My picks from ScienceDaily

High-tech Imaging Of Inner Ear Sheds Light On Hearing, Behavior Of Oldest Fossil Bird:

The earliest known bird, the magpie-sized Archaeopteryx, had a similar hearing range to the modern emu, which suggests that the 145 million-year-old creature -- despite its reptilian teeth and long tail -- was more birdlike than reptilian, according to new research.

High Caffeine Intake Linked To Hallucination Proneness:

High caffeine consumption could be linked to a greater tendency to hallucinate, a new research study suggests. People with a higher caffeine intake, from sources such as coffee, tea and caffeinated energy drinks, are more likely to report hallucinatory experiences such as hearing voices and seeing things that are not there, according to the Durham University study.

Web Site Design Affects How Children Process Information:

A new study in the journal Psychology & Marketing investigates the influence of website design on children's information processing. Results show that the type of interface used can significantly affect how children process and retain information; age strongly affected this relationship.

Genetic Variation Cues Social Anxiety In Monkeys And Humans:

A genetic variation involving the brain chemical serotonin has been found to shape the social behavior of rhesus macaque monkeys, which could provide researchers with a new model for studying autism, social anxiety and schizophrenia. Humans and macaques are the only members of the primate family to have this particular genetic trait.

Clothing To Crow About: Chicken Feather Suits And Dresses:

In the future, you may snuggle up in warm, cozy sweats made of chicken feathers or jeans made of wheat, enjoying comfortable, durable new fabrics that are "green" and environmentally friendly. Researchers in Australia are reporting that new advances are paving the way for such exotic new materials -- made from agricultural waste or byproducts -- to hit store shelves as environmentally-friendly alternatives to the estimated 38 million tons of synthetic fabrics produced worldwide each year.

Might Migrating Birds Have Infected The Svalbard Arctic Fox With Parasites?:

Kristin Wear Prestrud comes from Sætre in Hurum, and graduated from the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science in 1999. After working for some five years at the veterinary school, primarily in the small animal clinic, she has for the last four years been employed as a Research Fellow at the Section of Arctic veterinary Medicine, The Norwegian School of Veterinary Science in Tromso

Evolution Of New Brain Area Enables Complex Movements:

A new area of the cerebral cortex has evolved to enable man and higher primates to pick up small objects and deftly use tools, according to neuroscientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Pittsburgh's Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Texas State Dinosaur Facing Name Change: Case Of Mistaken Dino-identity:

The official State Dinosaur of Texas is up for a new name, based on Southern Methodist University research that proved the titleholder has been misidentified. State Rep. Charles Geren of Fort Worth filed a resolution Jan. 7 to change the name of the state dinosaur from Pleurocoelus to Paluxysaurus jonesi to correctly name the massive sauropod whose tracks and bones litter the central Texas Jones Ranch. Peter Rose is the scientist behind the name change: His master's level study of dinosaur bones at SMU eventually led him to dispute the long-accepted notion that the large, sauropod bones found in and around the Paluxy River near Glen Rose, Texas, were the same as Pleurocoelus bones first found in Maryland in the late 1800s.

Of Mice And Peanuts: A New Mouse Model For Peanut Allergy:

Chicago researchers report the development of a new mouse model for food allergy that mimics symptoms generated during a human allergic reaction to peanuts. The animal model provides a new research tool that will be invaluable in furthering the understanding of the causes of peanut and other food allergies and in finding new ways to treat and prevent their occurrence, according to experts at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that funded the research.

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