ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Hubble unveils new colorful view of the universe
• Spiders know the meaning of web music
• Children with autism have elevated levels of steroid hormones in the womb
• Proteins 'ring like bells': Quantum mechanics and biochemical reactions
• Modern ocean acidification is outpacing ancient upheaval: Rate may be ten times faster
• Nearly one in eight American children are maltreated before age 18
• Anti-diabetic drug slows aging and lengthens lifespan, animal study suggests
• Neuron tells stem cells to grow new neurons: First piece of new brain-repair circuit identified

Hubble unveils new colorful view of the universe Posted: 03 Jun 2014 12:10 PM PDT Astronomers have assembled a comprehensive picture of the evolving universe — among the most colorful deep space images ever captured by the 24-year-old telescope. This study, which includes ultraviolet light, provides the missing link in star formation.

Spiders know the meaning of web music Posted: 03 Jun 2014 06:25 AM PDT Spider silk transmits vibrations across a wide range of frequencies so that, when plucked like a guitar string, its sound carries information about prey, mates, and even the structural integrity of a web. The discovery was made when researchers fired bullets and lasers at spider silk to study how it vibrates.

Children with autism have elevated levels of steroid hormones in the womb Posted: 03 Jun 2014 06:24 AM PDT Scientists have discovered that children who later develop autism are exposed to elevated levels of steroid hormones (for example testosterone, progesterone and cortisol) in the womb. The finding may help explain why autism is more common in males than females, but should not be used to screen for the condition.

Proteins 'ring like bells': Quantum mechanics and biochemical reactions Posted: 03 Jun 2014 06:24 AM PDT As far back as 1948, Erwin Schrödinger -- the inventor of modern quantum mechanics -- published the book 'What is life?' In it, he suggested that quantum mechanics and coherent ringing might be at the basis of all biochemical reactions. At the time, this idea never found wide acceptance because it was generally assumed that vibrations in protein molecules would be too rapidly damped. Now, scientists have shown that he may have been on the right track after all.

Modern ocean acidification is outpacing ancient upheaval: Rate may be ten times faster Posted: 02 Jun 2014 02:03 PM PDT Scientists estimate that surface ocean acidity increased by about 100 percent during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum in a few thousand years or more, and stayed that way for the next 70,000 years. Scientists have long suspected that ocean acidification caused the crisis -- similar to today, as humanmade CO2 combines with seawater to change its chemistry. Now, for the first time, scientists have quantified the extent of surface acidification from those ancient days, and the news is not good: the oceans are on track to acidify at least as much as they did then, only at a much faster rate.

Nearly one in eight American children are maltreated before age 18 Posted: 02 Jun 2014 01:26 PM PDT By the time they reach age 18, about 12 percent of American children experience a confirmed case of maltreatment in the form of neglect, physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, according to a new study. "Maltreatment is on the scale of other major public health concerns that affect child health and well-being," one researcher said. "Because child maltreatment is also a risk factor for poor mental and physical health outcomes throughout life, the results of this study provide valuable epidemiologic information."

Anti-diabetic drug slows aging and lengthens lifespan, animal study suggests Posted: 02 Jun 2014 12:07 PM PDT Researchers have provided new evidence that metformin, the world's most widely used anti-diabetic drug, slows aging and increases lifespan. Scientists teased out the mechanism behind metformin's age-slowing effects: the drug causes an increase in the number of toxic oxygen molecules released in the cell and this, surprisingly, increases cell robustness and longevity in the long term.

Neuron tells stem cells to grow new neurons: First piece of new brain-repair circuit identified Posted: 02 Jun 2014 07:20 AM PDT Researchers have found a new type of neuron in the adult brain that is capable of telling stem cells to make more new neurons. Though the experiments are in their early stages, the finding opens the tantalizing possibility that the brain may be able to repair itself from within.

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