Science News
clock | December 17, 2006Discovery May Help Predict When Toxoplasma Can Be Deadly :
Toxoplasma is arguably the most successful animal parasite on earth: It infects hundreds of species of warm-blooded animals, most notably half of humanity. Its unusual ability to overcome the numerous challenges of infecting and reproducing inside such a wide range of creatures has long intrigued scientists, and now researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified two of the proteins critical to its ability to thrive.
One Gene 90 Percent Responsible For Making Common Parasite Dangerous:
More than a decade of…
clock | December 15, 2006Two Studies On Bee Evolution Reveal Surprises:
The discovery of a 100-million-year old bee embedded in amber -- perhaps the oldest bee ever found -- "pushes the bee fossil record back about 35 million years," according to Bryan Danforth, Cornell associate professor of entomology.
Tiny Bones Rewrite Textbooks: First New Zealand Land Mammal Fossil:
Small but remarkable fossils found in New Zealand will prompt a major rewrite of prehistory textbooks, showing for the first time that the so-called "land of birds" was once home to mammals as well.
The tiny fossilised bones - part of a jaw and hip…
clock | December 14, 2006Gas On Your Mind: Snail's Brain Provides Insights Into Human Learning :
Scientists at the University of Leicester are to gain a greater insight into the workings of the human mind -- through the study of a snail's brain.
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Dr Straub commented: "The gas nitric oxide has two faces. It can be highly toxic and kill. However, it is also found naturally in the brain where it is used by nerve cells to communicate with each other. So, whilst it can be poisonous, the body also uses it beneficially as an internal signal."
"During brain development, nitric oxide can promote the growth of…
clock | December 13, 2006Embryonic Patterning Makes The Feathers Fly: Dots Versus Stripes In Chicken Feathers Controlled By Patterning Pathway :
At the American Society for Cell Biology's 2006 conference, scientists will describe their latest research on patterning, on the molecular and systems level.
Midges Send Undeniable Message: Planet Is Warming :
Small insects that inhabit some of the most remote parts of the United States are sending a strong message about climate change.
Research Highlights How Farmers' Agri-environment Schemes Could Do More For Wildlife:
New research offers an explanation for why numbers of…
clock | December 12, 2006Hysteria is real, study finds:
Hitherto unexplained cases of partial paralysis or numbness may have a physical cause after all, scientists say.
Why laughter is contagious:
You can catch it without asking for it, or even necessarily wanting it. Now, scientists say they have an idea of why.
Humor beats disease, researchers find:
Scientists are reporting what they call most direct evidence yet that ability to laugh saves lives.
clock | December 12, 2006New Insights Into The Origin Of Life On Earth:
In an advance toward understanding the origin of life on Earth, scientists have shown that parts of the Krebs cycle can run in reverse, producing biomolecules that could jump-start life with only sunlight and a mineral present in the primordial oceans.
The Krebs cycle is a series of chemical reactions of central importance in cells -- part of a metabolic pathway that changes carbohydrates, fats and proteins into carbon dioxide and water to generate energy.
Scot T. Martin and Xiang V. Zhang explain that a reverse version of the cycle, which makes…
clock | December 11, 2006From Hot Springs To Rice Farms, Scientists Reveal New Insights Into The Secret Lives Of Archaea:
In the world of microbes, as in politics, some groups just can't seem to shake the label ''extremist.''
Another Boost For Stem Cell Research:
In the wake of the Australian Senate's decision to pass the human embryo cloning legislation, another Australian research breakthrough is likely to strengthen the case for embryonic stem cell research.
Microfluidic Device Used For Multigene Analysis Of Individual Environmental Bacteria:
When it comes to digestive ability, termites have few rivals due to the…
clock | December 10, 2006Sleep Problems -- Real And Perceived -- Get In The Way Of Alcoholism Recovery:
The first few months of recovery from an alcohol problem are hard enough. But they're often made worse by serious sleep problems, caused by the loss of alcohol's sedative effects, and the long-term sleep-disrupting impact that alcohol dependence can have on the brain.
Solving Darwin's Dilemma: Oxygen May Be The Clue To First Appearance Of Large Animals :
The sudden appearance of large animal fossils more than 500 million years ago -- a problem that perplexed even Charles Darwin and is commonly known as "Darwin's…
clock | December 8, 2006Sea Urchin Genome Suprisingly Similar To Man And May Hold Key To Cures:
Sea urchins are small and spiny, they have no eyes and they eat kelp and algae. Still, the sea creature's genome is remarkably similar to humans' and may hold the key to preventing and curing several human diseases, according to a University of Central Florida researcher and several colleagues.
Evolution Of The Penis Worm: Research Reveals Embryos More Than Half A Billion Years Old :
Images of the developmental stages of embryos more than half a billion years old were reported by a University of Bristol researcher.
From A…
clock | December 7, 2006Pendulums, Predators And Prey: The Ecology Of Coupled Oscillations:
Connect one pendulum to another with a spring, and in time the motions of the two swinging levers will become coordinated. This behavior of coupled oscillators---long a fascination of physicists and mathematicians---also can help biologists seeking to understand such questions as why some locations overflow with plants and animals while others are bereft, University of Michigan theoretical ecologist John Vandermeer maintains.
