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Biologists Spy On The Secret Inner Life Of A CellThe transportation of antibodies from a mother to her newborn child is vital for the development of that child's nascent immune system. Antibodies help shape a baby's response to foreign pathogens and may influence the later occurrence of autoimmune diseases. Images from Caltech biologists reveal for the first time the complicated process by which antibodies are shuttled from mother's milk, through her baby's gut and into the bloodstream -- offering new insight into the mammalian immune system.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Nov 2008 | 4:00 pm Protect Your Vote: Avoid Election Machine ErrorsOf all the problems that could lead to a miscount Election Day, there's one possibility that voters can do something about -- avoid election machine-related errors, says a researcher who led a comprehensive study of voter problems using touch screen and paper-based machines. "Under the best of circumstances, simple voter mistakes can make the difference in a close election, so it's up to individuals to go into the booth prepared and aware of the pitfalls."Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Nov 2008 | 4:00 pm Solar Power Game-changer: 'Near Perfect' Absorption Of Sunlight, From All AnglesResearchers have discovered and demonstrated a new method for overcoming two major hurdles facing solar energy. By developing a new antireflective coating that boosts the amount of sunlight captured by solar panels and allows those panels to absorb the entire solar spectrum from nearly any angle, the research team has moved academia and industry closer to realizing high-efficiency, cost-effective solar power.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Nov 2008 | 4:00 pm Roads Bring Death And Fear To Forest ElephantsWhy did the elephant cross the road? It didn't according to a new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society and Save the Elephants that says endangered forest elephants are avoiding roadways at all costs.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Nov 2008 | 4:00 pm Precipitation Levels May Be Associated With AutismChildren living in counties with higher levels of annual precipitation appear more likely to have higher prevalence rates of autism, according to a new report. The results raise the possibility that an environmental trigger for autism may be associated with precipitation and may affect genetically vulnerable children.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Nov 2008 | 4:00 pm Dramatic Fall In Malaria In Gambia Raises Possibility Of Elimination In Parts Of AfricaThe incidence of malaria has fallen significantly in Gambia in the last 5 years, according to a study carried out by experts there with support from scientists based in London.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Nov 2008 | 4:00 pm Genetic Evidence For Avian Influenza Movement From Asia To North America Via Wild BirdsWild migratory birds may be more important carriers of avian influenza viruses from continent to continent than previously thought, according to new scientific research that has important implications for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus surveillance in North America.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Nov 2008 | 1:00 pm Saving The Endangered Tasmanian Devil In AustraliaZoologists are working on a national project in Australia to help save the endangered Tasmanian devil from extinction.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Nov 2008 | 1:00 pm Oral Rinses Used For Tracking HPV-positive Head And Neck Cancers Holds Promise For Cancer ScreeningA new study validates a non-invasive screening method with future potential for detection of human papillomavirus-positive head and neck cancers.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Nov 2008 | 1:00 pm Seasonal Affective Disorder May Be Linked To Genetic Mutation, Study SuggestsA new study indicates that seasonal affective disorder may be linked to a genetic mutation in the eye that makes a SAD patient less sensitive to light.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Nov 2008 | 1:00 pm Oil Creation Theory Challenged by Fuel-Making Fungus (LiveScience.com)LiveScience.com - A newfound fungus living in rainforest trees makes biofuel more efficiently than any other known method, researchers say.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 4 Nov 2008 | 12:41 pm Extinct Mammoths Could Be ClonedJapanese scientists cloned mice that had been frozen 16 years.Source: Livescience.com | 4 Nov 2008 | 12:27 pm The WiFi Skies: Airlines Embrace BroadbandAirborne WiFi broadband technology takes off.Source: Livescience.com | 4 Nov 2008 | 11:52 am Oil Creation Theory Challenged by Fuel-Making FungusNewfound fungus living in rainforsest trees makes bioful more efficiently than any other known method.Source: Livescience.com | 4 Nov 2008 | 11:29 am Smaller Mosquitoes More DangerousSmaller mosquitoes more likely to become infected and transmit disease.Source: Livescience.com | 4 Nov 2008 | 11:27 am The Nation's Weather (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 4 Nov 2008 | 10:47 am 421,000 people poisoned by snakebites each year: studyHONG KONG (Reuters) - More than 400,000 people are poisoned by snakebites worldwide each year and 20,000 of them die, with most cases occurring in the poorest countries, researchers say.Source: Reuters: Science News | 4 Nov 2008 | 8:37 am Japanese clone mouse from frozen cell, aim for mammoths (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 4 Nov 2008 | 8:31 am Greenpeace says it will not chase Japanese whalers (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 4 Nov 2008 | 8:26 am Endeavour Astronauts Set for Space Station Mission (SPACE.com)SPACE.com - WASHINGTON - Seven astronauts are set to rocket toward the International Space Station aboard NASA's shuttle Endeavour next week to help outfit the orbiting laboratory to support double-sized crews.