Science News
clock | February 8, 2007A cornucopia of interesting science today. As always, check if the press release matches the actual paper...
Adaptation To Global Climate Change Is An Essential Response To A Warming Planet:
Temperatures are rising on Earth, which is heating up the debate over global warming and the future of our planet, but what may be needed most to combat global warming is a greater focus on adapting to our changing planet, says a team of science policy experts writing in this week's Nature magazine. While many consider it taboo, adaptation to global climate change needs to be recognized as just as…
clock | February 7, 2007Human Proteins Evolving Slowly Thanks To Multitasking Genes:
Many human proteins are not as good as they might be because the gene sequences that code for them have a double role which slows down the rate at which they evolve, according to new research published in PLoS Biology. By tweaking these dual role regions, scientists could develop gene therapy techniques that produce proteins that are even better than those found in nature, and could one day be used to help people recover from genetic disorders.
More....
Sea Creature's Toxin Could Lead To Promising Cancer Treatment:
A toxin derived…
clock | February 6, 2007Lots of cool stuff today:
Nature Could Have Used Different Protein Building Blocks, Chemists Show:
Chemists at Yale have done what Mother Nature chose not to -- make a protein-like molecule out of non-natural building blocks, according to a report featured early online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Nature uses alpha-amino acid building blocks to assemble the proteins that make life as we know it possible. Chemists at Yale now report evidence that nature could have used a different building block -- beta-amino acids -- and show that peptides assembled from beta-amino acids…
clock | February 6, 2007For Some Species, An Upside To Inbreeding:
Although breeding between close kin is thought to be generally unfavorable from an evolutionary standpoint, in part because harmful mutations are more easily propagated through populations in this way, theory predicts that under some circumstances, the benefits of inbreeding may outweigh the costs.
Researchers have now reported real-life evidence in support of this theory. Studying an African chiclid fish species, Pelvicachromis taetiatus, in which both parents participate in brood care, the researchers found that individuals preferred mating with…
clock | February 5, 2007Endangered Shortnose Sturgeon Saved In Hudson River:
For the first time in U.S., and probably global, history a fish identified as endangered has been shown to have recovered -- and in the Hudson River, which flows through one of the world's largest population centers, New York City.
Multiple Dimensions Shape Our Perception Of Mind, Harvard Study Suggests:
Through an online survey of more than 2,000 people, psychologists at Harvard University have found that we perceive the minds of others along two distinct dimensions: agency, an individual's ability for self-control, morality and planning;…
clock | February 3, 2007Researchers On The Path To Building Bone:
UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) researchers have developed a method to increase bone density in mice, a development that might have future benefit for humans in the treatment of osteoporosis and bone fracture. The research, published in the Jan. 29 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, involves manipulation of the Pten gene, which contributes to the process by which cells die, known as apoptosis.
Food-mood Connection: The Sad Are Twice As Likely To Eat Comfort Food:
People feeling sad tend to eat more of less-healthy…
clock | February 2, 2007Lots of good stuff today - hard to pick favourites:
Human Preference For Other Species Could Determine Whether They Survive:
As humans exert ever-greater influence on the Earth, their preferences will play a substantial role in determining which other species survive. New research shows that, in some cases, those preferences could be governed by factors as subtle as small color highlights a creature displays. In the case of penguins, mostly black-and-white flightless birds that live predominantly in the Southern Hemisphere, those most popular with humans appear to be the ones that display…
clock | February 1, 2007Nonvenomous Asian Snakes 'Borrow' Defensive Poison From Toxic Toads:
Most snakes are born with poisonous bites they use for defense. But what can non-poisonous snakes do to ward off predators? What if they could borrow a dose of poison by eating toxic toads, then recycling the toxins? That's exactly what happens in the relationship between an Asian snake and a species of toad, according to a team of researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS).
More....
To Trust Or Not To Trust Your Friends:
Sometimes it is better to follow the…
clock | January 31, 2007Student's Research With Disney Giraffes May Help Conserve Several Species:
University of Central Florida doctoral student Jennifer Fewster is studying giraffe excrement at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge in Lake Buena Vista in an effort to figure out what the animals eat in the wild and to improve the nutrition of those in captivity.
Fewster's research, conducted in January and February, could potentially help conserve a wide array of herbivores, including endangered ones.
"I find it fascinating, but I forget people find it odd," Fewster said. "It's not the most glamorous work. In fact, it can…
clock | January 30, 2007As always, see how well the press release matches the actual paper:
Distinct Bison Herds Roam Yellowstone:
So what's the scoop on bison poop? First, Gardipee has found a gentle, noninvasive way to study the DNA of the animals in the park. Secondly, the genetic material she and her team extracted suggests the roughly 4,000 bison in Yellowstone are divided into at least two distinct breeding groups, which could have implications for how they are managed.
