News in Science

In Men, Caffeine Is More Effective And Starts Working In 10 Minutes

2008-12-23T19:07:00.001-08:00

http://www.scientificblogging.com/news_releases/men_caffeine_more_effective_and_starts_working_10_minutes --- A study headed by researchers from the University of Barcelona (UB) shows that caffeine has a greater effect on men than women, and that these effects start just 10 minutes after it is drunk. In addition, contrary to what was previously thought, it has also been shown that decaffeinated coffee also produces an increased state of alertness.

DNA 'fabricator' constructs walking DNA - tech - 16 January 2008 - New Scientist Tech

2008-01-17T01:39:00.001-08:00

The goal of being able to program biochemical reactions as precisely and easily as computers crunch numbers and process words has moved a giant step closer.

A group at the California Institute of Technology, led by biomolecular engineer Niles Pierce, has created a DNA-based fabricator.

http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn13192-dna-fabricator-constructs-walking-dna.html?feedId=online-news_rss20 ---

Coralline algae will suffer as oceans acidify | Practical Fishkeeping magazine

2008-01-09T02:40:00.001-08:00

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/item.php?news=1521 --- Corals are not the only reef organisms to suffer directly from increased ocean acidification, according to a study to be published in the journal Nature Geoscience. Ilsa Kuffner, Andreas Andersson, Paul Jokiel, Ku'ulei Rodgers and Fred Mackenzie carried out a seven-week experiment examining the effects of increased ocean acidification on crustose coralline algae, a group of calcifying algae that is important in many shallow water habitats, including coral reefs. The authors constructed six fibreglass mesocosm tanks were supplied with flowing sea water pumped from the edge of a coral reef in Hawaii.

Four Health Behaviors Can Add 14 Extra Years Of Life

2008-01-09T02:39:00.001-08:00

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080108083001.htm ---

Allergys from being too antiseptic? Technology Review: The New Hygiene Hypothesis

2008-01-03T03:18:00.001-08:00

http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/19997/ --- A host of explanations have been put forth to account for rising rates of allergy and asthma, including reduced rates of breast feeding, parents who smoke, and worsening pollution. But as most of these factors have been ruled out--poorer cities with high levels of pollution often have lower allergy levels, for example--an alternative explanation has taken the lead. Scientists suggest that now that many of the most harmful bugs in our environment have been eradicated with modern sanitation and medicine, our immune systems turn their attack on usually harmless molecules, such as those in cat dander or dust mites.

Jurassic Docs -- Paleontologists Teach Medical Students About Fossil Tumors

2007-12-28T01:54:00.001-08:00

http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2006/0607-jurassic_docs.htm --- PITTSBURGH--Think you have nothing in common with a Tyrannosaurus rex or animals from the Jurassic era? Think again. A first-of-its-kind program combines med students, paleontologists, and cutting-edge technology ... And the program's founders say doctors of tomorrow will be better ... if they study dinosaurs to uncover prehistoric medical links between the present and the very distant past. What do dinosaurs have in common with people today? More than you might think! Fossil technicians process dinosaur bones to find out. With the use of medical physics such as a CT scan of a dinosaur bone, paleontologists find themselves light-years ahead. It's a non-invasive way to see what earlier researchers have only been able to guess. Carnegie Museum of Natural History paleontologist Chris Beard says by studying the evolution of prehistoric animals, today's medical students can understand the origins of some common medical problems. "This is, as far as we know, the oldest evidence of cancer in the fossil record," he tells DBIS of a softball-sized tumor in a 150-million-year-old dinosaur bone.

Why Exertion Leads To Exhaustion

2007-12-28T01:43:00.001-08:00

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071220103702.htm --- ScienceDaily (Dec. 28, 2007) — Scientists have found an explanation for runners who struggle to increase their pace, cyclists who can't pedal any faster and swimmers who can't speed up their strokes. Researchers from the University of Exeter and Kansas State University have discovered the dramatic changes that occur in our muscles when we push ourselves during exercise.

Photo-monitoring Whale Sharks: Largest Fish In The Sea Appear To Thrive Under Regulated Ecotourism

2007-12-28T01:41:00.001-08:00

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071226003604.htm --- ScienceDaily (Dec. 28, 2007) — Up to 20 meters long and weighing as much as 20 tons, its enormous size gives the whale shark (Rhincodon typus) its name. Known as the 'gentle giant' for its non-predatory behavior, this fish, with its broad, flattened head and minute teeth, eats tiny zooplankton, sieving them through a fine mesh of gill-rakers. Listed as a rare species, relatively little is known about whale sharks, which live in tropical and warm seas, including the western Atlantic and southern Pacific.

Evolution Is Deterministic, Not Random, Biologists Conclude From Multi-species Study

2007-11-19T19:24:00.001-08:00

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071119123929.htm --- 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.

Scientists seeking a cure for a deadly superbug have successfully treated patients using human faeces.

2007-11-16T00:54:00.001-08:00

http://improbable.com/2007/11/15/donor-stool-triumphant/ --- Scientists seeking a cure for a deadly superbug have successfully treated patients using human faeces.

