ScienceDaily: Top News

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• NASA develops super-black material that absorbs light across multiple wavelength bands
• Researchers create extra-long electrical arcs using less energy
• 'Noise' tunes logic circuit made from virus genes
• Precipitation variability in Northeast, Southwest linked in 1,000-year analysis
• Abnormal number of neurons in brains of children with autism, preliminary study finds
• Hi-tech scans catch prehistoric mite hitching ride on spider
• Conservation scientists 'unanimous' in expectations of serious loss of biological diversity, study shows
• Which way you lean -- physically -- affects your decision-making
• Wood biofuel could be a competitive industry by 2020
• Adult living donor liver transplants safe, study finds
• Diabetes linked to cognitive impairment in older adults, study suggests
• Can metals remember their shape at nanoscale, too?
• Routine iron fortification of infant formula linked to poorer development
• Farmed fish fed vegetable matter may have residual pesticides
• NASA captures new images of large asteroid passing Earth
• Removing sugar-sweetened beverages from schools associated with reduced access to, but not consumption of these beverages among adolescents
• Neuromuscular warm-up associated with reduced lower extremity injuries in adolescent female athletes
• Study characterizes epigenetic signatures of autism in brain tissue
• Ancient DNA provides new insights into cave paintings of horses
• Sea life 'must swim faster to survive' to survive climate change
• Aging could influence climate change: Individual carbon dioxide emissions decline in old age
• Secrets of tunneling through energy barriers: How massless electrons tunnel through energy barriers in a carbon sheet called graphene

NASA develops super-black material that absorbs light across multiple wavelength bands Posted: 08 Nov 2011 06:30 PM PST NASA engineers have produced a material that absorbs on average more than 99 percent of the ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and far-infrared light that hits it -- a development that promises to open new frontiers in space technology.

Researchers create extra-long electrical arcs using less energy Posted: 08 Nov 2011 05:15 PM PST Photos taken by the researchers show plasma arcs up to 60 meters long casting an eerie blue glow over buildings and trees at the High Voltage Laboratory at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.

'Noise' tunes logic circuit made from virus genes Posted: 08 Nov 2011 05:15 PM PST In the world of engineering, "noise" – random fluctuations from environmental sources such as heat – is generally a bad thing. In electronic circuits, it is unavoidable, and as circuits get smaller and smaller, noise has a greater and more detrimental effect on a circuit's performance. Now some scientists are saying: if you can't beat it, use it.

Precipitation variability in Northeast, Southwest linked in 1,000-year analysis Posted: 08 Nov 2011 05:15 PM PST An analysis of precipitation data collected from a lakebed in New York and a Rhode Island estuary has provided a link between the variability of precipitation in the Northeast with that of the Southwest. The results validate climate models that predict an increasing number of extreme weather events.

Abnormal number of neurons in brains of children with autism, preliminary study finds Posted: 08 Nov 2011 05:07 PM PST In a small, preliminary study that included 13 male children, those with autism had an average 67 percent more prefrontal brain neurons and larger than average brain weight, than children without autism.

Hi-tech scans catch prehistoric mite hitching ride on spider Posted: 08 Nov 2011 04:51 PM PST Scientists have produced amazing three-dimensional images of a prehistoric mite as it hitched a ride on the back of a 50-million-year-old spider. At just 176 micrometres long and barely visible to the naked eye, the mite -- trapped inside Baltic amber (fossil tree resin) -- is believed to be the smallest arthropod fossil ever to be scanned using X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanning techniques.

Conservation scientists 'unanimous' in expectations of serious loss of biological diversity, study shows Posted: 08 Nov 2011 04:51 PM PST The number of species recognized as endangered is ever increasing and a new study reveals the unanimity among conservation scientists of expectations of a major loss of biological diversity. The survey also shows a growing acceptance of controversial strategies such as 'triage' -- a decision to prioritize resources and not to intervene to save some highly threatened species.

Which way you lean -- physically -- affects your decision-making Posted: 08 Nov 2011 10:30 AM PST We're not always aware of how we are making a decision. Unconscious feelings or perceptions may influence us. Another important source of information -- even if we're unaware of it -- is the body itself.

Wood biofuel could be a competitive industry by 2020 Posted: 08 Nov 2011 10:30 AM PST Fuel made from wood could become a competitive commercial alternative to fuel made from corn by 2020 if the wood biofuel industry is supported, according to a new study.

