Science News
clock | August 12, 2008There are 57 new articles in PLoS ONE this 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:
How Do Humans Control Physiological Strain during Strenuous Endurance Exercise?:
Distance running performance is a viable model of human locomotion. To evaluate the physiologic strain during competitions ranging from 5-100 km, we evaluated heart rate (HR) records of competitive runners (n = 211). We found evidence that: 1) physiologic strain (% of…
clock | August 12, 2008Survival Of The Fittest: Even Cancer Cells Follow The Laws Of Evolution:
Scientists from The Institute of Advanced Studies at Princeton and the University of California discovered that the underlying process in tumor formation is the same as for life itself--evolution. After analyzing a half million gene mutations, the researchers found that although different gene mutations control different cancer pathways, each pathway was controlled by only one set of gene mutations.
New Report Details Historic Mass Extinction Of Amphibians; Humans Worsen Spread Of Deadly Emerging Infectious Disease:…
clock | August 11, 2008Elephant Memories May Hold Key To Survival:
A recent study by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) suggests that old female elephants--and perhaps their memories of distant, life-sustaining sources of food and water--may be the key to survival during the worst of times.
Fry Me Kangaroo Brown, Sport:
Skippy could be on more menus following a report that expanding the kangaroo industry would significantly cut greenhouse gases.
'Lost Tribe' Of Clinician-scientists: Medical Doctors Who Do Research Could Be A Dying Breed:
The road from disease research to…
clock | August 7, 2008On Tuesday night, when I posted my personal picks from this week's crop of articles published in PLoS ONE, I omitted (due to a technical glitch on the site), to point out that a blog-friend of mine John Logsdon published his first PLoS ONE paper on that day:
It's a updated and detailed report on the ongoing work in my lab to generate and curate an "inventory" of genes involved in meiosis that are present across major eukaryotic lineages. This paper focuses on the protist, Trichomonas vaginalis, an organism not known to have a sexual phase in its life cycle.
Here is the paper (and check John's…
clock | August 7, 2008Olympic Games: Researchers Explore What Makes Better Athletes, The Physiology Of Performance, And More:
The world-record pace for the marathon continues to improve for both men and women. For men, the record pace for the marathon is now about as fast as the record pace for the 10,000-meter run just after World War II. Today, champion athletes are running more than four times farther at speeds of well under five minutes per mile.
Neurobiologists Discover Individuals Who 'Hear' Movement:
Individuals with synesthesia perceive the world in a different way from the rest of us. Because their senses…
clock | August 6, 2008Duck-billed Dinosaurs Outgrew Predators To Survive:
With long limbs and a soft body, the duck-billed hadrosaur had few defenses against predators such as tyrannosaurs. But new research on the bones of this plant-eating dinosaur suggests that it had at least one advantage: It grew to adulthood much faster than its predators, giving it superiority in size.
Massive Numbers Of Critically Endangered Western Lowland Gorillas Discovered In Republic Of Congo:
The world's population of critically endangered western lowland gorillas recently received a huge boost when the Wildlife Conservation Society…
clock | August 5, 2008There are 69 new articles in PLoS ONE this 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:
Comparison of Pattern Detection Methods in Microarray Time Series of the Segmentation Clock:
While genome-wide gene expression data are generated at an increasing rate, the repertoire of approaches for pattern discovery in these data is still limited. Identifying subtle patterns of interest in large amounts of data (tens of thousands of profiles)…
clock | August 5, 2008Novel Kind Of Learning Gene Discovered:
Scientists at the Freie Universität Berlin have come one step closer to unraveling the molecular basis of learning. A team led by neurobiologist Björn Brembs has discovered the first gene for operant conditioning in the fruit fly Drosophila.
Family Type Has Less-than-expected Impact On Parental Involvement, Study Finds:
Children in step-families and in other non-traditional families get just as much quality time with their parents as those in traditional families, with only a few exceptions, according to research to be presented at the annual meeting…
clock | August 4, 2008It's Monday afternoon, time to take a look at the brand new articles in PLoS Medicine and PLoS Biology:
Tasting the Bitter Sunlight:
Have you ever had that gut reaction to your surroundings, some physical sensation that something isn't quite right? Maybe a squirmy, uneasy feeling in your stomach or an acrid taste on your tongue that makes you want to leave the scene? When the nematode C. elegans encounters an offensive sensation--whether a pungent, potentially dangerous odor (such as those associated with fungal parasites), extreme temperature, or the poking probe of a researcher--it wastes…
clock | August 4, 2008Sleep Apnea Linked To Increased Risk Of Death:
Sleep-disordered breathing (also known as sleep apnea) is associated with an increased risk of death, according to new results from the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort, an 18-year observational study supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health.
World's Smallest Snake Found In Barbados:
The world's smallest species of snake, with adults averaging just under four inches in length, has been identified on the Caribbean island of Barbados. The species -- which is as thin as a spaghetti noodle and…
clock | August 3, 2008Emerging Scientific Discipline Of Aeroecology:
Aeroecology is the emerging discipline for studying how airborne organisms -- birds, bats, arthropods and microbes -- depend on the support of the lower atmosphere that is closest to the Earth's surface.