Tropical fish can live for months out of water | Oddly Enough | Reuters.com

2007-11-15T21:06:00.001-08:00

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyid=2007-11-15T140133Z_01_N15222990_RTRUKOC_0_US-FISH.xml ---

Scientists Successfully Simulate Photosynthesis And Design A Better Leaf

2007-11-11T18:10:00.000-08:00

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071109123201.htm --- University of Illinois researchers have built a better plant, one that produces more leaves and fruit without needing extra fertilizer. The researchers accomplished the feat using a computer model that mimics the process of evolution. Theirs is the first model to simulate every step of the photosynthesis process.

Painful Prawns

2007-11-11T17:30:00.001-08:00

http://www.null-hypothesis.co.uk/article/1459?from=rss --- We all know that fish is best eaten fresh. Seafood lovers will even argue that in the case of shellfish, it is best cooked alive. But would this opinion still hold if there was any possibility that the shellfish were suffering? It has been suggested by a scientist at Queen's University, Belfast that prawns feel pain.

Patent round-up: Sea cucumber corneas - tech - 05 November 2007 - New Scientist Tech

2007-11-07T02:29:00.001-08:00

http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn12878-patent-roundup-sea-cucumber-corneas.html?feedId=online-news_rss20 --- The team's artificial cornea is made from tiny collagen fibres extracted from these sea cucumbers. When placed in a centrifuge, the fibres self assemble into layers in which the fibres are aligned vertically, a structure that is very similar to the tissue in mammalian corneas. The result is a thin layer of material that is transparent and biocompatible, as well as cheap and easy to make, says the team.

Scientist distances himself from creationist claims - opinion - 04 November 2007 - New Scientist

2007-11-05T03:04:00.001-08:00

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg19626283.000-scientist-distances-himself-from-creationist-claims.html?feedId=online-news_rss20 --- It is a central tenet of creationism that evolutionary biologists are part of a vast conspiracy. Should evidence emerge that runs counter to Darwin's theories, creationist thinking goes, it is quickly suppressed by the scientific thought police. Now retired chemist Homer Jacobson may have inadvertently lent the conspiracy theorists a helping hand. The trouble started when Jacobson, formerly at Brooklyn College in New York, did a web search for his own name. Among the top results were creationist websites. They cited a 1955 paper on the origin of life, in which Jacobson discussed the challenges of explaining how the chemical building blocks of life emerged. Creationists say his paper shows that divine intervention must have been involved. In a letter in this month's edition of American Scientist, the journal in which the original article appeared, Jacobson retracts two paragraphs from it. He says that subsequent developments have shown his conjectures ...

James Watson retires amidst race controversy - opinion - 25 October 2007 - New Scientist

2007-10-26T04:27:00.001-07:00

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn12835&feedId=online-news_rss20 --- DNA co-discover and Nobel laureate James Watson, who caused outrage last week by characterising people of African descent as genetically inferior, has announced his retirement chancellor of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Watson has been embroiled in controversy because of comments he made to a UK newspaper concerning the intelligence of Africans. The 79-year-old's decision follows the laboratory's decision to suspend him from his position as chancellor. Eduardo Mestre, chairman of the board of CSHL, says Watson's contribution to the understanding of DNA "will continue to influence biomedical research for decades to come", and added that, the board "respects his decision to retire at this point in his career".

New catfish lives near hot spring | Practical Fishkeeping magazine

2007-10-24T19:09:00.001-07:00

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/item.php?news=1436 ---
A new species of trichomycterid catfish able to live in very warm waters has been described from Bolivia. The description of Trichomycterus therma new species, is published by Luis Fernández and Guillermina Miranda in the latest issue of the Journal of Fish Biology.

Appendix may be safe haven for good bacteria

2007-10-22T19:13:00.001-07:00

http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Tech%2B%2526%2BScience/STIStory_169696.html --- NEW YORK - CONTRARY to conventional wisdom, the appendix may not be useless after all. New research suggests that the structure helps beneficial bacteria survive and repopulate the colon after these organisms become depleted as a result of an infection or drug treatment. Beneficial bacterial, also referred to as commensal bacteria, help maintain a proper balance in the intestine and may also kill dangerous microbes. For example, this is why patients frequently develop gastrointestinal problems during or after a course of antibiotics. Along with the pathogen causing the infection, the antibiotic may destroy commensal bacteria as well. This report 'proposes a novel and unique function for the human appendix, for which the appendix is well suited', said senior author Dr William Parker, from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. 'Importantly, the proposal explains clearly why the function is not evident in our industrialised culture.'

Early modern humans had a taste for seafood - being-human - 17 October 2007 - New Scientist

2007-10-17T19:41:00.001-07:00

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19626265.200&feedId=online-news_rss20 ---
"OUR ancestors dined on seafood, painted their bodies and made delicate stone blades 164,000 years ago, much earlier than previously realised. The discovery means that these cultural features must have developed soon after modern humans evolved. The evidence comes from a cave in South Africa overlooking the Indian Ocean. Researchers led by Curtis Marean, an anthropologist at Arizona State University in Tempe, excavated a collection of shellfish remains, ochre pigments and stone blades, some of which were just a centimetre wide. The team dated the earliest material to 164,000 years ago, give or take 12,000 years (Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature06204). This fits with estimates of sea level during that period, which indicate that the cave was only within easy walking distance of the shore about 167,000 years ago. The earliest previous record of humans eating shellfish dates from about 125,000 years ago. Abundant shellfish may have encouraged groups to settle in one place instead of wandering nomadically and provided them with leisure time for activities such as body adornment."

