Popular science news: last month

'The era of neutrino astronomy has begun'

Computers at the IceCube laboratory collect raw data in near-real time from detectors buried deep in the Antarctic ice. Events selected for physics studies are sent north via satellite for use by any member of the IceCube Collaboration. The UMD Maryland IceCube team designed the data collection system.

Ancient fresh water lake on Mars could have sustained life

Scientists have found evidence that there was once an ancient lake on Mars that may have been able to support life, in research published recently in the journal Science.

Seahorse heads have a 'no wake zone' that's made for catching prey

Seahorses are slow, docile creatures, but their heads are perfectly shaped to sneak up and quickly snatch prey, according to marine scientists from The University of Texas at Austin.

Surprise: Duck-billed dinosaurs had fleshy 'cocks comb'

A rare, mummified specimen of the duck-billed dinosaur Edmontosauraus regalis described in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on December 12 shows for the first time that those dinosaurs' heads...

Secrets to 'extreme adaptation' found in Burmese python genome

The Burmese python's ability to ramp up its metabolism and enlarge its organs to swallow and digest prey whole can be traced to unusually rapid evolution and specialized adaptations of...

Archaeological discoveries confirm early date of Buddha's life

Archaeologists working in Nepal have uncovered evidence of a structure at the birthplace of the Buddha dating to the sixth century B.C. This is the first archaeological material linking the...

The last croak for Darwin's frog

Deadly amphibian disease chytridiomycosis has caused the extinction of Darwin's frogs, believe scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Universidad Andrés Bello (UNAB), Chile.

Google Earth reveals untold fish catches

Large fish traps in the Persian Gulf could be catching up to six times more fish than what's being officially reported, according to the first investigation of fish catches from...

Fledgling supernova remnant reveals neutron star's secrets

With the help of NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Australia Telescope Compact Array, an international team of astronomers has identified the glowing wreck of a star that exploded a...

Clinical trial shows tongue-controlled wheelchair outperforms popular wheelchair navigation system

After a diving accident left Jason DiSanto paralyzed from the neck down in 2009, he had to learn how to navigate life from a powered wheelchair, which he controls with...

The mystery of lizard breath

Air flows mostly in a one-way loop through the lungs of monitor lizards -- a breathing method shared by birds, alligators and presumably dinosaurs, according to a new University of...

Archaeologists discover largest, oldest wine cellar in Near East

Would you drink wine flavored with mint, honey and a dash of psychotropic resins? Ancient Canaanites did more than 3,000 years ago.

Methane emissions vastly surpass previous estimates

Government calculations of total U.S. methane emissions may underestimate the true values by 50 percent, a new study finds. The results are published the week of November 25 in the...

Ancient Siberian genome reveals genetic origins of Native Americans

The genome sequence of a 24,000-year-old Siberian individual has provided a key piece of the puzzle in the quest for Native American origins. The ancient Siberian demonstrates genomic signatures that...

Slippery fault unleashed destructive Tohoku-Oki earthquake and tsunami

For the first time, scientists have measured the frictional heat produced by the fault slip during an earthquake. Their results, published December 5 in Science, show that friction on the...

Ocean crust could store many centuries of industrial CO2

Researchers from the University of Southampton have identified regions beneath the oceans where the igneous rocks of the upper ocean crust could safely store very large volumes of carbon dioxide.

Koalas' low-pitched voice explained by unique organ

The pitch of male koalas' mating calls is about 20 times lower than it should be, given the Australian marsupial's relatively small size. Now, researchers reporting in the Cell Press...

'Spooky action' builds a wormhole between 'entangled' quantum particles

Quantum entanglement, a perplexing phenomenon of quantum mechanics that Albert Einstein once referred to as "spooky action at a distance," could be even spookier than Einstein perceived.

Novel agent set for unique clinical test in inflammatory breast cancer

A drug now used to treat a type of lymphoma has shown surprising benefit in preclinical studies of inflammatory breast cancer, according to a researcher at Thomas Jefferson University's Kimmel...

Research uncovers secrets of Mars' birth from unique meteorite

A Florida State University scientist has uncovered what may be the first recognized example of ancient Martian crust.

Promiscuous mouse moms bear sexier sons

University of Utah biologists found that when mother mice compete socially for mates in a promiscuous environment, their sons play hard and die young: They attract more females by making...

How mosquitoes are drawn to human skin and breath

Female mosquitoes, which can transmit deadly diseases like malaria, dengue fever, West Nile virus and filariasis, are attracted to us by smelling the carbon dioxide we exhale, being capable of...