Science News
clock | March 1, 2009Desert Ants Smell Their Way Home:
Humans lost in the desert are well known for going around in circles, prompting scientists to ask how desert creatures find their way around without landmarks for guidance. Now new research shows that Desert Ants input both local smells and visual cues into their navigation systems to guide them home.
Controversy Over World's Oldest Traces Of Life:
The argument over whether an outcrop of rock in South West Greenland contains the earliest known traces of life on Earth has been reignited, in a study published in the Journal of the Geological Society. The…
clock | February 28, 2009Babies Learn Music While Sleeping:
Early screening and treatment for infants with hearing problems, and the ability to computer-generate musical scores, are two very different possible outcomes of some "off-the-wall" research. Until recently, little has been known about the perceptions humans have when they enter the world. Although adult perception has been extensively researched, how, or even if, the brains of newborn babies perceive patterns in the world remained a mystery.
Scientists Discover Why Teeth In Mammals, But Not Sharks, Form In A Single Row:
A system of opposing genetic forces…
clock | February 27, 2009What Is A Virus? Research Suggests A Broader Definition May Be Needed:
The strange interaction of a parasitic wasp, the caterpillar in which it lays its eggs and a virus that helps it overcome the caterpillar's immune defenses has some scientists rethinking the definition of a virus. In an essay in the journal Science, Donald Stoltz, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and James Whitfield, a professor of entomology at the University of Illinois, report that a new study also appearing in Science shows how the diverse ways in which…
clock | February 26, 2009Molecule Helps Sleep-deprived Rebound Mentally:
Sleep experts know that the mental clarity lost because of a few sleepless nights can often be restored with a good night's rest. Now, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have identified a key molecular mechanism that regulates the brain's ability to mentally compensate for sleep deprivation. Working with mice, they found that a molecule called an adenosine receptor is necessary for sleep-restricted animals to attain adequate levels of slow-wave activity in the brain once normal sleep resumes. It is this increase in slow-wave activity, or…
clock | February 25, 2009There are 19 new articles in PLoS ONE today. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. You can now also easily place articles on various social services (CiteULike, Connotea, Stumbleupon, Facebook and Digg) with just one click. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Leptin Affects Life History Decisions in a Passerine Bird: A Field Experiment:
Organisms face trade-offs regarding their life-history strategies, such as decisions of single or multiple broods within a year. In…
clock | February 25, 2009Bizarre Bird Behavior Predicted By Game Theory:
A team of scientists, led by the University of Exeter, has used game theory to explain the bizarre behaviour of a group of ravens. Juvenile birds from a roost in North Wales have been observed adopting the unusual strategy of foraging for food in 'gangs'. New research explains how this curious behaviour can be predicted by adapting models more commonly used by economists to analyse financial trends.
Widespread Stress Found Among Veterinarians:
Veterinarians frequently suffer psychosocial stress and demoralization associated with heavy workloads…
clock | February 24, 2009There are 20 new articles in PLoS ONE today. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. You can now also easily place articles on various social services (CiteULike, Connotea, Stumbleupon, Facebook and Digg) with just one click. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Rich Pickings Near Large Communal Roosts Favor 'Gang' Foraging by Juvenile Common Ravens, Corvus corax:
Ravens (Corvus corax) feed primarily on rich but ephemeral carcasses of large animals, which are usually…
clock | February 24, 2009New Questions About Evolution Of Hormones In Mammals:
New techniques used to examine hormones in feces and urine of mammals in the wild are yielding surprising results about hormones and evolution. The new techniques allow scientists to examine the social structure of a broader range of mammals.
Tree Lizard's Quick Release Escape System Makes Jumpers Turn Somersaults:
If you've ever tried capturing a lizard, you'll know how difficult it is. But if you do manage to corner one, many have the ultimate emergency quick release system for escape. They simply drop their tails, leaving the twitching…
clock | February 23, 2009Monday night - the day when four of the PLoS journals publish new articles - here is a sample. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. You can now also easily place articles on various social services (CiteULike, Connotea, Stumbleupon, Facebook and Digg) with just one click. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Wings, Horns, and Butterfly Eyespots: How Do Complex Traits Evolve?:
Throughout their evolutionary history, organisms have evolved numerous complex morphological,…
clock | February 23, 2009How Fat or Fit Were Dinosaurs? Scientists Use Laser Imaging:
Karl Bates and his colleagues in the palaeontology and biomechanics research group have reconstructed the bodies of five dinosaurs, two T. rex (Stan at the Manchester Museum and the Museum of the Rockies cast MOR555), an Acrocanthosaurus atokensis, a Strutiomimum sedens and an Edmontosaurus annectens. The team found that the smaller Museum of the Rockies T. rex could have weighed anywhere between 5.5 and 7 tonnes, while the larger specimen (Stan) might have weighed as much as 8 tonnes.
