ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Comet Garradd departs
• 'Sounds of silence' proving a hit: World's fastest random number generator
• On the border between matter and anti-matter: Nanoscientists find long-sought Majorana particle
• Electron microscopy inspires flexoelectric theory behind 'material on the brink'
• Implantable medical device is designed to warn patients of impending heart attack
• Twice as many emperor penguins as thought in Antarctica, first-ever penguin count from space shows
• How a bump on the head could have caused permanent disability
• Uranus auroras glimpsed from Earth
• Water, water everywhere – but is it essential to life? New findings could lead to better industrial enzymes
• Cyberbullying and bullying are not the same
• Direct transfer of plant genes from chloroplasts into the cell nucleus: Gene function preserved despite structural differences in the DNA
• Recognizing flipped famous faces might indicate the mental health problem body dysmorphic disorder
• Dealing with infertility is a complicated journey of options and decisions
• Magnetic test technique helps ensure reliability of microelectronics, PV cells & MEMS
• Decoding worm lingo: Eradicating parasites that speak same language
• Probing hydrogen under extreme conditions
• Resurfacing urban areas to offset 150 billion tons of CO2
• Changes in gene expression may help explain high blood pressure in pregnancy
• Designing the interplanetary web
• Innovative glove-within-a-mitten lets users stay ‘touchscreen friendly’ in cold winter
• 3D planning tool for the city of tomorrow
• Jars of baby food very low in micro-nutrients, UK study suggests
• European dung-fly females all aflutter for large males
• Symptomatic behaviour in childhood strongly predicts psychiatric treatment as a young adult
• How to curb discharge of the most potent greenhouse gas: 50-percent reduction in meat consumption and emissions
• Poor spring rain projected in Africa

Comet Garradd departs Posted: 13 Apr 2012 01:24 PM PDT An outbound comet that provided a nice show for skywatchers late last year is the target of an ongoing investigation by NASA's Swift satellite. Formally designated C/2009 P1 (Garradd), the unusually dust-rich comet provides a novel opportunity to characterize how cometary activity changes at ever greater distance from the sun.

'Sounds of silence' proving a hit: World's fastest random number generator Posted: 13 Apr 2012 01:12 PM PDT Researchers in Australia have developed the fastest random number generator in the world by listening to the 'sounds of silence'. The researchers have tuned their very sensitive light detectors to listen to vacuum -- a region of space that is empty.

On the border between matter and anti-matter: Nanoscientists find long-sought Majorana particle Posted: 13 Apr 2012 01:00 PM PDT Scientists in the Netherlands have succeeded for the first time in detecting a Majorana particle. In the 1930s, Italian physicist Ettore Majorana deduced from quantum theory the possibility of the existence of a very special particle, a particle that is its own anti-particle: the Majorana fermion. That 'Majorana' would be right on the border between matter and anti-matter.

Electron microscopy inspires flexoelectric theory behind 'material on the brink' Posted: 13 Apr 2012 11:53 AM PDT Electron microscopy has led to a new theory to explain intriguing properties in a material with potential applications in capacitors and actuators.

Implantable medical device is designed to warn patients of impending heart attack Posted: 13 Apr 2012 11:53 AM PDT Researchers have studied the benefits of an implantable medical device designed to alert users about a potential heart attack through a combination of vibrations, audible tones, and visual warnings.

Twice as many emperor penguins as thought in Antarctica, first-ever penguin count from space shows Posted: 13 Apr 2012 11:53 AM PDT A new study using satellite mapping technology reveals there are twice as many emperor penguins in Antarctica than previously thought. The results provide an important benchmark for monitoring the impact of environmental change on the population of this iconic bird, which breeds in remote areas that are very difficult to study because they often are inaccessible with temperatures as low as -58 degrees Fahrenheit.

How a bump on the head could have caused permanent disability Posted: 13 Apr 2012 11:52 AM PDT When Dr. Irene Gatti de Leon slipped on the ice and bumped her head, she wasn't too concerned. But two months later, she experienced weakness in her right leg and right arm, and was in imminent danger of suffering permanent disability similar to a stroke.

Uranus auroras glimpsed from Earth Posted: 13 Apr 2012 09:22 AM PDT For the first time, scientists have captured images of auroras above the giant ice planet Uranus, finding further evidence of just how peculiar a world that distant planet is. Detected by means of carefully scheduled observations from the Hubble Space Telescope, the newly witnessed Uranian light show consisted of short-lived, faint, glowing dots - a world of difference from the colorful curtains of light that often ring Earth's poles.

Water, water everywhere – but is it essential to life? New findings could lead to better industrial enzymes Posted: 13 Apr 2012 09:22 AM PDT Scientists have now challenged one of the key beliefs in chemistry: that proteins are dependent on water to survive and function. The findings could eventually lead to the development of new industrial enzymes.

Cyberbullying and bullying are not the same Posted: 13 Apr 2012 09:22 AM PDT New research comparing traditional bullying with cyberbullying finds that the dynamics of online bullying are different, suggesting that anti-bullying programs need specific interventions to target online aggression.

Direct transfer of plant genes from chloroplasts into the cell nucleus: Gene function preserved despite structural differences in the DNA Posted: 13 Apr 2012 09:19 AM PDT Chloroplasts, the plant cell's green solar power generators, were once living beings in their own right. This changed about one billion years ago, when they were swallowed up but not digested by larger cells. Since then, they have lost much of their autonomy. As time went on, most of their genetic information found its way into the cell nucleus; today, chloroplasts would no longer be able to live outside their host cell. Scientists in Scientists have now discovered that chloroplast genes take a direct route to the cell nucleus, where they can be correctly read in spite of their architectural differences.

