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World's Oldest Fossil Impression Of Flying Insect Discovered: Found In Suburban Strip MallWhile paleontologists may scour remote, exotic places in search of prehistoric specimens, Tufts researchers have found what they believe to be the world's oldest whole-body fossil impression of a flying insect in a wooded field behind a strip mall in North Attleboro, Mass.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Oct 2008 | 3:00 pm What Do You Know? Not As Much As You ThinkWe've all met know-it-alls -- people who think they know more than they actually do. If they're talking about products, like wine or motorcycles, they might actually know as much as they think. But when it comes to health plans, social policy, or nutrition, they might not, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Oct 2008 | 3:00 pm Marijuana Use Takes Toll On Adolescent Brain Function, Research FindsBrain imaging shows that the brains of teens that use marijuana are working harder than the brains of their peers who abstain from the drug.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Oct 2008 | 3:00 pm Key Mechanism Regulating Neural Stem Cell Development UncoveredScintists have discovered a novel mechanism that regulates how neural stem cells of the retina generate the appropriate cell type at the right time during normal development. These findings could influence the development of future cell replacement therapies for genetic eye diseases that cause blindness.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Oct 2008 | 3:00 pm Nanodiamond Drug Device Could Transform Cancer TreatmentResearchers have developed a promising nanomaterial-based biomedical device that could be used to deliver chemotherapy drugs locally to sites where cancerous tumors have been surgically removed. The team demonstrated that the flexible microfilm device, which resembles a piece of plastic wrap and can be customized easily into different shapes, releases the chemotherapy agent doxorubicin in a sustained and consistent manner. The device takes advantage of nanodiamonds, an emergent technology.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Oct 2008 | 3:00 pm New Comet Discovered By Canadian AstronomerRob Cardinal was looking for an asteroid, but ended up finding a comet. There is not much known yet about the Cardinal comet. Scientists are trying to determine more information about its orbit, whether its passing by Earth is periodic or whether it will only come by the sun once, which would mean its orbit is parabolic.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Oct 2008 | 3:00 pm New Evidence Provides An Alternative Route 'Out Of Africa' For Early HumansThe widely held belief that the Nile valley was the most likely route out of sub-Saharan Africa for early modern humans 120,000 year ago is challenged. A new team shows that wetter conditions reached a lot further north than previously thought, providing a wet 'corridor' through Libya for early human migrations. The results also help explain inconsistencies between archaeological finds.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Oct 2008 | 12:00 pm Memory Improves If Neurons Are NewThe birth of new neurons (neurogenesis) does not end completely during development but continues throughout all life in two areas of the adult nervous system, i.e. subventricular zone and hippocampus. Recent research has shown that hippocampal neurogenesis is crucial for memory formation. These studies, however, have not yet clarified how the newborn neurons are integrated in the existing circuits and thus contribute to new memories formation and to the maintenance of old ones.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Oct 2008 | 12:00 pm Protein Made In Liver Restores Blood Glucose In Type 1 Diabetes ModelA protein made by the liver in response to inflammation and used to treat patients suffering from a genetic form of emphysema has been shown to restore blood glucose levels in a mouse model of type 1 diabetes mellitus, according to a new study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Oct 2008 | 12:00 pm Neurons In Zebrafish May Reveal Clues To The Wiring Of The Human EarDeveloping neurons tend to play the field, making more connections than they will ever need. Then the weakest are cut. But scientists now show that neurons in young zebrafish -- vertebrates, like humans -- behave differently: They immediately find a cluster of specialized cells and make the right match. The findings may help reveal the mechanism by which analogous cells are wired in the human ear and eventually help those who are deaf or hard of hearing.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Oct 2008 | 12:00 pm Climate concern as EU meetsEnvironmentalists fear an EU summit will see climate change plans hit by cost concerns, as financial uncertainty persists.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:44 am NASA to start long distance repairs on Hubble (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:28 am Why Women Have Bad Teeth (LiveScience.com)LiveScience.com - Women had poor dental health compared to men back in the hunter-gatherer era, and it got worse as societies turned to farming.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:06 am Europe Aims For Re-entry Spacecraft (SPACE.com)SPACE.com - Plenty of European astronauts and hardware have gone up to the space station or to other orbits around Earth, but now the European Space Agency (ESA) is thinking of ways to get them back down on their own.