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 4 Nov 2008 | 5:33 am Scientists clone from frozen miceJapanese scientists manage to create clones from the bodies of mice which have been frozen for 16 years.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 4 Nov 2008 | 2:46 am Study: Women lead men in bacteria, hands down (AP)AP - Wash your hands, folks, especially you ladies. A new study found that women have a greater variety of bacteria on their hands than men do. And everybody has more types of bacteria than the researchers expected to find.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 4 Nov 2008 | 2:25 am Teen Pregnancies Blamed on TV ShowsTeenagers who watch sexy television shows are being led into early pregnancies.Source: Livescience.com | 4 Nov 2008 | 1:55 am Car Runs Mostly on AirDeveloper Zero Pollution Motors is working on a compressed air vehicle (CAV).Source: Livescience.com | 4 Nov 2008 | 1:50 am Do Professors Brainwash College Students?Liberal college professors indoctrinate students, right?Source: Livescience.com | 4 Nov 2008 | 1:45 am Voter Superstitions, or Why You're Wearing Blue or Red
On election night in 2000, Adina Matisoff went out early to celebrate with a game of pool after hearing Al Gore declared the next President of the United States. When Gore eventually lost the election, Matisoff decided that her lack of focus had contributed to the defeat. This election season, she, like countless others, including Obama's non-shaving Ohio campaign manager, are resorting to superstition to improve their candidates' chances. "I'm hoping the good 'ol knocking on wood three times whenever somebody even suggests the notion that a certain transformational senator from Illinois has this election in the bag will ward off the likelihood of that not happening," said Matisoff, an environmental campaigner in San Francisco with Friends of the Earth. "The technique may be baseless superstition, but it reminds me that we live in a time when we cannot assume that logic will prevail and our rights will be protected." This kind of irrational behavior bears a striking similarity to the often ridiculous lengths that sports fans go to in hopes of helping their team win. That phenomenon is seen as an excellent lens on irrationality in otherwise rational people by researchers. To Columbia PhD student, Eric Hamerman, who has been researching the psychology of superstition with his professor Gita Johar, Matisoff is a "great illustration" of the strange state of the human mind watching an intense competition that they can't win or lose. "People know that it's not rational but they do it anyway," Hamerman said. "They are much more likely to use superstition in times of stress and uncertainty. And after the Florida hanging Chad issue, elections are much more uncertain for her, so she's much more likely to resort to superstitions." Psychological research is mounting that the human mind falls back on superstitious behaviors of all types when faced with particular sequences of events. When a person engages in a behavior, they often believe — implicitly — that they impacted the outcome of an event that came after it, whether or not they are conscious of it or it is a rational thought. Hamerman calls the phenomenon "conditioning gone wild" because your brain gets the wrong idea about the impact of your behavior. "The basic idea is illusory control," said Johar, a marketing and consumer psychology researcher at Columbia. "Every time I do X, Y happens. Then, those things lead you to form this correlation in your head that gives you the illusion of control." And control, real or illusory, Johar said, feels good to the brain. Even Johar is not immune to a bit of superstition. "I am not taking a bottle of champagne to the election party tomorrow," she admitted. In one new study by Johar and Hamerman, which has not been published yet, they asked people to imagine that they are in a sports bar watching their favorite team play in the NCAA tournament. They order a beer, but their preferred brand is out, so they have to drink Budweiser. Immediately after getting the Bud, their team begins to perform much better. Later on, when their preferred brand becomes available again, big fans say they would stick with the Budweiser. The brain's inference from the chain of events is: Budweiser made my team play better, so I better stick with it. That's conditioning gone wild, and the impact gets stronger, the more you want your team (or candidate) to win. "Voters are also likely to perform learned superstitious behaviors if they strongly support a particular candidate," said Johar. "For example, if you really want Obama to win, and went to a particular restaurant on the day of the Iowa caucuses when he won, you might perceive that your restaurant choice controlled the Obama victory outcome. Of course, this is illusory." Maya Baratz, a former John Kerry speechwriter and hardcore Obama volunteer now working for Mochi Media, developed a new behavior in just such a situation. "When we were in Texas, these precinct captains bought us these 'Yay! We made it!' cakes, which we started eating as we were hearing the primary results come in," said Baratz. "We ended up winning Texas, but that night we thought we lost." The pain of the loss she thought she'd endured caused her to swear off all "Yay!" objects until the final results are in. "My superstition is ... No congratulatory paraphernalia until we know the result," she said. In the nomenclature of superstition psychology, what Baratz did by eating the cake early was to "tempt fate." As it turns out, many rational people share this aversion. In a 2008 study published by Jane Risen of the University of Chicago and Thomas Gilovich of Cornell University, subjects rated