Why Do Some Queen Bees Eat Their Worker Bee's Eggs?:
Worker bees, wasps and ants are often considered…
j7uy5 | December 6, 2006Usually, doctors post radiology quizzes with odd clinical findings, or
sometimes odd things that people have swallowed, or gotten into their
bodies through other means.
But this particular image has nothing to do with medicine, or even
traditional radiology. Rather, it pertains to astronomy and
archeology.
This is the famous
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_Mechanism"
rel="tag">Antikythera mechanism, found in the
Mediterranean Sea, discovered in a shipwreck in 1901, off the coast of
the Greek island,
rel="tag">Antikythera. That's the origin
of the name of…
clock | December 6, 2006Gendered Division Of Labor Gave Modern Humans Advantage Over Neanderthals:
Diversified social roles for men, women, and children may have given Homo sapiens an advantage over Neanderthals, says a new study in the December 2006 issue of Current Anthropology. The study argues that division of economic labor by sex and age emerged relatively recently in human evolutionary history and facilitated the spread of modern humans throughout Eurasia.
Peering Into The Shadow World Of RNA: Crosstalk May Control The Genome:
The popular view is that DNA and genes control everything of importance in biology…
clock | December 5, 2006Cities Change The Songs Of Birds:
By studying the songs of a bird species that has succeeded in adapting to urban life, researchers have gained insight into the kinds of environmental pressures that influence where particular songbirds thrive, and the specific attributes of city birds that allow them to adjust to noisy urban environments.
New Clues To How Sex Evolves:
Sex is a boon to evolution; it allows genetic material from parents to recombine, giving rise to a unique new genome. But how did sex itself evolve" Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory…
clock | December 3, 2006Daytime Sleepiness From Obstructive Sleep Apnea May Raise Risk For Cardiovascular Problems:
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a sleep related breathing disorder that causes your body to stop breathing during sleep, can disturb your sleep numerous times on any given night. As a result, you may experience daytime sleepiness. Daytime sleepiness brought on by OSA may put you more at risk for cardiovascular problems, according to a study published in the December 1st issue of the journal SLEEP.
Scientists Identify Part Of Hummingbird's Tiny Bird Brain That Helps It Hover:
University of Alberta…
clock | December 1, 2006Save The Whales? Sure, But How Many?:
How many wildebeest should live in the Serengeti" How many grizzly bears should call Yellowstone home" Are there too few tigers in the world" Conservationist biologists grapple with the task of setting population targets for the species they are trying to protect -- a decision steeped in politics, emotion, and sometimes, science.
Two Rapidly Evolving Genes Offer Geneticists Clues To Why Hybrids Are Sterile Or Do Not Survive:
While hybrids -- the result of the mating of two different species -- may offer interesting and beneficial traits, they are usually…
clock | November 30, 2006* Genes may help predict infidelity, study finds:
Could DNA tests tell you your risk of being cuckolded? Scientists think so.
* Ancient sky calculator awes scientists:
A 2,000-year-old computer could transform our view of the ancient world, according to researchers.
* Success may be a 'family affair':
A study has led researchers to speculate that career success may be partly genetic.
* Science teachers' association accused of oil company influence:
After the top U.S. science teachers' group spurned some free DVDs, a controversy erupted over a reason they gave for doing so.
* Backache? Sitting…
clock | November 28, 2006Aching Back? Sitting Up Straight Could Be The Culprit:
Researchers are using a new form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to show that sitting in an upright position places unnecessary strain on your back, leading to potentially chronic pain problems if you spend long hours sitting.
Sleep Problems In Overweight Children Appear Fairly Common:
One-fourth of overweight children may have sleep problems that regular physical activity can largely resolve, researchers say.
Synchrotron Reveals How Neanderthal Teeth Grew:
Scientists from the United Kingdom, France and Italy have studied teeth from…
clock | November 27, 2006Opposites Do Not Attract, Parrot Study Finds:
A study conducted at the University of California, Irvine, found that a female budgerigar prefers to mate with a male that sounds like her.
Dragonfly's Metabolic Disease Provides Clues About Human Obesity:
Parasite-infected dragonflies suffer the same metabolic disorders that have led to an epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes in humans.
Wild Gorillas Carriers Of A SIV Virus Close To The AIDS Virus:
A recent article in Nature reports the discovery of gorillas living in the wild in Central Africa infected with an HIV-1 related virus, called…
clock | November 25, 2006Pot may be good and bad, researchers propose:
The truth about marijuana might be more complex than either its opponents or its champions suggest, some scientists argue.
We're more genetically diverse than thought:
Research has found that at least one in 10 human genes vary in the number of copies of certain DNA sequences.
A step toward quantum computers:
Physicists say they've taken a step toward making computers that work at blinding speeds thanks to the weird realities of quantum physics.
One cell makes almost any heart tissue, study finds:
New research could be a stride forward for therapy…
clock | November 24, 2006Pew Internet and American Life Project just issued a new report: The Internet as a Resource for News and Information about Science (pdf). It states that:
Fully 87% of online users have at one time used the internet to carry out research on a scientific topic or concept and 40 million adults use the internet as their primary source of news and information about science.
The report is chockful of statistics of great importance to us science bloggers. For instance:
Each respondent to this survey received questions on one of three specific scientific topics: stem cell research, climate change,…