Science News

1) Bilaterally symmetric - or zygomorphic flowers - have evolved several times and are associated with pollinator specialisation. The different types of petals form in response to gradient of the gene CYCLOIDEA (CYC), which is strongly expressed at the top or dorsal side of the flower bud, and not expressed on the bottom or ventral side. Such a gradient is seen in both bilaterally symmetric and radialy symmetric flowers. The different types of flowers differ in how they respond to the gradient. - Halil from Bookmarklet

2) Most species in the Gesneriaceae possess zygomorphic flowers, probably in response to pollinator adaptations. We isolated Gcyc, the Gesneriaceae homologue of CYCLOIDEA (a gene involved in the expression of floral symmetry in Antirrhinum), from a range of taxa with zygomorphic and actinomorphic flowers. The results indicated that the gene is still active in those species that possess... more... - Halil

yes, i was bored and this is what i'm reading, does that make me sad? lol - genetics is actually quite fascinating, but biochemical genetics rocks!!! def: biochemical genetics the science concerned with the chemical and physical nature of genes and the mechanism by which they control the development and maintenance of the organism. http://medical-dictionary.thef... - Halil

"People with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other breathing disorders need fast relief when their airways tighten up. Unfortunately, the most commonly used medication has obnoxious side effects. But scientists recently discovered that a bitter taste can be a more effective treatment—and now they know why. The work is published in PLoS Biology. [Cheng-Hai Zhang et al, The Cellular and Molecular Basis of Bitter Tastant-Induced Bronchodilation]" - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"Today’s tadpole shrimp, or notostracans, have a shield-shaped body, ending in a forked pair of filaments—a shape that makes them almost indistinguishable from their ancestors in the Triassic period some 265 million years ago. This outward constancy has earned them the description of “living fossils”—a term referring to species with no close living relatives, which seem to have gone unchanged for long spans of time. But according to a genetic analysis of notostracans published today in PeerJ, these animals have by no means stopped evolving. Indeed, researchers are coming to realize that the term “living fossil” is a misnomer. One by one, the classic examples—horseshoe crabs, coelacanths, cycads, and more—have turned out to be very different from the fossils that they apparently resemble, either at a genetic level or through subtle physical changes. Their recognizable nature is a red herring—these creatures simply did not exist in their current form millions of years ago." - John (bird whisperer) from Bookmarklet

"Laurenti has found the same to be true in his own research on coelacanths—two species of fish that are perhaps the most cited example of living fossils. The entire group was thought to have been extinct since the Cretaceous, until South African fisherman caught a live one in 1939. It was perhaps inevitable that the coelacanth came to symbolize stagnant relicts of a bygone age, but... more... - John (bird whisperer)

In February, the United States Preventive Services Task Force recommended that postmenopausal women refrain from taking supplemental calcium and vitamin D. After reviewing more than 135 studies, the task force said there was little evidence that these supplements prevent fractures in healthy women. Moreover, several studies have linked calcium supplements to an increased risk of heart attacks and death from cardiovascular disease. Others have found no effect, depending on the population studied and when calcium supplementation was begun. - Halil from Bookmarklet

I think the study is lacking in showing Vit D synergy with calcium response as well as including parathyroid health. - Janet:#TeamMonique from FFHound!

"Melting sea ice might not seem important to those of us living in the middle of a continent. It is. Weather and climate have always been complicated and difficult to understand, so it’s no wonder that climate change is a topic that confuses most of us. The fact that most climate change discourse is more political than scientific these days makes things worse. It’s hard to have reasonable discussions because most people’s opinions tend to be linked to whichever loud voices they listen to, and few of us understand climate science well enough to draw our own independent conclusions." - Hieronymous Boob from Bookmarklet

"University of Washington researchers and scientists at a Redmond-based space-propulsion company are building components of a fusion-powered rocket aimed to clear many of the hurdles that block deep space travel, including long times in transit, exorbitant costs and health risks." - Mark H from Bookmarklet

Good videos at the link explaining the process and the comments are interesting too; there's a link to the research paper there as well. - Mark H

What's more, prehistoric women who could see the sex organs of their scantily clad male counterparts may have helped influence the evolution of larger genitals in men by choosing to mate with partners who were bigger. - Halil from Bookmarklet

