SPAM: Huge owls need huge trees

How will crops fare under climate change? Depends on how you ask

The damage scientists expect climate change to do to crop yields can differ greatly depending on which type of model was used to make those projections, according to new research.

Dwarf galaxy caught ramming into a large spiral

Astronomers have observed a massive cloud of multimillion-degree gas in a galaxy about 60 million light years from Earth. The hot gas cloud is likely caused by a collision between a dwarf galaxy and a much larger galaxy called NGC 1232.

Raising the IQ of smart windows: Embedded nanocrystals provide selective control over visible light and heat-producing near-infrared light

Researchers have designed a new material to make smart windows even smarter. The material is a thin coating of nanocrystals embedded in glass that can dynamically modify sunlight as it passes through a window. Unlike existing technologies, the coating provides selective control over visible light and heat-producing near-infrared light, so windows can maximize both energy savings and occupant comfort in a wide range of climates.

Binding together repelling atoms

Basic chemistry tells us that a bond between atoms can form if it is energetically more favorable for the atoms to stick together than staying apart. This fundamentally requires an attractive force between the atoms. However, new theoretical predictions show that the combination of a repelling force and controlled noise from an environment can also have the surprising effect of leading to a bound state, although one with quite exotic properties.

Beetles in rubber boots: Scientists study ladybugs' feet

During their evolution, insects have developed various unique features to survive in their environment. The knowledge of the working principles of insects' microstructures holds great potential for the development of new materials, which could be of use to humans. With this idea scientists have investigated how insects manage to efficiently cling to diverse surfaces.

Warming climate pushes plants up the mountain

In a rare opportunity to directly compare plant communities in the same area now with a survey taken 50 years ago, biologists have provided the first on-the-ground evidence that Southwestern plants are being pushed to higher elevations by an increasingly warmer and drier climate.

Computer chip based on human brain developed

Scientists have taken on the challenge of developing a new kind of computing architecture that works more like a brain than a digital computer.

How neurons get wired

Scientists have discovered an unknown mechanism that establishes polarity in developing nerve cells. Understanding how nerve cells make connections is an important step in developing cures for nerve damage resulting from spinal cord injuries or neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.

Researchers use nanoparticles to fight cancer

Researchers are developing a new treatment technique that uses nanoparticles to reprogram immune cells so they are able to recognize and attack cancer.

Brain scans could predict response to antipsychotic medication

Researchers have identified neuroimaging markers in the brain which could help predict whether people with psychosis respond to antipsychotic medications or not.

Around the world in four days: NASA tracks Chelyabinsk meteor plume

Atmospheric physicist Nick Gorkavyi missed witnessing an event of the century last winter when a meteor exploded over his hometown of Chelyabinsk, Russia. From Greenbelt, Md., however, NASA's Gorkavyi and colleagues witnessed a never-before-seen view of the atmospheric aftermath of the explosion.

Ostrich necks reveal sauropod movements, food habits

A new analysis of ostriches reveals that a computer model of long-necked sauropods used to simulate the dinosaurs' movements, featured in BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs and the focus of an installation at the American Museum of Natural History, New York, does not correctly reconstruct how flexible their necks were.

Changing climate may have driven collapse of civilizations in Late Bronze Age

Climate change may have driven the collapse of once-flourishing Eastern Mediterranean civilizations towards the end of the 13th century BC, according to new research.

Forensic familial search methods carry risk of certain false matches

Forensic DNA-based familial search methods may mistakenly identify individuals in a database as siblings or parents of an unknown perpetrator, when in fact they are distant relatives, according to new research.

Potent mechanism helps viruses shut down body's defense system against infection

Researchers have discovered a powerful mechanism by which viruses such as influenza, West Nile and Dengue evade the body's immune response and infect humans with these potentially deadly diseases. The findings may provide scientists with an attractive target for novel antiviral therapies.

Researchers debunk myth of 'right-brained' and 'left-brained' personality traits

Neuroscientists now assert that there is no evidence within brain imaging that indicates some people are right-brained or left-brained. For years in popular culture, the terms left-brained and right-brained have come to refer to personality types, with an assumption that some people use the right side of their brain more, while some use the left side more. Researchers have debunked that myth through identifying specific networks in the left and right brain that process lateralized functions.

Children exposed to lead three times more likely to be suspended from school

Children who are exposed to lead are nearly three times more likely to be suspended from school by the 4th grade than children who are not exposed, according to a new study.

Study debunks controversial multiple sclerosis theory

New research found no evidence of abnormalities in the internal jugular or vertebral veins or in the deep cerebral veins of any of 100 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) compared with 100 people who had no history of any neurological condition.

