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February 22, 2013

Your World of Science News

Top Story

Woolly mammoth tooth may have been found by N.H. fishers
A New Hampshire couple, Mike and Padi Anderson, caught more than scallops on a recent fishing trip. They came back with what a geologist says could be a woolly mammoth tooth. The five-pound tooth has remnants of a root. "It's just a wild feeling to hold something that was living 10,000 years ago in your hand," Padi Anderson said. The Boston Globe (tiered subscription model) (2/21)

Science in the News

Ruins of possible wine press discovered in Tel Aviv
The ruins of what is possible a 1,500-year-old wine making factory has been found in Tel Aviv, Israel. Researchers say the press is small and was probably used to make wine from pomegranates or figs sometime in the sixth or early seventh century A.D. "This is the first important building from the Byzantine period to be uncovered in this part of the city," said Yoav Arbel, director of the excavations for the Israel Antiquities Authority. LiveScience.com (2/20)

High-alcohol environment may help fruit fly larvae survive
Researchers have discovered that female fruit flies will lay their eggs in an alcohol-rich environment to ward off parasitic wasps. The high level of alcohol doesn't affect the fruit fly larvae, but can be deadly to parasitic wasp eggs often inside them. "Who survives is totally dependent on the fly strain and the wasp strain," said Emory University biologist Todd Schlenke. LiveScience.com (2/21)

World's deepest hydrothermal vent discovered in the Caribbean
The deepest-known hydrothermal vent has been found in the Caribbean nearly 3 miles below the surface of the ocean. The Beebe Hydrothermal Vent Field is in the Cayman Trough; mounds of former vents there could help researchers understand how the vents are formed. Our Amazing Planet (2/21)

Magnetic field of dying stars is recreated in the lab
Researchers have recreated how matter behaves in the powerful magnetic fields of dying stars. Phosphorus-laced silicon, similar to a computer microchip, was used to simulate the behavior of white dwarf stars. "By applying a 30-tesla field available at several labs around the world, the same physics as in a white dwarf can be reproduced. We have managed to recreate some of the most extreme conditions in our galaxy," said Ellis Bowyer, author of the study, which was published in Nature Communications. Space.com (2/21)

Researchers develop way to capture "rainbow" of light
A "hyperbolic metamaterial waveguide" developed by researchers at the University of Buffalo may aid advances in solar energy and stealth technology. The waveguide works like a microchip and absorbs each frequency of light to capture a "rainbow" of wavelengths. TechNewsDaily.com (2/21)

Research Policy Regulations

Researchers debate how to make global disease data accessible
Data on health and mortality trends around the world are set to be released by the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 consortium. However, concerns remain over how the data can be best accessed and used. The biggest concern, says Jane Halton, Australia's Department of Health secretary, is how to "get the data out of the academic context and into the world so that it's used in a meaningful way and helps the people we are trying to reach out to." SciDev.net (2/21)

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