Not in the least. Or most :) - WoH: Professor MOTHRA

"Brazilian porcupines are recognizable as porcupines to us North Americans due to their quills, but they don't look much like our more familiar North American porcupine otherwise. Their quills are neat and small like a hedgehog's, they have these goofy protruding fleshy noses, and it's a superior climber, with a prehensile tail. And now there's a new species of it!" - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"A new genus of bat has been discovered in South Sudan, the world’s newest country. The strikingly striped bat has been placed into the genus Niumbaha, which means “rare” or “unusual” in the Zande language of the region. A paper describing the bat was published this week in the journal ZooKeys." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

This is just not right, is it? - Son of Groucho

"A nice side-effect of President Obama releasing his 2014 budget proposal today: a number of federal agencies, including NASA, have released more detailed information on what they plan to do with their allocations for the coming year. In NASA's case, that includes the news it's starting work on a far-fetched plan to capture an asteroid and bring it closer to the Earth so that astronauts can visit it by 2025. NASA also revealed new details, imagery, and video animation on just how it plans to nab the space rock." - Hieronymous Boob from Bookmarklet

"We are developing a first-ever mission to identify, capture and relocate an asteroid," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden in a statement, adding "This asteroid initiative brings together the best of NASA's science, technology and human exploration efforts to achieve the president's goal of sending humans to an asteroid by 2025." - Hieronymous Boob

"NASA's budget includes $105 million that will be divided up among this mission and other "identification and general mitigation strategies for asteroids," that is, ways to spot and track asteroids before they hit Earth." - Hieronymous Boob

Generations of Eastern European housewives doing battle against bedbugs spread bean leaves around the floor of an infested room at night. In the morning, the leaves would be covered with bedbugs that had somehow been trapped there. The leaves, and the pests, were collected and burned — by the pound, in extreme infestations. - Mitchell Tsai from Bookmarklet

A study published Wednesday in The Journal of the Royal Society Interface details the scientists’ quest, including their discovery of how the bugs get hooked on the leaves, how the scientists have tried to recreate these hooks synthetically and how their artificial hooks have proved to be less successful than the biological ones. - Mitchell Tsai

A study published online July 23 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that in the case of insects that developed resistance to a powerful plant toxin, the same adaptations have occurred independently, in separate species in different places and times. The paper examines 18 insect species across four orders -- beetles, butterflies and moths, flies, and true bugs -- that all feed on plants containing powerful toxins called cardenolides. - Halil from Bookmarklet

By examining molecular changes in the sodium pump gene, the researchers found the mutation N122H in all four orders of insects studied. Furthermore, they discovered a second mutation in the same gene that also conferred resistance in 11 of the 18 species. "This is truly a remarkable level of evolutionary repeatability and suggests that evolving resistance to the plant toxin had very few effective options," said Agrawal. - Halil

please see http://ff.im/1f6Ir5 fascinating stuff! - Halil

"Tea bags are paper--cheap, simple, harmless paper--except when they're not. Today many packaged tea sellers have moved to plastic bags, which are often marketed as "silky" bags because, well, it sounds better. But they're made of plastic or nylon, materials that bring with them certain health concerns. We've read about particles from plastic water bottles being toxic. When she heard about plastic being used in tea bags, The Atlantic writer Taylor Orci decided to see if those tea bags are be dangerous, too. The results of her research aren't encouraging." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"The Vo-96 Acoustic Synthesizer is one of the most innovative musical instrument products created in years. Strap one onto any acoustic guitar and you can transform the way it sounds by breaking—or at least manipulating—the laws of physics. Here's the story of how inventor Paul Vo made a device that sounds like magic. Vo is best known as the inventor of the infinite sustain technology inside the Moog Guitar. In one of its settings, if you strum the strings of that beauty, they'll keep vibrating forever. It's a hugely impressive technical accomplishment, but that's just a fraction of what Vo's acoustic synthesis technology is capable of. The Vo-96 builds on those concepts and explodes them; it's a hugely sophisticated add-on for an acoustic guitar that basically transforms that old wooden box into an entirely new instrument. Depending which setting you're using, the Vo-96 can sound like everything from a violin to a woodwind to an analog synth." - Hieronymous Boob from Bookmarklet

"Vo, 61, has been developing the technology for nearly a decade. In 2004, after 20 years of working in product development in the audio industry, Vo turned his sights to the vibration control technology behind the Vo-96. He says he'd been convinced the technology could work since 1979 but that it wasn't realistically possible until about 2000." - Hieronymous Boob

Kickstarter page including impressive video of recent prototype in action: http://www.kickstarter.com/project... - Hieronymous Boob

