Amazing New Science Discoveries

Cold-Blooded Extinct Goat Discovered

Donna Fontenot — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:03:52 +0000

DESCPYRQ5JD5When is a mammal really a reptile? When it is a Myotragus balearicus, of course! Although extinct, the discovery of a goat that was cold-blooded is a very interesting find. Myotragus balearicus lived on a Mediterranean island (now Majorca), with scarce resources, so they did what all good reptiles do – they adjusted their growth rate and metabolism.

In a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, we found out that the:

… developmental pattern denotes that Myotragus, much like extant reptiles, synchronized its metabolic requirements with fluctuating resource levels. Our results suggest that developmental and physiological plasticity was crucial to the survival of this and, perhaps, other large mammals on resource-limited Mediterranean Islands, yet it eventually led to their extinction through a major predator, Homo sapiens.

In other words, this goat species (and perhaps other mammals on the island as well) did a fine job of emulating the reptiles’ ability to survive in harsh conditions by fluctuating its growth and metabolism rates based on the availability of food, but then humans came along and wiped them out anyway.

Large Ice Field Discovered On Moon

Donna Fontenot — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:39:50 +0000

NASA has announced that they’ve discovered a large lunar ice field on the Earth’s Moon!

…the mission successfully uncovered water during the Oct. 9, 2009 impacts into the permanently shadowed region of Cabeus cater near the moon’s south pole

Very exciting.

Sun’s Bubbling Surface Detailed In Video Images

Donna Fontenot — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:22:42 +0000

A balloon-borne telescope has delivered video images of the sun’s bubbling, gassy surface in details we’ve never before been able to see.

Would you like to replay the video or share the link to it with your friends?

The collaborative project between the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Katlenburg-Lindau and partners in Germany, Spain and the USA, launched the largest solar telescope ever to have left Earth from the ESRANGE Space Centre in Kiruna, northern Sweden, on June 8, 2009. The balloon and telescope was launched into the earth’s stratosphere, where the camera could zoom in on the Sun in ultraviolet light, and be undisturbed by air turbulence. After separating from the balloon, SUNRISE parachuted safely down to Earth on June 14th, landing on Canada’s Somerset Island, with 1.8 terabytes of data in tow. The 5 days of recorded data are still being analyzed, but you can see by the video above that the images are extraordinary.

With enough data, our understanding of the Sun’s activities, and the results of those activities on the heat transmitted to Earth, can be simulated in complex research models. More info here.

Noah’s Ark of DNA Proposed

Donna Fontenot — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:19:11 +0000

In a proposal reminiscent of Noah’s Ark, scientists plan to collect DNA sequences for 10,000 vertebrate species, approximately one for every vertebrate genus. The Genome 10K Project, or “genome zoo”, will be analyzed to reveal evolutionary changes that took place, leading to the species here today.

Sixty-eight scientists, called the Genome 10K Community of Scientists (G10KCOS), will gather specimens of thousands of animals from zoos, museums, and other collections worldwide. Once collected, they will begin sequencing the genome of each.

David Haussler, professor of biomolecular engineering at UC Santa Cruz and one of the lead project scientists, said,

For the first time, we have a chance to really see evolution in action, caught in the act of changing whole genomes. This is possible because the technology to sequence DNA is thousands of times more powerful now than it was just a decade ago, and is poised to get even more powerful very soon. Differences in the DNA that makes up the genomes of the animals we find today hold the key to the great biological events of the past, such as the development of the four-chambered heart and the magnificent architecture of wings, fins and arms, each adapted to its special purpose.

This “Noah’s Ark of DNA” can lead to discoveries not only of how evolution occured in our past, but can help scientists predict how species will respond to future events such as climate change, disease, and pollution.

For more into this research, as well as how you can be involved as an active participant, check out the Genome 10K Project site.

Fish Brings Scientists Closer To Unlocking the Secret of Regeneration

Michael VanDeMar — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:29:11 +0000

The quest for the ability to grow back organs and limbs, the “holy grail” of regenerative medicine, took a giant leap forward recently. Physorg.com reported Tuesday that researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies recently identified an essential cellular pathway that unlocks certain gene expression patterns that are last seen in humans only during embryonic development. The source of this amazing new discovery? The zebrafish, a cousin to the minnow that is often found in aquariums.

Zebrafish

Izpisúa Belmonte, a professor in the Gene Expression Laboratory, was quoted as saying, “Our experiments show that normal development and limb regeneration are controlled by similar mechanisms. This finding will help us to ask more specific questions about mammalian limb regeneration: Are the same genes involved when we amputate a mammalian limb? If not, what would happen if we turned them on? And if we can affect these methylation marks in an amputated limb, what effect would that have?”

