ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• An earthquake in a maze: Highest-resolution observations yet of the complex 2012 Sumatra earthquake
• Scientists read monkeys' inner thoughts: Brain activity decoded while monkeys avoid obstacle to touch target
• Scientists connect seawater chemistry with ancient climate change and evolution
• A wrinkle in space-time: Math shows how shockwaves could crinkle space
• Entire genetic sequence of individual human sperm determined
• Potent new compound virtually eliminates HIV in cell culture
• Hundreds of random mutations in leukemia linked to aging, not cancer
• Global CO₂ emissions continued to increase in 2011, with per capita emissions in China reaching European levels
• Could volcanic eruptions in the south-west Pacific save the Great Barrier Reef?
• High dolphin deaths in Gulf of Mexico due to oil spill and other environmental factors, study finds
• How to build a middleweight black hole: New model for intermediate black hole formation parallels growth of giant planets
• You may never need to clean your car again, thanks to new coating technology

An earthquake in a maze: Highest-resolution observations yet of the complex 2012 Sumatra earthquake Posted: 19 Jul 2012 11:18 AM PDT The powerful magnitude-8.6 earthquake that shook Sumatra on April 11, 2012, was the largest strike-slip quake ever recorded. Now, as researchers report on their findings from the first high-resolution observations of the underwater temblor, they point out that the earthquake was also unusually complex -- rupturing along multiple faults that lie at nearly right angles to one another, as though racing through a maze.

Scientists read monkeys' inner thoughts: Brain activity decoded while monkeys avoid obstacle to touch target Posted: 19 Jul 2012 11:18 AM PDT Scientists who were decoding the activity of populations of neurons in the motor cortex discovered that they could tell how a monkey was planning to approach a reaching task. By chance the two monkeys chosen for the study had completely different cognitive styles. One was a hyperactive type, who kept jumping the gun, and the other was a smooth operator, who waited for the entire setup to be revealed before planning his next move.

Scientists connect seawater chemistry with ancient climate change and evolution Posted: 19 Jul 2012 11:18 AM PDT Humans get most of the blame for climate change with little attention paid to the contribution of other natural forces. Now, scientists are shedding light on one potential cause of the cooling trend of the past 45 million years that has everything to do with the chemistry of the world's oceans.

A wrinkle in space-time: Math shows how shockwaves could crinkle space Posted: 19 Jul 2012 10:29 AM PDT Mathematicians have come up with a new way to crinkle up the fabric of space-time -- at least in theory.

Entire genetic sequence of individual human sperm determined Posted: 19 Jul 2012 10:28 AM PDT The entire genomes of 91 human sperm from one man have been sequenced. The results provide a fascinating glimpse into naturally occurring genetic variation in one individual, and are the first to report the whole-genome sequence of a human gamete -- the only cells that become a child and through which parents pass on physical traits.

Potent new compound virtually eliminates HIV in cell culture Posted: 19 Jul 2012 10:27 AM PDT A new study shows, in cell culture, a natural compound can virtually eliminate human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in infected cells. The compound defines a novel class of HIV anti-viral drugs endowed with the capacity to repress viral replication in acutely and chronically infected cells.

Hundreds of random mutations in leukemia linked to aging, not cancer Posted: 19 Jul 2012 10:26 AM PDT Hundreds of mutations exist in leukemia cells at the time of diagnosis, but nearly all occur randomly as a part of normal aging and are not related to cancer, new research shows.

Global CO<sub>2</sub> emissions continued to increase in 2011, with per capita emissions in China reaching European levels Posted: 19 Jul 2012 08:51 AM PDT Global emissions of carbon dioxide increased by 3% last year, reaching an all-time high of 34 billion tonnes in 2011. In China, the world's most populous country, average emissions of CO2 increased by 9% to 7.2 tonnes per capita. China is now within the range of 6 to 19 tonnes per capita emissions of the major industrialized countries. In the European Union, CO2 emissions dropped by 3% to 7.5 tonnes per capita. The United States remains one of the largest emitters of CO2, with 17.3 tones per capita, despite a decline due to the recession in 2008-2009, high oil prices and an increased share of natural gas.

Could volcanic eruptions in the south-west Pacific save the Great Barrier Reef? Posted: 19 Jul 2012 07:52 AM PDT Could the pumice that surges into the ocean once a volcano erupts in Tonga or elsewhere in the south-west Pacific save the Great Barrier Reef? New research conducted by Queensland University of Technology geologist Dr Scott Bryan indicates that yes, this is not only possible, but could be how the Great Barrier Reef formed in the first place.

High dolphin deaths in Gulf of Mexico due to oil spill and other environmental factors, study finds Posted: 19 Jul 2012 07:52 AM PDT The largest oil spill on open water to date and other environmental factors led to the historically high number of dolphin deaths in the Gulf of Mexico, concludes a two-year scientific study.

How to build a middleweight black hole: New model for intermediate black hole formation parallels growth of giant planets Posted: 19 Jul 2012 07:50 AM PDT A new model shows how an elusive type of black hole can be formed in the gas surrounding their supermassive counterparts. In new research, scientists propose that intermediate-mass black holes -- light-swallowing celestial objects with masses ranging from hundreds to many thousands of times the mass of the sun -- can grow in the gas disks around supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies.

You may never need to clean your car again, thanks to new coating technology Posted: 19 Jul 2012 07:35 AM PDT A new coating with self-repairing surface functionality has been developed. Researchers in the Netherlands have developed a coating with a surface that repairs itself after damage. This new coating has numerous potential applications -- for example mobile phones that will remain clean from fingerprints, cars that never need to be washed, and aircraft that need less frequent repainting.

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