ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Beneficial microbes are 'selected and nurtured' in the human gut
• Human obedience: The myth of blind conformity
• Gold nanoparticles quickly detect hazardous chemicals
• Chimpanzees and bonobos may reveal clues to evolution of favor exchange in humans
• Bioinspired robot meets fish: Robotic fish research swims into new ethorobotics waters
• Synthetic membrane channels built out of DNA: Nanotech structures mimic nature's way of tunneling through cell walls
• Engineered bacteria can make the ultimate sacrifice for the good of the population
• Algae can take energy from other plants
• Nanotech device mimics dog's nose to detect explosives
• Hot gas bridges galaxy cluster pair
• Telomere lengths predict life expectancy in the wild, research shows

Beneficial microbes are 'selected and nurtured' in the human gut Posted: 20 Nov 2012 04:35 PM PST Animals, including humans, actively select the gut microbes that are the best partners and nurture them with nutritious secretions, suggests a new study.

Human obedience: The myth of blind conformity Posted: 20 Nov 2012 04:35 PM PST In the 1960s and 1970s, classic social psychological studies were conducted that provided evidence that even normal, decent people can engage in acts of extreme cruelty when instructed to do so by others. However, professors revisit these studies' conclusions and explain how awful acts involve not just obedience, but enthusiasm too -- challenging the long-held belief that human beings are 'programmed' for conformity.

Gold nanoparticles quickly detect hazardous chemicals Posted: 20 Nov 2012 12:23 PM PST Scientists have developed a system to quickly detect trace amounts of chemicals like pollutants, explosives or illegal drugs. The new system can pick out a single target molecule from 10,000 trillion water molecules within milliseconds, by trapping it on a self-assembling single layer of gold nanoparticles. The technology opens the way to develop devices that are compact, reusable and easy to assemble, and could have a range of uses including detecting illegal drugs, explosives, pollutants in rivers or nerve gases released into the air.

Chimpanzees and bonobos may reveal clues to evolution of favor exchange in humans Posted: 20 Nov 2012 10:29 AM PST When your neighbor asks to borrow a cup of sugar and you readily comply, is your positive response a function of the give and take that characterize your longstanding relationship? Or does it represent payment -- or prepayment -- for the cup of sugar you borrowed last week, or may need to borrow a month from now?

Bioinspired robot meets fish: Robotic fish research swims into new ethorobotics waters Posted: 20 Nov 2012 09:20 AM PST New research is illuminating the emerging field of ethorobotics -- the study of bioinspired robots interacting with animal counterparts. They studied how real-time feedback attracted or repelled live zebrafish. The fish were more attracted to robots with tail motions that mimicked the live fish. The researchers hope that robots eventually may steer live animal or marine groups from danger.

Synthetic membrane channels built out of DNA: Nanotech structures mimic nature's way of tunneling through cell walls Posted: 20 Nov 2012 09:20 AM PST Physicists have shown that synthetic membrane channels can be constructed through "DNA nanotechnology." This technique employs DNA molecules as programmable building materials for custom-designed, self-assembling, nanometer-scale structures. The researchers present evidence that their nature-inspired nanostructures may also behave like biological ion channels. Their results could mark a step toward applications of synthetic membrane channels as molecular sensors, antimicrobial agents, and drivers of novel nanodevices.

Engineered bacteria can make the ultimate sacrifice for the good of the population Posted: 20 Nov 2012 09:19 AM PST Scientists have engineered bacteria that are capable of sacrificing themselves for the good of the bacterial population. These altruistically inclined bacteria can be used to demonstrate the conditions where programmed cell death becomes a distinct advantage for the survival of the bacterial population.

Algae can take energy from other plants Posted: 20 Nov 2012 09:19 AM PST Flowers need water and light to grow. Even children learn that plants use sunlight to gather energy from earth and water. Biologists have made an astounding discovery that one plant has another way of doing this. They have confirmed for the first time that a plant not only engages in photosynthesis, but also has an alternative source of energy: it can draw it from other plants. This finding could also have a major impact on the future of bioenergy.

Nanotech device mimics dog's nose to detect explosives Posted: 20 Nov 2012 07:04 AM PST Engineers have designed a detector that uses microfluidic nanotechnology to mimic the biological mechanism behind canine scent receptors. The device is both highly sensitive to trace amounts of certain vapor molecules, and able to tell a specific substance apart from similar molecules.

Hot gas bridges galaxy cluster pair Posted: 20 Nov 2012 07:01 AM PST Space telescope has made the first conclusive detection of a bridge of hot gas connecting a pair of galaxy clusters across 10 million light-years of intergalactic space.

Telomere lengths predict life expectancy in the wild, research shows Posted: 19 Nov 2012 06:31 PM PST Researchers have found that biological age and life expectancy can be predicted by measuring an individual's DNA. They studied the length of chromosome caps -- known as telomeres -- in a 320-strong wild population of Seychelles Warblers on a small isolated island.

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