ScienceDaily: Top Science News

NASA, NOAA find 2014 warmest year in modern record Posted: 16 Jan 2015 12:39 PM PST The year 2014 ranks as Earth's warmest since 1880, according to two separate analyses by NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists. The 10 warmest years in the instrumental record, with the exception of 1998, have now occurred since 2000. This trend continues a long-term warming of the planet, according to an analysis of surface temperature measurements.

HiRISE camera spots long-lost space probe on Mars Posted: 16 Jan 2015 07:44 AM PST The Beagle 2 Mars Lander, thought lost on Mars since 2003, has been found partially deployed on the surface of the planet, ending the mystery of what happened to the mission more than a decade ago.

Breakthrough lights up metamaterials Posted: 16 Jan 2015 06:30 AM PST Researchers have successfully demonstrated how to both enhance light emission and capture light from metamaterials embedded with light emitting nanocrystals. The breakthrough could lead to a range of applications including ultrafast LEDs, nanoscale lasers and efficient single photon sources.

Three nearly Earth-size planets found orbiting nearby star: One in 'Goldilocks' zone Posted: 16 Jan 2015 06:30 AM PST NASA's Kepler Space Telescope has discovered a star with three planets only slightly larger than Earth. The outermost planet orbits in the 'Goldilocks' zone -- where surface temperatures could be moderate enough for liquid water and perhaps life to exist. The star ranks among the top 10 nearest stars known to have transiting planets. The star's close enough for astronomers to study the planets' atmospheres to determine if they could possibly be conducive to life.

Closing your eyes boosts memory recall, new study finds Posted: 16 Jan 2015 05:56 AM PST Further evidence has been found to suggest that eyewitnesses to crimes remember more accurate details when they close their eyes. The team also discovered that building a rapport with witnesses also helped them to remember more.

New trick found for how cells stay organized Posted: 16 Jan 2015 05:56 AM PST Organization is key to an efficient workplace, and cells are no exception to this rule. New evidence suggests that, in addition to membranes, cells have another way to keep their contents and activities separate: with ribbons of spinning proteins.

Heart arrhythmias detected in deep-diving marine mammals Posted: 16 Jan 2015 05:55 AM PST A new study of dolphins and seals shows that despite their remarkable adaptations to aquatic life, exercising while holding their breath remains a physiological challenge for marine mammals. The study found a surprisingly high frequency of heart arrhythmias in bottlenose dolphins and Weddell seals during the deepest dives.

Galactic 'hailstorm' in the early Universe Posted: 16 Jan 2015 05:49 AM PST Astronomers have been able to peer back to the young Universe to determine how quasars -- powered by supermassive black holes with the mass of a billion suns -- form and shape the evolution of galaxies. Two teams of astronomers have looked back nearly 13 billion years, when the Universe was less than 10 percent its present age, to determine how quasars -- extremely luminous objects powered by supermassive black holes with the mass of a billion suns -- regulate the formation of stars and the build-up of the most massive galaxies.