a Stanford University applicant more likely to be rejected if he or she wore a Stanford T-shirt before their admissions decision than if they'd stuffed it in a drawer. Not all superstitious behaviors are learned through conditioning gone wild, however. Objects can also acquire reputations as bringers of good (horseshoe) or bad (black cat) luck. While the symbols themselves change from culture to culture, Johar noted that the idea of such objects crosses cultural lines. Leila Chirayath, the founder of African outsourcing startup Samasource, is banking on importing what she hopes in a globe-spanning good luck charm. "I recently rekindled an interest in candomble, so there's a good chance I'll bring my Brazilian-found cowries to election night parties," said Chirayath of the shells which are considered good luck in the Brazilian religion. "Candomble derives from West African traditions. Obama's dad hails from the eastern part of the continent, but it's worth a shot." Image: Courtesy of Chris Garris. WiSci 2.0: Alexis Madrigal's Twitter , Google Reader feed, and webpage; Wired Science on Facebook. Source: Wired: Wired Science | 4 Nov 2008 | 1:37 am Healthy mice cloned from frozen bodiesSuccess raises possibility of 'resurrecting' extinct animals such as mammoths from frozen carcassesSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 4 Nov 2008 | 1:36 am Robodoc: surgeon of the future in theaters nowLONDON (Reuters) - A mechanical snake that can enter the body through natural orifices -- not an incision -- to perform operations is just one futuristic device researchers believe will transform traditional surgical techniques.Source: Reuters: Science News | 4 Nov 2008 | 1:24 am Scientists discover Patagonian diesel that grows on treesA tree fungus could provide green fuel that can be pumped directly into vehicle tanks, US scientists say. The organism, found in the Patagonian rainforest, naturally produces a mixture of chemicals that is remarkably similar to diesel. "This is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an important combination of fuel substances," said Gary Strobel, a plant scientist from Montana State University, who led the work. "We were totally surprised to learn that it was making a plethora of hydrocarbons." In principle, biofuels are attractive replacements for liquid fossil fuels used in transport that generate greenhouse gases. The European Union has set biofuel targets of 5.75% by 2010 and 10% by 2020. But critics say current biofuels scarcely reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cause food price rises and deforestation. Producing biofuels sustainably is now a target and this latest work has been greeted by experts as an encouraging step. The fungus, called Gliocladium roseum and discovered growing inside the ulmo tree (Eucryphia cordifolia) in northern Patagonia, produces a range of hydrocarbon molecules that are virtually identical to the fuel-grade compounds in existing fossil fuels. Details of the concoction, which Strobel calls "mycodiesel", will be published in the November issue of the journal Microbiology. "The results were totally unexpected and very exciting and almost every hair on my arms stood on end," said Strobel. Many simple organisms, such as algae, are known to make chemicals that are similar to the hydrocarbons present in transport fuel but, according to Strobel, none produce the explosive high energy density found in this fungus. Strobel said that the chemical mixture produced could be used in a modern diesel engine without any modification. Another advantage of the fungus is its ability to eat up cellulose, the compound that makes up much of the organic waste that is currently discarded, such as stalks and sawdust. Converting this plant waste into fuels is an important goal for the biofuel industry, which currently uses food crops such as corn. "Fungi are very important but we often overlook these organisms," said Tariq Butt, a fungus expert at Swansea University. "The discovery and its potential applications are fantastic. However, more research is needed, as well as a pilot study to determine the costs and benefits." John Loughhead, executive director of the UK Energy Research Centre, also welcomed the "encouraging" discovery but noted it was at its earliest stage of development. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 4 Nov 2008 | 12:25 am Earliest known shaman grave site found: studyLONDON (Reuters) - An ancient grave unearthed in modern-day Israel containing 50 tortoise shells, a human foot and body parts from numerous animals is likely one of the earliest known shaman burial sites, researchers said on Monday.Source: Reuters: Science News | 4 Nov 2008 | 12:24 am Rainforest Fungus Naturally Synthesizes Diesel
A fungus that lives inside trees in the Patagonian rain forest naturally makes a mix of hydrocarbons that bears a striking resemblance to diesel, biologists announced today. And the fungus can grow on cellulose, a major component of tree trunks, blades of grass and stalks that is the most abundant carbon-based plant material on Earth. "When we looked at the gas analysis, I was flabbergasted," said Gary Strobel, a plant scientist at Montana State University, and the lead author of a paper in Microbiology describing the find. "We were looking at the essence of diesel fuel." While genetic engineers have been trying a variety of techniques and genes to get microbes to create fuel out of sugars and starches, almost all commercial biofuel production uses the century-old dry mill grain process. Ethanol plants ferment corn ears into alcohol, which is simple, but wastes the vast majority of the biomatter of the corn plant. Using the cellulose from plants — the stalk instead of the ear, or simply wood from poplars — to make liquid fuel is a long-held dream because it would be more environmentally efficient and cheaper, but is far more difficult.
