ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Arctic seafloor methane releases double previous estimates
• Mach 1000 shock wave lights supernova remnant
• Ancient minerals: Which gave rise to life?
• Swarming insect provides clues to how the brain processes smells
• Broken cellular 'clock' linked to brain damage
• Archaeological discoveries confirm early date of Buddha's life
• Pill-popping galaxy hooked on gas

Arctic seafloor methane releases double previous estimates Posted: 25 Nov 2013 02:21 PM PST The seafloor off the coast of Northern Siberia is releasing more than twice the amount of methane as previously estimated, according to new research results.

Mach 1000 shock wave lights supernova remnant Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:48 PM PST When a star explodes as a supernova, the material blasted outward from the explosion still glows hundreds or thousands of years later, forming a picturesque supernova remnant. What powers such long-lived brilliance? In the case of Tycho's supernova remnant, astronomers have discovered that a reverse shock wave racing inward at Mach 1000 (1,000 times the speed of sound) is heating the remnant and causing it to emit X-ray light.

Ancient minerals: Which gave rise to life? Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:48 PM PST Life originated as a result of natural processes that exploited early Earth's raw materials. Scientific models of life's origins almost always look to minerals for such essential tasks as the synthesis of life's molecular building blocks or the supply of metabolic energy. But this assumes that the mineral species found on Earth today are much the same as they were during Earth's first 550 million years -- the Hadean Eon -- when life emerged. A new analysis of Hadean mineralogy challenges that assumption.

Swarming insect provides clues to how the brain processes smells Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:42 PM PST Our sense of smell is often the first response to environmental stimuli. Odors trigger neurons in the brain that alert us to take action. However, there is often more than one odor in the environment, such as in coffee shops or grocery stores. How does our brain process multiple odors received simultaneously?

Broken cellular 'clock' linked to brain damage Posted: 25 Nov 2013 09:53 AM PST A new discovery may help explain the surprisingly strong connections between sleep problems and neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.

Archaeological discoveries confirm early date of Buddha's life Posted: 25 Nov 2013 09:17 AM PST Archaeologists working in Nepal have uncovered evidence of a structure at the birthplace of the Buddha dating to the sixth century B.C. This is the first archaeological material linking the life of the Buddha -- and thus the first flowering of Buddhism -- to a specific century.

Pill-popping galaxy hooked on gas Posted: 25 Nov 2013 07:12 AM PST Our Galaxy may have been swallowing "pills" -- clouds of gas with a magnetic wrapper -- to keep making stars for the past eight billion years.

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