Genes May Tell A Lot About The Secret Lives Of Bees:
Despite the fact that bees are one of the most beneficial insects in the world, much of…
clock | January 29, 2007The 'Basic Concepts in Science" list is getting longer and longer every couple of hours or so, it seems. Try to keep up with it. You may even want to Google-bomb (by linking using the same words as Wilkins does) some or all of the posts if you think they should come up on top in Google searches for these terms. Dan adds his own contribution on Cell Migration and Jennifer makes a wish-list for the Top Ten Physics Concepts that need to be included. To those, I'd add the series on statistics by ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES: Part 1: Samples, Part 2: Probability, Part 3: Sample Statistics, Part 4:…
clock | January 29, 2007Fruit Flies And Global Warming: Some Like It Hot:
Researchers working in Australia have discovered ways in which fruit flies might react to extreme fluctuations in temperature. Short-term exposure to high heat stress ("heat hardening") has been known to have negative effects on Drosophila. But Loeschcke and Hoffmann discovered that it can have advantages too. Flies exposed to heat hardening were much more able to find their way to bait on very hot days than were the flies that were exposed to cooler temperatures, but the heat hardened flies did poorly on cool days.
Beating Heart Muscle With…
clock | January 27, 2007Fish Can Determine Their Social Rank By Observation Alone, Study Finds:
A male fish can size up potential rivals, and even rank them from strongest to weakest, simply by watching how they perform in territorial fights with other males, according to a new study by Stanford University scientists. The researchers say their discovery provides the first direct evidence that fish, like people, can use logical reasoning to figure out their place in the pecking order.
Genetic Evaluations Help Breed Better Bossies:
Breeding dairy cattle is an inexact science, so many gene-linked traits must be…
clock | January 26, 2007As always, put the press releases under the dissecting microscopes:
Thinking With The Spinal Cord?:
Two scientists from the University of Copenhagen have demonstrated that the spinal cord use network mechanisms similar to those used in the brain. The discovery is featured in the current issue of Science.
More under the fold...
Quitting Smoking May Be Harder If Mom Smoked During Pregnancy:
Quitting smoking may be more difficult for individuals whose mothers smoked during pregnancy, according to animal research conducted by Duke University Medical Center researchers. Prenatal exposure to…
clock | January 25, 2007How Fishes Conquered The Ocean:
Scientists at the University of Bergen, Norway have deduced how bony fishes conquered the oceans by duplicating their yolk-producing genes and filling their eggs with the water of life -- the degradation of yolk proteins from one of the duplicated genes causes the eggs to fill with vital water and float. This is the major solution realized by extant marine teleosts that showed an unprecedented radiation during the late Cretaceous and early Paleogene Periods. The work is a unique hypothesis that integrates the cellular and molecular physiology of teleost…
clock | January 24, 2007Scientists Discover New Species Of Distinctive Cloud-forest Rodent:
A strikingly unusual animal was recently discovered in the cloud-forests of Peru. The large rodent is about the size of a squirrel and looks a bit like one, except its closest relatives are spiny rats. The nocturnal, climbing rodent is beautiful yet strange looking, with long dense fur, a broad blocky head, and thickly furred tail. A blackish crest of fur on the crown, nape and shoulders add to its distinctive appearance.
Isothrix barbarabrownae, as the new species has been named, is described in the current issue of…
clock | January 24, 2007Which of the two I am interested in for entirely scientific reasons and which one for more personal reasons, you guess:
Spray Could Offer New Front-line Treatment For Men With Premature Ejaculation:
Patients with premature ejaculation who used a topical anaesthetic spray were able to delay ejaculation for five times as long, according to a study in the February issue of the urology journal BJU International. Researchers from the UK and Netherlands studied 54 men with premature ejaculation, randomly assigning them to a treatment and control group. Both groups reported that without any therapy…
clock | January 24, 2007'Terror Bird' Arrived In North America Before Land Bridge, Study Finds:
A University of Florida-led study has determined that Titanis walleri, a prehistoric 7-foot-tall flightless "terror bird," arrived in North America from South America long before a land bridge connected the two continents. UF paleontologist Bruce MacFadden said his team used an established geochemical technique that analyzes rare earth elements in a new application to revise the ages of terror bird fossils in Texas and Florida, the only places in North America where the species has been found. Rare earth elements are a…
clock | January 23, 2007Dogs May Be Responding To Psychological Seizures, Not Epilepsy Seizures:
Reports of dogs that can predict their owners' epilepsy seizures have been anecdotal and not objectively confirmed by doctors and researchers. Some people obtain service dogs trained specifically for people with seizures. In two new studies published in the January 23, 2007, issue of Neurology®, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology, researchers found that in some cases these dogs are responding to seizures caused not by epilepsy, but by psychological conditions.
Bumblebee House Warming: It Takes A…
clock | January 22, 2007As always, comment on the studies and reporting of them in the comments....
Male Fish Turn To Cannibalism When Uncertain Of Paternity:
A study from the February issue of the American Naturalist is the first to demonstrate that male fish are more likely to eat their offspring when they have been cuckolded during the act of spawning. Moreover, the more males that are present during spawning, the more likely it is that a male will try to eat the eggs when they are laid, as it is less likely that he fertilized them.
...more under the fold....
Spider Silk Inspires Strong And Stretchy…