ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Jet fuel, plastics exposures cause disease in later generations; Reproductive diseases, obesity
• Chameleon star baffles astronomers
• NASA Super-TIGER balloon shatters flight record
• Red explosions: Secret life of binary stars is revealed
• Scientists discover how epigenetic information could be inherited: Mechanism of epigenetic reprogramming revealed
• Extinction rates not as bad as feared ... for now: Scientists challenge common belief
• Organic ferroelectric molecule shows promise for memory chips, sensors
• Love triumphs over hate to make exotic new compound: Compound could be useful in batteries, semiconductors, memory devices
• Genes provide clues to gender disparity in human hearts
• Prenatal inflammation linked to autism risk
• 'Scarecrow' gene: Key to efficient crops, could lead to staple crops with much higher yields
• Cells 'flock' to heal wounds: Researchers analyze physics of epithelial cell cooperation
• 3-D fireworks of a star: Astronomers reconstruct journey of emitted gas
• Lightning linked to onset of headache, migraines
• Dung beetles follow the milky way: Insects found to use stars for orientation
• Climate change beliefs of independent voters shift with the weather
• Synthetic corkscrew peptide kills antibiotic-resistant gram-negative bacteria
• Don’t ignore the snore: Snoring may be early sign of future health risks
• Liquid crystal's chaotic inner dynamics
• Revolutionary theory of dark matter
• New dinosaur fossil challenges bird evolution theory

Jet fuel, plastics exposures cause disease in later generations; Reproductive diseases, obesity Posted: 24 Jan 2013 03:36 PM PST Researchers have lengthened their list of environmental toxicants that can negatively affect as many as three generations of an exposed animal's offspring. Among them: BPA and jet fuel. And they see a new outcome: Obesity.

Chameleon star baffles astronomers Posted: 24 Jan 2013 03:34 PM PST New observations of a pulsar challenge all proposed pulsar emissions theories, a new study reports. This reopens a decades-old debate about the nature of these bizarre stars.

NASA Super-TIGER balloon shatters flight record Posted: 24 Jan 2013 01:34 PM PST Flying high over Antarctica, a NASA long duration balloon has broken the record for longest flight by a balloon of its size. The record-breaking balloon, carrying the Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (Super-TIGER) experiment, has been afloat for 46 days and is on its third orbit around the South Pole.

Red explosions: Secret life of binary stars is revealed Posted: 24 Jan 2013 12:08 PM PST An astrophysicist has revealed the workings of a celestial event involving binary stars that produce an explosion so powerful its luminosity ranks close to that of a supernova, an exploding star.

Scientists discover how epigenetic information could be inherited: Mechanism of epigenetic reprogramming revealed Posted: 24 Jan 2013 12:08 PM PST New research reveals a potential way for how parents' experiences could be passed to their offspring's genes.

Extinction rates not as bad as feared ... for now: Scientists challenge common belief Posted: 24 Jan 2013 12:08 PM PST Concerns that many animals are becoming extinct, before scientists even have time to identify them, are greatly overstated, according to new research.

Organic ferroelectric molecule shows promise for memory chips, sensors Posted: 24 Jan 2013 12:07 PM PST A cheap, flexible organic molecule could replace inorganic crystals as the working parts for memory chips, sensors and energy-harvesting systems.

Love triumphs over hate to make exotic new compound: Compound could be useful in batteries, semiconductors, memory devices Posted: 24 Jan 2013 12:07 PM PST A graduate student had a hunch for creating an exotic new chemical compound, and his idea that the force of love is stronger than hate proved correct. He and his colleagues are the first to permanently interlock two identical tetracationic rings that normally are repelled by each other. Many experts had said it couldn't be done. The new compound has attractive electronic characteristics and can be made quickly and inexpensively.

Genes provide clues to gender disparity in human hearts Posted: 24 Jan 2013 12:07 PM PST Healthy men and women show little difference in their hearts, except for small electrocardiographic disparities. But new genetic differences found in hearts with disease could ultimately lead to personalized treatment of various heart ailments.

