The EDGE: ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines -- for Friday, June 1, 2012

ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines

for Friday, June 1, 2012

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New small solid oxide fuel cell reaches record efficiency (May 31, 2012) -- A new solid oxide fuel cell system can achieve a record of up to 57 percent efficiency and is designed to be scaled up to generate electricity for individual homes or neighborhoods. ... > full story

Slingshot-driven device stops high-velocity projectiles without destroying them (May 31, 2012) -- What do you get when you combine a slingshot, a fish tank, a stack of 2-by-4s and five engineering students determined to help the United States Air Force? A device to stop high-velocity projectiles without destroying them. ... > full story

Cosmic calculations for exploring where stars are born (May 31, 2012) -- Astrophysicists can now analyze the vast molecular clouds of gas and dust where stars are born more accurately. New research has solved equations of quantum mechanics to describe more precisely the interactions between molecules of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, the two most abundant gases in space. ... > full story

Life scientists view biodiversity through a whole new dimension: Body size, feeding rates (May 31, 2012) -- How can blue whales, the largest animals on the planet, survive by feeding on krill, shrimp-like creatures that are the size of a penny? According to life scientists, it's all a matter of dimensions. ... > full story

Is there a 'healthy' obesity gene? (May 31, 2012) -- Researchers recently investigated whether a specific gene/enzyme could be help explain why some obese people do not get chronic diseases typically associated with obesity. ... > full story

New molecular structure offers first picture of a protein family vital to human health (May 31, 2012) -- The 20 proteins in the Wnt family are some of the most important proteins in controlling how an organism develops and grows, but for 30 years scientists have not known what these vital proteins actually look like. Researchers have solved the first structure of a Wnt protein, opening up new avenues of study for this biologically important molecule. ... > full story

X-ray laser probes biomolecules to individual atoms (May 31, 2012) -- Scientists have demonstrated how the world's most powerful X-ray laser can assist in cracking the structures of biomolecules, and in the processes helped to pioneer critical new investigative avenues in biology. ... > full story

Building molecular 'cages' to fight disease (May 31, 2012) -- Biochemists have designed specialized proteins that assemble themselves to form tiny molecular cages hundreds of times smaller than a single cell. The creation of these miniature structures may be the first step toward developing new methods of drug delivery or even designing artificial vaccines. ... > full story

Alzheimer's protein structure suggests new treatment directions (May 31, 2012) -- The molecular structure of a protein involved in Alzheimer's disease -- and the surprising discovery that it binds cholesterol -- could lead to new therapeutics for the disease, investigators report. ... > full story

Walking and running again after spinal cord injury (May 31, 2012) -- Rats with spinal cord injuries and severe paralysis are now walking (and running). New results show that a severed section of the spinal cord can make a comeback when its own innate intelligence and regenerative capacity -- what lead author calls the "spinal brain" -- is awakened. ... > full story

Sex: It's a good thing, study of primroses shows (May 31, 2012) -- Way more than fun and games, sexual reproduction appears to give an evolutionary advantage, biologists have discovered. ... > full story

Crash of the Titans: Milky Way is destined for head-on collision with Andromeda Galaxy (May 31, 2012) -- Astronomers can now predict with certainty the next major cosmic event to affect our galaxy, Sun, and solar system: the titanic collision of our Milky Way galaxy with the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. The Milky Way is destined to get a major makeover during the encounter, which is predicted to happen four billion years from now. It's likely the Sun will be flung into a new region of our galaxy, but our Earth and solar system are in no danger of being destroyed. ... > full story

NASA preparing to launch its newest X-ray eyes (May 31, 2012) -- NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, is being prepared for the final journey to its launch pad on Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean. The mission will study everything from massive black holes to our own sun. It is scheduled to launch no earlier than June 13. ... > full story

SpaceX Dragon capsule returns to Earth after first commercial flight to space station (May 31, 2012) -- SpaceX's Dragon capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 11:42 a.m. EDT a few hundred miles west of Baja California, Mexico, marking a successful end to the first mission by a commercial company to resupply the International Space Station. ... > full story

Mechanism that maintains stem cells readiness identified (May 31, 2012) -- An immune-system receptor plays an unexpected but crucially important role in keeping stem cells from differentiating and in helping blood cancer cells grow, researchers report. ... > full story

Geoengineering for global warming: Increasing aerosols in atmosphere would make sky whiter (May 31, 2012) -- One idea for fighting global warming is to increase the amount of aerosols in the atmosphere, scattering incoming solar energy away from Earth's surface. But scientists theorize that this solar geoengineering could have a side effect of whitening the sky during the day. New research indicates that blocking 2 percent of the sun's light would make the sky three-to-five times brighter, as well as whiter. ... > full story

