Duetting Birds With Rhythm Present A Greater Threat:
Birds that sing duets with incredible rhythmic precision present a greater threat to other members of their species than those that whistle a sloppier tune, according to a study of Australian magpie-larks reported in the June 5th issue of Current Biology, published by Cell Press.
Going Fishing? Only Some Catch And Release Methods Let The Fish Live:
NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) fisheries scientists are investigating ways to boost the survival rates of several more species of fish caught and then released by anglers. Some guidelines designed to improve fish survival were recently developed for released line-caught snapper, silver trevally, mulloway, sand whiting, yellowfin bream and dusky flathead.
New Animal Model Boosts Biodefense Research On Lassa Fever:
Scientists at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research have developed a new tool in the battle against a potential biological weapon, Lassa fever, which kills several thousand people each year and leaves thousands more with disabilities such as deafness and liver damage. In an article in the June 2007 issue of the Journal of Virology (Vol. 81, Issue 12), SFBR scientists Jean Patterson and Ricardo Carrion Jr. and colleagues detail the development of a new animal model, the marmoset monkey, for use in Lassa fever research.
Male Mice Get A Longevity Boost From Compound Found In Creosote Bush:
Aspirin didn't pan out. Neither did two other potential anti-aging agents. But a synthetic derivative of a pungent desert shrub is now a front-runner in ongoing animal experiments to find out if certain chemicals, known to inhibit inflammation, cancer and other destructive processes, can boost the odds of living longer.
Climate Change Linked To Origins Of Agriculture In Mexico:
New charcoal and plant microfossil evidence from Mexico's Central Balsas valley links a pivotal cultural shift, crop domestication in the New World, to local and regional environmental history. Agriculture in the Balsas valley originated and diversified during the warm, wet, postglacial period following the much cooler and drier climate in the final phases of the last ice age. A significant dry period appears to have occurred at the same time as the major dry episode associated with the collapse of Mayan civilization, Smithsonian researchers and colleagues report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online.
Furry-clawed Asian Crabs Found In Delaware And Chesapeake Bays:
Chinese mitten crabs, first reported in the Chesapeake Bay, are more widespread than initially thought. Four crabs have now been caught in Delaware Bay during the last week of May 2007, and may occur in other waters of the U.S. east coast.
The Scientist And The Contortionist:
Watching a ballet dancer or circus acrobat perform, who hasn't winced at the thought of trying to replicate the impossible flexibility on display? Emilie Mackie '07, a neuroscience major, wondered what exactly is happening to the brain during this type of visceral response to someone else's physical state, so she cast about for a contortionist.
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