Prenatal inflammation linked to autism risk Posted: 24 Jan 2013 11:07 AM PST Maternal inflammation during early pregnancy may be related to an increased risk of autism in children, according to new findings. Researchers found this in children of mothers with elevated C-reactive protein, a well-established marker of systemic inflammation.

'Scarecrow' gene: Key to efficient crops, could lead to staple crops with much higher yields Posted: 24 Jan 2013 10:40 AM PST With projections of 9.5 billion people by 2050, humankind faces the challenge of feeding modern diets to additional mouths while using the same amounts of water, fertilizer and arable land as today. Researchers have taken a leap toward meeting those needs by discovering a gene that could lead to new varieties of staple crops with 50 percent higher yields. The gene, called Scarecrow, is the first discovered to control a special leaf structure, known as Kranz anatomy, which leads to more efficient photosynthesis.

Cells 'flock' to heal wounds: Researchers analyze physics of epithelial cell cooperation Posted: 24 Jan 2013 09:36 AM PST Like flocks of birds, cells coordinate their motions as they race to cover and ultimately heal wounds to the skin. A new computational model offers clues to the physics behind their cooperation.

3-D fireworks of a star: Astronomers reconstruct journey of emitted gas Posted: 24 Jan 2013 09:34 AM PST In 1901 the star GK Persei gave off a powerful explosion that has not stopped growing and astonishing ever since. Now astronomers have reconstructed the journey of the emitted gas in 3-D which, contrary to predictions, has hardly slowed down its speed of up to 1,000 km/s after all this time.

Lightning linked to onset of headache, migraines Posted: 24 Jan 2013 09:33 AM PST Researchers have found that lightning may affect the onset of headaches and migraines.

Dung beetles follow the milky way: Insects found to use stars for orientation Posted: 24 Jan 2013 09:32 AM PST An insect with a tiny brain and minimal computing power has become the first animal proven to use the Milky Way for orientation. Scientists from South Africa and Sweden have published findings showing the link between dung beetles and the spray of stars which comprises our galaxy.

Climate change beliefs of independent voters shift with the weather Posted: 24 Jan 2013 09:29 AM PST There's a well-known saying in New England that if you don't like the weather here, wait a minute. When it comes to independent voters, those weather changes can just as quickly shift beliefs about climate change.

Synthetic corkscrew peptide kills antibiotic-resistant gram-negative bacteria Posted: 24 Jan 2013 09:29 AM PST An engineered peptide provides a new prototype for killing an entire category of resistant bacteria by shredding and dissolving their double-layered membranes, which are thought to protect those microbes from antibiotics. The synthetic peptide was effective in lab experiments against antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, which cause a variety of difficult-to-treat, potentially lethal infections such as pneumonia and sepsis.

Don’t ignore the snore: Snoring may be early sign of future health risks Posted: 24 Jan 2013 09:27 AM PST Snoring may be more than a common bedtime nuisance, say researchers. According to their new study, snoring, even without sleep apnea, causes thickening and abnormalities the carotid artery - a potential precursor to atherosclerosis.

Liquid crystal's chaotic inner dynamics Posted: 24 Jan 2013 06:21 AM PST Scientists have unearthed a new dynamic process induced by strong electric fields in thin liquid crystal cells. Liquid crystal displays are ubiquitous. Now, physicists have demonstrated that the application of a very strong alternating electric field to thin liquid crystal cells leads to a new distinct dynamic effect in the response of the cells.

Revolutionary theory of dark matter Posted: 24 Jan 2013 06:15 AM PST The universe abounds with dark matter. Nobody knows what it consists of. Physicists in Norway have now come up with a mathematical explanation that could solve the mystery once and for all.

New dinosaur fossil challenges bird evolution theory Posted: 24 Jan 2013 06:15 AM PST The discovery of a new bird-like dinosaur from the Jurassic period challenges widely accepted theories on the origin of flight. A new paper describes a new feathered dinosaur about 30 centimeters in length which pre-dates bird-like dinosaurs that birds were long thought to have evolved from.

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