ScienceDaily: Top Science News

Major shifts in global freshwater

Posted: 16 May 2018 01:25 PM PDT

A new global, satellite-based study of Earth's freshwater found that Earth's wet areas are getting wetter, while dry areas are getting drier. The data suggest this pattern is due to many factors, including human water management practices, human-caused climate change and natural climate cycles.

Rising emissions of ozone-destroying chemical banned by Montreal Protocol

Posted: 16 May 2018 01:25 PM PDT

Emissions of one of the chemicals most responsible for the Antarctic ozone hole are on the rise, despite an international treaty that required an end to its production in 2010, a new study shows.

Early evidence of use of a bit on domestic donkeys found in the Near East

Posted: 16 May 2018 11:46 AM PDT

Donkeys may have worn bits as early as the third millennium BCE, long before the introduction of horses in the ancient Near East, according to a study published May 16, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Haskel Greenfield from University of Manitoba, Canada, Aren Maeir from Bar-Ilan University, and colleagues.

Evidence for stars forming just 250 million years after Big Bang

Posted: 16 May 2018 10:12 AM PDT

Astronomers have used observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) to determine that star formation in the very distant galaxy MACS1149-JD1 started at an unexpectedly early stage, only 250 million years after the Big Bang. This discovery also represents the most distant oxygen ever detected in the universe and the most distant galaxy ever observed by ALMA or the VLT.

How the gut influences neurologic disease

Posted: 16 May 2018 10:12 AM PDT

A study sheds new light on the connection between the gut and the brain, untangling the complex interplay that allows the byproducts of microorganisms living in the gut to influence the progression of neurodegenerative diseases.

Exploration of diverse bacteria signals big advance for gene function prediction

Posted: 16 May 2018 10:12 AM PDT

Scientists have developed a workflow that enables large-scale, genome-wide assays of gene importance across many conditions. The study, 'Mutant Phenotypes for Thousands of Bacterial Genes of Unknown Function,' has been published in the journal Nature and is by far the largest functional genomics study of bacteria ever published.

Quarks feel the pressure in the proton

Posted: 16 May 2018 10:12 AM PDT

Inside every proton in every atom in the universe is a pressure cooker environment that surpasses the atom-crushing heart of a neutron star. That's according to the first measurement of a mechanical property of subatomic particles, the pressure distribution inside the proton.

An electronic rescue dog

Posted: 16 May 2018 10:11 AM PDT

Scientists have developed the smallest and cheapest ever equipment for detecting people by smell. It could be used in the search for people buried by an earthquake or avalanche.

New device could increase battery life of electronics by a hundred-fold

Posted: 16 May 2018 09:36 AM PDT

Among the chief complaints for smartphone, laptop and other battery-operated electronics users is that the battery life is too short and -- in some cases -- that the devices generate heat. Now, a group of physicists has developed a device material that can address both issues. The team has applied for a patent for a magnetic material that employs a unique structure -- a 'honeycomb' lattice that exhibits distinctive electronic properties.

Astronomers find fastest-growing black hole known in space

Posted: 16 May 2018 07:52 AM PDT

Astronomers have found the fastest-growing black hole known in the universe, describing it as a monster that devours a mass equivalent to our sun every two days.

Unusual laser emission from the Ant Nebula

Posted: 16 May 2018 07:23 AM PDT

Astronomers have discovered an unusual laser emission that suggests the presence of a double star system hidden at the heart of the 'spectacular' Ant Nebula. The extremely rare phenomenon is connected to the death of a star and was discovered in observations made by European Space Agency's Herschel space observatory.

A quantum entanglement between two physically separated ultra-cold atomic clouds

Posted: 16 May 2018 07:23 AM PDT

Scientists have achieved, in an experiment, quantum entanglement between two ultra-cold atomic ensembles, called Bose-Einstein condensates, spatially separated from each other.

A shipwreck and an 800-year-old 'made in China' label reveal lost history

Posted: 16 May 2018 07:14 AM PDT

Nearly a thousand years ago, a ship sank in the Java Sea near Indonesia. Cargo recovered from the ocean floor -- including the equivalent to a 'Made in China' label on a piece of pottery -- is helping archaeologists reevaluate when the ship went down and how it fits in with China's history.

World's Strongest bio-material outperforms steel and spider silk

Posted: 16 May 2018 07:14 AM PDT

At DESY's X-ray light source PETRA III, researchers have produced the strongest bio-material that has ever been made. The artificial, but biodegradable cellulose fibers are stronger than steel and even than dragline spider silk, which is usually considered the strongest bio-based material.

Forest loss in one part of US can harm trees on the opposite coast

Posted: 16 May 2018 05:57 AM PDT

If a whole forest disappears, new research shows, this has ricocheting effects in the atmosphere that affect vegetation on the other side of the country.

Worm-eating mice reveal how evolution works on islands

Posted: 16 May 2018 05:56 AM PDT

When animals are isolated on islands, they can evolve into strange new species found nowhere else on Earth. But what's the cut-off -- how small can an island be and still support the evolution of multiple new species from a single common ancestor? A family of worm-eating mice from a tiny island in the Philippines have set a new lower limit for island size and evolution.

Hippo waste causes fish kills in Africa's Mara River

Posted: 16 May 2018 05:56 AM PDT

Ecologists have long known that agricultural and sewage pollution can cause low oxygen conditions and fish kills in rivers. A new study reports that hippo waste can have a similar effect in Africa's Mara River, which passes through the world renowned Maasai Mara National Reserve of Kenya, home to more than 4,000 hippos.

Self-driving car has taken a leap towards automatic 24/7 driving

Posted: 15 May 2018 03:09 PM PDT

VTT's robot car, Marilyn, sees better than humans in foggy, and even snowy, conditions, and can now navigate without stopping -- including in bad weather. It can also see a human through fog and avoid accident automatically.

New lineage of microbes living in Yellowstone sheds light on origin of life

Posted: 15 May 2018 06:29 AM PDT

Scientists have found a new lineage of microbes living in Yellowstone National Park's thermal features that sheds light on the origin of life, the evolution of archaeal life and the importance of iron in early life.