For upper class male consumers, DIY home improvement offers the means of unleashing the inner suburban craftsman who relishes in physical labor. In contrast to their day jobs, upper class men enjoy the process of toiling away on various projects and feeling self-fulfilled in the process. - Halil from Bookmarklet

For lower class male consumers, a different pattern emerges. Work around the house allows lower class men to assert their identities, and in particular, construct an identity of the family handyman relative to their female partners. In this way, lower class men find meaning in their DIY home improvement projects as a masculine form of caring for their families and providing them with better homes than otherwise possible due to their subordinate economic and social standing. - Halil

It sounds like a Kraftwerk track, but this is in fact an audio representation of the Big Bang based on scientific measurements. The physicist John Kramer has produced the sounds using the new data from the ESA’s Planck Mission analysis of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. - Halil from Bookmarklet

very interesting! - Halil

"A fungus tied to a disease devastating hibernating bats in the United States has been found in an Alabama cave system critical to the survival of endangered gray bats, government scientists said on Monday." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

:( - imabonehead

"In an environment lacking large mammals, New Zealand's giant moa (Dinornis) evolved to be one of the biggest species of bird ever, with females weighing more than two hundred kilograms -- the same as about 3 average sized men. Male and female birds often show differences in body size, with males typically being larger. However some birds, like many ratites -- large, flightless species such as emus and cassowaries -- are the opposite, with the females towering over the males." - John (bird whisperer) from Bookmarklet

"Dr Samuel Turvey, ZSL Senior Research Fellow and lead author on the paper, says: "We compared patterns of body mass within an evolutionary framework for both extinct and living ratites. Females becoming much larger was an odd side-effect of the scaling up of overall body size in moa. "A lack of large land mammals -- such as elephants, bison and antelope -- allowed New Zealand's birds... more... - John (bird whisperer)

"The Magicicada is a genus of cicada with either a 13- or a 17-year lifespan, depending on species. That might be surprising to those not familiar with the cicada, who'd think it only lives for a few weeks at a time. But the Magicicada larvae live underground for nearly their entire lives, feeding on fluids from tree roots in the northeast United States, emerging with only a few weeks life in their lives in enormous numbers to molt into adults, mate, lay eggs, and die." - Mark H from Bookmarklet

"Brood II, also known as the "East Coast Brood," is a 17-year cicada due for emergence this summer. It ranges from the Virginia/North Carolina border up through the northern end of the New York City suburbs. Radiolab, one of our favorite science radio shows/podcasts, has come up with a cicada tracker to pinpoint exactly when Brood II will begin "swarmageddon." Starting tonight, Radiolab... more... - Mark H

I lived through a cicada swarm in D.C. once. It was very LOUD. And messy. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

"Researchers report today that penis size does matter to women — though within limits. The finding suggests that women’s preferences could have fuelled the evolution of the human male penis, which is longer and thicker than that of any other primate." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

LOL - Jimminy IS Everybody

"Every animal with bones has blood with hemoglobin, which binds with oxygen and makes the blood appear red. Every animal, that is, except one." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"The ocellated icefish (Chionodraco rastrospinosus) has gin-clear blood. And it has no scales. And it lives nowhere but the inky depths down to 3,200 feet (1 kilometer) in the icy waters off Antarctica. Other than that, it's just an ordinary fish." - imabonehead

"The world's first clinical trial designed to explore using a hallucinogen from magic mushrooms to treat people with depression has stalled because of British and European rules on the use of illegal drugs in research. David Nutt, president of the British Neuroscience Association and professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, said he had been granted an ethical green light and funding for the trial, but regulations were blocking it." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

Reminds me of what they've often run into with marijuana trials for all sorts of things. Ecstasy as well. - Jennifer Dittrich

"If you drive down the beautiful coast of central California at the right time of year, you are in for a big surprise. You might spot some ugly, prehistoric-looking beasts sunning themselves and having sex. But while it may seem like a wild free-for-all, these monstrous animals have existed for roughly three million years and could hold insights into our future survival." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"At least some Asian carp probably have found their way into the Great Lakes, but there's still time to stop the dreaded invaders from becoming established and unraveling food chains that support a $7 billion fishing industry and sensitive ecosystems, according to a scientific report released Thursday." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

The last time I went to Lake Cachuma they were allowing bowhunting of carp. I guess it impacts water quality since it's also a reservoir. http://www.countyofsb.org/parks... - Rodfather

"These arguments misrepresent the distinction between and the roles of basic and applied science. Basic science is not aimed at solving an immediate practical problem. Basic science is an integral part of scientific progress, but individual projects may sound meaningless when taken out of context. Basic science often ends up solving problems anyway, but it is just not designed for this purpose. Applied science builds upon basic science, so they are inextricably linked. As an example, Geckskin™ is a new adhesive product with myriad applications developed by my colleagues at the University of Massachusetts. Their work is based on several decades of basic research on gecko locomotion." - John (bird whisperer) from Bookmarklet

Cork-screw us, if you will. - Micah from FFHound(roid)!

