Science News
clock | May 30, 2007Moths Mimic Sounds To Survive:
In response to the sonar that bats use to locate prey, the tiger moths make ultrasonic clicks of their own. They broadcast the clicks from a paired set of structures called "tymbals." Many species of tiger moth use the tymbals to make specific sounds that warn the bat of their bad taste. Other species make sounds that closely mimic those high-frequency sounds.
Fire Ants Are Emerging Nuisance For Virginia Residents:
Red imported fire ants (RIFAs), which have caused trouble in Florida and Texas for decades, are now advancing in Virginia. Colonies of the tiny,…
clock | May 29, 2007Young Meerkats Learn The Emotion Before The Message In Threat Calls:
It is well known that human speech can provide listeners with simultaneous information about a person's emotions and objects in the environment. Past research has shown that animal vocalizations can do the same, but little is known about the development of the features that encode such information.
Tropical Birds Have Slow Pace Of Life Compared To Northern Species, Study Finds:
In the steamy tropics, even the birds find the pace of life a bit more relaxed, research shows. Tropical birds expend less energy at rest than do…
clock | May 28, 2007Sex In The Morning Or In The Evening?:
Hens solicit sex in the morning to avoid sexual harassment in male-dominated groups of chickens, shown in a new study by Hanne Løvlie of Stockholm University, Sweden, and Dr Tommaso Pizzari of the University of Oxford, UK.
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Insects' Nervous Systems May Provide Clues On Neurodegenerative Diseases:
By studying the addition of sugars to proteins -- a process called glycosylation -- in the nervous system of insects, Temple University researcher Karen Palter believes she may be able to better understand neurodegenerative diseases in humans…
clock | May 27, 2007These are always more controversial than articles about "hard sciences" so have a go at them:
Sperm Donors Valued Less Than Egg Donors:
When Sociologist Rene Almeling decided to look into the operations of U.S. sperm banks and egg agencies, the UCLA Ph.D. candidate in sociology thought she knew what she would find.
She figured that any discrepancies in compensation rates for the building blocks of assisted reproduction could be explained by either market forces or the biological differences between female egg donors, who must undergo hormone therapy and outpatient surgery, and their male…
clock | May 26, 2007
Rare Footprints Of Infant Dinosaur Discovered:
Researchers at the Morrison Natural History Museum have discovered two rare hatchling dinosaur footprints in the foothills west of Denver, near the town of Morrison.
Bacteria Show Promise In Fending Off Global Amphibian Killer:
First in a petri dish and now on live salamanders, probiotic bacteria seem to repel a deadly fungus being blamed for worldwide amphibian deaths and even extinctions. Though the research is in its early stages, scientists are encouraged by results that could lead the way to helping threatened species like mountain yellow-…
clock | May 25, 2007Definitive Evidence Found Of A Swimming Dinosaur:
An extraordinary underwater trackway with 12 consecutive prints provides the most compelling evidence to-date that some dinosaurs were swimmers. The 15-meter-long trackway, located in La Virgen del Campo track site in Spain's Cameros Basin, contains the first long and continuous record of swimming by a non-avian therapod dinosaur.
Teen Sex And Depression Study Finds Most Teens' Mental Health Unaffected By Nonmarital Sex:
For a decade, the legislative push for "abstinence only" sex education has suggested that nonmarital sex negatively affects…
clock | May 24, 2007New Genetic Data Overturn Long-held Theory Of Limb Development:
Long before animals with limbs (tetrapods) came onto the scene about 365 million years ago, fish already possessed the genes associated with helping to grow hands and feet (autopods) report University of Chicago researchers in the May 24, 2007, issue of Nature. This finding overturns a long-held, but much-debated, theory that limb acquisition was a novel evolutionary event, requiring the descendents of lobed-fin fish to dramatically alter their genes to adapt their bodies to their new environments of streams and swamps.
New…
clock | May 23, 2007
One In Six European Mammals Threatened With Extinction:
The first assessment of all European mammals, commissioned by the European Commission and carried out by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), shows that nearly one in every six mammal species is now threatened with extinction. The population trends are equally alarming: a quarter (27%) of all mammals has declining populations and a further 33% had an unknown population trend. Only 8% were identified as increasing, including the European bison, thanks to successful conservation measures.
Scientists Concerned About Effects Of Global…
clock | May 22, 2007
Sleep Apnea Patients Have Greatly Increased Risk Of Severe Car Crashes:
People with obstructive sleep apnea have a markedly increased risk of severe motor vehicle crashes involving personal injury, according to a new study. The study of 800 people with sleep apnea and 800 without the nighttime breathing disorder found that patients with sleep apnea were twice as likely as people without sleep apnea to have a car crash, and three to five times as likely to have a serious crash involving personal injury. Overall, the sleep apnea group had a total of 250 crashes over three years, compared with…
clock | May 21, 2007Fused Nasal Bones Helped Tyrannosaurids Dismember Prey:
New evidence may help explain the brute strength of the tyrannosaurid, says a University of Alberta researcher whose finding demonstrates how a fused nasal bone helped turn the animal into a "zoological superweapon."