Adult living donor liver transplants safe, study finds Posted: 08 Nov 2011 10:29 AM PST Desperately needed adult living donor liver transplantation is a safe surgery for the donor, according to researchers. The study looked at donor safety from a single center over a period of 10 years and found there were no patient deaths and no life-threatening complications requiring ICU care.

Diabetes linked to cognitive impairment in older adults, study suggests Posted: 08 Nov 2011 08:59 AM PST For the past five years, a team led by researchers has been studying the effects of diabetes on cognitive health in older individuals and has determined that memory loss, depression and other types of cognitive impairment are a serious consequence of this widespread disease. Now, this team has identified a key mechanism behind this course of events.

Can metals remember their shape at nanoscale, too? Posted: 08 Nov 2011 07:46 AM PST Physicists have now visualized changes in shape memory materials down to the nanometric scale.

Routine iron fortification of infant formula linked to poorer development Posted: 08 Nov 2011 06:44 AM PST Iron fortification has helped babies around the world, but a long-term study raises questions about the optimal amount of iron in infant formula.

Farmed fish fed vegetable matter may have residual pesticides Posted: 08 Nov 2011 06:43 AM PST Today, half of all the fish we eat comes from fish farms. The problem is that these fish are increasingly being fed vegetable matter, which could lead to a build-up of residual pesticides in them. A new test shows how high the risk of contamination really is.

NASA captures new images of large asteroid passing Earth Posted: 08 Nov 2011 04:06 AM PST NASA's Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone, Calif. has captured new radar images of Asteroid 2005 YU55 passing close to Earth. The asteroid safely will safely fly past our planet slightly closer than the moon's orbit on Nov. 8. The last time a space rock this large came as close to Earth was in 1976, although astronomers did not know about the flyby at the time. The next known approach of an asteroid this size will be in 2028.

Removing sugar-sweetened beverages from schools associated with reduced access to, but not consumption of these beverages among adolescents Posted: 07 Nov 2011 01:27 PM PST State policies banning all sugar-sweetened beverages in schools are associated with reduced in-school access and purchase of these beverages, however these policies are not associated with a reduction in overall consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, according to a new report.

Neuromuscular warm-up associated with reduced lower extremity injuries in adolescent female athletes Posted: 07 Nov 2011 01:27 PM PST Integrating a coach-led neuromuscular warm-up prior to sports practice appeared to reduce the risk of lower extremity injuries in female high school soccer and basketball athletes, according to a new report.

Study characterizes epigenetic signatures of autism in brain tissue Posted: 07 Nov 2011 01:27 PM PST Neurons in the prefrontal cortex of individuals with autism show changes at numerous sites across the genome, according to a new study.

Ancient DNA provides new insights into cave paintings of horses Posted: 07 Nov 2011 01:22 PM PST An international team of researchers has used ancient DNA to shed new light on the realism of horses depicted in prehistoric cave paintings. The team, which includes researchers from the University of York, has found that all the colour variations seen in Paleolithic cave paintings – including distinctive 'leopard' spotting - existed in pre-domestic horse populations, lending weight to the argument that the artists were reflecting their natural environment.

Sea life 'must swim faster to survive' to survive climate change Posted: 07 Nov 2011 01:19 PM PST Fish and other sea creatures will have to travel large distances to survive climate change, international marine scientists have warned. Sea life, particularly in the Indian Ocean, the Western and Eastern Pacific and the subarctic oceans will face growing pressures to adapt or relocate to escape extinction, according to a new study.

Aging could influence climate change: Individual carbon dioxide emissions decline in old age Posted: 07 Nov 2011 12:54 PM PST New demographic analysis reveals that the carbon dioxide emissions of the average American increase until around the age of 65, and then start to decrease. For the United States this means that, although the aging of the population will lead to a slight overall rise in CO2 emissions over the next four decades, the long-term trends indicate that increasing life expectancy will result in a reduction in emissions.

Secrets of tunneling through energy barriers: How massless electrons tunnel through energy barriers in a carbon sheet called graphene Posted: 07 Nov 2011 12:54 PM PST Electrons moving in graphene behave in an unusual way, as demonstrated by 2010 Nobel Prize laureates for physics Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, who performed transport experiments on this one-carbon-atom-thick material. A review article explores the theoretical and experimental results to date of electrons tunneling through energy barriers in graphene.

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