ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Scientists identify key fungal species that help explain mysteries of white nose syndrome
• Bacterial blockade: How gut microbes can inactivate cardiac drugs
• Behavior of turbulent flow of superfluids is opposite that of ordinary fluids
• Centaurs: NASA's WISE finds mysterious centaurs may be comets
• Mechanism behind squids' and octopuses' ability to change color revealed
• Novel mechanism in spinal cord injury discovered: 'See-saw' molecule may offer clues to potential therapies in the long-term
• Neuroscientists plant false memories in mice: Location where brain stores memory traces, both false and authentic, pinpointed
• Women's height linked to cancer risk, study finds
• NASA's Van Allen Probes discover particle accelerator in the heart of Earth’s radiation belts
• Extinct ancient ape did not walk like a human, study shows
• Secret of plant geometry revealed: How plants set the angles of their branches
• Bad night's sleep? The moon could be to blame
• World-changing technology enables crops to take nitrogen from the air
• Silky brain implants may help stop spread of epilepsy
• Deciphering the air-sea communication: Ocean significantly affects long-term climate fluctuations
• Pigeons fly home with a map in their heads
• Elementary physics in a single molecule

Scientists identify key fungal species that help explain mysteries of white nose syndrome Posted: 25 Jul 2013 05:24 PM PDT Researchers have identified what may be a key to unraveling some of the mysteries of White Nose Syndrome: The closest known non-disease causing relatives of the fungus that causes WNS. A new study outlines research on the evolution of species related to the fungus causing WNS.

Bacterial blockade: How gut microbes can inactivate cardiac drugs Posted: 25 Jul 2013 01:13 PM PDT Researchers have identified a pair of genes which appear to be responsible for allowing a specific strain of bacteria in the human gut to break down Lanoxin -- a widely prescribed cardiac drug -- into an inactive compound, as well as a possible way to turn the process off.

Behavior of turbulent flow of superfluids is opposite that of ordinary fluids Posted: 25 Jul 2013 12:21 PM PDT A superfluid moves like a completely frictionless liquid, seemingly able to propel itself without any hindrance from gravity or surface tension. The physics underlying these materials -- which appear to defy the conventional laws of physics -- has fascinated scientists for decades.

Centaurs: NASA's WISE finds mysterious centaurs may be comets Posted: 25 Jul 2013 12:15 PM PDT The true identity of centaurs, the small celestial bodies orbiting the sun between Jupiter and Neptune, is one of the enduring mysteries of astrophysics. Are they asteroids or comets? A new study of observations from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) finds most centaurs are comets.

Mechanism behind squids' and octopuses' ability to change color revealed Posted: 25 Jul 2013 11:17 AM PDT Color in living organisms can be formed two ways: Pigmentation or anatomical structure. Structural colors arise from the physical interaction of light with biological nanostructures. A wide range of organisms possess this ability, but the biological mechanisms underlying the process have been poorly understood. Now researchers have delved deeper to uncover the mechanism responsible for the dramatic changes in color used by such creatures as squids and octopuses.

Novel mechanism in spinal cord injury discovered: 'See-saw' molecule may offer clues to potential therapies in the long-term Posted: 25 Jul 2013 11:17 AM PDT More than 11,000 Americans suffer spinal cord injuries each year, and since over a quarter of those injuries are due to falls, the number is likely to rise as the population ages. The reason so many of those injuries are permanently disabling is that the human body lacks the capacity to regenerate nerve fibers. The best our bodies can do is route the surviving tissue around the injury site.

Neuroscientists plant false memories in mice: Location where brain stores memory traces, both false and authentic, pinpointed Posted: 25 Jul 2013 11:17 AM PDT The phenomenon of false memory has been well-documented: In many court cases, defendants have been found guilty based on testimony from witnesses and victims who were sure of their recollections, but DNA evidence later overturned the conviction. In a step toward understanding how these faulty memories arise, neuroscientists have shown that they can plant false memories in the brains of mice. They also found that many of the neurological traces of these memories are identical in nature to those of authentic memories.

