ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Single-atom transistor is end of Moore's Law; may be beginning of quantum computing
• X-rays illuminate the interior of the Moon
• Yosemite's alpine chipmunks take genetic hit from climate change
• Faulty fat sensor implicated in obesity and liver disease
• Surprising molecular switch: Lipids help control the development of cell polarity
• New brain connections form in clusters during learning
• Protein that sends 'painful touch' signals identified
• Substituting with smokeless tobacco saves lives, research suggests

Single-atom transistor is end of Moore's Law; may be beginning of quantum computing Posted: 19 Feb 2012 04:12 PM PST The smallest transistor ever built -- in fact, the smallest transistor that can be built -- has been created using a single phosphorus atom by an international team of researchers.

X-rays illuminate the interior of the Moon Posted: 19 Feb 2012 11:33 AM PST Unlike Earth, the moon has no active volcanoes. This is surprising as liquid magma is believed to exist deep inside the Moon. Scientists have now found that this hot, molten rock could actually be so dense that it is too heavy to rise to the surface. For this experiment, microscopic reproductions of moon rock were put at the extremely high pressures and temperatures found inside the moon and their densities measured with powerful X-rays.

Yosemite's alpine chipmunks take genetic hit from climate change Posted: 19 Feb 2012 11:33 AM PST Global warming has driven Yosemite's alpine chipmunks to higher ground, prompting a startling decline in the species' genetic diversity, according to a new study. The genetic erosion occurred in the relatively short span of 90 years, highlighting the rapid threat changing climate can pose to a species.

Faulty fat sensor implicated in obesity and liver disease Posted: 19 Feb 2012 11:32 AM PST Defects in a protein that functions as a dietary fat sensor may be a cause of obesity and liver disease, according to a new study. The findings highlight a promising target for new drugs to treat obesity and metabolic disorders.

Surprising molecular switch: Lipids help control the development of cell polarity Posted: 19 Feb 2012 11:32 AM PST In a standard biology textbook, cells tend to look more or less the same from all sides. But in real life cells have fronts and backs, tops and bottoms, and they orient many of their structures according to this polarity explaining, for example, why yeast cells bud at one end and not the other.

New brain connections form in clusters during learning Posted: 19 Feb 2012 11:32 AM PST New connections between brain cells emerge in clusters in the brain as animals learn to perform a new task, according to a new study. The findings reveal details of how brain circuits are rewired during the formation of new motor memories.

Protein that sends 'painful touch' signals identified Posted: 19 Feb 2012 11:30 AM PST Researchers report that they have identified a class of proteins that detect "painful touch." Scientists have known that sensory nerves in our skin detect pressure, pain, heat, cold, and other stimuli using specialized "ion channel" proteins in their outer membranes. They have only just begun, however, to identify and characterize the specific proteins involved in each of these sensory pathways. The new work provides evidence that a family of sensory nerve proteins known as piezo proteins are ion channel proteins essential to the sensation of painful touch.

Substituting with smokeless tobacco saves lives, research suggests Posted: 19 Feb 2012 10:55 AM PST Substituting smokeless tobacco products can save smokers' lives, and there is a scientific foundation that proves it, according to one researcher whose work shows that smokers can greatly reduce their risk of disease and death by replacing smoking products with e-cigarettes or modern, spit-free smokeless tobacco.

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