Watermelon juice relieves post-exercise muscle soreness

Watermelon juice's reputation among athletes is getting scientific support in a new study, which found that juice from the summer favorite fruit can relieve post-exercise muscle soreness. The report attributes watermelon's effects to the amino acid L-citrulline.

Successful deployment of an autonomous deep-sea explorer to search for new forms of microbial life

Scientists are reporting "a significant step forward" in proving the feasibility of launching fleets of autonomous robots that search Earth's deep oceans for exotic new life forms. Their description of successful deployment of the trailblazer for such a project -- an autonomous seafloor lander equipped with a mini-laboratory the size of a kitchen trash can that is able to detect minute traces of DNA in the deep oceans.

Two left feet? Study looks to demystify why we lose our balance

It's always in front of a million people and feels like eternity. You're strolling along when suddenly you've stumbled -- the brain realizes you're falling, but your muscles aren't doing anything to stop it.

Research shows precisely which strategies help players win team-oriented video games

Computer science researchers have developed a technique to determine which strategies give players an edge at winning in multi-player (action) real-time strategy games, such as Defense of the Ancients, Warcraft III and Starcraft II. The technique offers extremely precise information about how a player's actions affect a team's chances of winning, and could be used to develop technology for use by players and developers to improve gameplay experiences.

Facebook use predicts declines in happiness, new study finds

Facebook helps people feel connected, but it doesn't necessarily make them happier, a new study shows.

Newly identifed molecules necessary for memory formation

Researchers have uncovered a cellular mechanism for memory and learning that provides one avenue for how these take place.

Quantum teleportation: Transfer of flying quantum bits at the touch of a button

Hybrid technology makes possible highly reliable transmission of photonic qubits.

Heat waves to become much more frequent and severe

Climate change is set to trigger more frequent and severe heat waves in the next 30 years regardless of the amount of carbon dioxide we emit into the atmosphere, a new study has shown.

Will to win forms at four years old

New research suggests children don't understand competitive behavior until around the age of four.

Exercise is no quick cure for insomnia

Exercise is a common prescription for insomnia. But hitting the treadmill one day won't translate into better sleep that night, reports new research. It takes four months so people shouldn't get discouraged. This is the first long-term study to show aerobic exercise during the day does not result in improved sleep that night when people have insomnia. The study also showed people exercise less following nights with worse sleep.

Characteristics of family killers revealed: The male dominated crime most common in August

Of all the dark forms that murder can take, the slaying of a family by the father is one of the most tragic and the least understood. This first ever study of British 'family annihilators' has analyzed three decades of cases and reveals four new types of annihilator.

Galaxies had 'mature' shapes 11. 5 billion years ago

Astronomers have established that mature-looking galaxies existed much earlier than previously known, about 11.5 billion years ago.

Dragonflies can see by switching 'on' and 'off'

Biologists have discovered a novel and complex visual circuit in a dragonfly's brain that could one day help to improve vision systems for robots.

Try clapping your wet hands; A physics lesson

Clap your wet hands. What happens to a thin film of water when it is compressed vertically? Ultimately, oil companies are interested in this research because of the oil separation process.

Beneficial jumping gene discovered

Also referred to as jumping genes, transposons are snippets of "selfish DNA" that spread in their host genomes serving no other biological purpose but their own existence. Two geneticists now challenge that understanding. Working on the model plant Arabidopsis, they found that the COPIA-R7 transposon, which has jumped into the plant disease resistance gene RPP7, enhances the immunity of its host against a pathogenic microorganism.

Voyager 1 has left the solar system

Voyager 1 appears to have at long last left our solar system and entered interstellar space, says a University of Maryland-led team of researchers. Their model indicates Voyager 1 actually entered interstellar space a little more than a year ago, a finding directly counter to recent articles suggesting the spacecraft was still in a fuzzily-defined transition zone between the Sun's sphere of influence and the rest of the galaxy.

Cosmic turbulences result in star and black hole formation

Just how stars and black holes in the Universe are able to form from rotating matter is one of the big questions of astrophysics. Now, physicists show how magnetic fields can also cause turbulences within "dead zones," thus making an important contribution to our current understanding of just how compact objects form in the cosmos.

Dad's genes build placentas, explaining grandsire effect

Placentas support the fetus and mother, but those organs grow according to blueprints from dad, according to new research. The study shows that the genes in a fetus that come from the father dominate in building the fetal side of the placenta.

Huge owls need huge trees

The world's largest owl – and one of the rarest – is also a key indicator of the health of some of old-growth Russian forests.

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Thursday, August 15, 2013

Huge owls need huge trees

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