The institute’s findings on the subject are to be published in an upcoming issue of “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences“, a biweekly multidisciplinary journal that covers the biological, physical, and social sciences.

Exotic Bird Photos – Reminders To Protect Nature’s Beauty

Donna Fontenot — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:56:40 +0000

With more than 17,000 species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, all in danger of going extinct, it seems appropriate to gaze upon some incredible photos of nature’s beauty now and then.

Exotic Birds PICS –

A full 12 percent of the world’s known birds are on the list. Of course, birds are just one of many species that are endangered, but their beauty reminds us of what we could lose some day.

National Geographic Exclusive Video: Secrets of Google’s 3-D Mars, Moon

Michael VanDeMar — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:38:52 +0000

Yesterday National Geographic unveiled an exclusive video, “Secrets of Google’s 3-D Mars, Moon“. The video offers tips on getting the most of Google Earth’s Space features, and information on little known features found within the application. Featured in the video are two former NASA scientists who now work for Google: Michael Weiss-Malik, who is the Product Manager of Mars in Google Earth, and Noel Gorelick, a Lead Engineer in the same project.

140 Million Year Old Spider Webs Discovered

Donna Fontenot — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:55:32 +0000

The oldest known spider webs, approximately 140 million years old in fact, have been discovered preserved in amber. Despite the timing, with Halloween arriving and the close association of spider webs to the spooky holiday, this is no trick.

The webs were found in Sussex, England along with other bits of insect and plant material trapped within the amber, and are the oldest known webs incorporated into the fossil record.

“These spiders are distinctive and leave little sticky droplets along the spider web threads to trap prey,” said Martin Brasier, a paleontologist at the University of Oxford. “We actually have the sticky droplets preserved within the amber.”

Further research showed signs of what the spiders likely fed upon (flying insects that were ancestors to modern bees and wasps), and what kind of web they weaved; ones that were very similar to those woven by present-day garden spiders.

Details of the discovery will be published in the Journal of the Geological Society. Via Live Science

Clean Scents Unconsciously Promote Ethical Behavior

Donna Fontenot — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:06:09 +0000

In research conducted by Katie Liljenquist of Brigham Young University, Chen-Bo Zhong of the University of Toronto, and Adam Galinsky of Northwestern University, test clearly showed that people exposed to rooms with fresh, clean smells such as those freshly spritzed with Windex, were more fair and generous than people in normal-smelling rooms. Those who were in the clean-smelling rooms didn’t consciously remember the smell, but they proved to be more willing to share and donate than the groups in rooms that had not been spritzed.

Stores, malls, and other workplaces could use this technique to encourage ethical behavior that security systems and surveillance fail to engender.

“Basically, our study shows that morality and cleanliness can go hand-in-hand,” said Galinsky. “Researchers have known for years that scents play an active role in reviving positive or negative experiences. Now, our research can offer more insight into the links between people’s charitable actions and their surroundings.”

You can read more about how the test was conducted at the BYU press release, and the findings will be published soon in Psychological Science.

I plan to try my own experiment on the youngsters in my house, to see if the fresh scents of Febreeze has any effect on the kids’ behavior and cooperation with one another. This could be a breakthrough not only for businesses looking to influence employee and shopper behavior, but for parents as well.

Brain Neurons Create Timestamps To Keep Time and Control Actions

Donna Fontenot — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:33:17 +0000

A team of researchers, including Dezhe Jin, assistant professor of physics at Penn State University and neuroscientists from MIT and Japan’s RIKEN Brain Science Institute have discovered that specific neurons in primate brains keep track of time. This knowledge could help in creating cures for diseases such as Parkinson’s, in which the ability to control the timing of movements is impaired.

“The key finding is that neurons in the prefrontal cortex and the striatum encode the time information associated with sensory cues,” Jin explained. “Visual cues, for example, elicit a variety of responses in a particular population of neurons. We found that the brain is able to tell the passage of time from the visual cues because different neurons are active at different times. Most remarkably we found that there are neurons that are active at precise times after a particular visual cue, and these neurons act like clocks that mark time.”

Their study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, involved seeing which neurons are active at a given time during a monkey activity test. The researchers discovered that specific neurons consistently fired, like a stopwatch, at specific times once the test began; at 100 milliseconds, 110 milliseconds, 150 milliseconds, etc. This encoding of time likely helps us react to situations that require precise control, and once it is better understood, it may lead to neural prosthetic devices that can control impaired movement in Parkinson’s and similar diseases.

[from Penn State News]