ScienceDaily: Fish Get Insomnia, Eyes Wide Open, Say Sleep Researchers

2007-10-15T22:38:00.001-07:00

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071015215148.htm ---
Science Daily — Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have hooked a fish that suffers from insomnia in their quest to understand the genetics behind sleep disorders.

ScienceDaily: Women With Severe PMS Perceive Their Sleep Quality To Be Poor

2007-10-15T02:25:00.001-07:00

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071001081624.htm ---
Women With Severe PMS Perceive Their Sleep Quality To Be Poor Science Daily — Women with severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS) perceive their sleep quality to be poorer in association with their symptoms in the late luteal (premenstrual) phase, despite there being no specific alterations in sleep structure associated with premenstrual symptoms, according to a study published in the October 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.

ScienceDaily: Turn Off The TV During Family Meals

2007-10-15T02:22:00.001-07:00

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071014200545.htm ---

Science Daily — September and October mark the start of television's new fall season as the premieres of new shows and old favorites hit the airwaves. But, University of Minnesota researchers found that watching television while eating family meals may have a negative impact on children's diets.

Lap dancers on heat are the ones to watch - being-human - 11 October 2007 - New Scientist

2007-10-11T20:14:00.001-07:00

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19626255.100&feedId=online-news_rss20 --- Last month, biologist Randy Thornhill challenged the orthodoxy that women do not undergo regular bouts of hormone-induced oestrus, or "heat", when they are at their most fertile - something most female mammals experience (New Scientist, 15 September, p 18). Now a study of the tips men give to lap dancers, conducted by a colleague of Thornhill's, lends further support to the argument for oestrus.

Cheaper running shoes win comfortably - being-human - 11 October 2007 - New Scientist

2007-10-11T20:12:00.001-07:00

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn12776&feedId=online-news_rss20 --- Upscale athletic shoes often claim added protection against the bodily wear and tear of running, and indeed some studies suggest that pricier materials can more effectively reduce impact force than cheaper ones. Other evidence, though, suggests that runners wearing fancy footwear are 123% more likely to get injured, possibly because they over-estimate the protection and run with greater impact (British Journal of Sports Medicine, vol 91, page 299).

haha science to the rescue

ScienceDaily: Flavonoids Govern Cell Processes, Enhance Health

2007-10-11T20:09:00.001-07:00

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071011205352.htm --- Science Daily — For the first time, scientists from Dresden proved that plant substances such as those found in red wine, soy, or green tea can accelerate or retard vital processes in cells. These molecules bind to the protein actin which is implicated in cell movement and cell division. According to experimental results published recently in Biophysical Journal the ability of actin to join to long chains is either hindered or improved. Surprisingly, it has been shown that these substances also affect the rate at which genetic information is processed in the cell's nucleus.

Tree Frog Inspires New Easy-Off Stickies: Scientific American

2007-10-11T19:13:00.001-07:00

Neato!

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=913F4091-E7F2-99DF-319205DF5501B1CC&ref=rss ---

Scotch tape, packing tape, Post-its—no man-made adhesive holds a candle to the sticky world of animal adhesives, where geckos scurry across ceilings and tree frogs leap from leaf to leaf on tacky toe pads without missing a step.

Role of beer as a possible protective factor in preventing Alzheimer's disease.

2007-09-24T02:49:00.001-07:00

This new research suggests that the silicon in beer acts to reduce the uptake of aluminium in our body. Aluminium levels have been suspected to be associated with Alzheimer's disease for around ten years already although its not the sole cause (see link)
link

Vitamin C essential for plant growth

2007-09-24T02:22:00.001-07:00

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070923205844.htm

Gosh this is so intuitive yet escapes most people's mind.
Would be fantastic if someone does another study to correlate oxidative stress with levels of vit C in the fruits..

Chernobyl to be encased in steel

2007-09-20T23:49:00.001-07:00

Chernobyl to be encased in steel

Caring grandmas explain evolutionary role of menopause

2007-09-19T23:01:00.001-07:00

Caring grandmas explain evolutionary role of menopause

Altering a mouse's sense of smell can seriously mess with its gender identity

2007-09-13T23:17:00.001-07:00

http://discovermagazine.com/2007/sep/girls-gone-boys-gone-wild
Altering a mouse's sense of smell can seriously mess with its gender identity

...life may not be quite that simple—at least for mice. A new study in Nature suggests that the brain pathways for male sexual behavior are also present in female mice, and with those pathways comes the potential for male behavior. Even more intriguing is that the activation of these pathways appears to be regulated by the animal's sense of smell.

Schizophrenia is selected for in evolution?

