ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• It's a girl! Gene silencing technology alters sex of prawns
• ACP recommends against pelvic exam in asymptomatic, average risk, non-pregnant women
• Using geometry, researchers coax human embryonic stem cells to organize themselves
• All the world's oceans have plastic debris on their surface
• Ancient baby boom holds a lesson in over-population
• Body odor reveals malarial infection
• Evolution of life’s operating system revealed in detail
• In human evolution, changes in skin's barrier set northern Europeans apart
• Potentially habitable Earth-like planet discovered; May have similar temperatures to our planet
• Forelimb bone data predicts predator style
• A first: Scientists show bacteria can evolve biological timer to survive antibiotics
• Bio-printing transplantable tissues, organs: Another step closer
• Mysterious features on Saturn's Titan reveal the moon's seasonal changes

It's a girl! Gene silencing technology alters sex of prawns Posted: 30 Jun 2014 04:34 PM PDT Scientists have developed a novel method for generating single-sex populations of prawns. This could be used to boost the productivity of aquaculture farms and even as a biocontrol measure against invasive species and pests.

ACP recommends against pelvic exam in asymptomatic, average risk, non-pregnant women Posted: 30 Jun 2014 04:34 PM PDT ACP's new evidence-based guideline finds that harms of screening pelvic examination outweigh any demonstrated benefits. ACP's guideline is based on a systematic review of the published literature on human subjects in the English language from 1946 through January 2014.

Using geometry, researchers coax human embryonic stem cells to organize themselves Posted: 30 Jun 2014 01:45 PM PDT By confining colonies of human embryonic stem cells to tiny circular patterns on glass plates, researchers have for the first time coaxed them into organizing themselves just as they would under natural conditions.

All the world's oceans have plastic debris on their surface Posted: 30 Jun 2014 01:42 PM PDT The Malaspina Expedition, led by the Spanish National Research Council, has demonstrated that there are five large accumulations of plastic debris in the open ocean that match with the five major twists of oceanic surface water circulation. In addition to the known accumulation of plastic waste in the North Pacific, there are similar accumulations in the central North Atlantic, the South Pacific, the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean.

Ancient baby boom holds a lesson in over-population Posted: 30 Jun 2014 01:41 PM PDT Researchers have sketched out one of the greatest baby booms in North American history, a centuries-long 'growth blip' among southwestern Native Americans between 500 to 1300 A.D. It was a time when the early features of civilization -- including farming and food storage -- had matured to where birth rates likely 'exceeded the highest in the world today,' the researchers write. A crash followed, offering a warning sign to the modern world about the dangers of overpopulation.

Body odor reveals malarial infection Posted: 30 Jun 2014 01:40 PM PDT An infection with malaria pathogens changes the scent of infected mice, making those infected more attractive to mosquitoes, according to a new study. Researchers show that whether mosquitoes find the right victim to bite is not left to chance by the pathogen. Instead, the plasmodium parasite appears to manipulate its host by changing the characteristics of the infected individual's body odour, which makes the carrier more attractive to hungry mosquitoes.

Evolution of life’s operating system revealed in detail Posted: 30 Jun 2014 01:40 PM PDT The evolution of the ribosome, a large molecular structure found in the cells of all species, has been revealed in unprecedented detail in a new study.

In human evolution, changes in skin's barrier set northern Europeans apart Posted: 30 Jun 2014 11:08 AM PDT The popular idea that northern Europeans developed light skin to absorb more UV light so they could make more vitamin D -- vital for healthy bones and immune function -- is questioned by researchers in a new study. Ramping up the skin's capacity to capture UV light to make vitamin D is indeed important, however, researchers concluded in their study that changes in the skin's function as a barrier to the elements made a greater contribution than alterations in skin pigment in the ability of northern Europeans to make vitamin D.

Potentially habitable Earth-like planet discovered; May have similar temperatures to our planet Posted: 30 Jun 2014 10:34 AM PDT A potentially habitable Earth-like planet that is only 16 light years away has been discovered. The "super-Earth" planet, GJ 832 c, takes 16 days to orbit its red-dwarf star, GJ 832, and has a mass at least five times that of Earth. It receives about the same average stellar energy as Earth does and may have similar temperatures to our planet. These characteristics put it among the top three most Earth-like planets.

Forelimb bone data predicts predator style Posted: 30 Jun 2014 09:44 AM PDT In their quest to understand what kind of hunter the extinct marsupial Thylacine was, two paleobiologists built a dataset of forelimb bone measurements that predict the predation style of a wide variety of carnivorous mammals.

A first: Scientists show bacteria can evolve biological timer to survive antibiotics Posted: 30 Jun 2014 07:31 AM PDT When exposed to repeated cycles of antibiotics, within days bacteria can evolve a new adaptation, by remaining dormant for the treatment period to survive antibiotic stress. The results show for the first time that bacteria can develop a biological timer to survive antibiotic exposure. With this new understanding, scientists could develop new approaches for slowing the evolution of antibiotic resistance.

Bio-printing transplantable tissues, organs: Another step closer Posted: 30 Jun 2014 07:31 AM PDT Researchers have made a giant leap towards the goal of 'bio-printing' transplantable tissues and organs for people affected by major diseases and trauma injuries, a new study reports. Scientists have bio-printed artificial vascular networks mimicking the body's circulatory system that are necessary for growing large complex tissues.

Mysterious features on Saturn's Titan reveal the moon's seasonal changes Posted: 30 Jun 2014 06:48 AM PDT At first glance, Titan has little in common with Earth. The largest moon of Saturn, temperatures on Titan's surface dip nearly 300 F below zero, its seas slosh with liquid methane, and its sky is a murky shade of creamsicle. And yet, fresh analysis of mysterious features spotted on the moon indicates that it experiences one of the same global processes that is important here on Earth. Bright spots in a large lake on Titan suggest that Saturn's largest moon supports processes similar to Earth's water cycle.

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