Crocodiles are among nature's most fearsome predators. When the opportunity arises, crocodilians will gorge, voluntarily consuming meals weighing 23% of their own body weight. This is analogous to a 130-pound woman eating, at one sitting, a hamburger weighing 30 pounds. New research on American alligators' circulation systems finds that crocodilians bypass their lungs to improve digestion.
Polygamous baboon fathers get more grandchildren if they spend a little time with their children during their juvenile years, according to new research. The findings, in well-studied social groupings of yellow baboons living at the foot of Africa's Mt. Kilimanjaro, were unexpected in "multi-male" animal societies where both genders have multiple partners and mature males were thought to focus their energies almost solely on mating.
A new environmentally friendly technology may revolutionize the production of the world's most commonly produced organic compound, ethylene. Ethylene has a vast number of uses in all aspects of industry. Farmers and horticulturalists use it as a plant hormone to promote flowering and ripening, especially in bananas. Doctors and surgeons have also long used ethylene as an anesthetic, while ethylene-based polymers can be found in everything from freezer bags to fiberglass.
While our relationships with children and best friends tend to become less negative as we age, we're more likely to see our spouses as irritating and demanding. Viewing our spouses more negatively over time may not be all bad, according to the researchers. In fact, it might even be, well, positive. “As we age, and become closer and more comfortable with one another, it could be that we’re more able to express ourselves to each other. In other words, it’s possible that negativity is a normal aspect of close relationships that include a great deal of daily contact.”
What are the lifetime medical costs associated with obesity? Researchers found that the group of healthy, never-smoking individuals had the highest lifetime healthcare costs, because they lived the longest and developed diseases associated with aging; healthcare costs were lowest for the smokers, and intermediate for the group of obese never-smokers.
Could a simple vitamin A and zinc supplement help protect young children from malaria? A randomized double blind trial would suggest the answer is yes. Vitamin A and zinc play a critical role in the normal function of the immune system, and may even play a synergistic role for reducing the risk of infection including malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum.
Researchers have demonstrated that in mice, the use of barbells may be as important to losing weight and improving health as the use of running shoes. The discovery builds upon the fact that skeletal muscle consists of two types of fibers. Endurance training such as running increases the amount of type I muscle fibers, while resistance training such as weightlifting increases type II muscle fibers. Using a mouse genetic model, researchers demonstrated that an increase in type II muscle mass can reduce body fat which in turn reduces overall body mass and improves metabolic parameters such as insulin resistance. These studies indicate that weight bearing exercise, in addition to endurance training, may benefit overweight people.
The huge increase in growth rates of broiler chickens means more than a quarter of these intensively-reared birds have difficulty walking, according to a comprehensive survey. The study identifies a range of management changes that could reduce leg health problems but warns that implementation of these changes would be likely to reduce growth rate and production. The study found that at an average age of 40 days, over 27.6 per cent of birds showed poor locomotion and 3.3 per cent were almost unable to walk. The high prevalence of poor locomotion occurred despite culling policies designed to remove severely lame birds from flocks.
The highest cost in rheumatoid arthritis results from patients having to leave the workforce early due to the disease. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most common autoimmune diseases and a leading cause of chronic pain affecting over three million people in Europe alone.
Compelled to mate, yet firmly attached to the rock, barnacles have evolved the longest penis of any animal for their size -- up to 8 times their body length -- so they can find and fertilize distant neighbors. Biologists have shown that barnacles appear to have acquired the capacity to change the size and shape of their penises to closely match local wave conditions.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA fueled the space shuttle Atlantis for liftoff on Thursday on a mission to deliver Europe's first full-time orbital research complex to the International Space Station.
A study by UK scientists claim climate change alone did not cause the collapse of an Antarctic ice shelf. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 7 Feb 2008 | 9:10 am
DHAKA (Reuters) - Bird flu has spread to another district in Bangladesh, taking the number of affected districts to 39, officials said on Thursday, as the government increased compensation to farmers for culled poultry in an effort to control the outbreak.
Scientists in Germany say that tattoos could be the ideal way of delivering vaccines into the body. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 7 Feb 2008 | 2:09 am
Letters: Your leader (February 5) appeals to Popper's hallmark of scientific validity, that a theory stands until overtaken by a new theory that better addresses the relevant facts Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 7 Feb 2008 | 12:15 am
Connecting doctors with patients via video is not new - but is now the time for it finally to take off? Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 7 Feb 2008 | 12:11 am
Researchers led by Professor Thomas Krauss of St Andrew's University have developed one of the smallest optical switches ever Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 7 Feb 2008 | 12:11 am
A study of more than 5,000 pairs of twins has found that a child's risk of becoming overweight is mostly down to nature, not nurture Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 7 Feb 2008 | 12:07 am
Becoming overweight as a child is more likely to be the result of your genes than your lifestyle, claims a study. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 7 Feb 2008 | 12:05 am
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. space agency is planning a mission to better understand a mysterious form of energy in the cosmos and an ambitious unmanned journey to the outer solar system, NASA officials said.
Europe's 20-tonne supply ship for the International Space Station will have its maiden flight on Saturday 8 March. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 6 Feb 2008 | 9:47 pm
Poor weather forecast for the Florida area may prevent Europe's space lab, Columbus, from launching on Thursday. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 6 Feb 2008 | 8:59 pm
BANOS, Ecuador (Reuters) - Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano spewed lava and huge smoke clouds on Wednesday, showering villages with ash and rocks and forcing hundreds of residents to flee.
LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists on Wednesday said they have an explanation how one of Saturn's moons can spew out a giant plume of water vapor, adding to evidence a source of life -- water -- lies beneath the moon's frozen surface.
KASHIWA CITY, Japan (Reuters) - A spacecraft made of folded paper zooming through the skies may sound far-fetched, but Japanese scientists plan to launch paper planes from the International Space Station to see if they make it back to Earth.
SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Thousands of goats that provide fine wool for Kashmir's famous Pashmina shawls are facing death because of heavy snow in India's mountainous Ladakh region, officials said on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Head lice taken from 1,000-year-old mummies in Peru support the idea that the little creatures accompanied humans on their first migration out of Africa, 100,000 years ago, researchers reported on Wednesday.
A "barcode" gene that can be used to distinguish between plant species has been identified. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 6 Feb 2008 | 1:48 pm
Photographs released by London zoo show the ways animals use fur, feathers and hair to insulate themselves and keep warm Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 6 Feb 2008 | 12:12 pm
