الأربعاء، 8 يناير 2014

ScienceDaily: Top News

ScienceDaily: Top News

Giant sunspot, larger than Earth's diameter, appears on sun

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 06:55 PM PST

An enormous sunspot, labeled AR1944, slipped into view over the sun's left horizon late on Jan. 1, 2014. The sunspot steadily moved toward the right, along with the rotation of the sun, and now sits almost dead center, as seen in the image above from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

Eight million lives saved since Surgeon General's tobacco warning 50 years ago

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 06:55 PM PST

A new study estimates that 8 million lives have been saved in the United States as a result of anti-smoking measures that began 50 years ago this month with the groundbreaking report from the Surgeon General outlining the deadly consequences of tobacco use.

Link found between intimate partner violence and termination of pregnancy

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 06:53 PM PST

Intimate partner violence in women (sometimes referred to as domestic violence) is linked to termination of pregnancy, according to a new study. The study also found that intimate partner violence was linked to a women's partner not knowing about the termination of pregnancy.

Sugar-sweetened beverage tax could reduce obesity and type 2 diabetes in India

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 06:53 PM PST

A sugar-sweetened beverage tax could help mitigate the rise in obesity and type 2 diabetes rates in India among both urban and rural populations, according to a new study.

Pandora's magnifying glass: First image from Hubble's Frontier Fields

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 02:09 PM PST

This image of Abell 2744 is the first to come from Hubble's Frontier Fields observing program, which is using the magnifying power of enormous galaxy clusters to peer deep into the distant universe. Abell 2744, nicknamed Pandora's Cluster, is thought to have a very violent history, having formed from a cosmic pile-up of multiple galaxy clusters.

Out-of-this-world first light images emerge from Gemini Planet Imager

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 02:09 PM PST

After nearly a decade of development, construction and testing, the world's most advanced instrument for directly imaging and analyzing planets orbiting around other stars is pointing skyward and collecting light from distant worlds.

Stormy stars? Probing weather on brown dwarfs

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 02:06 PM PST

Swirling, stormy clouds may be ever-present on cool celestial orbs called brown dwarfs. New observations suggest that most brown dwarfs are roiling with one or more planet-size storms akin to Jupiter's "Great Red Spot."

Hubble unveils a deep sea of small and faint early galaxies

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 01:37 PM PST

Scientists have long suspected there must be a hidden population of small, faint galaxies that were responsible during the universe's early years for producing a majority of stars now present in the cosmos. At last Hubble has found them in the deepest ultraviolet-light exposures made of the early universe. This underlying population is 100 times more abundant in the universe than their more massive cousins that were detected previously.

Ultra-bright young galaxies discovered

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 01:37 PM PST

Astronomers have discovered and characterized four unusually bright galaxies as they appeared more than 13 billion years ago, just 500 million years after the big bang. Although Hubble has previously identified galaxies at this early epoch, astronomers were surprised to find objects that are about 10 to 20 times more luminous than anything seen previously.

Thousands of unseen, faraway galaxies discovered

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 01:37 PM PST

The first of a set of unprecedented, super-deep views of the universe contain images of some of the intrinsically faintest and youngest galaxies ever detected. This is just the first of several primary target fields in The Frontier Fields program. The immense gravity in this foreground galaxy cluster, Abell 2744, warps space to brighten and magnify images of far-more-distant background galaxies as they looked over 12 billion years ago, not long after the big bang.

Snowball effect of overfishing highlighted

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 01:37 PM PST

Researchers have completed a major review of fisheries data that examines the domino effect that occurs when too many fish are harvested from one habitat.

Study of African forest elephants helps guide research efforts in US

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 10:59 AM PST

Researchers are employing genotyping to study movement patterns of African forest elephants in protected and unprotected regions of Gabon to better understand how human occupation of these areas might affect elephants on the African continent. Genotyping is helping conservation biologists determine the best course of action to ensure biodiversity and the preservation of various species in the US and abroad.

Found: New cellulose digestion mechanism by fast-eating enzyme

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 10:59 AM PST

Researchers have discovered that an enzyme from a microorganism first found in the Valley of Geysers on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia in 1990 can digest cellulose almost twice as fast as the current leading component cellulase enzyme on the market.

On-demand vaccines possible with engineered nanoparticles

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 10:43 AM PST

Engineers hope a new type of vaccine they have shown to work in mice will one day make it cheaper and easy to manufacture on-demand vaccines for humans. Immunizations could be administered within minutes where and when a disease is breaking out.

Early sharks reared young in prehistoric river-delta nursery

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 10:43 AM PST

Like salmon in reverse, long-snouted Bandringa sharks migrated downstream from freshwater swamps to a tropical coastline to spawn 310 million years ago, leaving behind fossil evidence of one of the earliest known shark nurseries.

New, simple technique may drive down biofuel production costs

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 08:26 AM PST

Researchers have developed a simple, effective and relatively inexpensive technique for removing lignin from the plant material used to make biofuels, which may drive down the cost of biofuel production.

When germs attack: Lens into molecular dance

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 08:25 AM PST

Researchers have zoomed in on what is going on at the molecular level when the body recognizes and defends against an attack of pathogens, and the findings, they say, could influence how drugs are developed to treat autoimmune diseases.