Jet Lag, Circadian Clocks Explained:
Circadian clocks regulate the timing of biological functions in almost all higher organisms. Anyone who has flown through several time zones knows the jet lag that can result when this timing is disrupted. Now, new research by Cornell and Dartmouth scientists explains the biological…
clock | May 19, 2007Clock Gene Plays Role In Weight Gain, Study Finds:
Scientists at the University of Virginia and the Medical College of Wisconsin have discovered that a gene that participates in the regulation of the body's biological rhythms may also be a major control in regulating metabolism. Their finding shows that mice lacking the gene Nocturnin, which is regulated by the circadian clock in the organs and tissues of mammals, are resistant to weight gain when put on a high fat diet and also are resistant to the accumulation of fat in the liver. This new understanding of weight gain could potentially lead…
clock | May 18, 2007Scientists Discover New Life In Antarctic Deep Sea:
Scientists have found hundreds of new marine creatures in the vast, dark deep-sea surrounding Antarctica. Carnivorous sponges, free-swimming worms, crustaceans, and molluscs living in the Weddell Sea provide new insights into the evolution of ocean life.
DNA Analysis Suggests Under-reported Kills Of Threatened Whales:
A new study analyzing whale meat sold in Korean markets suggests the number of whales being sold for human consumption in the Asian country is much higher than that being reported to the International Whaling Commission --…
clock | May 17, 2007The Fly Spontaneous Behavior paper is generating quite a lot of buzz.
Bjorn has collected some of the best blogospheric responses, including these from Mark Chu-Carroll, Mark Hoofnagle and Kate.
He also got Slashdotted - of course, whoever posted that on Slashdot failed to a) link to the paper, b) link to the press release and c) link to Bjorn's blog. Instead, a little blurb from one of the worst media articles from MSNBC is the only link. Those got linked later in the comments, so I hope Bjorn enjoys the traffic (it will go away tomorrow never to come back again).
Bjorn has also posted…
clock | May 17, 2007Reproductive Speed Protects Large Animals From Being Hunted To Extinction:
The slower their reproductive cycle, the higher the risk of extinction for large grazing animals such as deer and antelope that are hunted by humans.
Bites From Mosquitoes Not Infected With Malaria May Protect Against Future Infection:
A new study suggests that bites from mosquitoes not infected with malaria may trigger an immune response limiting parasite development following bites from infected mosquitoes.
Molecular Biologists Convert Protein Sequences Into Classical Music:
UCLA molecular biologists have turned…
clock | May 16, 2007Light Pulses Can Adjust The Brain's Clock For A Longer Day, Sufficient For Adaptation To The 24.65 Hour Day Found On Mars:
Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital's (BWH) Division of Sleep Medicine and colleagues, have found that by giving individuals two 45 minute exposures to bright light pulses in the evening they could entrain (synchronize) a persons circadian system to function properly in days longer than the usual 24 hour light/dark cycle. The study was conducted for NASA's National Space Biomedical Research Institute and the findings can be applied to the planned year-and-a-half…
clock | May 15, 2007Sleepless For Science: Flies Show Link Between Sleep And Immune System:
Go a few nights without enough sleep and you're more likely to get sick, but scientists have no real explanation for how sleep is related to the immune system. Now, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine are finding that fruit flies can point to the answers.
Professor Creates 'Reverse Alarm Clock' That Keeps Young Children Sleeping:
John Zimmerman, an associate professor in Carnegie Mellon University's School of Design and Human-Computer Interaction Institute, has developed an unconventional alarm clock…
clock | May 14, 2007Rare Sighting Of Threatened Bottlenose Dolphins In English Channel:
On a crossing of the English Channel aboard the P&O Cruise Ferry, the Pride of Bilbao on the 5th of May, a large group of approximately 30 Bottlenose Dolphin was sighted by Clive Martin, Director for the wildlife charity Marinelife and senior Wildlife Officer for the Biscay Dolphin Research Programme.
DNA Reveals Hooded Seals Have Wanderlust:
Researchers have discovered a new fact about hooded seals, a mysterious 200 to 400 kilogram mammal that spends all but a few days each year in the ocean.
Simpler Way To Counter…
clock | May 12, 2007Shackleford ponies are often in the media around here. Some love them, some hate them, some want to preserve them, some to exterminate them, and it is not easy to get all the surplus horses adopted each year. Perhaps the new findings of their Spanish origin (DNA will tell the tale of wild horses) will tilt the scales towards their preservation, especially on the island of Corolla.
Thanks to Bill for the heads-up.
clock | May 12, 2007
Venomous Brown Widow Spiders Making Themselves Known In Louisiana:
A dangerous spider is making itself known to Louisiana residents. The brown widow spider is becoming more common, according to entomologists with the LSU AgCenter.
Bat Flight Generates Complex Aerodynamic Tracks:
Bats generate a measurably distinct aerodynamic footprint to achieve lift and maneuverability, quite unlike birds and contrary to many of the assumptions that aerodynamicists have used to model animal flight, according to University of Southern California aerospace engineer Geoffrey Spedding.
Could Carrots Be The…
clock | May 9, 2007Lots of interesting Neuro/Behavioral stuff came out lately, some really cool, some questionable...so you let me know what you think:
Brain's White Matter: More 'Talkative' Than Once Thought:
Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered to their surprise that nerves in the mammalian brain's white matter do more than just ferry information between different brain regions, but in fact process information the way gray matter cells do. The discovery in mouse cells, outlined in the March issue of Nature Neuroscience, shows that brain cells "talk" with each other in more ways than previously thought. "…