2007-09-10T03:49:00.001-07:00

It's No Delusion: Evolution May Favor Schizophrenia Genes

New research reveals that genes related to the debilitating disorder may also provide developmental advantages

By Nikhil Swaminathan

link

kev: the title suggests more than what it should. of cos its more boring to say that genes that are partly responisble for schizo have a hidden benefit. ;p

Distant space collision meant doom for dinosaurs

2007-09-07T00:44:00.001-07:00

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A collision 160 million years ago of two asteroids orbiting between Mars and Jupiter sent many big rock chunks hurtling toward Earth, including the one that zapped the dinosaurs, scientists said on Wednesday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0538851520070905?pageNumber=2&sp=true

Higher Social Skills Are Distinctly Human, Toddler And Ape Study Reveals

2007-09-06T22:37:00.001-07:00

Science Daily — Apes bite and try to break a tube to retrieve the food inside while children follow the experimenter's example to get inside the tube to retrieve the prize, showing that even before preschool, toddlers are more sophisticated in their social learning skills than their closest primate relatives, according to a report published in the 7 September issue of the journal Science.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070906144113.htm

Diabetes fears over corn syrup in soda

2007-09-05T04:03:00.001-07:00

see original article @ link

It's not cast-iron proof that high-fructose corn syrup causes diabetes, but new evidence suggests we should think twice about using it to sweeten soft drinks.

Chi-Tang Ho at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and his colleagues found that adding the syrup to fizzy drinks makes them up to 10 times richer in harmful carbonyl compounds - elevated in people with diabetes and blamed for causing diabetic complications such as foot ulcers and eye and nerve damage - than fizzy drinks containing cane sugar.

The most harmful compound, called methylglyoxal, is known to damage cells directly. "The link between methylglyoxal and diabetic complications is well documented," says Ho, whose team found carbonyl compounds in 11 popular brands of soft drink sweetened with the syrup.

High-fructose corn syrup is popular in the US, where import tariffs make cane sugar relatively expensive. It is made by treating corn starch with ...

The complete article is 336 words long.

Childhood TV viewing linked to teen attention problems

2007-09-05T03:55:00.000-07:00

see original article @ link

Watching television more than two hours a day early in life can lead to attention problems later in adolescence, according to a large long-term study.

The roughly 40% increase in attention problems among "heavy" TV viewers was observed in both boys and girls, and was independent of whether a diagnosis of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder was made prior to adolescence.

"Those who watched more than two hours, and particularly those who watched more than three hours, of television per day during childhood had above-average symptoms of attention problems in adolescence," Erik Landhuis of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, wrote in his report, published in Pediatrics on Tuesday.

Plant genes switched on by sound waves

2007-08-30T20:06:00.001-07:00

Plant genes switched on by sound waves

30 August 2007
Andy Coghlan
Magazine issue 2619

CAN plants hear? They all respond to light, which affects how they optimise growth and survival. Plants also have a sense of touch , allowing them to stiffen in response to wind, and a "taste" for nutrients. But whether they respond to sound is a mystery.

Now Mi-Jeong Jeong of the National Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology in Suwon, South Korea, and colleagues claim to have identified two genes in rice that respond to sound waves. They also say that the promoter of one of the sound-sensitive genes could be attached to other genes to make them respond to sound too.

The findings follow a host of similar, but unsubstantiated, claims that plants respond to sound. If the researchers are correct, they say their discovery could enable farmers to switch specific crop genes on and off, such as ones for flowering, by blasting sound into the fields. That might be cheaper ...

The complete article is 591 words long.

http://technology.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19526196.100&feedId=online-news_rss20

Rare river dolphin 'spotted' in China

2007-08-30T20:04:00.001-07:00

A rare dolphin, thought to be extinct, may have been sighted swimming in the Yangtze River in China. But scientists fear that even if the sighting of the Baiji, or Yangtze river dolphin, is confirmed it may be too late to bring the species back from the dead.

http://environment.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn12563&feedId=online-news_rss20

Amber Specimen Captures Ancient Chemical Battle

2007-08-30T03:15:00.001-07:00

"A new study by researchers at Oregon State University has identified a soldier beetle, preserved almost perfectly in amber, which was in the process of using chemical repellents to fight off an attacker when an oozing flow of sap preserved the struggle for eternity.

The discovery is the earliest fossil record of a chemical defense response, scientists say, and indicates that this type of protective mechanism -- now common in the insect world and among other animal species -- has been around for more than 100 million years. It's a sophisticated form of defense that clearly was in good working order while dinosaurs still roamed the Earth....."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070829143559.htm

Prevent global warming by preventing population growth

2007-08-01T02:26:00.001-07:00

excerpted from scitech daily

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070727183857.htm
Low fruit and fish intake can make your teens wheezy

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/727/2
Before forming relationships, we normally size up other people to see how trustworthy they are, thanks to an evolutionary reorganization in the brain

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2007/07/24/scigwarming124.xml
Prevent global warming by preventing population growth

Reinventing radioactive batteries

2007-07-10T00:10:00.001-07:00

The increasingly high-tech US military always needs better batteries. So its research branch, the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA) based in Virginia, US, is funding a project to develop betavoltaic batteries – cells that generate current from radioactive materials that emit electrons (so-called beta emitters).
link to newscientist.com

Laughter improves breast milk's health effect

2007-06-18T20:44:00.001-07:00

Laughter improves breast milk's health effect
http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?i=def04640a6e6e116e81be82f2292688f

Plants can tell who's who

2007-06-14T03:30:00.001-07:00

Telling apart relatives from strangers is crucial in many animal
species, helping them to share precious resources or avoid inbreeding.
Now it seems that plants can perform the same trick.

http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070611/full/070611-4.html

Why some animals are shy of habitat corridors

2007-06-14T03:17:00.001-07:00

Why some animals are shy of habitat corridors
Study shows how habitat shape is as important as size.
by Matt Kaplan
http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070611/full/070611-3.html

Origins Of Nervous System Found In Genes Of Sea Sponge

2007-06-06T05:46:00.001-07:00

Wow so the sponge had the beginnings of a brain!
summary at sciencedaily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070606043941.htm
original article at plos
http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchArticle.action?articleURI=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0000506

Warming will bring more rain

2007-06-02T21:17:00.001-07:00

It does seem a particularly rainy summer season here in Singapore. Wonder if its related. But is just my anecdoctal observation
link

Our upright walking started in the trees

2007-05-31T21:51:00.001-07:00

cool article! definitely makes more sense than walking on land theory
link

Infants can recognize different languages simply by observing a speaker's gestures

2007-05-25T01:03:00.001-07:00

link

fungi growing off radiation!

