ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Milky Way now has a twin (or two): Astronomers find first group of galaxies just like ours
• Half of the particulate pollution in North America comes from other continents
• Transparent, thin and tough: Why don't insect wings break?
• Batteries made from world’s thinnest material could power tomorrow’s electric cars
• Roots of human self-awareness: New study points to a complex, diffuse patchwork of brain pathways
• Early exposure to antibiotics may impact development, obesity
• Intense prep for law school admission test alters brain structure
• Microbiologists find new approach to fighting viral illnesses
• Ancient fossils reveal how the mollusc got its teeth
• More sophisticated wiring, not just bigger brain, helped humans evolve beyond chimps, geneticists find
• Male mice exposed to chronic social stress have anxious female offspring
• Fueling nuclear power with seawater: Tests adsorbent to extract uranium from the ocean
• Drastic desertification: Researchers study Dead Sea climate past, finding dramatic results

Milky Way now has a twin (or two): Astronomers find first group of galaxies just like ours Posted: 22 Aug 2012 07:13 PM PDT Researchers have found the first group of galaxies that is just like ours, a rare sight in the local Universe. The Milky Way is a fairly typical galaxy on its own, but when paired with its close neighbours -- the Magellanic Clouds -- it is very rare, and could have been one of a kind, until a survey of our local Universe found another two examples just like us.

Half of the particulate pollution in North America comes from other continents Posted: 22 Aug 2012 04:07 PM PDT Roughly half the aerosols that affect air quality and climate change in North America may be coming from other continents, including Asia, Africa and Europe, according to a new study.

Transparent, thin and tough: Why don't insect wings break? Posted: 22 Aug 2012 03:12 PM PDT Researchers have shown that the wings of insects are not as fragile as they might look. The characteristic network of veins found in the wings of grasshoppers helps to capture cracks, similar to watertight compartments in a ship.

Batteries made from world’s thinnest material could power tomorrow’s electric cars Posted: 22 Aug 2012 03:12 PM PDT Engineering researchers have made a sheet of paper from the world's thinnest material, graphene, and then zapped the paper with a laser or camera flash to blemish it with countless cracks, pores, and other imperfections. The result is a graphene anode material that can be charged or discharged 10 times faster than conventional graphite anodes used in today's lithium-ion batteries.

Roots of human self-awareness: New study points to a complex, diffuse patchwork of brain pathways Posted: 22 Aug 2012 03:12 PM PDT A research team has upended current thinking about areas in the human brain responsible for self-awareness. Using a rare patient with damage to areas considered vital to be self-aware, the team learned the patient was not only self-aware, but capable of introspection and self-insight. The researchers propose that self-awareness is a product of a diffuse patchwork of pathways in the brain rather than confined to specific areas.

Early exposure to antibiotics may impact development, obesity Posted: 22 Aug 2012 10:08 AM PDT Researchers have made a novel discovery that could have widespread clinical implications, potentially affecting everything from nutrient metabolism to obesity in children.

Intense prep for law school admission test alters brain structure Posted: 22 Aug 2012 09:52 AM PDT Intense prep courses for the Law School Admission Test are popular for good reason: They can improve scores significantly. Now neuroscientists have revealed the underlying impact of such preparation: The brain's neural connections change measurably, suggesting a bolstering of physical interconnections among reasoning areas of the brain. Diffusion tensor imaging scans of students before and after an intense three-month prep course showed increased connections between verbal and spatial reasoning areas of the brain.

Microbiologists find new approach to fighting viral illnesses Posted: 22 Aug 2012 09:52 AM PDT By discovering how certain viruses use their host cells to replicate, microbiologists have identified a new approach to the development of universal treatments for viral illnesses such as meningitis, encephalitis, hepatitis and possibly the common cold.

Ancient fossils reveal how the mollusc got its teeth Posted: 22 Aug 2012 09:52 AM PDT The radula sounds like something from a horror movie -- a conveyor belt lined with hundreds of rows of interlocking teeth. In fact, radulas are found in the mouths of most molluscs, from the giant squid to the garden snail. Now, a "prototype" radula found in 500-million-year-old fossils shows that the earliest radula was not a flesh-rasping terror, but a tool for humbly scooping food from the muddy sea floor.

More sophisticated wiring, not just bigger brain, helped humans evolve beyond chimps, geneticists find Posted: 22 Aug 2012 09:47 AM PDT Human and chimp brains look anatomically similar because both evolved from the same ancestor millions of years ago. But where does the chimp brain end and the human brain begin? A new study pinpoints uniquely human patterns of gene activity in the brain that could shed light on how we evolved differently than our closest relative. These genes' identification could improve understanding of human brain diseases like autism and schizophrenia, as well as learning disorders and addictions.

Male mice exposed to chronic social stress have anxious female offspring Posted: 22 Aug 2012 06:16 AM PDT A study in mice suggests that a woman's risk of anxiety and dysfunctional social behavior may depend on the experiences of her parents, particularly fathers, when they were young.

Fueling nuclear power with seawater: Tests adsorbent to extract uranium from the ocean Posted: 21 Aug 2012 06:26 PM PDT A new absorbent material may be able to soak up enough trace uranium in seawater to help fuel future nuclear power plants. Tests showed the material can soak up more than two times the uranium than a similar material developed in Japan.

Drastic desertification: Researchers study Dead Sea climate past, finding dramatic results Posted: 21 Aug 2012 06:40 AM PDT The Dead Sea, a salt sea without an outlet, lies over 400 meters below sea level. Tourists like its high salt content because it increases their buoyancy.  "For scientists, however, the Dead Sea is a popular archive that provides a diachronic view of its climate past," says Prof. Dr. Thomas Litt from the Steinmann-Institute for Geology, Mineralogy and Paleontology at the University of Bonn.

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