ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• On the border between matter and anti-matter: Nanoscientists find long-sought Majorana particle
• Twice as many emperor penguins as thought in Antarctica, first-ever penguin count from space shows
• Uranus auroras glimpsed from Earth
• Decoding worm lingo: Eradicating parasites that speak same language

On the border between matter and anti-matter: Nanoscientists find long-sought Majorana particle Posted: 13 Apr 2012 01:00 PM PDT Scientists in the Netherlands have succeeded for the first time in detecting a Majorana particle. In the 1930s, Italian physicist Ettore Majorana deduced from quantum theory the possibility of the existence of a very special particle, a particle that is its own anti-particle: the Majorana fermion. That 'Majorana' would be right on the border between matter and anti-matter.

Twice as many emperor penguins as thought in Antarctica, first-ever penguin count from space shows Posted: 13 Apr 2012 11:53 AM PDT A new study using satellite mapping technology reveals there are twice as many emperor penguins in Antarctica than previously thought. The results provide an important benchmark for monitoring the impact of environmental change on the population of this iconic bird, which breeds in remote areas that are very difficult to study because they often are inaccessible with temperatures as low as -58 degrees Fahrenheit.

Uranus auroras glimpsed from Earth Posted: 13 Apr 2012 09:22 AM PDT For the first time, scientists have captured images of auroras above the giant ice planet Uranus, finding further evidence of just how peculiar a world that distant planet is. Detected by means of carefully scheduled observations from the Hubble Space Telescope, the newly witnessed Uranian light show consisted of short-lived, faint, glowing dots - a world of difference from the colorful curtains of light that often ring Earth's poles.

Decoding worm lingo: Eradicating parasites that speak same language Posted: 13 Apr 2012 07:13 AM PDT All animals seem to have ways of exchanging information -- monkeys vocalize complex messages, ants create scent trails to food, and fireflies light up their bellies to attract mates. Yet, despite the fact that nematodes, or roundworms, are among the most abundant animals on the planet, little is known about the way they network. Now, biologists have shown that a wide range of nematodes communicate using a recently discovered class of chemical cues.

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