2007-05-23T06:10:00.001-07:00

this is so cool!
"researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found evidence that fungi possess a previously undiscovered talent with profound implications: the ability to use radioactivity as an energy source for making food and spurring their growth...."
link

DNA Clues To Inform Conservation In Africa

2007-05-23T06:07:00.001-07:00

link

Sharks can produce asexually!!

2007-05-23T05:37:00.001-07:00

wow imagine the consequences for biodiversity
link

Exercise Reverses Aging In Human Skeletal Muscle

2007-05-23T05:20:00.001-07:00

link

Research on mice raises hopes for regrowing hair.

2007-05-17T07:53:00.001-07:00

http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070514/full/070514-12.html

A Kiss to Help Forget a Fight-

2007-01-26T01:30:00.000-08:00

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/122/2?rss=1

Animal behaviorists have studied squabbling among numerous mammalian species, particularly primates, which after a fight often seek comfort through mutual grooming with an animal not involved in the row. This tactic is believed to reduce stress. Chimps, bonobos, and a few other mammals go a step further:...

An foraging advantage for color blindness?

2007-01-11T20:54:00.000-08:00

it may sound counterintuitive but I do find that I try to look out for shapes when searching for critters on the beach (to photo not eat!). I wonder if there are colorblind insectivore birds hmmmm
link

Smithsonian Offers New Tropical Biodiversity Data And Tools On The Web

2007-01-11T02:43:00.000-08:00

Wow!
link

ESA Launches New Project To Protect Biodiversity

2007-01-11T02:40:00.000-08:00

ESA Launches New Project To Protect Biodiversity

It seems like biodiversity research in already in the informatics age. Never did i imagine this article to be in lockergnome..

Alcohol may offer protection against arthritis

2006-12-20T08:30:00.000-08:00

link to newscientist
"Mice that drank diluted ethanol were about 40% less likely to develop the autoimmune disease rheumatoid arthritis than those given water instead. Researchers say that more studies are needed to understand exactly why alcohol has this effect and whether it also protects against arthritis in humans."

Mice 'cured' of diabetes! Humans next?

2006-12-19T22:45:00.000-08:00

link

This is very fascinating as it points to something other than inflammation as the culprit. Could it be the same for other diseases as well?

Fish Species Plays Surprise Role In Aiding Coral Reef Recovery

2006-12-19T05:48:00.000-08:00

Fish Species Plays Surprise Role In Aiding Coral Reef Recovery

photo of Platax pinnatus
original journal at
Bellwood et al.: "Sleeping Functional Group Drives Coral-Reef Recovery." Publishing in Current Biology 16, 2434--2439, December 19, 2006 DOI 10.1016/j.cub.2006.10.030. http://www.current-biology.com

complexity of great white shark's behaviour may surprise you

2006-11-14T00:37:00.000-08:00

http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/master.html?http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/1006/1006_feature.html

Natural-born painkiller found in human saliva

2006-11-13T17:12:00.000-08:00

link

Sea Urchin genome helps unravel secrets of human genome

2006-11-10T05:44:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sea urchins may be blind, but they have the same genes that help people see, as well as genes for a sense of smell and one of the most complicated immune systems in the animal world, researchers reported on Thursday.

They also have genes associated with diseases such as Huntington's and muscular dystrophy, offering new routes to understanding illnesses, the researchers write in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

The sea urchin -- a pincushion-shaped animal found at the bottom of the sea and perhaps best known for its long, sharp spines -- shares more than 7,000 genes with humans, the international team of researchers found.

for the full article read link

Moderate Drinking May Boost Memory/high levels of alcohol can reinforce bad memories

2006-10-29T22:58:00.000-08:00

link
'"The results suggest that both doses of alcohol moderately improved the animals' ability to remember this negative event, since they seemed hesitant to go into the dark area," During said. "It also suggests that high levels of alcohol can reinforce bad memories.

"People who drink to forget bad memories may actually be doing the opposite by reinforcing the neural circuits that control negative emotional memory," he continued.'

Waste DNA possible cause for arthritis

2006-10-29T22:52:00.000-08:00

link
Fascinating hypothesis...our immune system also uses DNA as indicators of infection by microbes.. and DNA is quite universal so it might not be surprising that this creates problems...if someone shows that the 'garbage collectors' fail in function with age then perhaps it explains why arthritis appears in the elderly
"Like most of the molecular cogs that keep the human body running smoothly, DNA eventually outlives its usefulness and must be discarded. Red blood cells have no need for DNA and eject it once they become mature, and dying cells disintegrate, releasing DNA into the body. Special immune cells called macrophages function like garbage collectors, picking up this waste DNA and breaking it down."