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:02 am Why Women Have Bad TeethHormonal and dietary changes related to pregnancy increased cavity risks for women throughout history.Source: Livescience.com | 15 Oct 2008 | 10:59 am Europe Aims For Re-entry SpacecraftEurope develops re-entry spacecraft that could return astronauts and cargo to Earth.Source: Livescience.com | 15 Oct 2008 | 10:57 am The Nation's Weather (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 15 Oct 2008 | 10:49 am Aquatic alien 'thugs' set to meetScientists believe the UK ranges of the plague-carrying non-native crayfish and voracious Chinese mitten crab are beginning to overlap.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 15 Oct 2008 | 4:51 am Bottled water has contaminants too, study finds (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 15 Oct 2008 | 4:17 am Bones Reveal Oldest Case of TBA skeleton of a woman and an infant are the oldest known TB cases confirmed with DNA.Source: Livescience.com | 15 Oct 2008 | 2:07 am Brisk trade in tiger parts in Myanmar, says WWF (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 15 Oct 2008 | 12:16 am Warmer Oceans Are Louder Oceans, Say Scientists
Oceans become more acidic as they absorb excess carbon dioxide, and for reasons still not entirely understood, sound goes farther in acidic water. "The waters in the upper ocean are now undergoing an extraordinary transition in their fundamental chemical state at a rate not seen on Earth for millions of years," wrote scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in a study published in Geophysical Research Letters. "The effects are being felt not only in biological impacts, but also on basic geophysical properties including ocean acoustics." By 2050, they say, sound will travel up to 70 percent farther through the seas than it does now. The effect will be most pronounced at frequencies used by marine mammals. What this means for the animals isn't entirely clear, but research suggests that sounds from ship engines and propellers already interfere with whale and dolphin communication -- and other species have yet to be studied. "While nobody knows the precise consequences for specific animals," said International Fund for Animal Welfare director Robbie Marsland in a recent BBC article, "we are likely to discover only too late the terrible damage we're causing." Source: Wired: Wired Science | 15 Oct 2008 | 12:14 am Sky-high tech Nasa engineers try to reboot Hubble telescopeTelescope has been out of commission for a fortnight after breakdown of key computerSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 14 Oct 2008 | 11:46 pm Men in the north of England have dirtier handsIt's true. The further north men live, the grubbier their hands. Not women; only menSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 14 Oct 2008 | 11:05 pm Ancient bones show tuberculosis older than thoughtLONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have discovered tuberculosis in 9,000 year-old human bones found submerged off Israel's coast -- evidence the disease is at least 3,000 years older than previously thought, researchers said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Science News | 14 Oct 2008 | 11:03 pm Workout for brain just a few clicks awayCHICAGO (Reuters) - Searching the Internet may help middle-aged and older adults keep their memories sharp, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Science News | 14 Oct 2008 | 9:58 pm Solar deal to enrich firm with Schwarzenegger tie? (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 14 Oct 2008 | 9:54 pm NY museum's climate change show dives in politicsNEW YORK (Reuters) - One of America's most renowned science museums dives into politics again this week with a new exhibition on climate change that curators say is an effort to separate fact from fear.Source: Reuters: Science News | 14 Oct 2008 | 9:46 pm How the Financial Debacle Might Power the FutureWith tax credits and the credit crunch, the renewable energy market is being pulled in two directions.Source: Livescience.com | 14 Oct 2008 | 9:43 pm Game Creator Richard Garriott and Crew Reach International Space Station
In the welcoming ceremony video you can see the crew preparing for the cameras by smoothing out their hair, passing out snaking coils of headset cords, and floating over the rest of the group to get in position. A Russian space official starts off the ceremony by joking that he could see the departing space station crew are all "due for a haircut." You also get to hear NASA astronaut Mike Fincke thanking his three young daughters for letting him go to space for six months and signing off, "I love you — from space!" Garriott reportedly paid $30 million for the 10-day mission on the Space Station under a deal between Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and the Virginia-based firm Space Adventures and is their sixth orbital spaceflight customer. Garriott is adding fun, artistic, educational, scientific and commercial objectives to his mission, including carrying some of Stephen Colbert's DNA for a project called "Operation Immortality." All the mayhem can be tracked on his website www.richardinspace.com. During the launch Sunday from Kazakhstan, Garriott held up a sign with a message written in the language of the Tabula Rasa game for fans to decode. He also plans to participate in a number of educational activities sponsored by the Challenger Learning Centers, a group whose founding chairman is June Scobee Rodgers, the widow of a Space Shuttle Challenger commander. Rodgers was one of Garriott's teachers when he was growing up in Nassau Bay, Texas as the son of astronaut Owen Garriott. Garriott's parents and his brother were on hand to razz him during the ceremony as well. His mom called him Peter Pan because he could now fly, something they got to do together on the Zero-G plane this past Easter. Garriot smiled through it all and assured them that he was, "sure enjoying it so far."