Fruit-fly Study Adds Weight To Theories About Another Type Of Adult Stem Cell:
It turns out that an old dog - or at least an old fruit-fly cell - can learn new tricks. Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found that mature, specialized cells naturally regress to serve as a kind of de facto stem cell during the fruit-fly…
clock | August 2, 2008The Power Of Peter Piper: How Alliteration Enhances Poetry, Prose, And Memory:
From nursery rhymes to Shakespearian sonnets, alliterations have always been an important aspect of poetry whether as an interesting aesthetic touch or just as something fun to read. But a recent study suggests that this literary technique is useful not only for poetry but also for memory.
Evolution Of Skull And Mandible Shape In Cats:
In a new study published in the online-open access journal PLoS ONE, Per Christiansen at the Zoological Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark, reports the finding that the evolution of skull…
clock | August 1, 2008Brain Tweak Lets Sleep-deprived Flies Stay Sharp:
Staying awake slows down our brains, scientists have long recognized. Mental performance is at its peak after sleep but inevitably trends downward throughout the day, and sleep deprivation only worsens these effects.
Aging Impairs The 'Replay' Of Memories During Sleep:
Aging impairs the consolidation of memories during sleep, a process important in converting new memories into long-term ones, according to new animal research in the July 30 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The findings shed light on normal memory mechanisms and how they…
clock | July 31, 2008
What Do Squid Hear? Scientists Learn How Sensitive The Translucent Animals Are To Noise:
The ocean is a noisy place. Although we don't hear much when we stick our heads underwater, the right instruments can reveal a symphony of sound. The noisemakers range from the low-frequency bass tones of a fish mating ritual to the roar of a motorboat. The study of how underwater animals hear is a growing topic in marine science, especially with regards to naval sonar and whales.
Improved Estrogen Reception May Sharpen Fuzzy Memory:
Estrogen treatments may sharpen mental performance in women with…
clock | July 31, 2008So, let's see what's new in PLoS Genetics, PLoS Computational Biology, PLoS Pathogens and PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases this 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:
Patterns of Positive Selection in Six Mammalian Genomes:
Populations evolve as mutations arise in individual organisms and, through hereditary transmission, gradually become "fixed" (shared by all individuals) in the population. Many mutations have essentially no…
clock | July 30, 2008Searching For Shut Eye: Possible 'Sleep Gene' Identified:
While scientists and physicians know what happens if you don't get six to eight hours of shut-eye a night, investigators have long been puzzled about what controls the actual need for sleep. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine might have an answer, at least in fruit flies. In a recent study of fruit flies, they identified a gene that controls sleep.
Did Dinosaur Soft Tissues Still Survive? New Research Challenges Notion:
Paleontologists in 2005 hailed research that apparently showed that soft, pliable…
clock | July 29, 2008There are 62 new articles in PLoS ONE this 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:
Diurnal and Circadian Rhythms in the Tomato Transcriptome and Their Modulation by Cryptochrome Photoreceptors:
Circadian clocks are internal molecular time-keeping mechanisms that provide living organisms with the ability to adjust their growth and physiology and to anticipate diurnal environmental changes. Circadian clocks, without exception, respond…
clock | July 29, 2008Piecing Together An Extinct Lemur, Large As A Big Baboon:
Penn State researchers have used computed tomography (CT) technology to virtually glue newly-discovered skull fragments of a rare extinct lemur back into its partial skull, which was discovered over a century ago. Alan Walker, Evan Pugh Professor of Anthropology and Biology at Penn State, and Research Associate in Anthropology Timothy Ryan, led the research. The different fragments of this lemur's skull are separated by thousands of miles, with the partial skull in Vienna and the pieces of frontal bone in the United States.
Insect…
clock | July 28, 2008What's new in PLoS Biology and PLoS Medicine this week? Among else:
Oscillating Per-Cision:
The field of behavioral genetics began nearly four decades ago, when Seymour Benzer's laboratory set out to identify circadian rhythm mutants in Drosophila melanogaster. The first of these was called period, and both short and long period alleles were found [1]. It was not until some years later that the mutant gene was identified and exploration of the molecular basis of the circadian clock began in earnest [2,3]. Over the years, forward screens in Drosophila have led to identification of a number of…
clock | July 28, 2008Birdsong Not Just For The Birds: Bio-acoustic Method Also Hears Nature's Cry For Help:
Switch on the mike, start the recording, the stage is set for the local fauna!
Explosion In Marine Biodiversity Explained By Climate Change:
A global change in climate could explain the explosion in marine biodiversity that took place 460 million years ago. Researchers from Lyon (1) and Canberra (Australia) (2) have found evidence of a progressive ocean cooling of about 15°C over a period of 40 million years during the Ordovician (3). Until now, this geologic period had been associated with a "super…