Blood-Sucking Vampire Bats Sing Duets: Discovery News
white-winged vampire bats enjoy such close and cuddly relationships with other members of their roost that they sing well-coordinated duets with each other, according to new research.
Eight-Armed Animal Preceded Dinosaurs: Discovery News
An eight-armed creature that looked more like a modern party favor than a living animal colonized a large section of the world's oceans over 300 million years before the first dinosaurs emerged, suggests a new study.
Biologists Discover Motor Protein That Rewinds DNA
Two biologists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered the first of a new class of cellular motor proteins that “rewind” sections of the double-stranded DNA molecule that become unwound, like the tangled ribbons from a cassette tape, in “bubbles” that prevent critical genes from being expressed.
Transplantation: 'Molecular Miscegenation' Blurs The Boundary Between Self And Non-self
A new discovery by London biologists may yield new ways of handling the problem of transplant rejection. In a research article published in the November 2008 print issue of The FASEB Journal the scientists confirm the two-way transfer of a molecule (called "MHC") that instructs the immune system to tell "self" from "non-self."
Researcher Grows Roots On Upper Part Of Plant
Molecular cell biologist Pankaj Dhonukshe from Utrecht University has succeeded in growing roots on plants at places where normally leaves would grow. This important step in plant modification can be highly beneficial for improving crop yields and efficiency in agriculture.
Magnetic Portals Connect Sun And Earth
During the time it takes you to read this article, something will happen high overhead that until recently many scientists didn't believe in. A magnetic portal will open, linking Earth to the sun 93 million miles away. Tons of high-energy particles may flow through the opening before it closes again, around the time you reach the end of the page. "It's called a flux transfer event or 'FTE,'" says space physicist David Sibeck of the Goddard Space Flight Center. "Ten years ago I was pretty sure they didn't exist, but now the evidence is incontrovertible."
Molecular Motor Tied to Memory -- Cahoon 2008 (1031): 1 -- ScienceNOW
How does the brain record a memory? Somehow our experiences and interactions can be imprinted in the mind, but exactly how neurons alter their connections to enable memory has been murky. Now scientists say they have identified the molecular machinery that links experience with learning--and it all comes down to one microscopic motor.
Space Colonization -Our Future or Fantasy?
In a futuristic mode similar to Hawking, both Steven Dick, chief NASA historian and Carnegie-Mellon robotics pundit, Hans Moravec, believe that human biological evolution is but a passing phase: the future of mankind will be as vastly evolved sentient machines capable of self-replicating and exploring the farthest reaches of the Universe programmed with instructions on how to recreate earth life and humans to target stars.
Meat can increase gastro susceptibility: research - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Eating red meat and unpasteurised dairy products could make people more susceptible to bacteria that cause severe gastroenteritis and, in rare cases, fatal kidney failure, Australian research suggests.
Can Cloning Save Earth's Biological Heritage?
“Modern life” is killing off the animal kingdom, but there are no easy solutions for the crisis. Some scientists believe that cloning may offer a partial solution. While it may make only a tiny dent in the problem, scientists argue that at least it would preserve the world’s biological heritage from total annihilation.
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is back in business
30-Oct-2008: The Hubble Space Telescope is back in business with a snapshot of the fascinating galaxy pair Arp 147.
Dark matter may shine with invisible 'dark light' - space - 31 October 2008 - New Scientist Space
This "dark radiation" would be invisible to us, but could still have visible effects.
Geologists blame drilling for Indonesian mud volcano - earth - 31 October 2008 - New Scientist
At an international conference of petroleum geologists in Cape Town, South Africa, on Thursday, most said they believed that a well made by drilling company Lapindo Brantas was to blame.
Ancient Mummy, The Tyrolean Iceman, Has No Modern Children
"Our analysis confirms that Oetzi belonged to a previously unidentified lineage of K1 that has not been seen to date in modern European populations. The frequency of genetic lineages tends to change over time, due to random variations in the number of children people have - a process known as 'genetic drift' - and as a result, some variants die out. Our research suggests that Oetzi's lineage may indeed have become extinct," says Prof Richards.