Brad Pitt's kids are going to be average looking

2006-10-25T00:08:00.000-07:00

lol sorry for the sensational title...
read these two articles ! it kinda throws a spin on sexual selection.

'Sexy males sire dowdy daughters and attractive females bear insipid sons – in fruit flies, at least.'
http://www.newscientist.com/
'Sometimes hunting down the best mate can backfire. The theory of sexual selection posits that choosy females seek out mates with elaborate antlers or splashy plumage,..'
http://www.sciam.com

Human species may split into two

2006-10-17T20:41:00.000-07:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6057734.stm
Hahahah... not entirely baseless but I don't think it will happen.
Humans have been around for a while, I don't see more beautiful AND
intelligent ppl.

bacteria with smallest genome (making of an organelle?)

2006-10-12T18:25:00.000-07:00

link at sciam
link at newscientist

Endosymbiosis resulted in the mitochrondria and chloroplast. always tot its a fancy theory that can't really be proven unless you have a time machine. but this bacterium might jus be at the crossroads of an endosymbiotic event!

Snooze your way to high test scores

2006-09-24T03:05:00.000-07:00

newscientist.com
heh the title sounds like spam huh?Now I know when i was napping during lectures I was merely trying to remember the maths formulas better!

"If you are trying to commit something to memory, take a nap. Even a short daytime snooze could help you learn.

A good night's sleep is known to improve people's ability to learn actions such as mirror writing. REM sleep, when most dreaming occurs, is thought to be particularly important."

Cats and dogs protect kids from stomach bugs

2006-09-15T22:09:00.000-07:00

http://www.newscientist.com/
showed it to my mom but she disbelieves it .....
Pets are good for you!

Scientists discover molecule behind birds' magnetic sense

2006-09-11T23:22:00.000-07:00

http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=26320

cryptochromes are proteins that sense blue light are also sensitive to
magnetic field!

Proteosome can reshuffle peptide sequences of proteins!

2006-09-07T18:50:00.000-07:00

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn10027&feedId=online-news_rss20
wow I guess now there's even more diversity for the same gene sequence!

Proved monkey see monkey do

2006-09-04T18:29:00.000-07:00

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn9916&feedId=online-news_rss20

Older dads boost risk of autistic children

2006-09-04T18:28:00.000-07:00

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn9998&feedId=online-news_rss20

wow

Research Shows That a Certain Cat Parasite Affects Our Behavior and Mood

2006-08-10T22:38:00.000-07:00

link to abc news
wow i know certain parasites can affect the nervous systems of lower vertebrates but higher order mammals?

Does eating at night really make you fat?

2006-08-02T02:22:00.000-07:00

link to sciencenow

Wow! This throws the question back into the limelight again. Nutritionists and I (based on common sense) both say that eating at night doesn't make you fat. but it is true that when I am keeping late hours I tend to want to snack. This article states a link between circadian rythmn and food. Which doesn't explain anything (for me) but it does point out something on the side that obese ppl typically consume more than half their calories at night!

Working night shifts and the risk of Parkinson's disease

2006-07-13T06:57:00.000-07:00

link to news report
link to abstract

Gasp! Night shifts might be protective against Parkinson's? That's what the study is suggesting although the authors and I would be cautious about taking this too far. (in fact I didn't believe it and searched for the scientific journal to be sure). One possibility is that "habitual longer sleep duration may be an earlier marker of Parkinson's disease" going through the other literature apparently sleep disorders are associated with Parkinson's. Although when one considers that smoking might have a protective effect against Parkinson's it might be possible that certain areas of the brain are stimulated(possibly the dopaminergic neurons) and therefore provide protection against this disease.

Mother’s Presence Can Override Fear in Rat Pups

2006-07-11T01:48:00.000-07:00

Link to SCIAM
"At the tender age of 10 days or so young rats first venture outside the nest, leaving the comforting presence of their mother. The world outside is full of perils and promise and the pups must learn the difference. But the presence or absence of their mother may make all the difference in determining which is which, according to new research published online yesterday in Nature Neuroscience"

intriguing!!!

Climate Change May Not Benefit Crops

2006-07-03T22:35:00.000-07:00

link to sciam

"Increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide may not be as helpful to crops as previously thought, according to a new study. As global temperatures rise, soil moisture levels fall. Laboratory experiments suggested that the crop losses resulting from this loss of moisture would be offset by a boost in fertilization from rising levels of carbon dioxide. Now field studies show that carbon dioxide's beneficial effects are not nearly as strong in real crop-growing environments."

Darn and I thought maybe plants will right the balance somehow. though I suspect the experiment would be hard to do you need to create an enclosure to get balance of light for both control and experiment plants and only vary the CO2

Lopsided Brains Let Fish Multitask

2006-06-24T03:48:00.000-07:00

link

Hmmm i wonder about the implications for human females (aren't they better at multi-tasking?) but I won't be surprised to find that there is an evolutionary advantage to have a non-lopsided brain

Lopsided Brains Let Fish Multitask

By Katherine Unger
ScienceNOW Daily News
23 June 2006

A symmetrical face is often thought a sign of beauty, but symmetry may be a disadvantage when it comes to the brain. "Left-brained" or "right-brained" fish are more adept at handling multiple activities than fish with no hemispheric preference, according to a new study. Their ability to multitask could help explain why vertebrate brains evolved to function asymmetrically.

