ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines -- for Sunday, July 17, 2011

ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines

for Sunday, July 17, 2011

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Fossil forensics reveals how wasps populated rotting dinosaur eggs (July 16, 2011) -- Exceptionally preserved fossils of insect cocoons have allowed researchers in Argentina to describe how wasps played an important role in food webs devoted to consuming rotting dinosaur eggs. ... > full story

Discovery opens new options for improving transfusions (July 16, 2011) -- Donated red blood cells lose a key feature that diminishes their lifesaving power the longer they have been stored, according to researchers. The finding details how banked blood undergoes a change during storage that decreases its ability to transport oxygen. ... > full story

NASA's Aura satellite measures pollution 'Butterfly' from fires in Central Africa (July 16, 2011) -- Fires raging in central Africa are generating a high amount of pollution that is showing up in data from NASA's Aura Satellite, with the ominous shape of a dark red butterfly in the skies over southern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and northern Angola. ... > full story

Scientists discover new role for vitamin C in the eye and the brain (July 16, 2011) -- Nerve cells in the eye require vitamin C in order to function properly -- a surprising discovery that may mean vitamin C is required elsewhere in the brain for its proper functioning, according to a new study. ... > full story

Breakthrough toward quantum computing (July 16, 2011) -- To build a quantum computer, one needs to create and precisely control individual quantum memory units, called qubits, for information processing. Scientists have made a breakthrough in the creation of massive numbers of entangled qubits, more precisely a multilevel variant thereof called Qmodes. ... > full story

When the first choice isn't available, why don't consumers choose the obvious second choice? (July 16, 2011) -- Something strange happens when a consumer learns her favorite product choice isn't available: Instead of picking the runner-up, he or she will reject it for another alternative, according to a new study. ... > full story

High social rank comes at a price, wild baboon study finds (July 15, 2011) -- Being at the very top of a social hierarchy may be more costly than previously thought, according to a new study of wild baboons. The findings have implications in the study of social hierarchies and of the impact of social dominance on health and well-being, a subject of interest among researchers who study human and other animal populations. ... > full story

The genome guardian's dimmer switch: Regulating p53 is a matter of life or death (July 15, 2011) -- Scientists have found clues to the functioning of an important damage response protein in cells. The protein, p53, can cause cells to stop dividing or even to commit suicide when they show signs of DNA damage, and it is responsible for much of the tissue destruction that follows exposure to ionizing radiation or DNA-damaging drugs such as the ones commonly used for cancer therapy. ... > full story

Strong El Niño could bring increased sea levels, storm surges to US East Coast (July 15, 2011) -- Coastal communities along the US East Coast may be at risk to higher sea levels accompanied by more destructive storm surges in future El Niño years, according to a new study. The study was prompted by an unusual number of destructive storm surges along the East Coast during the 2009-2010 El Niño winter. ... > full story

Maternal nutrition: What impact does it have on gene expression? (July 15, 2011) -- During intrauterine life and lactation, undernutrition brings about modifications involving DNA, leading to metabolic pathologies at the adult age. Researchers have demonstrated for the first time, through an animal-based study, such repercussions at the level of the leptin gene, the hormone that regulates satiety and metabolism. This work could, in the longer term, have an impact on the prevention of metabolic diseases, medically assisted procreation and care for premature infants. ... > full story

Your brain on androids (July 15, 2011) -- Cognitive scientist have taken a peek inside the brains of people viewing videos of a humanoid robot. The functional MRI study suggests that what may be going on in the "uncanny valley" phenomenon is due to a perceptual mismatch between appearance and motion. ... > full story

Shop when you're happy: Positive feelings improve consumer decision-making abilities (July 15, 2011) -- Consumers who are in a positive mood make quicker and more consistent judgments than unhappy people, according to a new study. ... > full story