Science News
clock | November 27, 2007There are 35 brand new papers on PLoS ONE tonight and it is difficult for me to pick the most exciting for the week. So, here is one on the effects of night-shift, one on melanopsin and light perception, one on time perception, one on limb regeneration in the Axolotl, a meta-analysis of the soil ecology literature and, a first for PLoS ONE, an article by a prominent philosopher of science that I expect to be discussed on blogs over the next few days:
Acute Sleep Deprivation and Circadian Misalignment Associated with Transition onto the First Night of Work Impairs Visual Selective Attention:…
clock | November 27, 2007Bear Hunting Altered Genetics More Than Ice Age Isolation:
It was not the isolation of the Ice Age that determined the genetic distribution of bears, as has long been thought. This is shown by an international research team led from Uppsala University in Sweden in the latest issue of Molecular Ecology. One possible interpretation is that the hunting of bears by humans and human land use have been crucial factors.
Mediterranean Sea: Most Dangerous Place On Earth For Sharks And Rays:
The first complete IUCN Red List assessment of the status of all Mediterranean sharks and rays has revealed that…
evolgen | November 27, 2007I came across two press releases yesterday, entitled:
Entire Yeast Genome Sequenced
and
University of Toronto scientists map entire yeast genome
Upon reading the first, I thought, hasn't the entire genome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae already been sequenced? And haven't other yeast genomes been sequenced as well? What in the world could they be referring to? Did yet another yeast species gets its genome sequence? Does that really warrant a press release (sorry Jason)? And the second made me think that the person in charge of titling the press release decided that genome sequencing is synonymous…
clock | November 26, 2007Yup, it's Monday evening:
Light Activates Output from Evening Neurons and Inhibits Output from Morning Neurons in the Drosophila Circadian Clock:
Living organisms have evolved circadian clocks that anticipate daily changes in their environment. Their clockwork is fully endogenous, but can be reset by external cues. (Light is the most efficient cue.) The circadian neuronal network of the fruit fly (Drosophila) brain perceives light through the visual system and a dedicated photoreceptor molecule, cryptochrome. Flies exhibit a bimodal locomotor activity pattern that peaks at dawn and dusk in…
clock | November 24, 2007Bioclocks Work By Controlling Chromosome Coiling:
There is a new twist on the question of how biological clocks work. In recent years, scientists have discovered that biological clocks help organize a dizzying array of biochemical processes in the body. Despite a number of hypotheses, exactly how the microscopic pacemakers in every cell in the body exert such a widespread influence has remained a mystery.
Now, a new study provides direct evidence that biological clocks can influence the activity of a large number of different genes in an ingenious fashion, simply by causing chromosomes to…
clock | November 20, 2007There are 34 articles published in PLoS ONE this week. As always, look around, read, rate, comment, annotate.... Here are my picks for the week (no need to repeat the dinosaur paper here, of course):
A Viscoelastic Deadly Fluid in Carnivorous Pitcher Plants:
Carnivorous pitcher plants supplement their nutrient intake by trapping and digesting insects in what were thought to be passive pitfall traps. But in this study, the authors show that the pitchers of plants Nepenthes rafflesiana in fact employ highly specialized secretions to doom their victims. They show that this fluid, even when…
clock | November 20, 2007'Noah's Flood' Kick-started European Farming?:
The flood believed to be behind the Noah's Ark myth kick-started European agriculture, according to new research by the Universities of Exeter, UK and Wollongong, Australia. New research assesses the impact of the collapse of the North American (Laurentide) Ice Sheet, 8000 years ago. The results indicate a catastrophic rise in global sea level led to the flooding of the Black Sea and drove dramatic social change across Europe.
Earliest Chocolate Drink Of The New World:
The earliest known use of cacao--the source of our modern day chocolate--has…
j7uy5 | November 20, 2007Any time something related to a
medical use for cannabis is found, it
makes headlines. Mostly, the interest is generated by the
relationship to an illegal drug. Sometimes, though, the media
do a decent job of reporting the real issue.
href="http://www.researchblogging.org/">Researchers
at the California
Pacific Medical Center Research Institute
have announced that one of the compounds found in cannabis,
cannabidiol,
inhibits a gene that is important for the growth and metastasis of
breast
cancer.
Note that this has nothing to do with medical marijuana, really.
Cannabidiol is not…
clock | November 19, 2007Evolution Is Deterministic, Not Random, Biologists Conclude From Multi-species Study:
A multi-national team of biologists has concluded that developmental evolution is deterministic and orderly, rather than random, based on a study of different species of roundworms.
Greg Laden explains.
Telecommuting Has Mostly Positive Consequences For Employees And Employers:
Telecommuting is a win-win for employees and employers, resulting in higher morale and job satisfaction and lower employee stress and turnover. These were among the conclusions of psychologists who examined 20 years of research on…
clock | November 19, 2007Monday night is the time when new articles on PLoS Medicine and PLoS Biology get published. My picks for this week:
Who Needs Cause-of-Death Data:
More than half of the world's deaths pass by undocumented as to cause. Whilst the appropriate focus of health services may well be the care of the living, consistent and reliable cause-of-death data also constitute a crucial and major resource for health planning and prioritisation, and their lack in many settings is a major concern.
