Science Sunday: Wrap-up of recent advancements in science from EurekAlert!

Artificial photosynthesis moves a step closer
Jülich scientists have made an important step on the long road to artificially mimicking photosynthesis. They were able to synthesise a stable inorganic metal oxide cluster, which enables the fast and effective oxidation of water to oxygen. This is reported by the German high-impact journal Angewandte Chemie in a publication rated as a VIP ("very important paper"). Artificial photosynthesis may decisively contribute to solving energy and climate problems, if researchers find a way to efficiently produce hydrogen with the aid of solar energy.

Under the sea
For the first time scientists have mapped the layers of once molten rock that lie beneath the edges of the Atlantic Ocean and measure over eight miles thick in some locations.

Is graphene the new silicon?
Research results from University of Maryland physicists show that graphene, a new material that combines aspects of semiconductors and metals, could be a leading candidate to replace silicon in applications ranging from high-speed computer chips to biochemical sensors.

UM physicists show electrons can travel over 100 times faster in graphene than in silicon
University of Maryland physicists have shown that in graphene the intrinsic limit to the mobility, a measure of how well a material conducts electricity, is higher than any other known material at room temperature. Graphene, a single-atom-thick sheet of graphite, is a new material which combines aspects of semiconductors and metals.

Silicon chips for optical quantum technologies
A team of physicists and engineers has demonstrated exquisite control of single particles of light -- photons -- on a silicon chip to make a major advance towards the long sought after goal of a super-powerful quantum computer.

Foldable and stretchable, silicon circuits conform to many shapes
Scientists have developed a new form of stretchable silicon integrated circuit that can wrap around complex shapes such as spheres, body parts and aircraft wings, and can operate during stretching, compressing, folding and other types of extreme mechanical deformations, without a reduction in electrical performance.

Scientists find that squid beak is both hard and soft, a material that engineers want to copy
How did nature make the squid's beak super hard and sharp -- allowing it, without harm to its soft body -- to capture its prey? The question has captivated those interested in creating new materials that mimic biological materials. The results are published in this week's issue of the journal Science. The sharp beak of the Humboldt squid is one of the hardest and stiffest organic materials known.

Researchers link genetic errors to schizophrenia
A team of researchers at the University of Washington and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories has uncovered genetic errors that may shed light on the causes of schizophrenia. The scientists found that deletions and duplications of DNA are more common in people with the mental disorder, and that many of those errors occur in genes related to brain development and neurological function.

Scientists uncover the source of an almost 2 billion year delay in animal evolution
A deficiency of oxygen and the heavy metal molybdenum in the ancient deep ocean may have delayed the evolution of animal life on Earth for nearly two billion years, scientists report in 'Nature.'

Study shows the upside of anger
Here's a maxim from the "duh" department: People typically prefer to feel emotions that are pleasant, like excitement, and avoid those that are unpleasant, like anger. But a new study appearing in the April issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, says this may not always be the case.

New organic molecule in space
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn have detected for the first time a molecule closely related to an amino acid: amino acetonitrile. The organic molecule was found with a 30 meter radio telescope in Spain and two radio interferometers in France and Australia in the "Large Molecule Heimat", a giant gas cloud near the galactic center in the constellation Sagittarius.

A ton of bitter melon produces sweet results for diabetes
Scientists have uncovered the therapeutic properties of bitter melon, a vegetable and traditional Chinese medicine, that make it a powerful treatment for type 2 diabetes.

Mounting evidence shows red wine antioxidant kills cancer
Rochester researchers showed for the first time that a natural antioxidant found in grape skins and red wine can help destroy pancreatic cancer cells by reaching to the cell's core energy source, or mitochondria, and crippling its function. The study is published in the March edition of the journal, Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology.

Exposure to low levels of radon appears to reduce the risk of lung cancer, new study finds
Exposure to levels of radon gas typically found in 90 percent of American homes appears to reduce the risk of developing lung cancer by as much as 60 percent, according to a study in the March issue of Health Physics. The finding differs significantly from results of previous case-control studies of the effects of low-level radon exposure, which have detected a slightly elevated lung cancer risk (but without statistical significance) or no risk at all.

Seeing may be believing -- but is it the same as looking?
If you see something, it's because you're looking at it, right? A recently published study in ARVO's Journal of Vision examined this question and established that while people do tend to notice objects within their gaze, it is the assumptions they make about their environment that affects their perceptions. People are biased towards believing that they were looking directly at what they have seen.

Ant guts could pave the way for better drugs
Scientists have discovered two key proteins that guide one of the two groups of pathogenic bacteria to make their hardy outer shells -- their defense against the world. The work could allow researchers to create new antibiotics, they said.

Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History reveals ants as fungus farmers
It turns out ants, like humans, are true farmers. The difference is that ants are farming fungus. Entomologists Ted Schultz and Seán Brady at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History have published a paper in the March 24 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, providing new insight into the agricultural abilities of ants and how these abilities have evolved throughout time.

A switch that controls whether cells pass point of no return
Investigators at the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy have revealed the hidden properties of an on-off switch that governs cell growth. The Duke team proved that if the switch is on, then a cell will divide, even if it's damaged or the signal to grow disappears.

Yerkes researchers identify language feature unique to human brain
Researchers have identified a language feature unique to the human brain that is shedding light on how human language evolved. The study marks the first use of diffusion tensor imaging, a noninvasive imaging technique, to compare human brain structures to those of chimpanzees, our closest living relative.