ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Dinosaur fossils from China help researchers describe new 'Titan'
• Sea level variations escalating along eastern Gulf of Mexico coast
• Physicists create synthetic magnetic monopoles in the lab
• Breakthrough in rechargeable batteries: New twist to sodium-ion battery technology
• Triassic-age 'swamp monster': Rare female phytosaur skull found in West Texas more than 200 million years old
• 'Rogue' asteroids may be the norm
• Neanderthal lineages excavated from modern human genomes
• Neanderthals' genetic legacy: Humans inherited variants affecting disease risk, infertility, skin and hair characteristics
• First weather map of brown dwarf: Surface of nearest brown dwarf charted
• Single gene separates queen from workers
• Large, deep magma chamber discovered below Kilauea volcano: Largely unknown internal plumbing of volcanoes
• Universe's early galaxies grew massive through collisions
• Researchers take magnetic waves for a spin

Dinosaur fossils from China help researchers describe new 'Titan' Posted: 29 Jan 2014 03:48 PM PST Paleontologists have characterized a new dinosaur based on fossil remains found in northwestern China. The species, a plant-eating sauropod named Yongjinglong datangi, roamed during the Early Cretaceous period, more than 100 million years ago. This sauropod belonged to a group known as Titanosauria, members of which were among the largest living creatures to ever walk the earth.

Sea level variations escalating along eastern Gulf of Mexico coast Posted: 29 Jan 2014 01:55 PM PST Around the globe, sea levels typically rise a little in summer and fall again in winter. Now, a new study shows that, from the Florida Keys to southern Alabama, those fluctuations have been intensifying over the past 20 years.

Physicists create synthetic magnetic monopoles in the lab Posted: 29 Jan 2014 01:48 PM PST Researchers have created and photographed synthetic magnetic monopoles under lab conditions. The development lays the foundation for the underlying structure of the natural magnetic monopole – the detection of which would be a revolutionary event comparable to the discovery of the electron.

Breakthrough in rechargeable batteries: New twist to sodium-ion battery technology Posted: 29 Jan 2014 01:46 PM PST Engineers have made a breakthrough in rechargeable battery applications. They have demonstrated that a composite paper -- made of interleaved molybdenum disulfide and graphene nanosheets -- can be both an active material to efficiently store sodium atoms and a flexible current collector. The newly developed composite paper can be used as a negative electrode in sodium-ion batteries.

Triassic-age 'swamp monster': Rare female phytosaur skull found in West Texas more than 200 million years old Posted: 29 Jan 2014 11:56 AM PST In the dangerous waters of an ancient oxbow lake created by a flooded and unnamed meandering river, the female phytosaur died and sank to the bottom 205 million years ago. About 40 yards away the remains of a larger male also came to rest, and both disappeared in a tomb of soil and sediment. Evidence for the cause of their deaths and the rest of their bodies have vanished with time, but their skulls remained. After careful research, a paleontologist says he and others have discovered a new species of the Triassic-age monster in the wilds of West Texas.

'Rogue' asteroids may be the norm Posted: 29 Jan 2014 10:51 AM PST A new map developed by astronomers charts the size, composition, and location of more than 100,000 asteroids throughout the solar system, and shows that rogue asteroids are actually more common than previously thought. Particularly in the solar system's main asteroid belt -- between Mars and Jupiter -- the researchers found a compositionally diverse mix of asteroids.

Neanderthal lineages excavated from modern human genomes Posted: 29 Jan 2014 10:49 AM PST A substantial fraction of the Neanderthal genome persists in modern human populations. A new approach for analyzing whole-genome sequencing data from 665 people from Europe and East Asia shows that more than 20 percent of the Neanderthal genome survives in the DNA of this contemporary group. Significant amounts of population-level DNA sequences might be obtained from extinct groups even in the absence of fossilized remains, because these archaic sequences might have been inherited by other individuals from whom scientists can gather genomic data.

Neanderthals' genetic legacy: Humans inherited variants affecting disease risk, infertility, skin and hair characteristics Posted: 29 Jan 2014 10:49 AM PST Remnants of Neanderthal DNA in modern humans are associated with genes affecting type 2 diabetes, Crohn's disease, lupus, biliary cirrhosis and smoking behavior. They also concentrate in genes that influence skin and hair characteristics. At the same time, Neanderthal DNA is conspicuously low in regions of the X chromosome and testes-specific genes.

First weather map of brown dwarf: Surface of nearest brown dwarf charted Posted: 29 Jan 2014 10:49 AM PST The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope has been used to create the first ever map of the weather on the surface of the nearest brown dwarf to Earth. An international team has made a chart of the dark and light features on WISE J104915.57-531906.1B, which is informally known as Luhman 16B and is one of two recently discovered brown dwarfs forming a pair only six light-years from the Sun.

Single gene separates queen from workers Posted: 29 Jan 2014 08:51 AM PST Scientists have identified how a single gene in honey bees separates the queens from the workers. A team of scientists unraveled the gene's inner workings. The gene, which is responsible for leg and wing development, plays a crucial role in the evolution of bees' ability to carry pollen.

Large, deep magma chamber discovered below Kilauea volcano: Largely unknown internal plumbing of volcanoes Posted: 29 Jan 2014 08:49 AM PST A new study has uncovered a previously unknown magma chamber deep below the most active volcano in the world -- Kilauea. This is the first geophysical observation that large magma chambers exist in the deeper parts of the volcano system.

Universe's early galaxies grew massive through collisions Posted: 29 Jan 2014 08:49 AM PST It has long puzzled scientists that there were enormously massive galaxies that were already old and no longer forming new stars in the very early universe, approximately 3 billion years after the Big Bang. Now new research shows that these massive galaxies were formed by explosive star formation that was set in motion by the collision of galaxies a few billion years after the Big Bang.

Researchers take magnetic waves for a spin Posted: 29 Jan 2014 08:46 AM PST Researchers have developed a method for creating and directing fast moving waves in magnetic fields that have the potential to enhance communication and information processing in computer chips and other consumer products.

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