ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Newfound exoplanet may turn to dust: Planet’s dust cloud may explain strange patterns of light from its star
• 'Rare' genetic variants are surprisingly common, life scientists report
• How exercise affects the brain: Age and genetics play a role
• Intricate, often invisible land-sea ecological chains of life threatened with extinction around the world
• New silicon memory chip may offer super-fast memory
• Chemists merge experimentation with theory in understanding of water molecule
• Pollination with precision: How flowers do it
• Quantum physicists show a small amount of randomness can be amplified without limit

Newfound exoplanet may turn to dust: Planet’s dust cloud may explain strange patterns of light from its star Posted: 18 May 2012 04:23 PM PDT Researchers have detected a possible planet, some 1,500 light years away, that appears to be evaporating under the blistering heat of its parent star. The scientists infer that a long tail of debris -- much like the tail of a comet -- is following the planet, and that this tail may tell the story of the planet's disintegration. According to the team's calculations, the tiny exoplanet, not much larger than Mercury, will completely disintegrate within 100 million years.

'Rare' genetic variants are surprisingly common, life scientists report Posted: 18 May 2012 10:28 AM PDT A large survey of human genetic variation shows that rare genetic variants are not so rare after all, and offers insights into human diseases. A team of scientists studied 202 genes in 14,002 people -- one of the largest ever in a sequencing study in humans.

How exercise affects the brain: Age and genetics play a role Posted: 18 May 2012 10:28 AM PDT Findings suggest that the effects of exercise on memory depend on the age of the exerciser; underlying genetic mechanisms matter, too.

Intricate, often invisible land-sea ecological chains of life threatened with extinction around the world Posted: 18 May 2012 10:27 AM PDT Intricate, often invisible chains of life are threatened with extinction around the world. A new study quantifies one of the longest such chains ever documented.

New silicon memory chip may offer super-fast memory Posted: 18 May 2012 10:25 AM PDT The first purely silicon oxide-based "resistive RAM" memory chip that can operate in ambient conditions -- opening up the possibility of new super-fast memory -- has now been developed.

Chemists merge experimentation with theory in understanding of water molecule Posted: 18 May 2012 05:11 AM PDT Using newly developed imaging technology, chemists have confirmed years of theoretical assumptions about water molecules, the most abundant and one of the most frequently studied substances on Earth.

Pollination with precision: How flowers do it Posted: 17 May 2012 10:20 AM PDT Pollination could be a chaotic disaster. With hundreds of pollen grains growing long tubes to ovules to deliver their sperm to female gametes, how can a flower ensure that exactly two fertile sperm reach every ovule? Biologists report the discovery of how plants optimize the distribution of pollen for successful reproduction.

Quantum physicists show a small amount of randomness can be amplified without limit Posted: 16 May 2012 06:30 AM PDT Once again quantum physics gives us philosophical implications: physicists have shown how a small amount of randomness can be amplified without limit.

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