Copyright (c) 2008 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. http://news.yahoo.com/i/1768 Most Recommended Science en-us Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:10:39 GMT 5 142 18 http://news.yahoo.com/i/1768 http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/nws/th/main_142b.gif http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/5waystobeefupyourbrain livescience/20080816/5waystobeefupyourbrain LiveScience.com Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:00:44 GMT LiveScience.com - Forget where you left your keys this morning? Or maybe you left your umbrella in the office before a rainy evening. Don't worry, it's probably not a sign of Alzheimer's - everyone is a little forgetful now and then. But the prevalence of Alzheimer's and other types of dementia, which slowly deteriorate the brain's capacity to make new memories, retrieve older ones and perform other mental and physical tasks, is on the rise as the baby boomer generation hits retirement age. ... http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/ecuadorgalapagosenvironmentanimal afp/20080820/ecuadorgalapagosenvironmentanimal AFP Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:11:08 GMT <p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/ecuadorgalapagosenvironmentanimal"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20080820/capt.cps.nin03.200808030813.photo00.photo.default-512x341.jpg?x=130&y=86&q=85&sig=egS8rfoZLZ0jvDZ2REB10g--" align="left" height="86" width="130" alt="File photo of Playa Man in San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos Archipelago, Ecuador. The Galapagos Islands, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, were under a botanical alert Tuesday after a destructive Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly) was detected on the archipelago, the Agricultural Health Service (SESA) said.(AFP/File/Rodrigo Buendia)" border="0" /></a>AFP - Ecuador's Galapagos Islands, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, were under a botanical alert Tuesday after a destructive Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly) was detected on the archipelago, the Agricultural Health Service (SESA) said.</p><br clear="all"/> <p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/ecuadorgalapagosenvironmentanimal"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20080820/capt.cps.nin03.200808030813.photo00.photo.default-512x341.jpg?x=130&y=86&q=85&sig=egS8rfoZLZ0jvDZ2REB10g--" align="left" height="86" width="130" alt="photo" title="File photo of Playa Man in San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos Archipelago, Ecuador. The Galapagos Islands, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, were under a botanical alert Tuesday after a destructive Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly) was detected on the archipelago, the Agricultural Health Service (SESA) said.(AFP/File/Rodrigo Buendia)" border="0"/></a></p><br clear="all"/> (AFP) http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/sloshinginsideearthchangesprotectivemagneticfield space/20080818/sloshinginsideearthchangesprotectivemagneticfield SPACE.com Mon, 18 Aug 2008 10:45:37 GMT SPACE.com - Something beneath the surface is changing Earth's protective magnetic field, which may leave satellites and other space assets vulnerable to high-energy radiation. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/hugecometdiscovered space/20080818/hugecometdiscovered SPACE.com Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:16:12 GMT <p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/hugecometdiscovered"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20080818/i/r1723138932.jpg?x=130&y=86&q=85&sig=QC_C14le9HxzIQnp85ZsEA--" align="left" height="86" width="130" alt="A "minor planet" with an elongated orbit around the Sun is seen in this undated handout photo. REUTERS/Ohio State University/Handout" border="0" /></a>SPACE.com - A huge comet-like object has been spotted inside the orbit of Neptune. The object, at least 30 miles wide, is on the return leg of a 22,500-year journey around the sun, astronomers announced today.</p><br clear="all"/> <p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/hugecometdiscovered"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20080818/i/r1723138932.jpg?x=130&y=86&q=85&sig=QC_C14le9HxzIQnp85ZsEA--" align="left" height="86" width="130" alt="photo" title="A "minor planet" with an elongated orbit around the Sun is seen in this undated handout photo. REUTERS/Ohio State University/Handout" border="0"/></a></p><br clear="all"/> (SPACE.com) http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/australiaanimalwhaleoffbeat afp/20080820/australiaanimalwhaleoffbeat AFP Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:14:18 GMT <p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/australiaanimalwhaleoffbeat"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20080820/capt.cps.nip02.200808100418.photo00.photo.default-512x283.jpg?x=130&y=71&q=85&sig=x3ZSGkqtNvpb9K5FAVJF0w--" align="left" height="71" width="130" alt="An ABC TV framegrab shows a baby humpback whale trying to suckle from an yacht near Sydney. The baby whale abandoned by its mother was still trying to suckle from yachts in an Australian harbour Wednesday as last ditch efforts were being made to save it from death.