ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Americans believe civility is on the decline
• Cell-penetrating peptide delivers drugs on a molecular level
• Scientists discover new reef system at mouth of Amazon River
• Mobility assessment tool may help predict early postoperative outcomes for older adults
• New state of water molecule discovered
• Research shows certain genes, in healthy environments, can lengthen lifespan
• Beyond milkweed: Monarchs face habitat, nectar threats
• Old-growth forests may provide buffer against rising temperatures
• Corals most important for building reefs are now in sharp decline
• Zinc deficiency may contribute to increased inflammation among HIV-positive individuals
• Sophisticated 'mini-brains' add to evidence of Zika's toll on fetal cortex
• The unique challenges of conserving forest giants
• New study investigates the environmental cues dolphins use to migrate on the Atlantic coast of North America
• Expedition captures animal selfies in Amazon Rainforest
• The Universe, where space-time becomes discrete
• Dark matter does not contain certain axion-like particles
• Atoms placed precisely in silicon can act as quantum simulator
• A new secret to the miracle of breast milk revealed
• Thin-film solar cells: How defects appear and disappear in CIGSe cells
• Unveiling the grammar of biological cells
• Cosmic beacons reveal the Milky Way's ancient core
• Manipulating light inside opaque layers
• Cleaning up hybrid battery electrodes improves capacity and lifespan

Americans believe civility is on the decline Posted: 22 Apr 2016 05:10 PM PDT A recent survey finds that 74 percent of Americans think manners and behavior have deteriorated in the United States over the past several decades. A large majority believe that politicians should be held to a higher standard than the general public. The Republican campaign is viewed as rude and disrespectful by nearly twice as many Americans as those who characterize the fight for the Democratic nomination in that way (78 percent vs. 41 percent).

Cell-penetrating peptide delivers drugs on a molecular level Posted: 22 Apr 2016 01:36 PM PDT Medical researchers have developed a novel cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) technology capable of carrying other molecular "cargos" directly into living cells, coupling with them and then successfully uncoupling after delivering its payload. Cargos can be therapeutic molecules like antibodies that fight against parasites and diseases, or anti-cancer proteins.

Scientists discover new reef system at mouth of Amazon River Posted: 22 Apr 2016 01:34 PM PDT As large rivers empty into the world's oceans in areas known as plumes, they typically create gaps in the reef distribution along the tropical shelves--something that makes finding a reef in the Amazon River plume an unexpected discovery.

Mobility assessment tool may help predict early postoperative outcomes for older adults Posted: 22 Apr 2016 01:32 PM PDT A quick, reliable and cost-effective mobility assessment tool may help to identify elderly patients at risk for adverse post-surgery outcomes.

New state of water molecule discovered Posted: 22 Apr 2016 01:31 PM PDT Neutron scattering and computational modeling have revealed unique and unexpected behavior of water molecules under extreme confinement that is unmatched by any known gas, liquid or solid states.

Research shows certain genes, in healthy environments, can lengthen lifespan Posted: 22 Apr 2016 01:31 PM PDT Researchers have discovered how a gene in the brain's dopamine system can play an important role in prolonging lifespan: it must be coupled with a healthy environment that includes exercise.

Beyond milkweed: Monarchs face habitat, nectar threats Posted: 22 Apr 2016 01:31 PM PDT In the face of scientific dogma that faults the population decline of monarch butterflies on a lack of milkweed, herbicides and genetically modified crops, a new study casts wider blame: sparse autumnal nectar sources, weather and habitat fragmentation.

Old-growth forests may provide buffer against rising temperatures Posted: 22 Apr 2016 01:31 PM PDT The soaring canopy and dense understory of an old-growth forest could provide a buffer for plants and animals in a warming world, according to a new study.

Corals most important for building reefs are now in sharp decline Posted: 22 Apr 2016 01:31 PM PDT Staghorns, the very corals responsible for establishing today's reefs, are now some of the most threatened coral species due to climate change and other human-made stressors.

Zinc deficiency may contribute to increased inflammation among HIV-positive individuals Posted: 22 Apr 2016 11:12 AM PDT Researchers report that zinc deficiency may contribute to chronic inflammation among HIV-positive individuals. Theirs is believed to be the first investigation to explore the association between serum zinc levels and inflammation among people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, while taking their anti-retroviral therapy into account.

Sophisticated 'mini-brains' add to evidence of Zika's toll on fetal cortex Posted: 22 Apr 2016 11:12 AM PDT Studying a new type of pinhead-size, lab-grown brain made with technology first suggested by three high school students, researchers have confirmed a key way in which Zika virus causes microcephaly and other damage in fetal brains: by infecting specialized stem cells that build its outer layer, the cortex.

