Science Tuesday: A Month's Worth of Science News

[Photo: Pelican Spider, Hannah Wood, UC Davis]

Happy Tuesday, Aledan Merfolk! It’s been over a month since we’ve had a Science Tuesday on the blog, which means we have a lot of science news to get through. Let’s do this.

Mineral found in meteorite puzzles scientists

Young moon’s early orbit was highly elliptical, researchers find

Deep aurora in Mars seen by Maven spacecraft

Philae data suggest comet could be composed of pebbles

Ancient crocodile ancestor walked on 2 legs, was top predator

Researchers classify ancient creatures that confounded Darwin

Study finds increase in prevalence of celiac disease

Ancient hot spot may have caused shift in moon’s poles, scientists say

Image shows massive filament reaching across sun

Technique spurs speedy gene-mutation spread in fruit flies “the technique shows promise in creating a population of mosquitoes that could be bred for malaria resistance.”

Many European wild bees at risk for extinction

Art turns to science to determine what materials Picasso used in his paintings

Molecular nitrogen found on Comet 67P

Cosmic dust that survives supernova can create planets, stars

Nuclear fusion progress achieved by U.S. scientists

NOAA: Dec. to Feb. was warmest winter ever recorded worldwide

Scientists closer to vaccine after sequencing genome of second hookworm species

Ancient hand axes show early humans used tools to butcher meat from animals

Scientists splice DNA of woolly mammoth, elephant

Researchers explore deep-sea canyon off western Australian coast

Researchers find evidence of ancient asteroid impacts beneath central Australia

Studies find components that may have supported life on Mars

Solar system cleared out by early wandering Jupiter, study suggests

Higher IQ seen in adopted children than siblings

Circulation in the Atlantic Ocean slowing, new index finds

Opportunity completes Martian marathon

Heat, sound waves moved by magnetic fields, researchers say

Monitoring animal behavior could be early quake warning, study suggests

Massive ancestor of salamanders found in Portugal

Scientists recalculate rotation of Saturn

More evidence of infidelity found in Richard III’s line, geneticists say

John Nash becomes first to hold Abel, Nobel prizes

Researchers develop light-emitting fibers for fabrics

Researchers detect dark matter as it coasts through galaxy collisions

Thinning of Antarctic ice shelves accelerating, researchers say

Polar bears’ shifting dining habits could affect bird populations

New mutations not responsible for current Ebola outbreak

Cambrian marine creature hunted with tooth-filled claws, researchers find

Study shows how porpoises use sound to locate prey

GPS tracking gives researchers glimpse into pandas’ lives

Ancient Egyptian beer-brewing basins found in Israel

Researchers: Painting from pyramid a forgery, may hide painting beneath

Ants want to explore even when hampered by microgravity, study suggests

Carbon dust from comets may be why Mercury appears dark

Scientists link separate quantum systems

Ancient recipe effective on antibiotic-resistant infections

Faraway galaxy was star-making powerhouse

Warming waters may be drawing blue crabs farther north, study suggests

Researchers track lengthy migration of tiny blackpoll warblers

Study looks at evolutionary bird-plumage changes

Enzyme-blocking nanoparticles can speed wound healing

Strange undersea virus mutates own genes to survive in harsh environment

Sinking tectonic plate responsible for bend in Hawaii-area seamounts

Young galaxy clusters discovered

New dating technique shows Little Foot fossil is 3.7 million years old (This is Little Foot the human precursor, not Little Foot the cartoon dinosaur ;))

Pelican spiders keep prey a safe distance away <– This is one of the most bizarre spiders I’ve ever seen.

Intact skeleton of Ottoman Army camel discovered in Austria

Exploding head syndrome more prevalent in young people than thought o.O

Ants in NYC are changing due to junk food diets, study says

Study explores the secrets of seahorse tails

Ancient human ancestors also enjoyed a day at the lake, researchers say

Surprising events prompt babies to learn, study shows

Positive results for cancer vaccines using tumor mutations

Neuroscientists team up with hackers

Green glowing clouds viewed by Hubble Space Telescope

Large Hadron Collider back online after 2-year break

Ancient teeth, bones found in Kenya likely early Homo specimens

Scientists explore secrets of long-lived lemurs

Birds find meals of insects in fur of sloths

Polar bears wouldn’t adapt well to life only on land, researchers say

Lightning strikes charted in NASA’s global map

Rain inside hurricanes may significantly lessen their intensity

Specialized robot uncovers life deep beneath Antarctic Ice shelf

2 dusty tails follow behind the moon, researchers say

Ancient medieval text reveals hidden text, drawings

Study reclassifies Brontosaurus as unique genus, species

Galapagos tortoises retool diets with non-native plants

Visual portions of brain evolving out of eyeless cave-dwelling crustaceans

Fire could spread radioactive material from Chernobyl, study finds <– I test for things like this at work to make sure the water and soil around nuclear power plants isn’t contaminated 🙂

New techniques with fluorescent proteins help scientists see the unseeable

Researchers team up for stem cell transplant study

Scientists develop “bio-cement” to help regenerate bone tissue

Building blocks of life found in young star’s proto-planetary disk

Faraway galaxy seen as glowing ring in ALMA telescope image

Thick dust hides thousands of glaciers on Mars !

New studies add to debate on how the moon formed

Trove of mummies found in ancient Peruvian tombs

Debate grows around flower fossil find

Fossils from ancient forests feed life in Antarctic waters today

Magnetic bands around sun may help predict solar flares, study suggests

Land bridge linking North, South America older than once thought

Tyrannosaur battle may have caused scars on ancient dinosaur skull

Nearly complete skeleton of large ancient bird found in Argentina

Mountain gorillas resistant to genetic problems from inbreeding, study finds

Neanderthal skeleton in Italian cave yields some DNA

Vertebra in Lucy skeleton found to be from a baboon

Man buried alongside noblewoman in ancient tomb likely a sacrifice Yikes!

Ancient ammonites may have been able to keep themselves afloat

Supernovae brightness may mean universe isn’t expanding as rapidly as thought

Plucking hairs in a concentrated area results in greater hair growth So I guess plucking your grey hairs really can result in more grey hairs…

Researchers evaluate spider silk for heart regeneration

Evidence of liquid brine found in Mars soil

First glimpse of dark matter map revealed

Color map of Ceres unveiled

Mysterious, stormy white patches on Saturn may be caused by water vapor

Flakes discovered in Kenya may be oldest stone tools ever found

Roughed up skeleton may have been medieval knight who jousted

Western gray whale sets record for mammal migration

Color image of Pluto, Charon taken by New Horizons probe

Rosetta finds no magnetic field on its comet

Gamma-ray burst gives off afterglow that tips off astronomers

Device successfully uses brain signals to control prosthesis

Neanderthals may have cooked with spices

Mini-strokes, not epilepsy, may have caused Caesar’s symptoms

Various kinds of ocean waves cause mysterious Earth hum

Crew films rare footage of sperm whale deep in Gulf of Mexico <– The best part of this video is how completely geeked the researchers are about it 🙂

Strange radio signals caused by microwave ovens

Existence of rare Bouvier’s red colobus monkey confirmed by photo

Fossil found in Argentina sheds light on ancient terror birds

Dogs and humans bond through eye contact

Capitanian event a mass extinction, researchers say

Asia, Americas trade may have been going on long before Columbus

Microbe shows preference for meteorite dust over Earth

Happiness is … the sweet smell of sweat, researchers say

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