ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Astronomers see black hole raging red
• Storks give up on winter migration in favor of junk food
• Employee recognition programs can reduce firm-level productivity
• Just made a bad decision? Perhaps anxiety is to blame
• Mindfulness meditation provides opioid-free pain relief, study finds
• New method could unleash solar power potential
• Whip spiders only look terrifying
• Smartphones could improve skin cancer detection in developing countries
• Compressing turbulence to improve internal confinement fusion experiments
• Outsourcing crystal growth...to space
• Scientist helps move structural biology into 'big data' era
• Adolescent female pandas not the demure homebodies once thought
• Unique beak evolved with tool use in New Caledonian crow
• How more research and development funding can hasten green revolution
• When you claim social security influences whether your spouse enters poverty in widowhood
• Marine protected areas can benefit large sharks
• Smartwatches can now track your finger in mid-air using sonar
• Sweet corn genes related to crowding stress identified
• New microwave imaging approach opens a nanoscale view on processes in liquids
• Scientists discover microbiome that may be responsible for male reproductive disorders
• Trade in rare plants on social media must be monitored
• Companies that are interactive, informative can be more influential
• The sounds of eating may reduce how much you eat
• Scientists identify molecular markers of kidney transplant rejection
• Consider an organic approach to your lawn
• Odds of a perfect NCAA bracket? 1-in-9.2 quintillion
• Seagrass at Perth’s Rottnest island (Australia) has paid a terrible price for the island’s popularity among tourists and day-trippers
• Historian uncovers secrets of the Reformation hidden in England’s oldest printed bible
• Reduced immunosuppression drug dose may be best for kidney transplant outcomes, study suggests
• Paving the way for metastasis
• Certain plant extracts may keep you young -- and alive
• Psychologists explore pain in Hispanic Americans
• Conservatives and liberals do think differently
• Dopamine key to vocal learning, songbird study finds
• Digging deeper: Study improves permafrost models, reduces uncertainties
• 400,000-year-old fossils from Spain provide earliest genetic evidence of Neanderthals
• Playing dumb and giving the cold shoulder: How stereotypes pervade the workplace
• What incentives work best to get a team to exercise more?
• Detecting radioactive material from a remote distance
• Sharkskin actually increases drag
• Scratching the surface: Real-time monitoring of surface changes at the atomic level
• Misleading p-values showing up more often in biomedical journal articles
• A rolling stone gathers no mates
• Similarities in fruit fly nervous systems transform view of metamorphosis
• In cubosomes it's their interior that counts
• The next step in preventing diabetes
• Incredible images reveal bacteria motor parts in unprecedented detail
• Oil and natural gas boom causes methane emissions to increase
• Reduction in dietary diversity impacts richness of human gut microbiota
• Laser beams with a 'twist': New spiral laser for twisted light
• Photosynthesis more ancient than thought, and most living things could do it
• New way to harvest stem cells better for donors
• Novel blood test for Alzheimer's diagnosis
• Female frogs identify own offspring using inner GPS
• Crowd review: Using the wisdom of the crowd to improve design
• Magnetic nanoparticles show promise in biomedical applications
• Development of a wall-climbing drone
• New electrode for ion concentration analysis: affordable and suitable for mass production
• 'Fairy circles' discovered in Australia
• The quest for spin liquids: new connections between exotic states of matter

Astronomers see black hole raging red Posted: 15 Mar 2016 07:04 PM PDT Violent red flashes, lasting just fractions of a second, have been observed during one of the brightest black hole outbursts in recent years. In June 2015, a black hole called V404 Cygni underwent dramatic brightening for about two weeks, as it devoured material that it had stripped off an orbiting companion star. V404 Cygni, which is about 7,800 light years from Earth, was the first definitive black hole to be identified in our Galaxy and can appear extremely bright when it is actively devouring material. Astronomers report that the black hole emitted dazzling red flashes lasting just fractions of a second, as it blasted out material that it could not swallow.

Storks give up on winter migration in favor of junk food Posted: 15 Mar 2016 07:02 PM PDT Storks are giving up on winter migration in favor of junk food, new research indicates. The research shows that the birds make round-trips of almost 100km to get their fix. Storks are among a growing number of migratory species that have changed their behavior due to human influences and global environmental change. The research is the first to confirm that white storks are now resident nesting and living near landfill sites all year round.

