AM PDT Having a companion in old age is good for people -- and, it turns out, might extend the chance for life on certain Earth-sized planets in the cosmos as well. Planets cool as they age. Over time their molten cores solidify and inner heat-generating activity dwindles, becoming less able to keep the world habitable by regulating carbon dioxide to prevent runaway heating or cooling.

Recent use of some birth control pills may increase breast cancer risk, study suggests Posted: 01 Aug 2014 06:12 AM PDT Women who recently used birth control pills containing high-dose estrogen and a few other formulations had an increased risk for breast cancer, whereas women using some other formulations did not, according to new data.

Scientists find new calorie-burning switch in brown fat Posted: 01 Aug 2014 06:11 AM PDT Biologists have identified a signaling pathway that switches on a powerful calorie-burning process in brown fat cells. The study sheds light on a process known as "brown fat thermogenesis," which is of great interest to medical researchers because it naturally stimulates weight loss and may also protect against diabetes.

Study of twins discovers gene mutation linked to short sleep duration Posted: 31 Jul 2014 05:15 PM PDT Researchers who studied 100 twin pairs have identified a gene mutation that may allow the carrier to function normally on less than six hours of sleep per night. The genetic variant also appears to provide greater resistance to the effects of sleep deprivation.

Wildfires and other burns play bigger role in climate change Posted: 31 Jul 2014 05:15 PM PDT Research demonstrates that it isn't just the carbon dioxide from biomass burning that's the problem. Black carbon and brown carbon maximize the thermal impacts of such fires. They essentially allow biomass burning to cause much more global warming per unit weight than other human-associated carbon sources.

Groundbreaking research maps cultural history by mapping mobility of notable intellectuals Posted: 31 Jul 2014 12:00 PM PDT New research presents a pioneering approach to understanding European and North American cultural history by mapping out the mobility patterns of notable intellectuals over a 2,000-year span.

Chemists create nanofibers using unprecedented new method, reminiscent of fibers found in living cells Posted: 31 Jul 2014 12:00 PM PDT Researchers have developed a novel method for creating self-assembled protein/polymer nanostructures that are reminiscent of fibers found in living cells. The work offers a promising new way to fabricate materials for drug delivery and tissue engineering applications.

Asteroid impacts significantly altered ancient Earth Posted: 31 Jul 2014 12:00 PM PDT New research shows that more than four billion years ago, the surface of Earth was heavily reprocessed as a result of giant asteroid impacts. A new model based on existing lunar and terrestrial data sheds light on the role asteroid bombardments played in the geological evolution of the uppermost layers of the Hadean Earth.

Fermi satellite detects gamma-rays from exploding novae: Surprising discovery dispels long-held idea Posted: 31 Jul 2014 12:00 PM PDT Astronomers have discover very high energy gamma rays being emitted by an exploding star. The surprising discovery dispels the long-held idea that classical nova explosions are not powerful enough to produce such high-energy radiation.

C. difficile vaccine proves safe, 100 percent effective in animal models Posted: 31 Jul 2014 11:59 AM PDT An experimental vaccine protected 100 percent of animal models against the highly infectious and virulent bacterium, Clostridium difficile, which causes an intestinal disease that kills approximately 30,000 Americans annually.

The 'memory' of starvation is in your genes Posted: 31 Jul 2014 11:58 AM PDT Epigenetic 'experiments' -- changes resulting from external rather than genetic influences -- suggest that the body's physiological responses to hardship could be inherited, although the underlying mechanism has been a mystery. Now researchers have discovered a genetic mechanism that passes on the body's response to starvation to subsequent generations of worms, with potential implications for humans also exposed to starvation and other physiological challenges.

'Rewired' mice show signs of longer lives with fewer age-related illnesses Posted: 31 Jul 2014 11:58 AM PDT While developing a new cancer drug, researchers discovered that mice lacking a specific protein live longer lives with fewer age-related illnesses. The mice, which lack the TRAP-1 protein, demonstrated less age related tissue degeneration, obesity, and spontaneous tumor formation when compared to normal mice. Their findings could change how scientists view the metabolic networks within cells.

Shrinking dinosaurs evolved into flying birds Posted: 31 Jul 2014 11:55 AM PDT Scientists have revealed how massive, meat-eating, ground-dwelling dinosaurs evolved into agile flying birds: they just kept shrinking and shrinking, for over 50 million years.

Study advances 'DNA revolution,' tells butterflies' evolutionary history Posted: 31 Jul 2014 11:54 AM PDT By tracing nearly 3,000 genes to the earliest common ancestor of butterflies and moths, scientists have created an extensive "Tree of Lepidoptera" in the first study to use large-scale, next-generation DNA sequencing.

Depression as a risk factor for dementia: Link is independent of dementia-related brain changes Posted: 30 Jul 2014 01:15 PM PDT A new study by neuropsychiatric researchers gives insight into the relationship between depression and dementia. The current study indicates that the association of depression with dementia is independent of dementia-related brain changes.

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