Mystery of monarch butterfly migration takes new turn (May 31, 2012) -- A prevailing theory contends that eastern and western monarchs are genetically distinct, and that genetic mechanisms trigger their divergent migratory paths. An analysis by biologists, however, finds that the two groups are genetically mixed, suggesting environmental factors may be the key to the butterflies' choice of winter homes, and where they wind up in the spring. The distinction is important to help better understand their behavior, and to conserve the monarch flyways. ... > full story

ALMA Turns its Eyes to Centaurus A (May 31, 2012) -- A new image of the center of the distinctive galaxy Centaurus A shows how the new observatory allows astronomers to see through the opaque dust lanes that obscure the galaxy’s center, with unprecedented quality. ... > full story

Methane on Mars is not an indication of life: UV radiation releases methane from organic materials from meteorites (May 31, 2012) -- It was a sensation when scientists discovered methane in Mars’ atmosphere nine years ago. Many saw the presence of the gas as a clear indication of life on the inhospitable planet, as on Earth methane is produced predominantly by biological processes. Others assumed geological processes, such as volcanoes, to be the cause. Researchers have now been able to show that methane escapes from a meteorite if it is irradiated with ultraviolet light under Martian conditions. ... > full story

Advanced visualization techniques could change the paradigm for diagnosis and treatment of heart disease (May 31, 2012) -- Researchers are pioneering new ultrasound techniques that provide the first characterization of multidirectional blood flow in the heart. By focusing on fluid dynamics – specifically, the efficiency with which blood enters and exits the heart’s left ventricle – the researchers believe they can detect heart disease even when traditional measures show no sign of trouble. ... > full story

'Simple and effective' injection could offer hope for treatment of autoimmune disease (May 31, 2012) -- Australian researchers have uncovered a potential new way to regulate the body's natural immune response, offering hope of a simple and effective new treatment for autoimmune diseases. ... > full story

Electric moon jolts the solar wind (May 31, 2012) -- With the moon as the most prominent object in the night sky and a major source of an invisible pull that creates ocean tides, many ancient cultures thought it could also affect our health or state of mind -- the word "lunacy" has its origin in this belief. Now, a powerful combination of spacecraft and computer simulations is revealing that the moon does indeed have a far-reaching, invisible influence -- not on us, but on the Sun, or more specifically, the solar wind. ... > full story

Fantasizing about your dream vacation could lead to poor decision-making (May 31, 2012) -- Summer vacation time is upon us. If you have been saving up for your dream vacation for years, you may want to make sure your dream spot is still the best place to go. A new study has found that when we fantasize about such trips before they are possible, we tend to overlook the negatives -- thus influencing our decision-making down the line. ... > full story

Runners can improve health and performance with less training, study shows (May 31, 2012) -- The new 10-20-30 training concept can improve both a person's running performance and health, despite a significant reduction in the total amount of training. ... > full story

Genetic discovery unlocks biosynthesis of medicinal compound in poppy (May 31, 2012) -- Scientists have discovered a complex gene cluster responsible for the synthesis of the medicinal compound noscapine. ... > full story

'Like a jet through solid rock:' Volcanic arc fed by rapid fluid pulses (May 31, 2012) -- The depths of Earth are anything but peaceful: large quantities of liquids carve their way through the rock as fluids, causing magma to form. Scientists have now shown that the fluids flow a lot faster through solid rock than previously assumed. ... > full story

Hunting planets with laser rulers (May 31, 2012) -- Laser frequency combs can be used for the calibration of astronomical spectrographs. This will help to find extra-solar planets, i.e. planets that are orbiting a star outside our solar-system. By refining this technology it might become possible to directly measure even very small changes in the expansion velocity of the universe. ... > full story

Memory training unlikely to help in treating ADHD, boosting IQ (May 31, 2012) -- Working memory training is unlikely to be an effective treatment for children suffering from disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity or dyslexia, according to a research analysis. In addition, memory training tasks appear to have limited effect on healthy adults and children looking to do better in school or improve their cognitive skills. ... > full story

Evolution of birds is result of a drastic change in how dinosaurs developed (May 30, 2012) -- Researchers have found evidence that the evolution of birds is the result of a drastic change in how dinosaurs developed. Scientists have long understood that modern birds descended from dinosaurs. Rather than take years to reach sexual maturity, as many dinosaurs did, birds sped up the clock -- some species take as little as 12 weeks to mature -- allowing them to retain the physical characteristics of baby dinosaurs. ... > full story

New properties of carbon material graphene discovered (May 30, 2012) -- Scientists have shown that graphene has two properties that could have applications in high-speed telecommunications devices and laser technology -- population inversion of electrons and broadband optical gain. ... > full story