Soy sauce marinade good for BBQ food

2006-06-24T03:36:00.000-07:00

sorry couldn't resist the title... of cos the good is in the health sense. I have always advocated moderation and what tastes good for you can't be totally bad for you :) see I told you so... chaoguotiao is good in black! (unless you can't take too much sodium)

Marinade Is Soy Good for You

By Mary Beckman
ScienceNOW Daily News
23 June 2006

With holiday barbeques coming up, revelers may hear warnings about not charring their meats to avoid creating carcinogens. Perhaps cooks can take a lesson from Taiwanese chefs. New research shows traditional Chinese recipes and cooking methods put a damper on these unhealthy by-products.

link

Body shape changes with the season

2006-06-12T18:30:00.000-07:00

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20060612/figurechange_hea.html?source=rss
June 12, 2006 — Seasonal changes cause fat to shift locations in our body, thus altering the shape of our figures at certain times of the year, according to a new study.

Coffee may prevent liver disease: study

2006-06-12T18:08:00.000-07:00

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/health/view/213357/1/.html
CHICAGO - Drinking coffee may help prevent the liver disease alcoholic cirrhosis, according to a long-term study released Monday.

The study of more than 125,000 people found that for each cup of coffee they drank per day, participants were 22 percent less likely to develop alcoholic cirrhosis.

Long-term, heavy alcohol use is the most common cause of cirrhosis in developed countries, which progressively destroys healthy liver tissue and replaces it with scar tissue.

Heavy metals may be implicated in autism

2006-05-30T06:26:00.000-07:00

link
URINE samples from hundreds of French children have yielded evidence for a link between autism and exposure to heavy metals. If validated, the findings might mean some cases of autism could be treated with drugs that purge the body of heavy metals.

Exercise might prevent skin cancer

2006-05-29T04:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.discover.com/web-exclusives/mouse-tumor/
another reason to workout instead of veg out..

If all drivers were polite, they would get where they're going faster

2006-05-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

for me this is a no brainer but you be surpised at the number of belligrent drivers who think that their need to 'own' the road are justified in reaching their destination faster. Seriously does one car length help u get there even 5 minutes earlier? http://www.umich.edu/news/index.html?Releases/2006/May06/r052306a

Do you find that chimpanzee awfully familiar?

2006-05-17T18:17:00.000-07:00

Link

LOL this article raises the possibility that early in the split of the human and chimpanzee lineages there was a rejoining and the final split. Ahem, in lay terms human ancestors stopped breeding with chimpanzee populations to establish a new species but later interbred again before splitting again .. see this pic for a visual explanation

Caffeine dependence for toddlers?

2006-05-17T18:16:00.000-07:00

Link

This is not what you think. U can joke abt that needing that starbucks else u will be an undead zombie for the rest of the day. For premature infants, caffeine is a lifesaver. They help in getting the premature infants off the ventilator earlier by helping them breath… hmmm but they are still curious about the side effects. If you find that you have an abnormally high tolerance or perhaps in dire need for caffeine since young, maybe you shld ask if you were a premature baby….

Reward for Motivated acts = Obesity ?

2006-05-16T18:07:00.000-07:00

Link to Science

This is fresh. "Psychologists have found that people who are prone to obesity tend to be highly motivated by rewards. They go out of their way to get the things they want, are willing to take risks, and are more thrilled than the average person when they succeed. Meanwhile, neuroscientists have found that the need for reward is hardwired into various regions of the brain (ScienceNOW, 16 June 2005). When researchers stimulate these regions in the lab, animals overeat, particularly seeking out sweet and fatty foods."

Just when you are feeling sympathetic for the obese, the psychologist does add that many motivated ppl are not obese so its just part of the reason but not the whole story.

A Tale of mothballs, worms and cancer

2006-05-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

Link to Science

I love stories of accidental discoveries in science. It takes an observant eye and analytical mind to see events as they are. This one is about mothballs and worms. The chance meeting of the two led to a discovery of how mothballs(yiks common household stuff) can cause cancer in C.elegans (a nematode, worm) through deactivation of a caspase enzyme(a protein that activates a cell to self-destruct when old, unlike cancer cells which go on living). Hmmm no wonder I never liked the smell of those stuff….

how prozac affects the brain

2006-05-15T17:50:00.000-07:00

link from newscientist
OMG. Always wanted to know how the 'happy' drug works. According to this, prozac works by increasing the number of neurons in the hippocampus! This is amazing because it prob wasn't too long ago that scientists discovered that brain cells do indeed multiply(unlike previous thoughts) and the possible implication that too little neurons or selective death of hippocampal neurons is possibly the culprit for depression!! Ah hem, lay persons please do not link depressed ppl with lower IQ cos of less brain cells. Its the number of connections not the number of neurons that really matter

molecular link between Fats and insulin reported!

2006-05-12T01:49:00.000-07:00

link from sciencenow
Lol better watch that fat !(esp kids!) they are producing MCP-1 which is shown to result in insulin resistance (leading to diabetes) and higher liver fat(cholesterol)..

On a side note, anyone wanna go into genetically modified duck/goose to produce foie gras without the nasty food forcing business that animal activists scream at? hahaha just have to convince the GM food haters..