Recognizing flipped famous faces might indicate the mental health problem body dysmorphic disorder Posted: 13 Apr 2012 09:19 AM PDT Individuals with the mental health problem "body dysmorphic disorder" (BDD) cannot accurately detect negative facial emotions but they have an amazing ability to recognize famous faces - when they are upside-down.

Dealing with infertility is a complicated journey of options and decisions Posted: 13 Apr 2012 09:19 AM PDT When you cannot become a parent without outside help, making decisions to deal with your longing is a complicated process. The world of assisted reproduction treatment is confusing, but the couples try to adapt since it is their only possibility to conceive a child together.

Magnetic test technique helps ensure reliability of microelectronics, PV cells & MEMS Posted: 13 Apr 2012 07:13 AM PDT Taking advantage of the force generated by magnetic repulsion, researchers have developed a new technique for measuring the adhesion strength between thin films of materials used in microelectronic devices, photovoltaic cells and microelectromechanical systems.

Decoding worm lingo: Eradicating parasites that speak same language Posted: 13 Apr 2012 07:13 AM PDT All animals seem to have ways of exchanging information -- monkeys vocalize complex messages, ants create scent trails to food, and fireflies light up their bellies to attract mates. Yet, despite the fact that nematodes, or roundworms, are among the most abundant animals on the planet, little is known about the way they network. Now, biologists have shown that a wide range of nematodes communicate using a recently discovered class of chemical cues.

Probing hydrogen under extreme conditions Posted: 13 Apr 2012 07:13 AM PDT How hydrogen -- the most abundant element in the cosmos -- responds to extremes of pressure and temperature is one of the major challenges in modern physical science. Moreover, knowledge gleaned from experiments using hydrogen as a testing ground on the nature of chemical bonding can fundamentally expand our understanding of matter. New work has enabled researchers to examine hydrogen under pressures never before possible.

Resurfacing urban areas to offset 150 billion tons of CO2 Posted: 13 Apr 2012 07:13 AM PDT Imagine a world where the rooftops and pavements of every urban area are resurfaced to increase the reflection of the sun's light rays. Well, this is exactly what a group of Canadian researchers have simulated in an attempt to measure the potential effects against global warming.

Changes in gene expression may help explain high blood pressure in pregnancy Posted: 13 Apr 2012 07:13 AM PDT Researchers have discovered that changes in the gene expression of a key enzyme may contribute to high blood pressure and increase susceptibility to forming blood clots in pregnant women with preeclampsia.

Designing the interplanetary web Posted: 13 Apr 2012 07:11 AM PDT Reliable Internet access on the Moon, near Mars or for astronauts on a space station? How about controlling a planetary rover from a spacecraft in deep space? These are just some of the pioneering technologies that ESA is working on for future exploration missions.

Innovative glove-within-a-mitten lets users stay ‘touchscreen friendly’ in cold winter Posted: 13 Apr 2012 07:11 AM PDT It is snowing, it is cold and you are in full winter gear. How are you going to answer your phone or use a tablet outdoors with bulky gloves on? This was the question running through the mind of an undergraduate exchange student in Stockholm. With temperatures as cold as -20°C, she was not able to find gloves that would allow her use a touch screen phone, while keeping warm. So, she invented one – hybrid touch screen gloves that double up as mittens.

3D planning tool for the city of tomorrow Posted: 13 Apr 2012 07:11 AM PDT Noise levels, fine particulate matter, traffic volumes – these data are of interest to urban planners and residents alike. A three-dimensional presentation will soon make it easier to handle them: as the user virtually moves through his city, the corresponding data are displayed as green, yellow or red dots.

Jars of baby food very low in micro-nutrients, UK study suggests Posted: 13 Apr 2012 07:11 AM PDT The micro-nutrient content in commonly used ready-made baby meals contain less than a fifth of the recommended daily supply of calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron and other minerals, new research suggests. Researchers took eight different sample jars produced by four popular brands from the shelves of leading supermarkets and investigated the micro-nutrient content. The research showed that infants given one meat jar and one vegetable jar on top of 600ml of formula milk would not be getting enough calcium, magnesium, copper and selenium. On average, the levels were below 20% of the recommended daily supply.

European dung-fly females all aflutter for large males Posted: 13 Apr 2012 07:11 AM PDT European dung fly females prefer large males, making them the driving selective force behind the rare phenomenon in insects of large males and small females. This is what evolutionary ecologists discovered when they compared North American and European dung flies, which not only differ in sexual size dimorphism (SSD), but also in their mating behavior.

Symptomatic behaviour in childhood strongly predicts psychiatric treatment as a young adult Posted: 13 Apr 2012 07:11 AM PDT A survey on the mental health of eight-year-old children could help identify those individuals who are highly likely to require psychiatric treatment in their teens or early adulthood, shows a new study.

How to curb discharge of the most potent greenhouse gas: 50-percent reduction in meat consumption and emissions Posted: 13 Apr 2012 07:08 AM PDT A new study found that meat consumption in the developed world would need to be cut by 50 percent per person by 2050, and emissions in all sectors -- industrial and agricultural -- would need to be reduced by 50 percent if we are to meet the most aggressive strategy set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to reduce the most potent of greenhouse gases, nitrous oxide (N2O).

Poor spring rain projected in Africa Posted: 12 Apr 2012 11:18 AM PDT Spring rains in the eastern Horn of Africa are projected to begin late this year and be substantially lower than normal. From March to May, the rains are expected to total only 60 to 85 percentage of the average rainfall in this region. This is a significant deterioration compared to earlier forecasts.

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