Science News
j7uy5 | September 30, 2008When I was 11 or so, I read Heinlein's novel,
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podkayne_of_Mars">Podkayne
of Mars. I wanted to go to Mars after
that. The thought never really left me. But in June
of this year, I began to have my doubts. Scientists reported
that the soil on Mars is
href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7477310.stm">suitable
for growing ASPARAGUS. Forget Mars. Keep
your asparagus.
But as the months passed by, I begin to thing I could learn to like
asparagus. My sisters used to collect wild asparagus near our
home. They enjoyed collecting it, and…
clock | September 29, 2008Under the fold:
Rebels? No, Simply Scientists:
The problem of creativity is common to the arts and sciences. What distinguishes geniuses from ordinary mortals? In the arts, from Mozart to van Gogh, creativity has frequently been associated with the artist's opposition to the society of their time. A good artist is a rebel. Paradoxically, whereas science might appear as a progressive rational construction of new knowledge, the same relation has been postulated between rebellion and scientific creativity. There are many historical accounts of how scientists who made decisive breakthroughs saw…
clock | September 29, 2008
Getting Lost: A Newly Discovered Developmental Brain Disorder:
Feeling lost every time you leave your home? You may not be as alone as you think. Researchers at the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute recently documented the first case of a patient who, without apparent brain damage or cognitive impairment, is unable to orient within any environment. Researchers also believe that there are many others in the general population who may be affected by this developmental topographical disorder.
Out Of Iraq Emerges Hope For Those With Severest Of Head…
clock | September 29, 2008Acoustic Communication In Deep-sea Fish:
An international research team studying sound production in deep-sea fishes has found that cusk-eels use several sets of muscles to produce sound that plays a prominent role in male mating calls.
Helping Dogs With Cancer May Benefit People:
A new study jointly conducted by Oregon State University College of Veterinary Medicine and the Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute may one day help not only our canine friends with cancer, but also people with the human form of the disease.
Deadly Rugby Virus Spreads In Sumo Wrestlers:
Rugby…
clock | September 27, 2008So, let's see what was new in PLoS Genetics, PLoS Computational Biology, PLoS Pathogens, PLoS ONE and PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases last week. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Sex-Specific Genetic Structure and Social Organization in Central Asia: Insights from a Multi-Locus Study:
Human evolutionary history has been investigated mainly through the prism of genetic variation of the Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA. These two…
clock | September 27, 2008Earth's Magnetic Field Reversals Illuminated By Lava Flows Study:
Earth's north magnetic pole is shifting and weakening. Ancient lava flows are guiding a better understanding of what generates and controls the Earth's magnetic field - and what may drive it to occasionally reverse direction.
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Current evidence suggests we are now approaching one of these transitional states because the main magnetic field is relatively weak and rapidly decreasing, he says. While the last polarity reversal occurred several hundred thousand years ago, the next might come within only a few…
clock | September 25, 2008Bats Pick Up Rustling Sounds Against Highway Background Noise:
When bats go hunting by listening for faint rustling sounds made by their quarry on a quiet night they don't have any problems. But what happens when a bat goes foraging next to a noisy highway? Can they still hear the faint sounds?
America's Smallest Dinosaur Uncovered:
An unusual breed of dinosaur that was the size of a chicken, ran on two legs and scoured the ancient forest floor for termites is the smallest dinosaur species found in North America, according to a University of Calgary researcher who analyzed bones found during…
clock | September 24, 2008There are 6 new articles in PLoS ONE today - and one of them has nothing to do with biology or medicine (ONE is meant to be for all areas of science, after all). As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
In Situ Observation of Modulated Light Emission of Fiber Fuse Synchronized with Void Train over Hetero-Core Splice Point:
Fiber fuse is a process of optical fiber destruction under the action of laser radiation, found 20 years ago. Once…
clock | September 24, 2008Formula Discovered For Longer Plant Life:
Molecular biologists from Tuebingen, Germany, have discovered how the growth of leaves and the aging process of plants are coordinated.
Human Or Animal Faces Associated With At Least 90 Percent Of Cars By One-third Of Population:
Do people attribute certain personality traits or emotions to car fronts? If so, could this have implications for driving and pedestrian behavior? Truls Thorstensen (EFS Consulting Vienna), Karl Grammer (Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Urban Ethology) and other researchers at the University of Vienna joined economic interest…
clock | September 24, 2008Under the fold....
Neighbors From Hell: Infanticide Rife In Guillemot Colony:
One of Britain's best-known species of seabird is increasingly attacking and killing unattended chicks from neighbouring nests due to food shortages.
GPS Navigation Devices Can Be Spoofed, Counter Measures Not Effective In Certain Cases:
Just like flat-screen televisions, cell phones and computers, global positioning system (GPS) technology is becoming something people can't imagine living without. So if such a ubiquitous system were to come under attack, would we be ready?