The special scent of age: Body odor gives away age (May 30, 2012) -- Humans can identify the age of other humans based on differences in body odor. Much of this ability is based on the capacity to identify odors of elderly individuals, and contrary to popular supposition, the so-called "old-person smell" is rated as less intense and less unpleasant than body odors of middle-aged and young individuals. ... > full story

Female choice key to evolutionary shift to modern family (May 30, 2012) -- How females chose their mates played a critical role in human evolution by leading to monogamous relationships, which laid the foundation for the institution of the modern family. ... > full story

Potentially civilization-ending super-eruptions may have surprisingly short fuses (May 30, 2012) -- Super-eruptions are potentially civilization-ending events and new research suggests that they may have surprisingly short fuses. ... > full story

Could sarcastic computers be in our future? New math model can help computers understand inference (May 30, 2012) -- Researchers have created a mathematical model that helps predict pragmatic reasoning and may eventually lead to the manufacture of machines that can better understand inference, context and social rules. ... > full story

Marriage may make people happier (May 30, 2012) -- Married people may be happier in the long run than those who aren't married, according to new research. ... > full story

Eat healthy -- your kids are watching (May 30, 2012) -- If lower-income mothers want kids with healthy diets, it's best to adopt healthy eating habits themselves and encourage their children to eat good foods rather than use force, rewards or punishments, says a new study. ... > full story

Potential new HIV vaccine/therapy target (May 30, 2012) -- A new discovery may shed light on the mystery of why some people infected with HIV are better able to control the virus, live longer and have fewer associated health problems than others who have been infected as long. It also provides a potential new target for developing therapies or vaccines. ... > full story

Nanodevice manufacturing strategy using DNA 'Building blocks' (May 30, 2012) -- Researchers have developed a method for building complex nanostructures out of interlocking DNA "building blocks" that can be programmed to assemble themselves into precisely designed shapes. With further development, the technology could one day enable the creation of new nanoscale devices that deliver drugs directly to disease sites. ... > full story

Tiny genetic variations led to big changes in the evolving human brain (May 30, 2012) -- Changes to just three genetic letters among billions led to evolution and development of the mammalian motor sensory network, and laid the groundwork for the defining characteristics of the human brain, researchers report. ... > full story

Tomato genome gets fully sequenced -- paves way to healthier fruits, veggies (May 30, 2012) -- For the first time, the genome of the tomato, Solanum lycopersicum, has been decoded, and it becomes an important step toward improving yield, nutrition, disease resistance, taste and color of the tomato and other crops. The full genome sequence, as well as the sequence of a wild relative, is has just been completed. ... > full story

Stellar archeology traces Milky Way's history (May 30, 2012) -- Unfortunately, stars don't have birth certificates. So, astronomers have a tough time figuring out their ages. Knowing a star's age is critical for understanding how our Milky Way galaxy built itself up over billions of years from smaller galaxies. But an astronomer has now found the next best thing to a star's birth certificate. ... > full story

Landslides linked to plate tectonics create the steepest mountain terrain (May 30, 2012) -- New research shows some of the steepest mountain slopes in the world got that way because of the interplay between terrain uplift associated with plate tectonics and powerful streams cutting into hillsides, leading to large landslides. ... > full story

Why Earth is not an ice ball: Possible explanation for faint young sun paradox (May 30, 2012) -- More than 2 billion years ago, a much fainter sun should have left the Earth as an orbiting ice ball. Why we avoided the deep freeze is a question that has puzzled scientists, but one astronomer might have an answer. ... > full story

First epigenome in Europe completed (May 30, 2012) -- Scientists have now completed the first epigenome in Europe. ... > full story

Despite less play, children's use of imagination increases over two decades (May 30, 2012) -- Children today may be busier than ever, but psychologists have found that their imagination hasn't suffered -- in fact, it appears to have increased. ... > full story

Light-induced delivery of nitric oxide eradicates drug-resistant bacteria (May 30, 2012) -- Researchers have developed a novel approach for eradicating drug-resistant bacteria from wounds and skin infections, using light to trigger the controlled release of nitric oxide. Medical researchers developed a photoactive compound that releases nitric oxide when exposed to light, and loaded it into a porous, biocompatible material that could be applied as a sprayable powder. ... > full story

A trained palate: Understanding complexities of taste, smell could lead to improved diet (May 30, 2012) -- Researchers have made some fundamental discoveries about how people taste, smell and detect flavor, and why they love some foods much more than others. The findings could lead to the Holy Grail of nutrition -- helping people learn to really like vegetables. ... > full story

To spread, nervous system viruses sabotage cell, hijack transportation (May 30, 2012) -- Researchers have found that herpes and other viruses that attack the nervous system may thrive by disrupting cell function in order to hijack a neuron's internal transportation network and spread to other cells. ... > full story