Lack of excitation of Lesbian brain for pheromones?

2006-05-09T09:11:00.000-07:00

link from newscientist
LOL
there's no evidence for pheromones in humans as yet, but this study is damn interesting cos it basically says that a steriod called AND derived from progesterone and found in men's armpit sweat is able to stimulate the brains of heterosexual women in areas other than the smelling region. BUT in lesbians it doesn't happen.
you would would think so what if you use women 'pheromone' on lesbains? they used EST derived from oestrogen (fd in pregnant women urine) but it has no effect on lesbian brains either..

haha my take is
1) lesbian brains have faulty wiring
OR
2) they used wrong 'pheromone'
I mean PLEASE? How attractive can a pregnant woment be? How attractive is urine smell?

UPDATE: reported in science as well... darn better not sweat near gay men..

Explosive sting of cnidarias caught on film!

2006-05-09T09:03:00.000-07:00

link from newscientist
Ever stung by a jellyfish or hydroids in the sea before?Wondered how fast they sting you? Then you have to watch this... they have to use a 1.4 million frames per second camera to catch this so definitely worth a watch!

Have u seen a fat sushi eater?

2006-05-02T23:58:00.000-07:00

link from scimag

ooo guess this could be a reason to eat more sushi...although on a side note, large fish may contain high amts of mercury which as a result of being a toxin might actually be the reason why sushi has a slimming effect haha who knows? hmmm anyway i think taurine is also fd in some infant milk prepartions.. haha a new diet fad for the fat?
excerpted
"Sushi lovers may now have even more reason to indulge. A Japanese group has found that large supplements of taurine, an amino acid synthesized within the body and also found in seafood, can largely reverse the health hazards of a high-fat diet in mice. Observers caution that more work is needed to prove taurine's protective role and to extend the work to humans."

Evolution Gets Hot and Steamy

2006-05-02T23:54:00.000-07:00

link
haha its not wat u r thinky but have you wondered why the tropics have higher diversity? This expt tries to ans if its due to higher metabolic rates. But I would think that it doesnt answer everything cos they only used plants...
excerpted copyright from sciencemag
"With crushing heat and humidity, you'd think life would move sluggishly in tropical rainforests. But according to a new study, at least one thing proceeds more like the hare than the tortoise: molecular evolution. Faster evolution in the tropics than more temperate zones could help explain why rainforests are such hotbeds of diversity and have implications for how scientists calculate when one species diverged from another."

New Red List of Threatened species paints bleak picture of extinction

2006-05-02T18:17:00.000-07:00

link from newscientist

another sad news for conservationists. I must say though I always wonder why they never put new species found data together with species that are losing it...

excerpted from article text copyright of newscientist
"Two out of every five species on the planet that have been assessed by scientists face extinction, according to the latest World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

Overall, 16,119 animal and plant species are in danger of extinction, including 1 in 8 birds, 1 in 4 mammals and 1 in 3 amphibian species. Since records began, 784 species have been declared extinct. From the poles to the deserts, “biodiversity loss is increasing, not slowing down,” says IUCN director-general Achim Steiner."

Bleached Coral Can Cheat Death (ScienceMag)

2006-04-27T01:38:00.000-07:00

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/426/5?rss=1
Bleached Coral Can Cheat Death

By Susanne McDowell
ScienceNOW Daily News
26 April 2006
Unusually warm ocean water is draining the life--and color--out of the world's coral reefs. Researchers estimate that "bleaching" could kill up to 60% of coral within a few decades. But a new study published in tomorrow's issue of Nature reports that some species may be equipped with a previously unknown coping mechanism that helps them survive bleaching events. The discovery could help scientists better predict how reefs will respond to global warming.

Fwd: Pets: Considering Health Risks with Reptile Ownership

2006-04-26T18:06:00.000-07:00

Text here is copyright of Dummies eTips visit http://www.dummies.com/
for more! (p.s. dun slap me with a lawsuit! )

Not a science news again, but I think this should be communicated to
the general public to advise them NOT to keep reptiles. It is illegal
to keep anything other than the red ear slider (terrapin) in Singapore
anyway. Furthermore they have been always abandoned after they have
grown too big. So why bother with reptiles? Adopt a cat or dog instead
hahaha

Here is your Pets eTip

Considering Health Risks with Reptile Ownership

All reptiles present potential health risks to humans. One of the most highly publicized zoonoses (diseases that can be passed, directly or indirectly, from animals to humans) in recent years has been salmonella. The reason salmonella is a problem with reptiles is that the strains or types of salmonella that typically infect them are different from those we normally encounter in our food. These strains can cause symptoms ranging from very mild to potentially lethal. Even mild strains can be deadly to humans who have compromised or immature immune systems: infants, toddlers, the elderly, anyone with a suppressed immune system due to illness, organ transplant patients taking anti-rejection drugs, or cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

Make informed decision with the information and insight in Iguanas For
Dummies, by Melissa Kaplan.

Wildlife thrives more from absence of humans than radiation from,Chernobyl

2006-04-23T17:49:00.000-07:00

link from BBC news "it contains some of the most contaminated land in the world, yet it has become a haven for wildlife - a nature reserve in all but name." kevin:not exactly a science news, but its strange how humans don't consider themselves to be a parasite or pest when I would argue that as a species our overall biomass is prob more than cockroaches.