Both of their space-faring fathers were on hand in Russian Mission Control to congratulate them at the welcome ceremony. Owen Garriott spend two months in space during the Skylab 3 missions in 1973 and Alexander Volkov flew on Soyuz TM-13 in 1991, launching as a Soviet citizen and returning as a Russian citizen. The two sons are to return to Earth together in a Soyuz vehicle in about ten days time. The previous two Soyuz re-entries have been ballistic, high-g, off-nominal re-entries due an explosive bolt failing to fire. Cosmonauts did a daring spacewalk earlier this summer to try to fix the problem by removing the offending bolt. See Also:
Image: Space Adventures Source: Wired: Wired Science | 14 Oct 2008 | 9:18 pm NASA Plans Remote-Control Hubble FixThe failure that stalled NASA's planned Hubble repair mission is no simple glitch.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 14 Oct 2008 | 7:40 pm Darwin, Earthworms and the Importance of Individuality
Also known as worm snorers and worm fiddlers, they catch earthworms for fish bait by plunging a wooden stake into the ground and rubbing it with steel. The resulting sound drives worms aboveground, though the scientists didn't know why — until now. All this fiddling, snoring and grunting, found Vanderbilt University biologist Ken Catania, amounts to one thing: the sound made by burrowing, worm-hungry moles. Darwin himself suspected as much. "It is often said that if the ground is beaten or otherwise made to tremble worms will believe that they are pursued by a mole and leave their burrows," he wrote in The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms, a book that is largely forgotten but reflects his enduring and instructive fascination with a creature that most people, then as now, ignore. To test Darwin's supposition, Catania enlisted the services of veteran worm grunters Gary and Audrey Revell, among the last of what was once a rich worm grunting community in Florida's Apalachicola National Forest. Catania observed what the Revells already knew: grunting indeed brings worms to the surface. He then filled a box with worms, and allowed a captive mole to tunnel in from the side. The worms responded by surfacing. Some people have suggested that worm grunting mimics the sound of falling rain, but worms in a sprinkler-doused test box failed to rise. And according to Catalonia's geophone measurements, worm grunting and mole burrowing produce comparable sounds.
Darwin's worm research began shortly after his historic voyage on the Beagle, culminating four decades later with the 1881 publication of Action of Worms; he showed, among other things, that earthworms do not respond to the notes of a whistle, a piano or a bassoon, and are "indifferent to shouts." He also realized that England's lush topsoil was the product of ceaseless soil consumption and defecation by earthworms: about 54,000 per acre, depositing ten tons of fresh soil atop each acre of English countryside, every single year. "It may be doubted whether there are any other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world as have these lowly, organized creatures," Darwin wrote. This now-forgotten fascination was chronicled by David Quammen in an essay entitled "Thinking About Earthworms." To Quammen, Darwin didn't merely illuminate the importance of these underestimated invertebrates, but the importance of thinking individually. "At the time, evolution by natural selection was the hottest idea in science; yet Charles Darwin spent his last year of work thinking about earthworms. And thank goodness he did," wrote Quammen. "More and more in recent years, we are all thinking about the same things at the same time.... Break stride. Wander off mentally. Pick a subject so perversely obscure that it can't help but have neglected significance." That is, after all, what Darwin did. What about you? Worm Grunting, Fiddling, and Charming—Humans Unknowingly Mimic a Predator to Harvest Bait [PLoS ONE] Image: Earthworms, a mole and the grunt test apparatus, courtesy of PLoS ONE; an 1882 cartoon mocking Darwin's theory of evolution with reference to his earthworm research, courtesy of Tulane University. Video: A worm grunting documentary, from WormGruntin. It includes footage of the Worm Gruntin' Festival, held each year in Sopchoppy, Florida (and not to be confused with the Worm Charming World Championships, which are held in Cheshire, England.) WiSci 2.0: Brandon Keim's Twitter stream and Del.icio.us feed; Wired Science on Facebook. Source: Wired: Wired Science | 14 Oct 2008 | 7:19 pm NASA to attempt to reboot Hubble Space TelescopeCAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA will attempt on Wednesday to revive the $2 billion Hubble Space Telescope, which was idled two weeks ago by an equipment failure, officials said on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Science News | 14 Oct 2008 | 6:50 pm Sex-Crazed Apes Feast on Killing, Too