Employee recognition programs can reduce firm-level productivity Posted: 15 Mar 2016 03:27 PM PDT An academic study shows that seemingly innocuous non-financial award programs can be costly to firms, primarily because they can upset the status quo and influence perceptions of equity and fairness. This can lead to internally motivated employees becoming disenfranchised.

Just made a bad decision? Perhaps anxiety is to blame Posted: 15 Mar 2016 03:27 PM PDT Scientists have discovered a mechanism for how anxiety may disrupt decision making. They report that anxiety disengages a region of the brain called the prefrontal cortex, which is critical for flexible decision making.

Mindfulness meditation provides opioid-free pain relief, study finds Posted: 15 Mar 2016 03:27 PM PDT Everyone knows that stubbing your toe hurts. What makes it stop hurting is the body's main pain-blocking process -- the natural production of opioids.

New method could unleash solar power potential Posted: 15 Mar 2016 01:18 PM PDT New measurement and data analysis techniques could provide insight into performance-robbing flaws in crystalline structures, ultimately improving the performance of solar cells.

Whip spiders only look terrifying Posted: 15 Mar 2016 12:35 PM PDT A biologist spent several weeks in dark caves in Puerto Rico inhabited by an estimated 300,000 bats -- many of which whizzed right by him -- as well as snakes, cockroaches and spiders. He was studying poorly understood whip spiders, which are related to spiders and scorpions.

Smartphones could improve skin cancer detection in developing countries Posted: 15 Mar 2016 12:35 PM PDT Smartphone microscopy could enhance the detection of skin cancer in developing countries, new research suggests. When it comes to the diagnosis of cancer, smartphone microscopes are reasonably accurate, according to a study.

Compressing turbulence to improve internal confinement fusion experiments Posted: 15 Mar 2016 12:34 PM PDT Physicists have long regarded plasma turbulence as unruly behavior that can limit the performance of fusion experiments. But new findings indicate that turbulent swirls of plasma could benefit one of the two major branches of such research.

Outsourcing crystal growth...to space Posted: 15 Mar 2016 12:33 PM PDT Researchers have grown crystals and measured the growth rate on the ISS by interferometry to better examine the effects of microgravity.

Scientist helps move structural biology into 'big data' era Posted: 15 Mar 2016 12:33 PM PDT Structural biologists detailed how a new data sharing consortium is helping scientists more quickly share and benefit from findings in their field.

Adolescent female pandas not the demure homebodies once thought Posted: 15 Mar 2016 12:33 PM PDT In the furry animal world, it's the boys approaching adulthood who tend to start to wander to seek their fortune. Which usually means a mate. Girls tend to stay closer to the home range. But giant pandas, once again, buck a mammal trend.

Unique beak evolved with tool use in New Caledonian crow Posted: 15 Mar 2016 12:33 PM PDT Cornell researchers have quantified what makes the New Caledonian crow's beak different and how it got that way. Their findings were published March 9, 2016 in the journal Scientific Reports.

How more research and development funding can hasten green revolution Posted: 15 Mar 2016 12:33 PM PDT A uniquely detailed model of the dynamics of innovation in the energy industry has been explained in a new article. In so doing, researchers indicate how supporting clean energy R&D, not just a carbon tax, might be the best way to help clean energy technologies compete with traditional forms of energy.

When you claim social security influences whether your spouse enters poverty in widowhood Posted: 15 Mar 2016 10:24 AM PDT A recent study finds that when the primary wage earner in a marriage claims Social Security can significantly affect whether that person's spouse becomes impoverished in later life.

Marine protected areas can benefit large sharks Posted: 15 Mar 2016 10:21 AM PDT The expansion of protected areas into US federal waters would safeguard 100 percent of core home range areas used by three species of sharks tracked in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, new research suggests.

Smartwatches can now track your finger in mid-air using sonar Posted: 15 Mar 2016 10:21 AM PDT A new sonar technology developed by computer scientists and electrical engineers allows you to interact with mobile devices and smartwatch screens by writing or gesturing on any nearby surface -- a tabletop, a sheet of paper or even in mid-air.

Sweet corn genes related to crowding stress identified Posted: 15 Mar 2016 10:21 AM PDT Sweet corn hybrids vary in their tolerance to crowding stress. New research identifies genes related to crowding stress tolerance and yield in sweet corn. This is the first step in breeding new lines that could maximize yield under even greater stress, say researchers.