Genes Important To Sleep Discovered:
For many…
clock | February 22, 2009There are 19 new articles in PLoS ONE published on Friday night. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. You can now also easily place articles on various social services (CiteULike, Connotea, Stumbleupon, Facebook and Digg) with just one click. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Kestrel-Prey Dynamic in a Mediterranean Region: The Effect of Generalist Predation and Climatic Factors:
Most hypotheses on population limitation of small mammals and their predators come from…
clock | February 20, 2009
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…
clock | February 19, 2009There are 18 new articles in PLoS ONE today. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. You can now also easily place articles on various social services (CiteULike, Connotea, Stumbleupon, Facebook and Digg) with just one click. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Lipid Profile and Serum Characteristics of the Blind Subterranean Mole Rat, Spalax:
Spalax (blind subterranean mole rat), is a mammal adapted to live in fluctuating oxygen levels, and can survive severe hypoxia and…
clock | February 19, 2009Buying Experiences, Not Possessions, Leads To Greater Happiness:
Can money make us happy if we spend it on the right purchases? A new psychology study suggests that buying life experiences rather than material possessions leads to greater happiness for both the consumer and those around them.
Surfing The Net Helps Seniors Cope With Pain:
Surfing the Internet could provide significant relief for seniors with chronic pain, according to new research reported in The Journal of Pain, published by the American Pain Society.
Multilingualism Brings Communities Closer Together:
Learning their…
clock | February 18, 2009There are 12 new articles in PLoS ONE today. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. You can now also easily place articles on various social services (CiteULike, Connotea, Stumbleupon, Facebook and Digg) with just one click. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Estimating Mass Properties of Dinosaurs Using Laser Imaging and 3D Computer Modelling:
Body mass reconstructions of extinct vertebrates are most robust when complete to near-complete skeletons allow the…
clock | February 18, 2009Air-filled Bones Extended Lung Capacity And Helped Prehistoric Reptiles Take First Flight:
In the Mesozoic Era, 70 million years before birds first conquered the skies, pterosaurs dominated the air with sparrow- to Cessna-sized wingspans. Researchers suspected that these extinct reptiles sustained flight through flapping, based on fossil evidence from the wings, but had little understanding of how pterosaurs met the energetic demands of active flight.
In Flurry Of Studies, Researcher Details Role Of Apples In Inhibiting Breast Cancer:
Six studies published in the past year by a Cornell…
clock | February 17, 2009There are 18 new articles in PLoS ONE today. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. You can now also easily place articles on various social services (CiteULike, Connotea, Stumbleupon, Facebook and Digg) with just one click. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Respiratory Evolution Facilitated the Origin of Pterosaur Flight and Aerial Gigantism:
Pterosaurs, enigmatic extinct Mesozoic reptiles, were the first vertebrates to achieve true flapping flight. Various lines of…
clock | February 17, 2009Rote Memorization Of Historical Facts Adds To Collective Cluelessness:
As fans of talk-show host Jay Leno's man-on-the-street interviews know, Americans suffer from a national epidemic of historical and civic ignorance. But just because most Americans know more about "American Idol" than they do about American government doesn't necessarily mean it's entirely their fault. Americans' historical apathy is also an indictment of the way history is taught in grades K-12, according to a University of Illinois professor who studies and teaches historical instruction.
Baboons And Pigeons Are Capable…
clock | February 16, 2009Insights on Economic Choices From Game Theory and Cognitive Psychology:
How game theory and insights from cognitive psychology can shed light on the economic choices people and corporations make will be the focus of a topical lecture presented by California Institute of Technology (Caltech) behavioral economist Colin Camerer at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).*
It's Hard Work That Fosters Responsibility In Teen Programs:
Millions of American teenagers participate in Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, 4-H, and other programs designed to develop…
clock | February 15, 2009Hamsters On Treadmills Provide Electricity Through Use Of Nanogenerators:
Could hamsters help solve the world's energy crisis? Probably not, but a hamster wearing a power-generating jacket is doing its own small part to provide a new and renewable source of electricity. And using the same nanotechnology, Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have also generated electrical current from a tapping finger - moving the users of BlackBerry devices, cell phones and other handhelds one step closer to powering them with their own typing.
Cupid's Arrow May Cause More Than Just Sparks To Fly This…