ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Nature versus nurture: Better looking birds have healthier babies, finds study of great tits
• Peach genome offers insights into breeding strategies for biofuels crops
• Nanowire solar cells raise efficiency limit
• DNA damage occurs as part of normal brain activity, scientists discover
• Venus vortices go for chaotic multi-storey strolls around the poles
• Paint-on plastic electronics: Aligning polymers for high performance

Nature versus nurture: Better looking birds have healthier babies, finds study of great tits Posted: 24 Mar 2013 05:18 PM PDT A female great tits' (Parus major) appearance is shown to signal healthy attributes in offspring in a new paper. The black stripe across her breast and white patches on her cheeks correlate to a chick's weight at two weeks and immune strength respectively -- though the former seems to signal a genetic benefit and the latter can affect an 'adopted' chick's health, suggesting nurture is involved.

Peach genome offers insights into breeding strategies for biofuels crops Posted: 24 Mar 2013 12:23 PM PDT Rapidly growing trees like poplars and willows are candidate "biofuel crops" from which it is expected that cellulosic ethanol and higher energy content fuels can be efficiently extracted. Domesticating these crops requires a deep understanding of tree physiology and genetics. Scientists are turning to fruit trees for hints, leading to an international initiative, publishing the 265-million base genome of the Lovell variety of Prunus persica.

Nanowire solar cells raise efficiency limit Posted: 24 Mar 2013 12:23 PM PDT Scientists have shown that a single nanowire can concentrate the sunlight up to 15 times of the normal sun light intensity. The results are surprising and the potential for developing a new type of highly efficient solar cells is great.

DNA damage occurs as part of normal brain activity, scientists discover Posted: 24 Mar 2013 12:22 PM PDT Scientists have discovered that a certain type of DNA damage long thought to be particularly detrimental to brain cells can actually be part of a regular, non-harmful process. The team further found that disruptions to this process occur in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease -- and identified two therapeutic strategies that reduce these disruptions.

Venus vortices go for chaotic multi-storey strolls around the poles Posted: 24 Mar 2013 12:21 PM PDT A detailed study of Venus' South Polar Vortex shows a much more chaotic and unpredictable cyclone than previously thought. The analysis reveals that the center of rotation of the vortex wanders around the pole differently at different altitude levels in the clouds of Venus. In its stroll around the Pole, in layers separated by 20 km, the vortex experiences unpredictable changes in its morphology. The results of this study are published online in Nature Geoscience today.

Paint-on plastic electronics: Aligning polymers for high performance Posted: 24 Mar 2013 12:18 PM PDT Semiconducting polymers are an unruly bunch, but now engineers have developed a new method for getting them in line that could pave the way for cheaper, greener, "paint-on" plastic electronics.

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