Chlorophyll Organic Battery Runs on Any Liquid - GoodCleanTech
A Taiwanese professor by the name of Chungpin Hovering Liao developed what he claims is the world's first chlorophyll organic battery. Since it's called that, the battery's technology most probably works like photosynthesis. Chlorophyll might already be contained within the battery, light is collected from the environment, and users manually supply liquid. And by liquid, I don't mean just water - the chlorophyll organic battery reportedly works with any kind of beverage and even, yep, urine. You just wet the battery like you can see on the pic and within 10 seconds, it starts working.
Mysterious dark patches dot Mercury's surface - space - 29 October 2008 - New Scientist Space
The Messenger probe's second flyby of Mercury earlier this month has provided the first global view of the pockmarked planet, hinting at a complicated mineral structure beneath the surface and more glimpses of the planet's volcanic history.
TG Daily - NASA scientists discover more evidence of water on Mars
The orbiter’s “Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer” has found wide-spread evidence hydrated silica, commonly known as opal. NASA said that these minerals formed where liquid water altered materials created by volcanic activity or meteorite impact on the Martian surface. The mineral was found in the Martian canyon system called Valles Marineris.
First Planets Lived Fast and Died Young -- Berardelli 2008 (1030): 2 -- ScienceNOW
Some 4.568 billion years ago, our sun and solar system condensed out of a primordial cloud of dust and gas. Within about 3 million years, small, rocky objects called planetesimals were circulating in the nascent solar system. Fragments of these planetesimals remain today as meteorites called achondrites, which scientists have pored over for clues to how planets formed. Oddly, the meteorites are magnetic, which is strange because the planetesimals were supposed to be just large agglomerations of rubble.
The most extreme life-forms in the universe - space - 26 June 2008 - New Scientist Space
"Life on Earth has radiated into every conceivable – and in some cases almost inconceivable – ecological niche," says Chris Impey of the University of Arizona in Tucson, US. The very existence of these hardy organisms hints that life might be able to eke out an existence in the cold, dry climate of Mars, the icy, acidic conditions of Jupiter's moon Europa, or in countless other spots beyond our solar system.
Intelligent Robo Probes to Explore Alien Worlds
This isn't the harbinger of robot-dominated alien worlds that would then return to exterminate the human race. The only "intelligence" the probes display is limited to image interpretation and response. It could still be an important step on the way to Artificial Intelligence though. After all, evolution never set out to make us self-aware; survival simply encouraged better and better interpretation abilities until one of the things we could analyze was ourselves. As robot minds get more sophisticated, it might make sense to start building a Battlestar just in case.
Helmet to Convey Messages by Thought : Discovery News
The idea of communicating by thought alone is not a new one. In the 1960s, a researcher strapped an EEG to his head and, with some training, could stop and start his brain's alpha waves to compose Morse code messages.
Probe to Examine Our Space in Space: Discovery News
The spacecraft is known as the Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX. It works by detecting particles that were stripped of electric charges in the outer regions of the heliosphere, the solar wind-filled bubble that delineates our solar system from intergalactic space. The particles are called energetic neutral atoms and they were discovered accidentally about 20 years ago during a mission that studied the Earth's magnetosphere and the solar wind. Instruments on the satellites to measure what should have been low background levels of energetic particles sometimes detected extra counts.
Is there an optimum speed of life? - life - 13 October 2008 - New Scientist
Previous studies had shown that, within many groups of organisms, smaller species generally produce more energy within each cell than larger species. But according to Anastassia Makarieva from Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute in St Petersburg, Russia, no studies had compared resting metabolic rates across the whole range of life on Earth.
'Devils' trails' are world's oldest human footprints - earth - 13 October 2008 - New Scientist
It's official: the oldest human footprints ever found are 345,000 years old, give or take 6000. Known as the "devils' trails", they have been preserved in volcanic ash atop the Roccamonfina volcano in Italy.
New sunspots may signal end of solar dry spell - space - 13 October 2008 - New Scientist Space
New spots are beginning to break out on the face of the Sun and may signal the end of a dry spell in solar activity. Watching for more spots in the coming months could help determine how severe – and potentially damaging to Earth's satellites and power grids – the next solar cycle will be.