The finding could transform both popular and scientific understanding of bonobos, which like chimpanzees share 98 percent of their DNA with humans. But unlike chimps, bonobos have been considered gentle and good-natured: they don't engage in inter-tribal warfare or primate cannibalism, are dominated by females rather than males, and exchange sexual acts with the casualness of humans talking about the weather. Such easygoing promiscuity has earned bonobos a unique place in the popular imagination — "equal parts dolphin, Dalai Lama, and Warren Beatty," in the words of New Yorker writer Ian Parker. But the reputation is based on limited evidence: most observations come from a couple hundred captive bonobos, and only a few primatologists track our endangered cousin in its remote Congolese home. One such primatologist is Gottfried Hohmann of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, a central figure in Parker's article and author of a study, published yesterday in Current Biology, that describes bands of bonobos tracking, killing and eating young monkeys. This may be shocking news to bonobo-idealizing humans, but less so to scientists, who have inferred the primate-cannibalizing capacity of bonobos from the presence of monkey fingers in their droppings. For them, the findings provide an opportunity to reconfigure their understanding of a species separated from humans by a mere four million years. "Now that actual observations have been made, the issue is much clearer, and it changes our perception of bonobo social organization and socio-ecology," said Frans de Waal, a Yerkes National Primate Research Center psychologist who has studied captive bonobos. He called Hohmann's findings a "great discovery," comparing them to field observations of chimpanzees several decades ago, when great variations between chimpanzee populations were first reported. The findings' most profound implications may involve the nature of sex and violence. "In chimpanzees, male-dominance is associated with physical violence, hunting and meat consumption," said Hohmann in a press release. "By inference, the lack of male dominance and physical violence is often used to explain the relative absence of hunting and meat eating in bonobos." Even a female-dominated hominid species, it seems, is capable of behavior that would disqualify them from the sort of plaudits served by New York Times science writer Natalie Angier, for whom the bonobo "stands out from the chest-thumping masses as an example of amicability, sensitivity and, well, humaneness." But much remains to be learned. It is not clear, wrote Hohmann, whether primates are a bonobo dietary staple or last resort, or whether his group is unique in its taste and tactics. In other instances, bonobos have been observed socializing, and even engaging in mutual grooming, with the same monkey species that Hohmann's band killed. "We cannot exclude the possibility that inter-site variation in hunting behavior, like inter-site variation in tool use and other behaviors of both Pan species, reflects variation in local, socially transmitted traditions," wrote Hohmann. Like Jack's tribe in Lord of the Flies, Hohmann's bonobos may have gone rogue — a possibility that will no doubt appeal to some bonobo lovers. And to them, de Waal extends more solace: predation, he said, is not the same as aggression, and eating another species is very different from eating your own, as chimpanzees are wont to do. "This finding does very little to change the idea of bonobos as relatively peaceful primates," said de Waal. Primate hunting by bonobos at LuiKotale, Salonga National Park [Current Biology] Image: A bonobo in a Congolese sanctuary, courtesy of Irene2005 WiSci 2.0: Brandon Keim's Twitter stream and Del.icio.us feed; Wired Science on Facebook. Source: Wired: Wired Science | 14 Oct 2008 | 6:33 pm Videos Simulate Earthquake in San Francisco Bay Area
When asked where the next big Bay Area quake is likely to be, most geologists will bet on the Hayward Fault, which runs along the eastern side of the bay through a densely populated area that includes Oakland, Berkeley and Hayward. The last major quake on that fault struck 140 years ago in 1868, and the average time between big ones is 140 years. "The next large earthquake could occur at any time," said geologist Brad Aagard of the USGS at a press conference today. "We expect it to be between a magnitude 6.8 and 7.2." Aagard created several video simulations of Bay Area earthquakes, including the one directly above of a magnitude 7.0 earthquake on the Hayward fault. The ground motion is exaggerated by 1,000 to help with the visualization. The red color indicates very violent shaking that can cause significant damage. Seismologist Mary Lou Zoback of Risk Management Solutions in Hayward estimates a magnitude 7.0 earthquake on Hayward fault quake could result in $200 billion in damage from shaking, thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of displaced people. Zoback likens the quake aftermath to that of Hurricane Katrina, which caused a similar amount of damage. The difference is that only 7 or 8 percent of the Bay Area's losses will be covered, far less than the $56 billion that flowed into Louisiana from insurance companies after Katrina. "We'll have a comparable size loss and only about $8 billion in insurance payments." Image: Damage in San Francisco after the 1868 Hayward Fault earthquake; Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley. Video: USGS. Source: Wired: Wired Science | 14 Oct 2008 | 6:25 pm Expedition set for 'ghost peaks'Scientists prepare to survey Antarctica's Gamburtsev mountain range - one of Earth's most enigmatic mountain groups.