(AFP/HO/File)" border="0" /></a>AFP - A desperate baby whale abandoned by its mother was still trying to suckle from yachts in an Australian harbour Wednesday as last ditch efforts were being made to save it from death.</p><br clear="all"/> <p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/australiaanimalwhaleoffbeat"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20080820/capt.cps.nip02.200808100418.photo00.photo.default-512x283.jpg?x=130&y=71&q=85&sig=x3ZSGkqtNvpb9K5FAVJF0w--" align="left" height="71" width="130" alt="photo" title="An ABC TV framegrab shows a baby humpback whale trying to suckle from an yacht near Sydney. The baby whale abandoned by its mother was still trying to suckle from yachts in an Australian harbour Wednesday as last ditch efforts were being made to save it from death.(AFP/HO/File)" border="0"/></a></p><br clear="all"/> (AFP) http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/milkywayshaloloadedwithstarstreams space/20080816/milkywayshaloloadedwithstarstreams SPACE.com Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:17:10 GMT SPACE.com - A new map of the halo of stars that surrounds our Milky Way Galaxy has revealed a complicated structure of crisscrossing stellar streams, many of which have never been detected before. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/facerecognitionvariesbyculture livescience/20080820/facerecognitionvariesbyculture LiveScience.com Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:25:46 GMT LiveScience.com - The way people recognize faces might say a lot about what culture they come from, scientists now reveal. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/influenza1918_dc nm/20080819/influenza1918_dc Reuters Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:57:04 GMT Reuters - Bacterial pneumonia may have killed most people during the 1918 flu pandemic, and antibiotics may be as crucial as flu drugs to fight any new pandemic, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/sciencebritainaustraliaaborigineslanguage afp/20080819/sciencebritainaustraliaaborigineslanguage AFP Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:27:57 GMT <p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/sciencebritainaustraliaaborigineslanguage"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20080819/capt.cps.nii79.190808132706.photo00.photo.default-512x350.jpg?x=130&y=88&q=85&sig=93bQht3wdY.M5F8k36Dsvw--" align="left" height="88" width="130" alt="Gumatj Aboriginal children play by a fish net in Arnhem Land, the Northern Territory, Australia, December 2005. Australian Aboriginal children can count even without having words for numbers, according to a study by British and Australian experts.(AFP/File/Torsten Blackwood)" border="0" /></a>AFP - Australian Aboriginal children can count even without having words for numbers, according to a study by British and Australian experts released Tuesday.</p><br clear="all"/> <p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/sciencebritainaustraliaaborigineslanguage"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20080819/capt.cps.nii79.190808132706.photo00.photo.default-512x350.jpg?x=130&y=88&q=85&sig=93bQht3wdY.M5F8k36Dsvw--" align="left" height="88" width="130" alt="photo" title="Gumatj Aboriginal children play by a fish net in Arnhem Land, the Northern Territory, Australia, December 2005. Australian Aboriginal children can count even without having words for numbers, according to a study by British and Australian experts.(AFP/File/Torsten Blackwood)" border="0"/></a></p><br clear="all"/> (AFP) http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/planet_minor_dc nm/20080818/planet_minor_dc Reuters Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:11:23 GMT <p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/planet_minor_dc"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20080818/2008_08_18t111707_450x300_us_planet_minor.jpg?x=130&y=86&q=85&sig=xuFPiosQdoePn2Kaxw9ENg--" align="left" height="86" width="130" alt="A 'minor planet' with an elongated orbit around the Sun is seen in this undated handout photo. (Ohio State University/Handout/Reuters)" border="0" /></a>Reuters - A newly discovered "minor planet" with an elongated orbit around the Sun may help explain the origin of comets, researchers said on Monday.</p><br clear="all"/> <p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/planet_minor_dc"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20080818/2008_08_18t111707_450x300_us_planet_minor.jpg?x=130&y=86&q=85&sig=xuFPiosQdoePn2Kaxw9ENg--" align="left" height="86" width="130" alt="photo" title="A 'minor planet' with an elongated orbit around the Sun is seen in this undated handout photo. (Ohio State University/Handout/Reuters)" border="0"/></a></p><br clear="all"/> (Reuters) http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/scientistssaywecanseesound livescience/20080818/scientistssaywecanseesound LiveScience.com Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:15:12 GMT LiveScience.com - Turning conventional neuroscience on its head, new research suggests the human visual system processes sound and helps us see. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/italy_turtles_dc nm/20080819/italy_turtles_dc Reuters Tue, 19 Aug 2008 08:58:46 GMT <p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/italy_turtles_dc"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20080819/2008_08_19t051025_450x300_us_italy_turtles.jpg?x=130&y=86&q=85&sig=mrBjpIkDCTzD1RIzqOQBiQ--" align="left" height="86" width="130" alt="Tourists photograph a newly hatched sea turtle crawling towards the water near the Marine Turtle Rescue Center on Linosa, a small volcanic island south of Sicily August 8, 2008. (Paulo Siqueira/Reuters)" border="0" /></a>Reuters - About 60 newly hatched sea turtles lost their way during their ritual passage to the sea and marched into an Italian restaurant instead, a conservation worker said on Monday.</p><br clear="all"/> <p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/italy_turtles_dc"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20080819/2008_08_19t051025_450x300_us_italy_turtles.jpg?x=130&y=86&q=85&sig=mrBjpIkDCTzD1RIzqOQBiQ--" align="left" height="86" width="130" alt="photo" title="Tourists photograph a newly hatched sea turtle crawling towards the water near the Marine Turtle Rescue Center on Linosa, a small volcanic island south of Sicily August 8, 2008. (Paulo Siqueira/Reuters)" border="0"/></a></p><br clear="all"/> (Reuters) http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/japanwhaling afp/20080819/japanwhaling AFP Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:57:20 GMT <p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/japanwhaling"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20080819/capt.cps.nim18.190808215459.photo00.photo.default-343x512.jpg?x=87&y=130&q=85&sig=hpEHv37ElvoMBcFG4CVJBQ--" align="left" height="130" width="87" alt="Activists vowed no let-up in their campaign to stop Japan's whaling as reports said Tokyo was seeking further arrests overseas of people who obstructed a hunt. "We will not be deterred, we will not retreat and we will never surrender the lives of these defenceless whales to the outlaw whalers from Japan," said Paul Watson, captain of the US-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Frederick M. Brown)" border="0" /></a>AFP - Animal rights activists vowed no let-up in their campaign to stop Japan's whaling as reports Tuesday said Tokyo was seeking further arrests overseas of people who obstructed a hunt.</p><br clear="all"/> <p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/japanwhaling"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20080819/capt.cps.nim18.190808215459.photo00.photo.default-343x512.jpg?x=87&y=130&q=85&sig=hpEHv37ElvoMBcFG4CVJBQ--" align="left" height="130" width="87" alt="photo" title="Activists vowed no let-up in their campaign to stop Japan's whaling as reports said Tokyo was seeking further arrests overseas of people who obstructed a hunt. "We will not be deterred, we will not retreat and we will never surrender the lives of these defenceless whales to the outlaw whalers from Japan," said Paul Watson, captain of the US-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Frederick M. Brown)" border="0"/></a></p><br clear="all"/> (AFP) http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/thestoriedhistoryofthewordplanet space/20080819/thestoriedhistoryofthewordplanet SPACE.com Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:02:44 GMT SPACE.com - The word "planet" has meant many different things over the millennia and even still its definition is evolving. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/environmentwaterfarmwaste afp/20080818/environmentwaterfarmwaste AFP Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:22:04 GMT <p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/environmentwaterfarmwaste"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20080818/capt.cps.nhy48.180808022128.photo00.photo.default-512x512.jpg?x=130&y=130&q=85&sig=fickmAtxafk_TN39ucQs1w--" align="left" height="130" width="130" alt="A vegetable market in Manila. Wastewater is widely used to irrigate urban agricultural land in developing countries, a practice that has both advantages and disadvantages, a 53-city study presented at a water conference in Stockholm showed(AFP/File/Jay Directo)" border="0" /></a>AFP - Wastewater is widely used to irrigate urban agricultural land in developing countries, a practice that has both advantages and disadvantages, a 53-city study presented at a water conference in Stockholm showed Monday.