New microwave imaging approach opens a nanoscale view on processes in liquids Posted: 15 Mar 2016 10:21 AM PDT New microwave imaging approach trumps X-ray and electron-based methods that can damage delicate samples and muddy results. And it spares expensive equipment from being exposed to liquids, while eliminating the need to harden probes against corrosive, toxic, or other harmful environments.

Scientists discover microbiome that may be responsible for male reproductive disorders Posted: 15 Mar 2016 10:19 AM PDT Research shows that bacteria can be beneficial to body processes such as digestion; however, some bacteria housed in the human body may cause disease. These specialized communities of bacteria in the body are known as microbiomes. Now, researchers have discovered a microbiome in the male reproductive tract in mice that harbors harmful bacteria. In fathers, some bacteria may initiate diseases, such as prostatitis, that can result in later prostate cancer.

Trade in rare plants on social media must be monitored Posted: 15 Mar 2016 10:19 AM PDT Trade in rare plants on social media must be monitored, say experts. People buying rare plants through social media are placing species at risk of extinction, suggests a new study that represents the first large-scale global survey of wildlife trade via a social-media site, using the orchid trade as a case study.

Companies that are interactive, informative can be more influential Posted: 15 Mar 2016 10:19 AM PDT Customers may respond better to social media campaigns and messages from companies that more frequently interact with consumers than companies seen as credible, but less interactive, according to researchers.

The sounds of eating may reduce how much you eat Posted: 15 Mar 2016 10:19 AM PDT New doctor's orders: No earbuds, no music, and no watching TV while eating. Researchers have found that the noise your food makes while you're eating can have a significant effect on how much food you eat.

Scientists identify molecular markers of kidney transplant rejection Posted: 15 Mar 2016 10:18 AM PDT Genome-wide molecular profiling of kidney biopsies may be a key to catching organ rejection before it's too late, new research demonstrates.

Consider an organic approach to your lawn Posted: 15 Mar 2016 09:13 AM PDT Chemical use can leads unhealthy soil, fertilizer getting in watersheds, etc.

Odds of a perfect NCAA bracket? 1-in-9.2 quintillion Posted: 15 Mar 2016 09:13 AM PDT As basketball fans around the country finalize their NCAA brackets today, a professor of mathematics who specializes in probability and statistics, offers some advice to increasing your perfect bracket probability.

Seagrass at Perth’s Rottnest island (Australia) has paid a terrible price for the island’s popularity among tourists and day-trippers Posted: 15 Mar 2016 09:12 AM PDT Seagrass covering 48,000 sqm has been scoured from the sands of Rottnest Island (Western Australia') by almost 900 mooring chains used by recreational boats according to new research.

Historian uncovers secrets of the Reformation hidden in England’s oldest printed bible Posted: 15 Mar 2016 09:12 AM PDT Researchers have used complex image analysis to uncover annotations that were hidden for nearly 500 years between the pages of England's oldest printed bible.

Reduced immunosuppression drug dose may be best for kidney transplant outcomes, study suggests Posted: 15 Mar 2016 09:11 AM PDT Four immunosuppression strategies have been investigated by researchers who have found that many patients might benefit from a lower-than-standard dose of calcineurin inhibitors.

Paving the way for metastasis Posted: 15 Mar 2016 09:10 AM PDT Cancer cells remodel their environment to make it easier to reach nearby blood vessels, new research has found. Studying mice, the researchers found that cancer cells with a particular version of the Mena protein, called MenaINV (invasive), are able to remodel their environment to make it easier for them to migrate into blood vessels and spread through the body.

Certain plant extracts may keep you young -- and alive Posted: 15 Mar 2016 09:10 AM PDT A new study may have uncovered the fountain of youth: plant extracts containing the six best groups of anti-aging molecules ever seen.

Psychologists explore pain in Hispanic Americans Posted: 15 Mar 2016 09:09 AM PDT Hispanic Americans report fewer pain conditions compared with non-Hispanic white or black Americans, according to a critical review and analysis of more than 100 studies on pain experience and pain management among Hispanic Americans.

