New 'Light' On Fascinating Rhythms Of Circadian Clock:
....Using DNA microarray techniques, Duffield and the other researchers identified an important gene called the "Inhibitor of DNA-binding 2" (Id2) and found that the gene is rhythmically expressed in various tissues including the suprachiasmatic nucleus.
"In the last few years, my laboratory has focused on a family of transcription factor genes expressed in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, liver and heart," Duffield said. "In conjunction with colleagues at Dartmouth Medical School and Norris Cotton Cancer Center, we produced a knockout mouse that does not express the Id2 gene and is thus null for the functional Id2 protein. By exposing these mice to a time-zone change in their light-dark cycle, we were able to examine the effect of artificial jet lag. We altered the light-dark conditions for these mice to produce an effect that was the equivalent of a person flying from Athens to Los Angeles, a 10-hour delay of their cycle.
"We discovered that the knockout mice took only one or two days to recover from jet lag, while unaltered mice required four or five days to fully adjust. It's like we removed the hand brake on their molecular machinery."....
Easter Island's Controversial Collapse: More To The Story Than Deforestation?:
Easter Island (Rapa Nui) has gained recognition in recent years due in part to a book that used it as a model for societal collapse from bad environmental practices--ringing alarm bells for those concerned about the health of the planet today. But that's not the whole story, says Dr. Chris Stevenson, an archaeologist who has studied the island--famous for its massive stone statues--with a Rapa Nui scientist, Sonia Haoa, and Earthwatch volunteers for nearly 20 years. The ancient Rapanui people did abuse their environment, but they were also developing sustainable practices--innovating, experimenting, trying to adapt to a risky environment--and they would still be here in traditional form if it weren't for the diseases introduced by European settlers in the 1800s.
Rapid Burst Of Flowering Plants Set Stage For Other Species:
A new University of Florida study based on DNA analysis from living flowering plants shows that the ancestors of most modern trees diversified extremely rapidly 90 million years ago, ultimately leading to the formation of forests that supported similar evolutionary bursts in animals and other plants.
Reading: Yours, Mine, Ours: When You And I Share Perspectives:
While reading a novel, as the author describes the main character washing dishes or cooking dinner, we will often create a mental image of someone in the kitchen performing these tasks. Sometimes we may even imagine ourselves as the dishwasher or top chef in these scenarios. Why do we imagine these scenes differently - when do we view the action from an outsider's perspective and when do we place ourselves in the main character's shoes?
Science Suggests Access To Nature Is Essential To Human Health:
Elderly adults tend to live longer if their homes are near a park or other green space, regardless of their social or economic status. College students do better on cognitive tests when their dorm windows view natural settings. Children with ADHD have fewer symptoms after outdoor activities in lush environments. Residents of public housing complexes report better family interactions when they live near trees.
The Liberating Effects Of Losing Control:
Self-control is one of our most cherished values. We applaud those with the discipline to regulate their appetites and actions, and we try hard to instill this virtue in our children. We celebrate the power of the mind to make hard choices and keep us on course. But is it possible that willpower can sometimes be an obstacle rather than a means to happiness and harmony?
Anti-social Behavior In Girls Predicts Adolescent Depression Seven Years Later:
Past behavior is generally considered to be a good predictor of future behavior, but new research indicates that may not be the case in the development of depression, particularly among adolescent girls.
I Totally Empathize With You ... Sometimes: Effects Of Empathy On Ethnic Group Interactions:
Increased empathy toward minority group members is one way to reduce prejudice and promote more positive inter-group relationships. When individuals take on the perspective of someone from a different group, a number of processes and feelings are set in motion that should lead to more positive feelings toward members of that group. But University of Manitoba psychologists Jacquie D. Vorauer and Stacey J. Sasaki wanted to investigate the effect of empathy in actual interactions with minority group members.
Mating can be exhausting. When fruit flies mate, the females' genes are activated to roughly the same extent as when an immune reaction starts. This is shown in a study at Uppsala University that is now appearing in the scientific publication Journal of Evolutionary Biology.
Changing Sexes On The Sea Floor:
Trees do it. Bees do it. Even environmentally stressed fish do it. But Prof. Yossi Loya from Tel Aviv University's Department of Zoology is the first in the world to discover that Japanese sea corals engage in "sex switching" too.
Plants Take A Hike As Temperatures Rise:
Plants are flowering at higher elevations in Arizona's Santa Catalina Mountains as summer temperatures rise, according to new research from The University of Arizona in Tucson.
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