ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Expedition yields unexpected clues to ocean mysteries
• Domestication of dogs may have elaborated on a pre-existing capacity of wolves to learn from humans
• 'Spooky action' builds a wormhole between 'entangled' quantum particles
• Ocean currents shape Jupiter-moon Europa's icy shell in ways critical for potential habitats
• Hubble traces subtle signals of water on hazy worlds
• Alzheimer's risk gene may begin to affect brains in childhood, research shows
• Tipping points: Where may abrupt impacts from climate change occur?
• Catastrophic collapse of Sahara Desert's wildlife
• Unlikely collaboration leads to discovery of 'gender-bending' plant
• Prenatal exposure to alcohol disrupts brain circuitry: No safe level of drinking during pregnancy, neuroscientist says
• New thermoelectronic generator: Heat energy efficiently converted to electricity
• Dual protein knockout could lead to new male contraceptive
• New evidence suggests Neanderthals organized their living spaces
• New research shows promise for possible HIV cure
• Division of labor in the test tube: Bacteria grow faster if they feed each other
• Genome for the king cobra sequenced
• Living desert underground: In perpetual darkness of limestone cave, surprisingly diverse ecosystem of microbes

Expedition yields unexpected clues to ocean mysteries Posted: 03 Dec 2013 04:11 PM PST Geoscientists have revealed new discoveries about Earth's development, following a major international expedition that recovered the first-ever drill core from the lower crust of the Pacific Ocean.

Domestication of dogs may have elaborated on a pre-existing capacity of wolves to learn from humans Posted: 03 Dec 2013 01:17 PM PST Wolves can learn from observing humans and pack members where food is hidden and recognize when humans only pretend to hide food, reports a new study.

'Spooky action' builds a wormhole between 'entangled' quantum particles Posted: 03 Dec 2013 01:15 PM PST New research indicates a phenomenon known as "quantum entanglement" might be intrinsically linked with wormholes, hypothetical features of space-time that could link one part of the universe with another.

Ocean currents shape Jupiter-moon Europa's icy shell in ways critical for potential habitats Posted: 03 Dec 2013 10:38 AM PST In a finding of relevance to the search for life in our solar system, researchers have shown the subsurface ocean on Jupiter's moon Europa may have deep currents and circulation patterns with heat and energy transfers capable of sustaining biological life. The findings are based on numerical models accounting for the formation of the chaos terrains, one of Europa's most prominent surface features.

Hubble traces subtle signals of water on hazy worlds Posted: 03 Dec 2013 10:38 AM PST Using the powerful eye of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, scientists have found faint signatures of water in the atmospheres of five distant planets. The presence of atmospheric water was reported previously on a few exoplanets orbiting stars beyond our solar system, but this is the first study to conclusively measure and compare the profiles and intensities of these signatures on multiple worlds.

Alzheimer's risk gene may begin to affect brains in childhood, research shows Posted: 03 Dec 2013 10:38 AM PST People who carry a high-risk gene for Alzheimer's disease show changes in their brains beginning in childhood, decades before the illness appears, new research suggests.

Tipping points: Where may abrupt impacts from climate change occur? Posted: 03 Dec 2013 09:47 AM PST A new report extends the idea of abrupt climate change, stating that even steady, gradual change in the physical climate system can have abrupt impacts elsewhere -- in human infrastructure and ecosystems for example -- if critical thresholds are crossed.

Catastrophic collapse of Sahara Desert's wildlife Posted: 03 Dec 2013 09:45 AM PST A new study warns that the world's largest tropical desert, the Sahara, has suffered a catastrophic collapse of its wildlife populations.

Unlikely collaboration leads to discovery of 'gender-bending' plant Posted: 03 Dec 2013 08:22 AM PST Biologists have discovered and described a new species of wild eggplant, found in Australia's Lost City. The plant is curiously described as "gender bending," coming from the fact that the females actually pretend to be male by producing pollen.

Prenatal exposure to alcohol disrupts brain circuitry: No safe level of drinking during pregnancy, neuroscientist says Posted: 03 Dec 2013 07:59 AM PST Prenatal exposure to alcohol severely disrupts major features of brain development that potentially lead to increased anxiety and poor motor function, conditions typical in humans with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, say neuroscientists.

New thermoelectronic generator: Heat energy efficiently converted to electricity Posted: 03 Dec 2013 07:59 AM PST Through a process known as thermionic conversion, heat energy can be converted into electricity with very high efficiency. Because of its promise, researchers have been trying for more than half a century to develop a practical thermionic generator, with little luck. That luck may soon change, thanks to a new design -- dubbed a thermoelectronic generator.

Dual protein knockout could lead to new male contraceptive Posted: 03 Dec 2013 06:16 AM PST A new male contraceptive could be on the horizon after scientists identified a novel way to block the transport of sperm during ejaculation.

New evidence suggests Neanderthals organized their living spaces Posted: 03 Dec 2013 06:16 AM PST Scientists have found that Neanderthals organized their living spaces in ways that would be familiar to modern humans, a discovery that once again shows similarities between these two close cousins.

New research shows promise for possible HIV cure Posted: 03 Dec 2013 06:16 AM PST Researchers have used radioimmunotherapy to destroy remaining human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected cells in the blood samples of patients treated with antiretroviral therapy, offering the promise of a strategy for curing HIV infection.

Division of labor in the test tube: Bacteria grow faster if they feed each other Posted: 03 Dec 2013 06:14 AM PST The division of labor is more efficient than a struggle through life without help from others -- this is also true for microorganisms. Researchers came to this conclusion when they performed experiments with microbes. The scientists worked with bacteria that were deficient in the production of a certain amino acid and therefore depended on a partner to provide the missing nutrient.

Genome for the king cobra sequenced Posted: 03 Dec 2013 06:07 AM PST Biologists who have recently sequenced the genome of the king cobra, say that their work reveals dynamic evolution and adaptation in the snake venom system, which seemingly occurs in response to an evolutionary arms race between venomous snakes and their prey.

Living desert underground: In perpetual darkness of limestone cave, surprisingly diverse ecosystem of microbes Posted: 02 Dec 2013 01:22 PM PST Researchers have discovered a surprisingly diverse ecosystem of microbes in a limestone cave near Tucson, Arizona, eking out a living from not much more than drip water, rock and air. The discovery not only expands our understanding of how microbes manage to colonize every niche on the planet but also could lead to applications ranging from environmental cleanup solutions to drug development.

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