Conservatives and liberals do think differently Posted: 15 Mar 2016 09:09 AM PDT Big differences in the ways conservatives and liberals think about solving the nation's most pressing problems couldn't be more apparent during this presidential election cycle. But political ideas aside, people who hold conservative versus liberal perspectives appear to differ in everyday thinking processes and problem solving, according to new research.

Dopamine key to vocal learning, songbird study finds Posted: 15 Mar 2016 09:09 AM PDT New research found that a reduction in dopamine levels in a small region of the basal ganglia in the finches' brains caused a reduction in their ability to correct vocal errors, while having no detectable effect on their ability to sing.

Digging deeper: Study improves permafrost models, reduces uncertainties Posted: 15 Mar 2016 09:09 AM PDT Scientists report they have found a way to improve predictions of permafrost area and stability in the northern high latitudes. Their improved model finds that the rate of permafrost decline in recent decades is slower than previously thought.

400,000-year-old fossils from Spain provide earliest genetic evidence of Neanderthals Posted: 15 Mar 2016 09:09 AM PDT Previous analyses of the hominins from Sima de los Huesos in 2013 showed that their maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA was distantly related to Denisovans, extinct relatives of Neanderthals in Asia. This was unexpected since their skeletal remains carry Neanderthals-derived features. Researchers have since worked on sequencing nuclear DNA from fossils from the cave, a challenging task as the extremely old DNA is degraded to very short fragments. The results now show that the Sima de los Huesos hominins were indeed early Neanderthals.

Playing dumb and giving the cold shoulder: How stereotypes pervade the workplace Posted: 15 Mar 2016 09:09 AM PDT A new study shows that managers play down their competence to appear warmer to their subordinates while the subordinates hide their own warmth in an effort to appear more competent.

What incentives work best to get a team to exercise more? Posted: 15 Mar 2016 09:09 AM PDT Does it help to reward people if you want them to exercise more? Yes, but try a combination of individual and team incentives. The study also showed how smartphones can be a hassle-free way to monitor people's exercise programs.

Detecting radioactive material from a remote distance Posted: 15 Mar 2016 09:05 AM PDT Although Barot did not build the bombs, national security experts believe terrorists continue to be interested in such devices for terror plots. Now researchers have proposed a new technique to remotely detect the radioactive materials in dirty bombs or other sources.

Sharkskin actually increases drag Posted: 15 Mar 2016 09:05 AM PDT To clarify sharkskin's ability to reduce hydrodynamic drag (academically contested for the past 30 years), researchers recently conducted simulations on the ability of the small, tooth-like denticles that make up sharkskin to modify hydrodynamic flow with an unprecedented level of resolution. Far from easing the glide through the water, they found, the structures can actually increase drag by up to 50 percent.

Scratching the surface: Real-time monitoring of surface changes at the atomic level Posted: 15 Mar 2016 09:05 AM PDT Scientists have developed a technique that allows them to follow physical processes occurring at surfaces of materials at the atomic level in situ and in real time. This new process allowed the research team to study the kinetics of decomposition of a thin layer of silicon dioxide deposited onto silicon during a thermal treatment, a critical component in micro-electronics. The approach is based on the principles of electron microscopy.

Misleading p-values showing up more often in biomedical journal articles Posted: 15 Mar 2016 09:05 AM PDT A review of p-values in the biomedical literature from 1990 to 2015 shows that these widely misunderstood statistics are being used increasingly, instead of better metrics of effect size or uncertainty.

A rolling stone gathers no mates Posted: 15 Mar 2016 07:48 AM PDT Papa might not have been a rolling stone, according to a new study that examined the mating dynamics of transient wildlife that have dispersed from other areas. The researchers found if males traveling from long distances are less attractive to females, connectivity can be greatly impacted. They link these results to existing evidence showing that males from far-off areas have less offspring.

Similarities in fruit fly nervous systems transform view of metamorphosis Posted: 15 Mar 2016 07:43 AM PDT New research transforms the current view that metamorphosis in fruit flies, whereby larvae change into adults, consists of two separate stages.

In cubosomes it's their interior that counts Posted: 15 Mar 2016 07:43 AM PDT Under certain conditions appropriately selected particles can form closed surfaces in liquids with surprisingly complex shapes, cutting through space by a regular network of channels. So far, we have looked at cubosomes -- for this is what these spectacular three-dimensional nanostructures are called - only from the outside. Advanced theoretical modelling has allowed us to look into their interior for the first time.