Abrupt Climate Change Focus Of U.S.…
clock | September 23, 2008There are 9 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. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Some Rare Indo-Pacific Coral Species Are Probable Hybrids:
Coral reefs worldwide face a variety of threats and many coral species are increasingly endangered. It is often assumed that rare coral species face higher risks of extinction because they have very small effective population sizes, a predicted consequence of which is decreased genetic diversity…
clock | September 22, 2008So, let's see what's new in PLoS Medicine, PLoS Biology and PLoS ONE today.
First, my SciBlings Shelley, Nick and Tara just published a PLoS Biology article about science blogs:
Advancing Science through Conversations: Bridging the Gap between Blogs and the Academy:
Scientific discovery occurs in the lab one experiment at a time, but science itself moves forward based on a series of ongoing conversations, from a Nobel Prize winner's acceptance speech to collegial chats at a pub. When these conversations flow into the mainstream, they nurture the development of an informed public who…
clock | September 22, 2008Under the fold....
Walnut Trees Emit Aspirin-like Chemical To Deal With Stress:
Walnut trees respond to stress by producing significant amounts of a chemical form of aspirin, scientists have discovered.
Study Of Satellite Imagery Casts Doubt On Surge's Success In Baghdad:
By tracking the amount of light emitted by Baghdad neighborhoods at night, a team of UCLA geographers has uncovered fresh evidence that last year's U.S. troop surge in Iraq may not have been as effective at improving security as some U.S. officials have maintained.
Conservation Program In Rwanda Helps Turn Gorilla Poachers…
clock | September 21, 2008Under the fold....
Marine Debris Will Likely Worsen In The 21st Century:
Current measures to prevent and reduce marine debris are inadequate, and the problem will likely worsen, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council.
Receptor Activation Protects Retina From Diabetes Destruction:
Diabetes can make the beautifully stratified retina look like over-fried bacon. A drug known for it pain-relieving power and believed to stimulate memory appears to prevent this retinal damage that leads to vision loss, researchers say.
Global Warming's Ecosystem Double Whammy:…
clock | September 19, 2008Political Views Affect Firms' Corporate Social Responsibility, Study Finds:
A new study in The Financial Review establishes a relationship between political beliefs of corporate stakeholders and the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of their firms. Companies with a high CSR rating tend to be located in Democratic states, while companies with a low CSR rating tend to be located in Republican states.
Finger Lengths Linked To Voluntary Exercise:
If you find yourself lacking in motivation to go for a run or hit the gym, you may want to check your fingers. According to a joint University of…
clock | September 18, 2008Now that PLoS ONE is publishing daily (OK, not really, only on work-days, i.e., 5 times a week), I have been pointing to my picks every day. Let's look at what has been published there last night and tonight as well as what's new in other PLoS journals. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers.
Courtship Initiation Is Stimulated by Acoustic Signals in Drosophila melanogaster:
Finding a mating partner is a critical task for many organisms. It is in the interest of males to employ multiple sensory modalities to search…
clock | September 18, 2008It's All In The Hips: Early Whales Used Well Developed Back Legs For Swimming, Fossils Show:
The crashing of the enormous fluked tail on the surface of the ocean is a "calling card" of modern whales. Living whales have no back legs, and their front legs take the form of flippers that allow them to steer. Their special tails provide the powerful thrust necessary to move their huge bulk. Yet this has not always been the case.
Researchers Suppress 'Hunger Hormone' In Pigs: New Minimally Invasive Method Yields Result As Good As Bariatric Surgery:
Johns Hopkins scientists report success in…
clock | September 17, 2008Fastest Flights In Nature: High-speed Spore Discharge Mechanisms Among Fungi:
Microscopic coprophilous or dung-loving fungi help make our planet habitable by degrading the billions of tons of feces produced by herbivores. But the fungi have a problem: survival depends upon the consumption of their spores by herbivores and few animals will graze on grass next to their own dung.
Also check this, this, this, this and this.
Watch And Learn: Time Teaches Us How To Recognize Visual Objects:
In work that could aid efforts to develop more brain-like computer vision systems, MIT neuroscientists have…
clock | September 16, 2008There are 9 new articles in PLoS ONE today and all nine are amazing and quite bloggable (hint, hint).
As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
The Fastest Flights in Nature: High-Speed Spore Discharge Mechanisms among Fungi:
A variety of spore discharge processes have evolved among the fungi. Those with the longest ranges are powered by hydrostatic pressure and include "squirt guns" that are most common in the Ascomycota and Zygomycota.…
clock | September 16, 2008Arctic Sea Ice At Lowest Recorded Level Ever:
Arctic sea ice may well have reached its lowest volumes ever, as summer ice coverage of the Arctic Sea looks set to be close to last year's record lows, with thinner ice overall.
How Memories Are Made, And Recalled:
What makes a memory? Single cells in the brain, for one thing. For the first time, scientists at UCLA and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel have recorded individual brain cells in the act of calling up a memory, thus revealing where in the brain a specific memory is stored and how the brain is able to recreate it.
Don't Throw…