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168,089 articles from ScienceDaily

How the lily blooms

The "lily white" has inspired centuries' worth of rich poetry and art, but when it comes to the science of how and why those delicately curved petals burst from the bud, surprisingly little is known. Mathematics has now revealed that differential growth and ruffling at the edges of each petal -- not in the midrib, as commonly suggested -- provide the driving force behind the blooming of the lily....

Primordial soup gets spicier: 'Lost' samples from famous origin of life researcher shed new light on Earth's first life

Stanley Miller gained fame with his 1953 experiment showing the synthesis of organic compounds thought to be important in setting the origin of life in motion. Five years later, he produced samples from a similar experiment, shelved them and, as far as friends and colleagues know, never returned to them in his lifetime. More 50 years later, Jeffrey Bada, Miller's former student and now a professor...

Templated growth technique produces graphene nanoribbons with metallic properties

A new "templated growth" technique for fabricating nanoribbons of epitaxial graphene has produced structures just 15 to 40 nanometers wide that conduct current with almost no resistance. These structures could address the challenge of connecting graphene devices made with conventional architectures -- and set the stage for a new generation of devices that take advantage of the quantum properties...

Feeling angry? Say a prayer and the wrath fades away, study suggests

Saying a prayer may help many people feel less angry and behave less aggressively after someone has left them fuming, new research suggests. A series of studies showed that people who were provoked by insulting comments from a stranger showed less anger and aggression soon afterwards if they prayed for another person in the...

Fish know to avoid the spear

Fish are not as dumb as people sometimes think. Marine scientists have found that fish that are regularly hunted with spearguns are much more wary and keep their distance from fishers. In investigating the effects of marine areas closed to fishing by customary laws, an international team of researchers working in the Pacific found that fish exposed to speargun fishing take flight much earlier when...

Health information technology 'control tower' could improve earthquake response

A new study foresees improvements in patient outcomes after a major earthquake through more effective use of information technology. A control tower-style telemedicine hub to manage electronic traffic between first responders and remote medical experts could boost the likelihood that critically injured victims will get timely care and survive, according to the team's computer simulation...

Saving one of the world's most endangered birds

The entire population of the TTuamotu Kingfisher -- less than 125 -- lives on one tiny island in the south Pacific, and without serious intervention, these birds will no longer exist. One researcher is trying to stop the birds' extinction by working with farmers and residents on the island inhabited by the...

A dose of safflower oil each day might help keep heart disease at bay

A daily dose of safflower oil, a common cooking oil, for 16 weeks can improve such health measures as good cholesterol, blood sugar, insulin sensitivity and inflammation in obese postmenopausal women who have Type 2 diabetes, according to new research. This finding comes about 18 months after the same researchers discovered that safflower oil reduced abdominal fat and increased muscle tissue in...

Seeing in stereo: Engineers invent lens for 3-D microscope

Engineers have invented a lens that enables microscopic objects to be seen from nine different angles at once to create a 3-D image. Other 3-D microscopes use multiple lenses or cameras that move around an object; the new lens is the first single, stationary lens to create microscopic 3-D images by...