"A new type of tarantula about the size of your face has been found in northern Sri Lanka. Scientists found the spiders — with a leg span up to 8 inches across — living in trees and the old doctor’s quarters of a hospital in Mankulam." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

I took a nap a little while ago, and (after reading/seeing this first thing this morning) I had a dream that one of these was skittering around my living room, but staying just out of sight. I'd only catch a glimpse of it as it disappeared behind the sofa or some such. (So thanks alot Imabonehead!) - Jkram|ɯɐɹʞſ

"Back in 1964, a pair of Australian scientists (Isabel Joy Bear and R. G. Thomas) began the scientific study of rain’s aroma in earnest with an article in Nature titled “Nature of Agrillaceous Odor.” In it, they coined the term petrichor to help explain the phenomenon, combining a pair of Greek roots: petra (stone) and ichor (the blood of gods in ancient myth). In that study and subsequent research, they determined that one of the main causes of this distinctive smell is a blend of oils secreted by some plants during arid periods. When a rainstorm comes after a drought, compounds from the oils—which accumulate over time in dry rocks and soil—are mixed and released into the air. The duo also observed that the oils inhibit seed germination, and speculated that plants produce them to limit competition for scarce water supplies during dry times. These airborne oils combine with other compounds to produce the smell. In moist, forested areas in particular, a common substance is geosmin, a... more... - John (bird whisperer) from Bookmarklet

"Because these bacteria thrive in wet conditions and produce spores during dry spells, the smell of geosmin is often most pronounced when it rains for the first time in a while, because the largest supply of spores has collected in the soil. Studies have revealed that the human nose is extremely sensitive to geosmin in particular—some people can detect it at concentrations as low as 5 parts per trillion. (Coincidentally, it’s also responsible for the distinctively earthy taste in beets.)" - John (bird whisperer)

"Ozone—O3, the molecule made up of three oxygen atoms bonded together—also plays a role in the smell, especially after thunderstorms. A lightning bolt’s electrical charge can split oxygen and nitrogen molecules in the atmosphere, and they often recombine into nitric oxide (NO), which then interacts with other chemicals in the atmosphere to produce ozone. Sometimes, you can even smell... more... - John (bird whisperer)

"2011 saw the biggest such toxic algal bloom on record but it is likely to be surpassed in coming years, thanks to climate change among other factors." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"A satellite image of Lake Erie on Sept. 3, 2011, overlaid on a map of the lake and its tributaries. This image shows the bloom about six weeks after its initiation in the lake's western basin. On this date, it covers the entire western basin and is beginning to expand into the central basin. Map by Michigan Sea Grant." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"The largest harmful algae bloom in Lake Erie's recorded history was likely caused by the confluence of changing farming practices and weather conditions that are expected to become more common in the future due to climate change." - imabonehead

:( - Kelli H.

"When setting off to feed on other flying insects, dragonflies manage to snatch their targets in midair more than 95 percent of the time, often wolfishly consuming the fresh meat on the spur without bothering to alight. “They’ll tear up the prey and mash it into a glob, munch, munch, munch,” said Michael L. May, an emeritus professor of entomology at Rutgers. “It almost looks like a wad of snuff in the mouth before they swallow it.” Next step: grab more food. Dragonflies may be bantam, but their appetite is bottomless. Stacey Combes, who studies the biomechanics of dragonfly flight at Harvard, once watched a laboratory dragonfly eat 30 flies in a row. “It would have happily kept eating,” she said, “if there had been more food available.” In a string of recent papers, scientists have pinpointed key features of the dragonfly’s brain, eyes and wings that allow it to hunt so unerringly. One research team has determined that the nervous system of a dragonfly displays an almost human... more... - John (bird whisperer) from Bookmarklet

"Adults spend the great bulk of their days aloft, and not only to hunt and eat. Males spar with other males in midair and relentlessly swoop after females, and mating itself takes place on the wing, with male and female forming a circle that can look somewhat heart-shaped but is an awkward, aggressive affair. Grasping the female’s head in his mating pincers, the male first must transfer... more... - John (bird whisperer)