Cold weather increases chances of carbon monoxide poisoning; toxicologist offers advice

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 08:25 AM PST

Temperatures in the next few days are predicted to be the coldest of the winter so far, and people using space heaters to get some extra warmth into their living and working spaces need to be aware of a potential "silent killer" inside their homes and offices — carbon monoxide (CO).

Stem cells on road to specialization

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 07:26 AM PST

Scientists have gained new insight into how both early embryonic cells and embryonic stem cells are directed into becoming specialized cell types, like pancreatic and liver cells.

Several forms of vitamin E protect against memory disorders, study says

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 07:26 AM PST

Elderly people with high serum vitamin E levels are less likely to suffer from memory disorders than their peers with lower levels, according to a study published recently. According to the researchers, various forms of vitamin E seem to play a role in memory processes.

Cancer Statistics 2014: Death rates continue to drop

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 07:26 AM PST

An American Cancer Society report finds steady declines in cancer death rates for the past two decades add up to a 20 percent drop in the overall risk of dying from cancer over that time period. Progress has been most rapid for middle-aged black men. Nevertheless, black men still have the highest cancer incidence and death rates among all ethnicities in the US.

Jumping snails left grounded in future oceans

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 06:33 AM PST

Sea snails that leap to escape their predators may lose their extraordinary jumping ability because of rising carbon dioxide emissions, scientists have discovered. Researchers observed that the conch snail, which uses a strong foot to leap away from approaching predators, either stops jumping, or takes longer to jump, when exposed to carbon dioxide levels projected for the end of this century.

Green spaces deliver lasting mental health benefits

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 06:33 AM PST

Green space in towns and cities could lead to significant and sustained improvements in mental health, finds a new study. Analyzing data that followed people over a five year period, the research has found that moving to a greener area not only improves people's mental health, but that the effect continues long after they have moved.

Racism may accelerate aging in African-American men

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 06:33 AM PST

A new study reveals that racism may impact aging at the cellular level. A research team found signs of accelerated aging in a group of African-American men who reported experiencing high levels of racial discrimination and who had internalized anti-black attitudes. Findings from the study are the first to link racism-related factors and shortened telomere length.

Rare eclipsing double asteroid discovered

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 06:33 AM PST

Students in an undergraduate astronomy class made a discovery that wowed professional astronomers: a previously unstudied asteroid is actually a pair of asteroids that orbit and eclipse one another. Fewer than 100 binary eclipsing asteroids have been found in the main asteroid belt.

Vikings and superheroes: How interconnected characters may reveal the reality behind the stories

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 06:29 AM PST

The Icelandic sagas of the Norse people are thousand-year-old chronicles of brave deeds and timeless romances, but how true to Viking life were they? Researchers used a statistical network of associations between characters to find out.

First dinosaurs identified from Saudi Arabia

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 06:28 AM PST

Dinosaur fossils are exceptionally rare in the Arabian Peninsula. Scientists have now uncovered the first record of dinosaurs from Saudi Arabia. What is now dry desert was once a beach littered with the bones and teeth of ancient marine reptiles and dinosaurs. A string of vertebrae from the tail of a huge "Brontosaurus-like" sauropod, together with some shed teeth from a carnivorous theropod represent the first formally identified dinosaur fossils from Saudi Arabia.

Stopping molecules with a centrifuge

Posted: 07 Jan 2014 06:28 AM PST

A novel deceleration technique brings fast continuous beams of polyatomic polar molecules almost to a halt.

NASA's Fermi makes first gamma-ray study of a gravitational lens

Posted: 06 Jan 2014 04:01 PM PST

Astronomers have made the first-ever gamma-ray measurements of a gravitational lens, a kind of natural telescope formed when a rare cosmic alignment allows the gravity of a massive object to bend and amplify light from a more distant source.

Faster method of boarding planes devised

Posted: 06 Jan 2014 04:00 PM PST

Researchers have come up with a new way to reduce the time it takes to board an airplane. Passengers are assigned to seats based on the amount of luggage they carry, distributing carry-ons evenly throughout the plane, resulting in a reduction in the total time to board all passengers.

Personal health record associated with improved medication adherence

Posted: 06 Jan 2014 01:01 PM PST

Patients with diabetes who used an online patient portal to refill medications increased their medication adherence and improved their cholesterol levels, according to a new study.

One in, one out: How people put a limit on their social networks

Posted: 06 Jan 2014 01:00 PM PST

A new study has shown that people still put most of their efforts into communicating with small numbers of close friends or family, often operating unconscious one-in, one-out policies so that communication patterns remain the same even when friendships change.

New packaging plastic protects as well as aluminium foil

Posted: 06 Jan 2014 10:29 AM PST

Scientists have created an alternative stretchable plastic for prolonging shelf-life of pharmaceuticals, food and electronics.

Establishing guides for molecular counting using fluorescent proteins

Posted: 06 Jan 2014 07:38 AM PST

A study recently published has been able to determine the photoactivation efficiency of fluorescent proteins, an important parameter that has so far been difficult to measure at the single molecule level.

After 49-million-year hiatus, Ectobius cockroach reappears in North America

Posted: 06 Jan 2014 06:47 AM PST

Four ancient cockroach species in the Ectobius genus were recently discovered in the 49-million-year-old Green River Formation near Rifle, Colo., and it now appears that Ectobius may have originated in the New World.
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