The unique challenges of conserving forest giants Posted: 22 Apr 2016 11:11 AM PDT The redwood and sequoia trees in California, the baobab trees in Madagascar, and the rose gum Eucalyptus trees in northeastern Australia are only a few of the spectacular large, old trees still growing today. Protecting these trees, some hundreds or thousands of years old, requires thinking long-term about concerns such as their unique habitat needs and the impacts of climate change, researchers find.

New study investigates the environmental cues dolphins use to migrate on the Atlantic coast of North America Posted: 22 Apr 2016 08:56 AM PDT Seasonal migration patterns of bottlenose dolphins -- what we know for sure? With the changing of the seasons comes the urge to migrate for many animals of the world, whether they be furred, feathered, or even finned. One finned animal in particular, the common bottlenose dolphin, undertakes seasonal migrations each spring and fall, but how the dolphins know when to migrate has not always been clear. It was usually assumed that their southern migration begins when the ocean waters drop in temperature. However, until now there was little evidence to support this and it was largely unknown what factors influence the initiation of dolphin migration. A new study has discovered some of the factors that influence these seasonal migrations.

Expedition captures animal selfies in Amazon Rainforest Posted: 22 Apr 2016 08:55 AM PDT A team of scientists set up camera traps in Peru to record the biodiversity of that area of the Amazon Rainforest.

The Universe, where space-time becomes discrete Posted: 22 Apr 2016 08:53 AM PDT A theoretical study has analyzed a model that saves special relativity and reconciles it with granularity by introducing small-scale deviations from the principle of locality demonstrating that it can be experimentally tested with great precision.

Dark matter does not contain certain axion-like particles Posted: 22 Apr 2016 08:53 AM PDT Researchers are getting closer to corner light dark-matter particle models. Observations can rule out some axion-like particles in the quest for the content of dark matter.

Atoms placed precisely in silicon can act as quantum simulator Posted: 22 Apr 2016 08:53 AM PDT In a proof-of-principle experiment, researchers have demonstrated that a small group of individual atoms placed very precisely in silicon can act as a quantum simulator, mimicking nature -- in this case, the weird quantum interactions of electrons in materials. Their success provides a route to developing new ways to test fundamental aspects of quantum physics and to design new, exotic materials.

A new secret to the miracle of breast milk revealed Posted: 22 Apr 2016 08:53 AM PDT One of the secrets to rich milk production in lactation has just been uncovered. New studies have revealed that breast cells develop two nuclei as the breast switches on lactation to nurture the newborn.This change begins to occur in late pregnancy with the generation of vast numbers of cells with two nuclei.

Thin-film solar cells: How defects appear and disappear in CIGSe cells Posted: 22 Apr 2016 08:53 AM PDT Scientists have investigated the deposition of thin chalcopyrite layers. They were able to observe specific defects as these formed during deposition and under what conditions they self-healed using the BESSY II X-ray source at the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin. The results of their research provide clues to optimizing fabrication processes.

Unveiling the grammar of biological cells Posted: 22 Apr 2016 04:55 AM PDT Cells in the body exchange a number of signals with their surroundings. Deficient signal pathways may adversely affect the function of cells and cause diseases. However, we hardly know more than the vocabulary of cellular language. It is unknown how the "words" are combined in "sentences". If cell grammar was known, complex processes in cells might be understood. Researchers have now presented a method to decode the grammar of cell signals.

Cosmic beacons reveal the Milky Way's ancient core Posted: 22 Apr 2016 04:54 AM PDT Astronomers have discovered that the central 2000 light years within the Milky Way Galaxy hosts an ancient population of stars. These stars are more than 10 billion years old and their orbits in space preserve the early history of the formation of the Milky Way. For the first time the team kinematically disentangled this ancient component from the stellar population that currently dominates the mass of the central Galaxy.

Manipulating light inside opaque layers Posted: 22 Apr 2016 04:54 AM PDT Light propagating in a layer of scattering nanoparticles, shows the principle of diffusion - like tea particles in hot water. The deeper light is penetrating into the layer, the lower the energy density. Scientists, however, manage to turn this falling diffusion curve into a rising one, by manipulating the incident light. More light energy inside an opaque layer, is the result, which could lead to solar cells or LED's with better yields.

Cleaning up hybrid battery electrodes improves capacity and lifespan Posted: 22 Apr 2016 04:52 AM PDT Hybrid batteries that charge faster than conventional ones could have significantly better electrical capacity and long-term stability when prepared with a gentle-sounding way of making electrodes. Called ion soft-landing, the high-precision technique resulted in electrodes that could store a third more energy and had twice the lifespan compared to those prepared by a conventional method.

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