</p><br clear="all"/> <p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/environmentwaterfarmwaste"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20080818/capt.cps.nhy48.180808022128.photo00.photo.default-512x512.jpg?x=130&y=130&q=85&sig=fickmAtxafk_TN39ucQs1w--" align="left" height="130" width="130" alt="photo" title="A vegetable market in Manila. Wastewater is widely used to irrigate urban agricultural land in developing countries, a practice that has both advantages and disadvantages, a 53-city study presented at a water conference in Stockholm showed(AFP/File/Jay Directo)" border="0"/></a></p><br clear="all"/> (AFP) http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/shockabsorberplansetfornasasnewrocket space/20080819/shockabsorberplansetfornasasnewrocket SPACE.com Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:01:35 GMT SPACE.com - NASA engineers have come up with a dual shock absorber solution to the problem of excessive vibrations with the new Ares I rocket that will launch the agency's Orion space shuttle replacement. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/magpies_mirror_dc nm/20080819/magpies_mirror_dc Reuters Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:03:25 GMT <p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/magpies_mirror_dc"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20080819/2008_08_18t204519_450x364_us_magpies_mirror.jpg?x=130&y=105&q=85&sig=0OYqot9cux_eBE8.KjlbwQ--" align="left" height="105" width="130" alt="A magpie with yellow mark used in a mirror self-recognition experiment. Magpies can recognize themselves in a mirror, highlighting the mental skills of some birds and confounding the notion that self-awareness is the exclusive preserve of humans and a few higher mammals. (Institute of Psychology, Goethe University, Frankfurt/Handout/Reuters)" border="0" /></a>Reuters - Magpies can recognize themselves in a mirror, highlighting the mental skills of some birds and confounding the notion that self-awareness is the exclusive preserve of humans and a few higher mammals.</p><br clear="all"/> <p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/magpies_mirror_dc"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20080819/2008_08_18t204519_450x364_us_magpies_mirror.jpg?x=130&y=105&q=85&sig=0OYqot9cux_eBE8.KjlbwQ--" align="left" height="105" width="130" alt="photo" title="A magpie with yellow mark used in a mirror self-recognition experiment. Magpies can recognize themselves in a mirror, highlighting the mental skills of some birds and confounding the notion that self-awareness is the exclusive preserve of humans and a few higher mammals. (Institute of Psychology, Goethe University, Frankfurt/Handout/Reuters)" border="0"/></a></p><br clear="all"/> (Reuters) http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/sci_counting_without_numbers ap/20080818/sci_counting_without_numbers AP Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:22:22 GMT AP - Answer this without counting: Are there more X's here XXXXXX, or here XXXXX? That's a problem facing people whose languages don't include words for more than one or two. Yet researchers say children who speak those languages are still able to compare quantities. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/keystoantsocialstatusfound livescience/20080819/keystoantsocialstatusfound LiveScience.com Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:45:55 GMT LiveScience.com - Whether an ant becomes a dominant queen or a lowly worker is determined by both nature and nurture, it turns out. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/uscaribbeanweatherstorm afp/20080820/uscaribbeanweatherstorm AFP Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:50:37 GMT <p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/uscaribbeanweatherstorm"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20080820/capt.cps.nip54.200808114749.photo00.photo.default-512x335.jpg?x=130&y=84&q=85&sig=PfOrF.oxoYGeHu08Y9iDXQ--" align="left" height="84" width="130" alt="A palm tree lies uprooted after Tropical Storm Fay hit Naples, Florida on August 19. Fay is heading eastward toward Florida's Atlantic coast, with forecasters saying it will more than likely make a return trip to the waterlogged state after it finally moves offshore.(AFP/Getty Images/Stephen Morton)" border="0" /></a>AFP - Tropical Storm Fay was heading eastward toward Florida's Atlantic coast early Wednesday, with forecasters saying it will more than likely make a return trip to the waterlogged state after it finally moves offshore.</p><br clear="all"/> <p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestratedsc/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/uscaribbeanweatherstorm"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20080820/capt.cps.nip54.200808114749.photo00.photo.default-512x335.jpg?x=130&y=84&q=85&sig=PfOrF.oxoYGeHu08Y9iDXQ--" align="left" height="84" width="130" alt="photo" title="A palm tree lies uprooted after Tropical Storm Fay hit Naples, Florida on August 19. Fay is heading eastward toward Florida's Atlantic coast, with forecasters saying it will more than likely make a return trip to the waterlogged state after it finally moves offshore.(AFP/Getty Images/Stephen Morton)" border="0"/></a></p><br clear="all"/> (AFP)