ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• First evidence of hunting by prehistoric Ohioans (U.S.)
• Bacteria communicate by touch, new research suggests
• Sturdy Scandinavian conifers survived Ice Age
• Ocean acidification rate may be unprecedented, study says
• Generating power from salty water: Unique salt allows energy production to move inland
• First computer model of how buds grow into leaves
• How marijuana impairs memory
• Pioneering research reveals versatile bacterium's secrets
• What makes a robot fish attractive? Robot fish moves to the head of the school
• In space and on Earth, why build it, when a robot can build it for you?
• Depression: An evolutionary byproduct of immune system?
• Floor of oldest fossilized forest discovered: 385 million years old
• Promising approach to preventing Alzheimer's
• Bacteria tend leafcutter ants' gardens
• Two new extinct camel species discovered at Panama Canal excavation
• Nanofiber breakthrough holds promise for medicine and microprocessors

First evidence of hunting by prehistoric Ohioans (U.S.) Posted: 01 Mar 2012 03:07 PM PST Cut marks found on Ice Age bones indicate that humans in Ohio hunted or scavenged earlier than previously known. A series of 41 incisions appear on an animal's left femur. Radiocarbon dating of the femur bone estimates its age to be between 13,435 to 13,738 years old. Microscopic analyses of the cut marks revealed that stone tools made the marks.

Bacteria communicate by touch, new research suggests Posted: 01 Mar 2012 11:37 AM PST What if bacteria could talk to each other? What if they had a sense of touch? A new study suggests both, and theorizes that such cells may, in fact, need to communicate in order to perform certain functions.

Sturdy Scandinavian conifers survived Ice Age Posted: 01 Mar 2012 11:37 AM PST Until now, it was presumed that the last glacial period denuded the Scandinavian landscape of trees until a gradual return of milder weather began and melted away the ice cover some 9,000 years ago. New research shows that some Scandinavian conifers survived the inhospitable ice age climate likely for several thousands of years.

Ocean acidification rate may be unprecedented, study says Posted: 01 Mar 2012 11:37 AM PST The world's oceans may be turning acidic faster today from human carbon emissions than they did during four major extinctions in the last 300 million years, when natural pulses of carbon sent global temperatures soaring, says a new study. The study is the first of its kind to survey the geologic record for evidence of ocean acidification over this vast time period.

Generating power from salty water: Unique salt allows energy production to move inland Posted: 01 Mar 2012 11:37 AM PST Production of energy from the difference between salt water and fresh water is most convenient near the oceans, but now, using an ammonium bicarbonate salt solution, researchers can combine bacterial degradation of waste water with energy extracted from the salt-water fresh-water gradient to produce power anywhere.

First computer model of how buds grow into leaves Posted: 01 Mar 2012 11:34 AM PST Leaves come in all shapes and sizes. Scientists have discovered the simple rules that control leaf shape during growth. Using this "recipe," they have developed the first computer model able to accurately emulate leaf growth from a bud.

How marijuana impairs memory Posted: 01 Mar 2012 11:34 AM PST A major downside of the medical use of marijuana is the drug's ill effects on working memory, the ability to transiently hold and process information for reasoning, comprehension and learning. Researchers provide new insight into the source of those memory lapses. The answer comes as quite a surprise: Marijuana's major psychoactive ingredient (THC) impairs memory independently of its direct effects on neurons.

Pioneering research reveals versatile bacterium's secrets Posted: 01 Mar 2012 11:33 AM PST Ground-breaking research will help to make one of the most versatile of bacteria even more useful to society and the environment. Though it lives naturally in the soil, the bacterium Bacillus subtilis is widely used as a model laboratory organism. It is also used as a 'cell factory' to produce vitamins for the food industry and, in biotechnology, to produce enzymes such as those used in washing powders.

What makes a robot fish attractive? Robot fish moves to the head of the school Posted: 01 Mar 2012 08:33 AM PST Probing the largely unexplored question of what characteristics make a leader among schooling fish, researchers have discovered that by mimicking nature, a robotic fish can transform into a leader of live ones. In early experiments aimed at understanding how a robot could potentially lead wildlife from danger, the researchers were intrigued to find that their biomimetic robotic fish could not only infiltrate and be accepted by the swimmers, but actually assume a leadership role.

In space and on Earth, why build it, when a robot can build it for you? Posted: 01 Mar 2012 08:32 AM PST Like something straight out of "Star Wars," armies of robots could nimbly be crawling up towers and skyscrapers to make repairs in the not-so-distant future, so humans don't have to.

Depression: An evolutionary byproduct of immune system? Posted: 01 Mar 2012 07:37 AM PST Depression is common enough -- afflicting one in ten adults in the United States -- that it seems the possibility of depression must be "hard-wired" into our brains. This has led biologists to propose several theories to account for how depression, or behaviors linked to it, can somehow offer an evolutionary advantage. Some previous proposals for the role of depression in evolution have focused on how it affects behavior in a social context. A pair of psychiatrists addresses this puzzle in a different way, tying together depression and resistance to infection. They propose that genetic variations that promote depression arose during evolution because they helped our ancestors fight infection.

Floor of oldest fossilized forest discovered: 385 million years old Posted: 01 Mar 2012 07:27 AM PST The floor of the world's oldest forest has been unearthed. Scientists are now piecing together a view of this ancient site, dating back about 385 million years ago, which could shed new light on the role of modern-day forests and their impact on climate change.

Promising approach to preventing Alzheimer's Posted: 01 Mar 2012 07:27 AM PST As scientists struggle to find an effective way to prevent Alzheimer's disease, researchers may have found a new approach to interrupting the process that leads to the devastating disease.

Bacteria tend leafcutter ants' gardens Posted: 01 Mar 2012 05:41 AM PST New research points to two important roles for bacteria that live in the underground fungal gardens of leafcutter ants: they help decompose leaves that ants bring to the gardens and play a major role in turning those leaves into nutrients for both ants and the fungi. The findings could help researchers studying fungal enzymes to convert plants into biofuel.

Two new extinct camel species discovered at Panama Canal excavation Posted: 29 Feb 2012 09:11 AM PST The discovery of two new extinct camel species sheds new light on the history of the tropics, a region containing more than half the world's biodiversity and some of its most important ecosystems.

Nanofiber breakthrough holds promise for medicine and microprocessors Posted: 29 Feb 2012 07:51 AM PST A new method for creating nanofibers made of proteins promises to greatly improve drug delivery methods, aid in regenerating human tissue, and pave the way to an organic method of building nanofibers for tiny, powerful microprocessors. Researchers have discovered how to make nanofibers using the COMP protein found in human cartilage. By adding different metal ions, researchers found the fibers would absorb or release drug molecules.

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