ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Our hands evolved for punching, not just dexterity
• Multi-tasking whales sing while feeding, not just breeding
• Inside the head of a dinosaur
• New study sheds light on dinosaur size
• Dinosaur: First freshwater mosasaur discovered
• Are bacteria making you hungry?
• Scientists construct first detailed map of how the brain organizes everything we see
• When the ice melts, the Earth spews fire
• Scientists debunk the IQ myth: Notion of measuring one's intelligence quotient by singular, standardized test is highly misleading
• Astronomy: Stars reveal the secret of aging well
• Preventing inherited disorders in humans: New technology allows transfer of cell nuclei between human egg cells
• Do palm trees hold the key to immortality?
• Closest single star like our sun may have habitable planet

Our hands evolved for punching, not just dexterity Posted: 19 Dec 2012 07:31 PM PST Men whacked punching bags for a new study that suggests human hands evolved not only for the manual dexterity needed to use tools, play a violin or paint a work of art, but so men could make fists and fight.

Multi-tasking whales sing while feeding, not just breeding Posted: 19 Dec 2012 02:41 PM PST Humpback whales are famed for their songs, most often heard in breeding season when males are competing to mate with females. In recent years, however, reports of whale songs occurring outside traditional breeding grounds have become more common. A new study may help explain why.

Inside the head of a dinosaur Posted: 19 Dec 2012 02:41 PM PST A new study of the brain anatomy of therizinosaurs, plant-eating dinosaurs that lived during the Cretaceous Period, has revealed interesting links with their notorious meat-eating 'cousins' Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor.

New study sheds light on dinosaur size Posted: 19 Dec 2012 02:41 PM PST Dinosaurs were not only the largest animals to roam the Earth -- they also had a greater number of larger species compared to all other back-boned animals -- scientists suggest in a new article.

Dinosaur: First freshwater mosasaur discovered Posted: 19 Dec 2012 02:39 PM PST A new dinosaur species discovered in Hungary is the first known example of a mosasaur that lived in freshwater river environments similar to modern freshwater dolphins, according to new research.

Are bacteria making you hungry? Posted: 19 Dec 2012 11:23 AM PST Over the last half decade, it has become increasingly clear that the normal gastrointestinal (GI) bacteria play a variety of very important roles in the biology of human and animals. Now researchers propose yet another role for GI bacteria: that they exert some control over their hosts' appetites.

Scientists construct first detailed map of how the brain organizes everything we see Posted: 19 Dec 2012 11:22 AM PST Our eyes may be our window to the world, but how do we make sense of the thousands of images that flood our retinas each day? Scientists have found that the brain is wired to put in order all the categories of objects and actions that we see. They have created the first interactive map of how the brain organizes these groupings.

When the ice melts, the Earth spews fire Posted: 19 Dec 2012 10:35 AM PST It has long been known that volcanic activity can cause short-term variations in climate. Now, researchers have found evidence that the reverse process also occurs: Climate affects volcanic activity.

Scientists debunk the IQ myth: Notion of measuring one's intelligence quotient by singular, standardized test is highly misleading Posted: 19 Dec 2012 10:33 AM PST After conducting the largest online intelligence study on record, scientists concluded that the notion of measuring one's intelligence quotient or IQ by a singular, standardized test is highly misleading.

Astronomy: Stars reveal the secret of aging well Posted: 19 Dec 2012 10:33 AM PST Some people are in great shape at the age of 90, while others are decrepit before they're 50. We know that how fast people age is only loosely linked to how old they actually are -- and may have more to do with their lifestyle. A new study reveals that the same is true of star clusters.

Preventing inherited disorders in humans: New technology allows transfer of cell nuclei between human egg cells Posted: 19 Dec 2012 10:27 AM PST Scientists have developed a technique that may prevent the inheritance of mitochondrial diseases in children.

Do palm trees hold the key to immortality? Posted: 19 Dec 2012 06:28 AM PST For centuries, humans have been exploring, researching, and discovering how to stave off life-threatening diseases, increase life spans, and obtain immortality. Biologists, doctors, spiritual gurus, and even explorers have pursued these quests. Yet the key to longevity may not lie in a miraculous essence of water, but rather in the structure and function of cells within a plant -- and not a mysterious, rare plant, but a quite commonplace, even ordinary, one: the palm.

Closest single star like our sun may have habitable planet Posted: 19 Dec 2012 05:41 AM PST An international team of astronomers has discovered that Tau Ceti, one of the closest and most Sun-like stars, may host five planets -- with one in the star's habitable zone.

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