Women's height linked to cancer risk, study finds Posted: 25 Jul 2013 11:15 AM PDT The taller a postmenopausal woman is, the greater her risk for developing cancer, according to a new study.

NASA's Van Allen Probes discover particle accelerator in the heart of Earth’s radiation belts Posted: 25 Jul 2013 11:07 AM PDT Scientists have discovered a massive particle accelerator in the heart of one of the harshest regions of near-Earth space, a region of super-energetic, charged particles surrounding the globe called the Van Allen radiation belts. Scientists knew that something in space accelerated particles in the radiation belts to more than 99 percent the speed of light but they didn't know what that something was. New results from NASA's Van Allen Probes now show that the acceleration energy comes from within the belts themselves. Particles inside the belts are sped up by local kicks of energy, buffeting the particles to ever faster speeds, much like a perfectly timed push on a moving swing.

Extinct ancient ape did not walk like a human, study shows Posted: 25 Jul 2013 09:54 AM PDT A new study has found that a 9- to 7-million-year-old ape from Italy did not, in fact, walk habitually on two legs. The findings refute a long body of evidence, suggesting that Oreopithecus had the capabilities for bipedal (moving on two legs) walking.

Secret of plant geometry revealed: How plants set the angles of their branches Posted: 25 Jul 2013 09:53 AM PDT Researchers have discovered how plants set the angles of their branches relative to gravity. While the other principle features governing the architecture of plants such as the control of the number of branches and positioning around the main shoot are now well understood, scientists have long puzzled over how plants set and maintain the angle of their lateral branches relative to gravity.

Bad night's sleep? The moon could be to blame Posted: 25 Jul 2013 09:53 AM PDT Many people complain about poor sleep around the full moon, and now a report offers some of the first convincing scientific evidence to suggest that this really is true. The findings add to evidence that humans -- despite the comforts of our civilized world -- still respond to the geophysical rhythms of the moon, driven by a circalunar clock.

World-changing technology enables crops to take nitrogen from the air Posted: 25 Jul 2013 09:50 AM PDT A major new technology enables all of the world's crops to take nitrogen from the air rather than expensive and environmentally damaging fertilizers. Nitrogen fixation, the process by which nitrogen is converted to ammonia, is vital for plants to survive and grow. However, only a very small number of plants, most notably legumes (such as peas, beans and lentils) have the ability to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere with the help of nitrogen fixing bacteria. The vast majority of plants have to obtain nitrogen from the soil, and for most crops currently being grown across the world, this also means a reliance on synthetic nitrogen fertilizer.

Silky brain implants may help stop spread of epilepsy Posted: 25 Jul 2013 09:13 AM PDT Silk has walked straight off the runway and into the lab. According to a new study, silk implants placed in the brain of laboratory animals and designed to release a specific chemical, adenosine, may help stop the progression of epilepsy.

Deciphering the air-sea communication: Ocean significantly affects long-term climate fluctuations Posted: 25 Jul 2013 07:48 AM PDT Scientists have investigated the role of heat exchange between ocean and atmosphere in long-term climate variability in the Atlantic. The scientists analyzed meteorological measurements and sea surface temperatures over the past 130 years. It was found that the ocean significantly affects long term climate fluctuations, while the seemingly chaotic atmosphere is mainly responsible for the shorter-term, year-to-year changes.

Pigeons fly home with a map in their heads Posted: 25 Jul 2013 06:11 AM PDT It is a fascinating phenomenon that homing pigeons always find their way home. Researchers have now carried out experiments demonstrating that pigeons have a spatial map and thus possess cognitive capabilities. In unknown territories, they recognize where they are in relation to their loft and are able to choose their targets themselves.

Elementary physics in a single molecule Posted: 25 Jul 2013 06:11 AM PDT Physicists have succeeded in performing an extraordinary experiment: They demonstrated how magnetism that generally manifests itself by a force between two magnetized objects acts within a single molecule. This discovery is of high significance to fundamental research and provides scientists with a new tool to better understand magnetism as an elementary phenomenon of physics.

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