ScienceDaily: Most Popular News

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• Talking Neanderthals challenge the origins of speech
• Newly discovered catalyst could lead to the low-cost production of clean methanol from carbon dioxide
• It slices, it dices, and it protects the body from harm: 3-D structure of enzyme that helps defend against bacteria
• Great freeze over Great Lakes, as seen from satellite
• The nature of color: New formula to calculate hue improves accuracy of color analysis
• Competition breeds new fish species, study finds
• Nasty parasitic worm, common in wildlife, now infecting U.S. cats
• Prenatal Nicotine Exposure May Lead to ADHD in Future Generations
• NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover views striated ground
• Pine forest particles appear seemingly out of thin air, influence climate
• Physicists discover 'quantum droplet' in semiconductor
• Mass strandings of marine mammals blamed on toxic algae: Clues unearthed in ancient whale graveyard
• Bullying black holes force galaxies to stay red and dead

Talking Neanderthals challenge the origins of speech Posted: 02 Mar 2014 03:52 PM PST We humans like to think of ourselves as unique for many reasons, not least of which being our ability to communicate with words. But ground-breaking research shows that our 'misunderstood cousins,' the Neanderthals, may well have spoken in languages not dissimilar to the ones we use today.

Newly discovered catalyst could lead to the low-cost production of clean methanol from carbon dioxide Posted: 02 Mar 2014 11:36 AM PST Scientists have discovered a potentially clean, low-cost way to convert carbon dioxide into methanol, a key ingredient in the production of plastics, adhesives and solvents, and a promising fuel for transportation. Scientists combined theory and experimentation to identify a new nickel-gallium catalyst that converts hydrogen and carbon dioxide into methanol with fewer side-products than the conventional catalyst.

It slices, it dices, and it protects the body from harm: 3-D structure of enzyme that helps defend against bacteria Posted: 28 Feb 2014 06:06 PM PST An essential weapon in the body's fight against infection has come into sharper view. Researchers have discovered the 3-D structure of an enzyme that cuts to ribbons the genetic material of viruses and helps defend against bacteria. The discovery of the structure of this enzyme, a first-responder in the body's "innate immune system," could enable new strategies for fighting infectious agents and possibly prostate cancer and obesity. "This work illustrates the wonderful usefulness of doing both crystallography and careful kinetic and enzymatic studies at the same time," said one scientist.

Great freeze over Great Lakes, as seen from satellite Posted: 28 Feb 2014 01:06 PM PST The true-color image above, from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASA's Aqua satellite, shows the mostly frozen state of the Great Lakes on Feb. 19. On that date, ice spanned 80.3 percent of the lakes. The ice reached an even greater extent on Feb. 13, when it covered about 88 percent of the Great Lakes -- coverage not achieved since 1994, when ice spanned over 90 percent. In addition to this year, ice has covered more than 80 percent of the lakes in only five other years since 1973.

The nature of color: New formula to calculate hue improves accuracy of color analysis Posted: 28 Feb 2014 11:01 AM PST Color is crucial in ecological studies, playing an important role in studies of flower and fruit development, responses to heat/drought stress, and plant–pollinator communication. But, measuring color variation is difficult, and available formulas sometimes give misleading results. An improved formula to calculate hue (one of three variables characterizing color) has now been developed.

Competition breeds new fish species, study finds Posted: 28 Feb 2014 05:07 AM PST Size differences among fish and competition for breeding space lead to the formation of new species, according to a new study, but empirical evidence for this is scarce, despite being implicit in Charles Darwin's work and support from theoretical studies. Speciation occurs when genetic differences between groups of individuals accumulate over time. In the case of Telmatochromis fish in Africa, subject of a new study, there are no obvious obstacles to the movement and interaction of individuals. But, the non-random mating between large- and small-bodied fish sets the stage for the evolutionary play.

Nasty parasitic worm, common in wildlife, now infecting U.S. cats Posted: 27 Feb 2014 01:38 PM PST When veterinarians found half-foot-long worms living in their feline patients, they had discovered something new: The worms, Dracunculus insignis, had never before been seen in cats. The worms can grow to almost a foot long and must emerge from its host to lay eggs that hatch into larvae. It forms a blister-like protrusion in an extremity, such as a leg, from which it slowly emerges over the course of days to deposit its young into the water.

Prenatal Nicotine Exposure May Lead to ADHD in Future Generations Posted: 27 Feb 2014 10:47 AM PST Prenatal exposure to nicotine could manifest as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children born a generation later, according to a new study. Researchers have found evidence that ADHD associated with nicotine can be passed across generations. In other words, your child's ADHD might be an environmentally induced health condition inherited from your grandmother, who may have smoked cigarettes during pregnancy a long time ago. And the fact that you never smoked may be irrelevant for your child's ADHD.

NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover views striated ground Posted: 27 Feb 2014 09:10 AM PST NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has reached an area where orbital images had piqued researchers' interest in patches of ground with striations all oriented in a similar direction.

Pine forest particles appear seemingly out of thin air, influence climate Posted: 26 Feb 2014 10:29 AM PST Pine forests are especially magical places for atmospheric chemists. Coniferous trees give off pine-scented vapors that form particles, very quickly and seemingly out of nowhere. New research elucidates the process by which gas wafting from coniferous trees creates particles that can reflect sunlight or promote formation of clouds.

Physicists discover 'quantum droplet' in semiconductor Posted: 26 Feb 2014 10:29 AM PST Physicists have used an ultra-fast laser to discover a new semiconductor quasiparticle -- a handful of smaller particles that briefly condense into a liquid-like droplet. The discovery improves understanding of how electrons interact in various situations, including in optoelectronic devices.

Mass strandings of marine mammals blamed on toxic algae: Clues unearthed in ancient whale graveyard Posted: 25 Feb 2014 04:34 PM PST Modern whale strandings can be investigated and their causes identified. Events that happened millions of years ago, however, are far harder to analyze -- frequently leaving their cause a mystery. Scientists examined a large fossil site in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile -- the first definitive example of repeated mass strandings of marine mammals in the fossil record. It reflected four distinct strandings over time, indicating a repeated and similar cause: toxic algae.

Bullying black holes force galaxies to stay red and dead Posted: 25 Feb 2014 10:43 AM PST Astronomers have discovered massive elliptical galaxies in the nearby Universe containing plenty of cold gas, even though the galaxies fail to produce new stars. Comparison with other data suggests that, while hot gas cools down in these galaxies, stars do not form because jets from the central supermassive black hole heat or stir up the gas and prevent it from turning into stars. Giant elliptical galaxies are the most puzzling type of galaxy in the Universe.

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