ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Reconstructing the New World monkey family tree: After landing in Americas, primates spread as far as Caribbean, Patagonia
• Blue Monday: Brutal cold, short days, post-holiday letdown raise risk of depression
• Loss of function of a single gene linked to diabetes in mice
• New social network study investigates how people use Facebook to maintain friendships
• In search of . . . time travelers
• Amber fossil reveals ancient reproduction in flowering plants
• How ancient artists used palace floor as a creative canvas
• Simple, cheap way to increase solar cell efficiency
• Supercomputers join search for 'cheapium': Brute force computing used to find new materials
• A novel look at how stories may change the brain
• The entropy of nations: Global energy inequality lessens, but for how long?
• Electronic tongues measure grape ripeness
• Environment affects an organism's complexity
• How invariant natural killers keep tuberculosis in check
• Another step towards understanding the quantum behavior of cold atoms

Reconstructing the New World monkey family tree: After landing in Americas, primates spread as far as Caribbean, Patagonia Posted: 03 Jan 2014 05:53 PM PST A Duke scientist has reconstructed the most comprehensive family tree to date of the monkeys that arrived in South America 37 or more million years ago and their subsequent evolution. The research uncovered several patterns, suggesting, among other things, that sea level rise and the arrival of humans likely caused the extinction of monkeys native to the Caribbean islands, and that monkeys once lived in the extreme southern reaches of South America.

Blue Monday: Brutal cold, short days, post-holiday letdown raise risk of depression Posted: 03 Jan 2014 05:52 PM PST The first Monday after the holidays can be a depressing time for people coping with post-holiday letdown or depression triggered by short days called seasonal affective disorder (SAD). This year, First Monday will be especially blue, due to the added stress of the brutal cold in many parts of the country.

Loss of function of a single gene linked to diabetes in mice Posted: 03 Jan 2014 05:51 PM PST Researchers have found that dysfunction in a single gene in mice causes fasting hyperglycemia, one of the major symptoms of type 2 diabetes.

New social network study investigates how people use Facebook to maintain friendships Posted: 03 Jan 2014 05:51 PM PST New social networking research investigates how individuals use Facebook to maintain their friendships.

In search of . . . time travelers Posted: 03 Jan 2014 05:51 PM PST Scientists couldn't find any visitors from another century, but they had a very interesting time trying. They selected search terms relating to two recent phenomena, Pope Francis and Comet ISON, and began looking for references to them before they were known to exist. Their work was exhaustive: they used a variety of search engines, such as Google and Bing, and combed through Facebook and Twitter. In the case of Comet ISON, there were no mentions before it burst on the scene in September 2012. They discovered only one blog post referencing a Pope Francis before Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected head of the Catholic Church on March 16, but it seemed more accidental that prescient.

Amber fossil reveals ancient reproduction in flowering plants Posted: 03 Jan 2014 05:45 PM PST A 100-million-year old piece of amber has been discovered which reveals the oldest evidence of sexual reproduction in a flowering plant -- a cluster of 18 tiny flowers from the Cretaceous Period -- with one of them in the process of making some new seeds for the next generation.

How ancient artists used palace floor as a creative canvas Posted: 03 Jan 2014 05:45 PM PST New research finds that the Throne Room floor in the Bronze Age Palace of Nestor located in what is today Pylos, Greece, is an unusual example of artistic innovation for its time.

Simple, cheap way to increase solar cell efficiency Posted: 03 Jan 2014 05:45 PM PST Researchers have found an easy way to modify the molecular structure of a polymer commonly used in solar cells. Their modification can increase solar cell efficiency by more than 30 percent.

Supercomputers join search for 'cheapium': Brute force computing used to find new materials Posted: 03 Jan 2014 05:44 PM PST Researchers use brute force supercomputing to identify dozens of platinum-group alloys that were previously unknown to science but could prove beneficial in a wide range of applications.

A novel look at how stories may change the brain Posted: 03 Jan 2014 05:44 PM PST Many people can recall reading at least one cherished story that they say changed their life. Now researchers have detected what may be biological traces related to this feeling: Actual changes in the brain that linger, at least for a few days, after reading a novel. Their findings, that reading a novel may cause changes in resting-state connectivity of the brain that persist, were published by the journal Brain Connectivity.

The entropy of nations: Global energy inequality lessens, but for how long? Posted: 03 Jan 2014 05:44 PM PST Inequality in the way nations consume energy has been lessening in recent years. An underlying thermodynamic process seems to be at work.

Electronic tongues measure grape ripeness Posted: 03 Jan 2014 09:13 AM PST Electronic tongues can become an ally of grape growers as they offer detailed information on the degree of grape maturity and this could improve competitiveness.

Environment affects an organism's complexity Posted: 03 Jan 2014 05:56 AM PST Scientists have demonstrated that organisms with greater complexity are more likely to evolve in complex environments.

How invariant natural killers keep tuberculosis in check Posted: 03 Jan 2014 05:56 AM PST Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a major cause of death worldwide, and a formidable foe. Most healthy people can defend themselves against tuberculosis, but they need all parts of their immune system to work together. A new study reveals how a special class of immune cells called "invariant natural killer T cells" make their contribution to this concerted effort.

Another step towards understanding the quantum behavior of cold atoms Posted: 03 Jan 2014 05:52 AM PST Physicists have explored, on a theoretical level, some quantum effects that take place in atoms at a very low temperature. Firstly, he has discovered that boson-type atoms and fermion-type ones can be mixed in a specific way. So he has made the necessary conditions for carrying out these experiments available to experimental physicists. Secondly, he has deduced how fermions would influence bosons in this case.

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