The EDGE: ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines -- for Sunday, July 1, 2012

ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines

for Sunday, July 1, 2012

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Curvy mountain belts (June 29, 2012) -- Mountain belts on Earth are most commonly formed by collision of one or more tectonic plates. The process of collision, uplift, and subsequent erosion of long mountain belts often produces profound global effects, including changes in regional and global climates, as well as the formation of important economic resources, including oil and gas reservoirs and ore deposits. Understanding the formation of mountain belts is thus a very important element of earth science research. ... > full story

Easter Island drug raises cognition throughout life span in mice (June 29, 2012) -- Cognitive skills such as learning and memory diminish with age in everyone, and the drop-off is steepest in Alzheimer's disease. Texas scientists seeking a way to prevent this decline reported exciting results this week with a drug that has Polynesian roots. The researchers added rapamycin to the diet of healthy mice throughout the rodents' life span. Rapamycin, a bacterial product first isolated from soil on Easter Island, enhanced learning and memory in young mice and improved these faculties in old mice, the study showed. ... > full story

New fuel cell keeps going after the hydrogen runs out (June 29, 2012) -- Materials scientists have demonstrated a solid-oxide fuel cell that converts hydrogen into electricity but can also store electrochemical energy like a battery. This fuel cell can continue to produce power for a short time after its fuel has run out. ... > full story

Scientists urge new approaches to plant research (June 29, 2012) -- If humans are to survive as a species, we must turn more to plants for any number of valuable lessons, experts say. ... > full story

New gene mutations that lead to enlarged brain size, cancer, autism, epilepsy identified (June 29, 2012) -- Scientist have discovered new gene mutations associated with markedly enlarged brain size, or megalencephaly. ... > full story

Moderate doses of alcohol increase social bonding in groups (June 29, 2012) -- A new study reveals that moderate amounts of alcohol -- consumed in a social setting -- can enhance positive emotions and social bonding and relieve negative emotions among those drinking. ... > full story

Bees shed light on human sweet perception and metabolic disorders (June 29, 2012) -- Scientists have discovered that honey bees may teach us about basic connections between taste perception and metabolic disorders in humans. By experimenting with honey bee genetics, researchers have identified connections between sugar sensitivity, diabetic physiology and carbohydrate metabolism. Bees and humans may partially share these connections. ... > full story

Clothing the body electric: Cotton T-shirt fabric can store electricity, maybe keep your cell phone charged (June 29, 2012) -- The fabric in a cotton T-shirt was converted into a material that can store electricity. A flexible source of electrical power made from this kind of material might one day be able to charge your cell phone, or any number of other mobile electronic devices. ... > full story

Making the shortest light bursts leads to better understanding of nature (June 29, 2012) -- An attosecond is a ridiculously brief sliver of time – a scant billionth of a billionth of a second. This may seem too short to have any practical applications, but at the atomic level, where electrons zip and jump about, these vanishingly short timescales are crucial to a deeper understanding of science. ... > full story

New properties of stem cells via simulated microgravity (June 29, 2012) -- A recent study set out to illustrate novel mechanical transduction properties of hematopoietic stem cells in relation to defining the expression of humoral factors by facilitating paracrine/autocrine signalling via microgravity. ... > full story

Stealthy microscopy method visualizes E. coli sub-cellular structure in 3-D (June 29, 2012) -- A sub-cellular world has been opened up for scientists to study E. coli and other tissues in new ways, thanks to a microscopy method that stealthily provides 3-D, high-quality images of the internal structure of cells without disturbing the specimen. ... > full story

Scientists help create an extra second of summer: Leap second to be added on July 1, 2012 (June 29, 2012) -- Scientists will be adding a leap second at 00:59 BST on July 1 to its atomic clocks, to ensure UK time remains synchronized with international time. ... > full story