ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Analyzing sun-like stars that eat Earth-like planets
• I like your genes: People more likely to choose a spouse with similar DNA
• Engineer invents a way to beam power to medical chips deep inside the body
• Taste test: Could sense of taste affect length of life?
• Site of mega-development project in Mexico is a biodiversity hotspot
• Liberating devices from their power cords
• Earth organisms survive under Martian conditions: Methanogens stay alive in extreme heat and cold
• Antarctica's ice losses on the rise
• 'Smoking gun' evidence for theory that Saturn's collapsing magnetic tail causes auroras
• Greenland will be far greater contributor to sea rise than expected: Work reveals long, deep valleys connecting ice cap to ocean
• Biochemists Reduce Sickling, Progression of Sickle Cell Disease in Mice

Analyzing sun-like stars that eat Earth-like planets Posted: 19 May 2014 06:50 PM PDT Astronomers have developed a model that estimates the effect that ingesting large amounts of the rocky material from which 'terrestrial' planets like Earth, Mars and Venus are made has on a star's chemical composition and has used the model to analyze a pair of twin stars which both have their own planets.

I like your genes: People more likely to choose a spouse with similar DNA Posted: 19 May 2014 01:07 PM PDT Individuals are more genetically similar to their spouses than they are to randomly selected individuals from the same population, according to a new study. Scientists already knew that people tend to marry others who have similar characteristics, including religion, age, race, income, body type and education, among others. Scientists now show that people also are more likely to pick mates who have similar DNA.

Engineer invents a way to beam power to medical chips deep inside the body Posted: 19 May 2014 01:07 PM PDT Researchers have invented a way to wirelessly beam power to programmable devices deep inside the body. These medical chips could be as small as a grain of rice. They would sit alongside nerves, muscles and other tissues. The chips could be programmed for a wide variety of medical tasks. The wireless power recharging would enable them to be implanted once and repowered as need be. This is a platform technology to enable a new therapeutic category -- 'electroceutical' devices.

Taste test: Could sense of taste affect length of life? Posted: 19 May 2014 01:05 PM PDT Perhaps one of the keys to good health isn't just what you eat but how you taste it. Taste buds -- yes, the same ones you may blame for that sweet tooth or French fry craving -- may in fact have a powerful role in a long and healthy life -- at least for fruit flies. Bitter tastes could have negative effects on lifespan, sweet tastes had positive effects, and the ability to taste water had the most significant impact -- flies that could not taste water lived up to 43% longer than other flies.

Site of mega-development project in Mexico is a biodiversity hotspot Posted: 19 May 2014 10:48 AM PDT Cabo Pulmo is a close-knit community in Baja California Sur, Mexico, and the best preserved coral reef in the Gulf of California. But the lands adjacent to the reef are under threat from a mega-development project, 'Cabo Dorado,' should construction go ahead. Scientists have published a report on the terrestrial biodiversity of the Cabo Pulmo region that shows the project is situated in an area of extreme conservation value.

Liberating devices from their power cords Posted: 19 May 2014 09:25 AM PDT A new type of supercapacitor that can hold a charge when it takes a lickin' has been developed. It is the first "multi-functional" energy storage device that can operate while subject to realistic static and dynamic loads – advancing the day when everything from cell phones to electric vehicles will no longer need separate batteries.

Earth organisms survive under Martian conditions: Methanogens stay alive in extreme heat and cold Posted: 19 May 2014 08:42 AM PDT New research suggests that methanogens -- among the simplest and oldest organisms on Earth -- could survive on Mars. Methanogens, microorganisms in the domain Archaea, use hydrogen as their energy source and carbon dioxide as their carbon source, to metabolize and produce methane, also known as natural gas. Methanogens live in swamps and marshes, but can also be found in the gut of cattle, termites and other herbivores as well as in dead and decaying matter.

Antarctica's ice losses on the rise Posted: 19 May 2014 08:02 AM PDT Three years of observations show that the Antarctic ice sheet is now losing 159 billion tons of ice each year -- twice as much as when it was last surveyed. Scientists have now produced the first complete assessment of Antarctic ice sheet elevation change.

'Smoking gun' evidence for theory that Saturn's collapsing magnetic tail causes auroras Posted: 19 May 2014 06:04 AM PDT Researchers have captured stunning images of Saturn's auroras as the planet's magnetic field is battered by charged particles from the Sun.

Greenland will be far greater contributor to sea rise than expected: Work reveals long, deep valleys connecting ice cap to ocean Posted: 18 May 2014 01:44 PM PDT Greenland's icy reaches are far more vulnerable to warm ocean waters from climate change than had been thought, according to new research by glaciologists. The work shows previously uncharted deep valleys stretching for dozens of miles under the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Biochemists Reduce Sickling, Progression of Sickle Cell Disease in Mice Posted: 16 May 2014 05:26 PM PDT New preclinical research on the molecular mechanisms responsible for sickle cell disease could aid efforts to develop much needed treatments for this devastating blood disorder that affects millions worldwide. The sickling of red blood cells is the hallmark of this disease. Normally shaped like a donut, the diseased cells instead have a crescent-like appearance. This can lead to anemia, chest pain, lung problems and stroke.

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