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 14 Oct 2008 | 6:04 pm Kansas Gym Ghost Mystery SolvedA recent surveillance video at Anytime Fitness depicted what many believe to be a ghost.Source: Livescience.com | 14 Oct 2008 | 5:23 pm Hubble re-boot expected this weekUS space agency officials say the orbiting Hubble telescope should come back online for full science observations on Friday.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 14 Oct 2008 | 5:18 pm AIDS vaccine focus shifts after disappointmentsWASHINGTON (Reuters) - A global AIDS vaccine conference this week will seek fresh strategies against the HIV virus, with experts weighing the value of basic laboratory research against large-scale human clinical trials after a string of disappointments.Source: Reuters: Science News | 14 Oct 2008 | 4:06 pm Saturn's Twin Cyclones Stuck at PolesNew Cassini images reveal giant, swirling cyclones at both of Saturn's poles.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 14 Oct 2008 | 3:45 pm Oldest Full-Body Insect Fossil Found (LiveScience.com)LiveScience.com - Scientists have uncovered what they are calling the oldest full-body impression of a flying insect, possibly an ancient mayfly.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 14 Oct 2008 | 3:11 pm Internet Searching May Boost BrainIn older adults, searching Web increases brain activity more than simple reading.Source: Livescience.com | 14 Oct 2008 | 3:05 pm Internet use 'good for the brain'For middle-aged and older people at least, using the internet helps boost brain power, research suggests.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 14 Oct 2008 | 3:00 pm Oldest Full-Body Insect Fossil FoundScientists have discovered the oldest fossil impression of an insect.Source: Livescience.com | 14 Oct 2008 | 3:00 pm Sons of Russian, U.S. astronauts unite in orbitMOSCOW (Reuters) - The sons of a Russian cosmonaut and a U.S. astronaut met in space on Tuesday when spaceman Sergei Volkov welcomed American Richard Garriott on board the International Space Station.Source: Reuters: Science News | 14 Oct 2008 | 2:50 pm Penguin DNA Suggests Special Climate CopingAdelie penguins have some special evolutionary abilities, say scientists.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 14 Oct 2008 | 2:25 pm Space Tourist Reaches Space StationGaming tycoon Owen Garriott arrives at the space station as his astronaut dad watches on.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 14 Oct 2008 | 1:44 pm New Software Guesses a Person's (Apparent) AgeNew computer software looks at your face and estimates your age.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 14 Oct 2008 | 1:10 pm The Financial Fiasco: Emotional, Irrational, InevitableThe global financial crisis of 2008 comes as no great surprise to people who study human behavior and decision-making.Source: Livescience.com | 14 Oct 2008 | 1:05 pm Do Mouthwashes Work?Mouthwashes can zap bad breath.Source: Livescience.com | 14 Oct 2008 | 12:10 pm Bizarre visitorsWelcome to the weird world of waterway aliensSource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 14 Oct 2008 | 11:57 am Closure call for tuna 'disgrace'Major tuna-fishing nations - including Spain - back calls for a temporary closure of the Mediterranean tuna fishery.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 14 Oct 2008 | 11:55 am Russian spacecraft docks with orbital station (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 14 Oct 2008 | 11:43 am 5-Star Hospitals Might Not Kill YouYou have a 70 percent lower chance of dying at a top-ranked facility compared to the lowest-ranked onesSource: Livescience.com | 14 Oct 2008 | 11:38 am
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Climate pollution won't just raise ocean temperatures. It will make them noisier -- and that could be bad news for whales, dolphins and other marine mammals struggling to cope with shipping noise. 
Were Charles Darwin alive today, you might find him in the southeastern United States, eating hush puppies and getting his hands dirty with worm grunters.
A major earthquake in California is a matter of when, not if. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates a 62 percent chance of a magnitude 6.7 or greater earthquake striking somewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area in the next 30 years. Extend that forecast to the entire state, and a big one is a near certainty.