The next step in preventing diabetes Posted: 15 Mar 2016 07:42 AM PDT Scientists have shown in a preclinical model that specifically modified insulin mimetopes may lead to an immune tolerance. The results may be a step to improved prevention of type 1 diabetes.

Incredible images reveal bacteria motor parts in unprecedented detail Posted: 15 Mar 2016 07:42 AM PDT Nanoscopic 3-D imaging has revealed how different bacteria have geared their tiny propeller motors for a wide range of swimming abilities.

Oil and natural gas boom causes methane emissions to increase Posted: 15 Mar 2016 07:42 AM PDT Like carbon dioxide, methane is one of the most important greenhouse gases. After a period of stagnation around 2000, atmospheric methane concentrations started to rise again in 2007. So far, the causes have been unknown. According to the recent study of climate scientists at least 40 percent of this increase result from the growing production of oil and natural gas in the northern hemisphere.

Reduction in dietary diversity impacts richness of human gut microbiota Posted: 15 Mar 2016 07:42 AM PDT Changes in farming practices over the last 50 years have resulted in decreased agro-diversity which, in turn, has resulted in decreased dietary diversity. The significant impact of this change in dietary richness on human health is an emerging topic for discussion.

Laser beams with a 'twist': New spiral laser for twisted light Posted: 15 Mar 2016 07:42 AM PDT Using geometric phase inside lasers for the first time, researchers find a way to change the orbital angular momentum of laser beams.

Photosynthesis more ancient than thought, and most living things could do it Posted: 15 Mar 2016 07:41 AM PDT Most modern bacteria descended from ancestors who could convert the Sun's energy to fuel more than 3.5 billion years ago.

New way to harvest stem cells better for donors Posted: 15 Mar 2016 07:36 AM PDT Australian scientists have developed a new method for harvesting stem cells, which is less invasive and reduces side effects for donors.

Novel blood test for Alzheimer's diagnosis Posted: 15 Mar 2016 07:36 AM PDT Today, Alzheimer's disease is diagnosed too late. Scientists have now developed a blood test that may potentially facilitate detection of Alzheimer's at an early stage. It is based on an immuno-chemical analysis using an infrared sensor.

Female frogs identify own offspring using inner GPS Posted: 15 Mar 2016 07:35 AM PDT The ability to recognize own offspring and provide preferential care is difficult for the poison frog Allobates femoralis. According to a new study male and female frogs have different strategies for offspring discrimination. Females remember the exact location where they laid their eggs and exhibit preferential behavior toward their own clutches. Males assume that all offspring in their territory are their own.

Crowd review: Using the wisdom of the crowd to improve design Posted: 15 Mar 2016 07:35 AM PDT Research demonstrates how consumer product reviews published on the internet could be analyzed through data mining techniques and allow designers to find ways to improve a given product or even add features that had not occurred to the manufacturer.

Magnetic nanoparticles show promise in biomedical applications Posted: 15 Mar 2016 06:06 AM PDT Recent developments and research related to iron oxide nanoparticles confirm their potential in biomedical applications – such as targeted drug delivery – and the necessity for further studies.

Development of a wall-climbing drone Posted: 15 Mar 2016 06:06 AM PDT A new wall-climbing drone can approach any type of structure by flying and sticking to the target and utitlizing a pose change and perching mechanism.

New electrode for ion concentration analysis: affordable and suitable for mass production Posted: 15 Mar 2016 06:01 AM PDT Researchers have developed a new electrode for analyzing lithium ion concentrations. Unlike traditional systems, it could be manufactured in a small format at low costs. The key is the material lithium-iron-phosphate, which is also utilized in lithium ion batteries. The operating principle could be applied to the analysis of other ions, such as are necessary for blood analyses and industrial tests.

'Fairy circles' discovered in Australia Posted: 15 Mar 2016 06:01 AM PDT The circular, barren patches of land, forming a highly regular pattern over the dry grassland of Namibia, were thought to be the only ones of their kind anywhere in the world. But a new study shows that they are not. Researchers have now discovered the baffling structures in the uninhabited Australian outback too. Investigations carried out there have also provided new evidence that these fairy circles result from the way plants organize themselves in response to water shortage.

The quest for spin liquids: new connections between exotic states of matter Posted: 15 Mar 2016 06:01 AM PDT

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