ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Breastfeeding duration appears associated with intelligence later in life
• Capturing black hole spin could further understanding of galaxy growth
• Two 6,000-year-old 'halls of the dead' unearthed
• Monogamy evolved as a mating strategy: New research indicates that social monogamy evolved as a result of competition
• Human cells respond in healthy, unhealthy ways to different kinds of happiness
• Social amoebae travel with a posse: Tiny single-celled organisms have amazingly complicated social lives
• NASA's Chandra sees eclipsing planet in X-rays for first time
• Evolution of monogamy in humans the result of infanticide risk, new study suggests
• Pulsating star sheds light on exoplanet
• Natural affinities -- unrecognized until now -- may have set stage for life to ignite
• Mini-monsters of the forest floor
• Make it yourself with a 3-D printer and save big time
• See-through solar film: Researchers double efficiency of novel solar cell
• Ice-free Arctic winters could explain amplified warming during Pliocene
• Heavy cell phone use linked to oxidative stress
• Of bears and berries: Return of wolves aids grizzly bears in Yellowstone
• Cockatoos know what's going on behind barriers
• Experimental quest to test Einstein's speed limit
• Living longer, living healthier: People are remaining healthier later in life
• Borneo's orangutans are coming down from the trees; Behavior may show adaptation to habitat change

Breastfeeding duration appears associated with intelligence later in life Posted: 29 Jul 2013 08:16 PM PDT Breastfeeding longer is associated with better receptive language at 3 years of age and verbal and nonverbal intelligence at age 7 years, according to a new study.

Capturing black hole spin could further understanding of galaxy growth Posted: 29 Jul 2013 08:14 PM PDT Astronomers have found a new way of measuring the spin in supermassive black holes, which could lead to better understanding about how they drive the growth of galaxies.

Two 6,000-year-old 'halls of the dead' unearthed Posted: 29 Jul 2013 08:14 PM PDT The remains of two large 6000-year-old halls, each buried within a prehistoric burial mound, have been discovered by archaeologists. The sensational finds on Dorstone Hill, near Peterchurch in Herefordshire, were thought to be constructed between 4000 and 3600 BC.

Monogamy evolved as a mating strategy: New research indicates that social monogamy evolved as a result of competition Posted: 29 Jul 2013 02:22 PM PDT Social monogamy, where one breeding female and one breeding male are closely associated with each other over several breeding seasons, appears to have evolved as a mating strategy, new research reveals. It was previously suspected that social monogamy resulted from a need for extra parental care by the father.

Human cells respond in healthy, unhealthy ways to different kinds of happiness Posted: 29 Jul 2013 01:19 PM PDT Human bodies recognize at the molecular level that not all happiness is created equal, responding in ways that can help or hinder physical health, according to new research.

Social amoebae travel with a posse: Tiny single-celled organisms have amazingly complicated social lives Posted: 29 Jul 2013 01:17 PM PDT Some social amoebae farm the bacteria they eat. Now scientists have taken a closer look at one lineage, or clone, of D. discoideum farmer. This farmer carries not one but two strains of bacteria. One strain is the "seed corn" for a crop of edible bacteria, and the other strain is a weapon that produces defensive chemicals. The edible bacteria, the scientists found, evolved from the toxic one.

NASA's Chandra sees eclipsing planet in X-rays for first time Posted: 29 Jul 2013 01:16 PM PDT For the first time since exoplanets, or planets around stars other than the sun, were discovered almost 20 years ago, X-ray observations have detected an exoplanet passing in front of its parent star. An advantageous alignment of a planet and its parent star in the system HD 189733, which is 63 light-years from Earth, enabled NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Space Agency's XMM Newton Observatory to observe a dip in X-ray intensity as the planet transited the star.

Evolution of monogamy in humans the result of infanticide risk, new study suggests Posted: 29 Jul 2013 01:15 PM PDT The threat of infants being killed by unrelated males is the key driver of monogamy in humans and other primates, a new study suggests.

Pulsating star sheds light on exoplanet Posted: 29 Jul 2013 01:15 PM PDT Astronomers have devised a way to measure the internal properties of stars —- a method that offers more accurate assessments of their orbiting planets.

Natural affinities -- unrecognized until now -- may have set stage for life to ignite Posted: 29 Jul 2013 01:15 PM PDT The chemical components crucial to the start of life on Earth may have primed and protected each other in never-before-realized ways, according to new research. It could mean a simpler scenario for how that first spark of life came about on the planet.

Mini-monsters of the forest floor Posted: 29 Jul 2013 01:15 PM PDT A biologist has identified 33 new species of predatory ants in Central America and the Caribbean, and named about a third of the tiny but monstrous-looking insects after ancient Mayan lords and demons.

Make it yourself with a 3-D printer and save big time Posted: 29 Jul 2013 11:46 AM PDT A new study shows that families can save hundreds if not thousands of dollars by making their own household items with a 3-D printer.

See-through solar film: Researchers double efficiency of novel solar cell Posted: 29 Jul 2013 10:36 AM PDT Nearly doubling the efficiency of a photovoltaic breakthrough made in 2012, researchers have developed a two-layer, see-through solar film that could be placed on building windows, sunroofs, smartphone displays and other surfaces to harvest energy from the sun.

Ice-free Arctic winters could explain amplified warming during Pliocene Posted: 29 Jul 2013 10:35 AM PDT Year-round ice-free conditions across the surface of the Arctic Ocean could explain why the Earth was substantially warmer during the Pliocene Epoch than it is today, despite similar concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to new research.

Heavy cell phone use linked to oxidative stress Posted: 29 Jul 2013 10:35 AM PDT A new study finds a strong link between heavy cell phone users and higher oxidative stress to all aspects of a human cell, including DNA. Uniquely based on examinations of the saliva of cell phone users, the research provides evidence of a connection between cell phone use and cancer risk.

Of bears and berries: Return of wolves aids grizzly bears in Yellowstone Posted: 29 Jul 2013 10:31 AM PDT A new study suggests that the return of wolves to Yellowstone National Park is beginning to bring back a key part of the diet of grizzly bears that has been missing for much of the past century -- berries that help bears put on fat before going into hibernation. The berries could aid bear survival and reproduction.

Cockatoos know what's going on behind barriers Posted: 29 Jul 2013 08:19 AM PDT How do you know that the cookies are still there even though they have been placed in a cookie jar out-of-sight? Scientists show that "object permanence" abilities in a cockatoo rivals that of apes and four-year-old humans.

Experimental quest to test Einstein's speed limit Posted: 29 Jul 2013 08:19 AM PDT Special relativity states that the speed of light is the same in all frames of reference and that nothing can exceed that limit. UC Berkeley physicists used a novel experimental system -- the unusual electron orbitals of dysprosium -- to test whether the maximum speed of electrons follows this rule. The answer is yes, to tighter limits than ever before. They plan another experiment a thousand times more sensitive, approaching the realm where theory may break down.

Living longer, living healthier: People are remaining healthier later in life Posted: 29 Jul 2013 05:33 AM PDT Based on data collected between 1991 and 2009 from almost 90,000 individuals who responded to the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, scientists say that, even as life expectancy has increased over the past two decades, people have become increasingly healthier later in life.

Borneo's orangutans are coming down from the trees; Behavior may show adaptation to habitat change Posted: 29 Jul 2013 05:33 AM PDT Orangutans might be the king of the swingers, but primatologists in Borneo have found that the great apes spend a surprising amount of time walking on the ground. The research found that it is common for orangutans to come down from the trees to forage or to travel, a discovery which may have implications for conservation efforts.

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