Haemorrhagic virus carried by common African mouse - health - 13 October 2008 - New Scientist
Three people have died and another is seriously ill with a previously unknown strain of a virus carried by a common African rodent. The virus requires close contact to spread, but experts warn that more like it could be circulating.
Loving bonobos have a carnivorous dark side - life - 13 October 2008 - New Scientist
Fruit makes up much of their diet, but the primates aren't herbivores. Small ungulates called forest antelopes, or duikers, often fall prey to the apes. These hunts tend to be fairly simple, with a single bonobo cornering a duiker then quickly feasting on the still-living animal as more apes hurried to the scene. Hohmann says he has witnessed a duiker "still vocally blurting as the bonobos opened the stomach and intestines."
Is a Death Star Aimed at Earth?
Australian astronomers have been studying an intergalactic assassin poised to wipe out life on Earth. Maybe. Observations indicate that cosmological curiosity WR104 may be a killer - and we might be the victim.
Telescope Tech Will Speed Search for Extraterrestrial Life : Wired Science from Wired.com
The hunt for extraterrestrial life is getting a major boost from revolutionary new technology that will give some of the world's largest telescopes the capability to detect Earth-size planets outside of our solar system, a feat not equaled even by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Super Cells to Power Cyborgs
Researchers at Yale University have come up with blueprints for a bio-battery, organic cells which can work together to produce an electrical voltage. These cells are optimised versions of electric eel electrocytes, the results of millions of years of evolution plus a few more of scientists going "We can do better than that!" The upgraded electro-cells will produce 30% higher voltages than the original organics, and 30% more efficiently.
Where Have All the Little Plutos Gone? : Discovery News
An ambitious project to track down small, icy bodies circling in the far reaches of the solar system has gone cold. Apparently, Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) between two and 17 miles in diameter don't exist.
Second 'Virgin Birth' Documented in Shark : Discovery News
"Parthenogenesis may not have evolved in sharks," Demian Chapman, who led the research, told Discovery News. "It may just be an occasional mistake that sometimes occurs when eggs are left unfertilized."
Mapping the Spine, Gene by Gene: Scientific American
Spinal cord injuries and disorders afflict millions worldwide, from disabled veterans to people with neurodegenerative disorders such as Lou Gehrig’s disease, yet there is currently no way to repair a damaged spine. Geneticists at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle are hoping to change that by developing the first genetic encyclopedia of the spinal cord.
Visiting dwarfs put home-grown galaxies in the shade - space - 12 October 2008 - New Scientist Space
HOME-GROWN dwarf galaxies keep a low profile, while recent arrivals show off. This claim, if true, could explain the long-standing puzzle of why we have spotted so few dwarf galaxies near the Milky Way.
Scientists stumble upon footprint dating back 570 million years - Telegraph
The fossilised trails, thought to belong to a centipede or worm-type creature with legs, suggest animals walked at least 30 million years earlier than previously thought.
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY: Lights! Camera! Action! Zebrafish Embryos Caught on Film -- Vogel 322 (5899):
A set of unusual movies, described online this week in Science and available on the Web, shows all the movements and divisions of cells in a zebrafish embryo during its first day of development.
BBC NEWS : Science & Environment : Predators could be superweed fix
A superweed spreading throughout the UK could be brought under control by introducing plant-eating predators from Japan, scientists believe.
India unveils solar-powered rickshaw - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
The "soleckshaw," unveiled this month in New Delhi, is a motorised cycle rickshaw that can be pedalled normally or run on a 36-volt solar battery.
‘Black Silicon’ Could Revolutionize Solar Cell Technology : CleanTechnica
The substance has since been found to be incredibly sensitive to light, leading to a range of exciting plans for commercialization, including night-vision and infra-red imaging systems. According to James Carey, co-founder of Harvard spin-off company SiOnyx, “We have seen a 100 to 500 times increase in sensitivity to light compared to conventional silicon detectors.”
No comments:
Post a Comment