Complex Regulation of cyp26a1 Creates a Robust Retinoic Acid Gradient in the Zebrafish Embryo:
The formation of…
clock | November 18, 2007Hormone Of Darkness: Melatonin Could Hurt Memory Formation At Night:
What do you do when a naturally occurring hormone in your body turns against you? What do you do when that same hormone - melatonin - is a popular supplement you take to help you sleep? A University of Houston professor and his team of researchers may have some answers.
Self-organized Traffic Light Control System Could Improve Traffic Flow 95 Percent:
Traffic flows account for as much as one-third of global energy consumption. But unconventional changes in managing traffic flow could significantly reduce such waste and lower…
clock | November 14, 2007How Poisonous Mushrooms Cook Up Toxins:
Alpha-amanitin is the poison of the death cap mushroom, Amanita phalloides. The Michigan State University plant biology research associate was looking for a big gene that makes a big enzyme that produces alpha-amanitin, since that's how other fungi produce similar compounds. But after years of defeat, she and her team called in the big guns -- new technology that sequences DNA about as fast as a death cap mushroom can kill. The results: The discovery of remarkably small genes that produce the toxin -- a unique pathway previously unknown in fungi.
Brain…
clock | November 13, 2007There are 27 brand-new articles, just uploaded on PLoS ONE. Here are a couple of titles that drew my immediate attention:
Maternal Enrichment during Pregnancy Accelerates Retinal Development of the Fetus:
Although much is known about the harmful effects parental stress has on offspring, little is understood about how enriching a mother's environment affects fetal development. In this paper, the authors experiment on developing rat embryos and find that an enriched environment speeds up the development of the nervous system. The results suggest that development of the visual system is…
clock | November 13, 2007As always on Monday nights, there are new articles published in PLoS Biology and PLoS Medicine. My picks:
Professional Uncertainty and Disempowerment Responding to Ethnic Diversity in Health Care: A Qualitative Study
In a qualitative study published this week in PLoS Medicine, Joe Kai and colleagues have identified opportunities to empower health professionals to respond more effectively to challenges in their work with patients from diverse ethnic communities. A related perspective showcases the challenges that physicians face in providing culturally appropriate care.
Omnidirectional…
clock | November 10, 2007How Well Do Dogs See At Night?:
A lot better than we do, says Paul Miller, clinical professor of comparative ophthalmology at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Why Quitting Smoking Is So Difficult:
New findings clarify the brain mechanisms that explain many aspects of dependency on nicotine, the addictive substance in tobacco. Among them: Individual differences in brain chemistry can have a profound effect on a person's susceptibility to addiction, and smoking may predispose adolescents to mental disorders in adolescence and adulthood. In addition, researchers have identified a potential…
clock | November 7, 2007Why Dinosaurs Had 'Fowl' Breath:
Scientists have discovered how dinosaurs used to breathe in what provides clues to how they evolved and how they might have lived.
Sexist Humor No Laughing Matter, Psychologist Says:
A research project led by a Western Carolina University psychology professor indicates that jokes about blondes and women drivers are not just harmless fun and games; instead, exposure to sexist humor can lead to toleration of hostile feelings and discrimination against women.
Recreational Cocaine Use May Impair Inhibitory Control:
The recreational use of cocaine has rapidly…
clock | November 6, 2007As always on Tuesdays late in the evening, there is a bunch of new papers published in PLoS ONE and here are my personal favourites of the week:
Oxytocin Increases Generosity in Humans:
Human beings routinely help strangers at costs to themselves. Sometimes the help offered is generous--offering more than the other expects. The proximate mechanisms supporting generosity are not well-understood, but several lines of research suggest a role for empathy. In this study, participants were infused with 40 IU oxytocin (OT) or placebo and engaged in a blinded, one-shot decision on how to split a sum…
clock | November 5, 2007Circadian Disorders And Adjusting To The Night Shift: Guide For Professionals:
Practice parameters are a guide to the appropriate assessment and treatment of circadian rhythm sleep disorders (CRSDs). The standards will have a positive impact on professional behavior, patient outcomes and possibly health care costs.
Sleep-related Breathing Disorder Linked To Increased Heart Rate Variability:
A sleep-related breathing disorder, common in heart failure, increases one's heart rate variability. Further, central sleep apnea (CSA) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) produce different patterns of heart…
clock | November 4, 2007Plano teen wins regional science award, moves on to national competition:
The awards, which recognize exceptional achievement in science, were announced Saturday at the University of Texas at Austin.
Alexander, who won a $3,000 scholarship, was honored for developing a realistic mathematical model detailing how biological clocks work.
"This is publishable, graduate-level work," said Claus Wilke, an assistant professor of Integrative Biology Section at UT.
He called Alexander's entry -- "Mathematical Modeling of a Eukaryotic Circadian Clock" -- a key component in understanding jet lag and…
clock | November 3, 2007I was fantastically busy this past week, so I failed to alert you to new articles published in PLoS Computational Biology, PLoS Pathogens, PLoS Genetics and PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. I have posted my picks from the latter one. This week, my pick is this one, of course, as I have watched the previous microarray studies come out one by one, each identifying a different set of genes:
Meta-Analysis of Drosophila Circadian Microarray Studies Identifies a Novel Set of Rhythmically Expressed Genes:
Circadian genes regulate many of life's most essential processes, from sleeping and eating to…