ScienceDaily: Most Popular News

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• Earth's most abundant mineral finally has a name
• Infertility is a warning: Poor semen quality linked to hypertension, other health problems
• Swarms of Pluto-size objects kick up dust around adolescent Sun-like star
• Chickens and turkeys 'closer to dinosaur ancestors' than other birds
• Genes tell story of birdsong and human speech
• 'Big Bang' of bird evolution mapped: Genes reveal deep histories of bird origins, feathers, flight and song
• Human DNA shows traces of 40-million-year battle for survival between primate and pathogen
• Affluence, not political complexity, explains rise of moralizing world religions
• Researchers detect possible signal from dark matter
• Story of bizarre deep-sea bone worm takes unexpected twist: Evolutionary reversal previously unseen in animal kingdom
• Scientists estimate total weight of plastic floating in world's oceans: Nearly 269,000 tons of plastic pollution floating in the ocean
• Oldest horned dinosaur species in North America found in Montana: Hooked beak, sharply pointed cheeks distinguishes neoceratopsian species
• Honeybee hive sealant promotes hair growth in mice
• Zinc test could help diagnose breast cancer early
• Controlling obesity with potato extract
• Genetic link to autism found, known as CHD8 mutation

Earth's most abundant mineral finally has a name Posted: 12 Dec 2014 12:01 PM PST An ancient meteorite and high-energy X-rays have helped scientists conclude a half century of effort to find, identify and characterize a mineral that makes up 38 percent of the Earth.

Infertility is a warning: Poor semen quality linked to hypertension, other health problems Posted: 11 Dec 2014 03:18 PM PST A study of men who were evaluated for the cause of their infertility finds previously unknown relationships between deficiencies in their semen and other, seemingly unrelated health problems.

Swarms of Pluto-size objects kick up dust around adolescent Sun-like star Posted: 11 Dec 2014 01:25 PM PST Astronomers may have detected the dusty hallmarks of an entire family of Pluto-size objects swarming around an adolescent version of our own Sun. By making detailed observations of the protoplanetary disk surrounding the star known as HD 107146, the astronomers detected an unexpected increase in the concentration of millimeter-size dust grains in the disk's outer reaches. This surprising increase, which begins remarkably far -- about 13 billion kilometers -- from the host star, may be the result of Pluto-size planetesimals stirring up the region, causing smaller objects to collide and blast themselves apart.

Chickens and turkeys 'closer to dinosaur ancestors' than other birds Posted: 11 Dec 2014 11:26 AM PST New research suggests that chickens and turkeys have experienced fewer gross genomic changes than other birds as they evolved from their dinosaur ancestor.

Genes tell story of birdsong and human speech Posted: 11 Dec 2014 11:24 AM PST A massive international effort to sequence and compare the entire genomes of 48 species of birds, representing every major order of the bird family tree, reveals that vocal learning evolved twice or maybe three times among songbirds, parrots and hummingbirds. Even more striking, the set of genes employed in each of those song innovations is remarkably similar to the genes involved in human speaking ability.

'Big Bang' of bird evolution mapped: Genes reveal deep histories of bird origins, feathers, flight and song Posted: 11 Dec 2014 11:21 AM PST The first findings of the Avian Phylogenomics Consortium are being reported nearly simultaneously in 29 papers -- eight papers in a Dec. 12 special issue of Science and 21 more in Genome Biology, GigaScience and other journals. The analyses suggest some remarkable new ideas about bird evolution, including insights into vocal learning and the brain, colored plumage, sex chromosomes and the birds' relationship to dinosaurs and crocodiles.

Human DNA shows traces of 40-million-year battle for survival between primate and pathogen Posted: 11 Dec 2014 11:18 AM PST Examination of DNA from 21 primate species – from squirrel monkeys to humans – exposes an evolutionary war against infectious bacteria over iron that circulates in the host's bloodstream. Supported by experimental evidence, these findings demonstrate the vital importance of an increasingly appreciated defensive strategy called nutritional immunity.

Affluence, not political complexity, explains rise of moralizing world religions Posted: 11 Dec 2014 09:45 AM PST The ascetic and moralizing movements that spawned the world's major religious traditions -- Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Christianity -- all arose around the same time in three different regions, and researchers have now devised a statistical model based on history and human psychology that helps to explain why. The emergence of world religions, they say, was triggered by the rising standards of living in the great civilizations of Eurasia.

Researchers detect possible signal from dark matter Posted: 11 Dec 2014 08:55 AM PST Scientists have picked up an atypical photon emission in X-rays coming from space, and say it could be evidence for the existence of a particle of dark matter. If confirmed, it could open up new perspectives in cosmology.

Story of bizarre deep-sea bone worm takes unexpected twist: Evolutionary reversal previously unseen in animal kingdom Posted: 11 Dec 2014 07:18 AM PST The saga of the Osedax "bone-eating" worms began 12 years ago, with the first discovery of these deep-sea creatures that feast on the bones of dead animals. The Osedax story grew even stranger when researchers found that the large female worms contained harems of tiny dwarf males.

Scientists estimate total weight of plastic floating in world's oceans: Nearly 269,000 tons of plastic pollution floating in the ocean Posted: 10 Dec 2014 11:08 AM PST Nearly 269,000 tons of plastic pollution may be floating in the world's oceans, according to a new study. Microplastic pollution is found in varying concentrations throughout the oceans, but estimates of the global abundance and weight of floating plastics, both micro and macroplastic, lack sufficient data to support them. To better estimate the total number of plastic particles and their weight floating in the world's oceans, scientists from six countries contributed data from 24 expeditions collected over a six-year period from 2007-2013 across all five sub-tropical gyres, coastal Australia, Bay of Bengal, and the Mediterranean Sea.

Oldest horned dinosaur species in North America found in Montana: Hooked beak, sharply pointed cheeks distinguishes neoceratopsian species Posted: 10 Dec 2014 11:08 AM PST Scientists have named the first definite horned dinosaur species from the Early Cretaceous in North America. The limited fossil record for neoceratopsian--or horned dinosaurs--from the Early Cretaceous in North America restricts scientists' ability to reconstruct the early evolution of this group.

Honeybee hive sealant promotes hair growth in mice Posted: 10 Dec 2014 08:43 AM PST Hair loss can be devastating for the millions of men and women who experience it. Now scientists are reporting that a substance from honeybee hives might contain clues for developing a potential new therapy. They found that the material, called propolis, encouraged hair growth in mice.

Zinc test could help diagnose breast cancer early Posted: 09 Dec 2014 09:01 AM PST It may be possible to develop a simple blood test that, by detecting changes in the zinc in our bodies, could help to diagnose breast cancer early, scientists say. In a world-first, the researchers were able to show that changes in the isotopic composition of zinc, which can be detected in a person's breast tissue, could make it possible to identify a 'biomarker' (a measurable indicator) of early breast cancer.

Controlling obesity with potato extract Posted: 09 Dec 2014 08:58 AM PST A simple potato extract may limit weight gain from a diet that is high in fat and refined carbohydrates, according to scientists. The results of their recent study with mice were so surprising that the investigators repeated the experiment just to be sure.

Genetic link to autism found, known as CHD8 mutation Posted: 03 Jul 2014 09:58 AM PDT In a collaboration involving 13 institutions around the world, researchers have broken new ground in understanding what causes autism. This is the first time researchers have shown a definitive cause of autism to a genetic mutation. Previously identified genetic events like Fragile X, which account for a greater number of autism cases, are associated with other impairments, such as intellectual disability, more than autism.

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