First, the cellulose must be broken down into its constituent parts — sugars bearing carbon — and then those pieces must be synthesized into more complex hydrocarbons. Both steps have proven difficult to do without applying large amounts of heat, pressure or chemicals. "Traditionally that's been an energy-intensive process that also
involves lots of chemicals," said Andrew Groover, a plant geneticist
studying cell wall formation at the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station.
"So, one approach is to look for situations in nature where there are
organisms that can break down wood as part of their natural lifestyle:
wood rot, fungi, termites." What's exciting about the Gliocladium roseum fungus, however, is that it can both break down cellulose and synthesize the liquid fuel. "A step in the production process could be skipped," Strobel said in a press release. That said, the paper's authors admit that the technique is far from any sort of industrial production. "This report presents no information on the cost-effectiveness or
other details to make G. roseum an alternative fuel source," they
write. "Its ultimate value may reside in the genes/enzymes that control
hydrocarbon production, and our paper is a necessary first step that
may lead to development programmes to make this a commercial venture." The genome of the fungus is being analyzed at Yale University under the direction of Scott Strobel, a molecular biologist and Gary Strobel's son. But beyond the biofuel implications, Strobel said that because the fungus can manufacture what we would normally think of as components of crude oil, it casts some doubt on the idea that crude oil is a fossil fuel. "It may be the case that organisms like this produced some — maybe not all — but some of the world's crude," Strobel said. Images: 1. Gliocladium roseum. 2. Gary Strobel on one of his many international journeys to find novel species. WiSci 2.0: Alexis Madrigal's Twitter , Google Reader feed and webpage; Wired Science on Facebook. Source: Wired: Wired Science | 4 Nov 2008 | 12:15 am Improbable research: how Woody the living hammer hit the spotImprobable research into how to make a better, lighter hammer involved two mechanical engineering students carrying out a post-mortem on a dead woodpeckerSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 4 Nov 2008 | 12:13 am Scientists discover tree fungus that could provide green fuel for transportA tree fungus could provide green fuel that can be pumped directly into tanks, scientists say. The organism, found in the Patagonian rainforest, naturally produces a mixture of chemicals that is remarkably similar to diesel. "This is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an important combination of fuel substances," said Gary Strobel, a plant scientist from Montana State University who led the work. "We were totally surprised to learn that it was making a plethora of hydrocarbons." In principle, biofuels are attractive replacements for liquid fossil fuels used in transport that generate greenhouse gases. The European Union has set biofuel targets of 5.75% by 2010 and 10% by 2020. But critics say current biofuels scarcely reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cause food price rises and deforestation. Producing biofuels sustainably is now a target and this latest work has been greeted by experts as an encouraging step. The fungus, called Gliocladium roseum and discovered growing inside the ulmo tree (Eucryphia cordifolia) in northern Patagonia, produces a range of long-chain hydrocarbon molecules that are virtually identical to the fuel-grade compounds in existing fossil fuels. Details of the concoction, which Strobel calls "mycodiesel", will be published in the November issue of the journal Microbiology. "The results were totally unexpected and very exciting and almost every hair on my arms stood on end," said Strobel. Many simple organisms, such as algae, are already known to make chemicals that are similar to the long-chain hydrocarbons present in transport fuel but, according to Strobel, none produce the explosive hydrocarbons with the high energy density of those in mycodiesel. Strobel said that the chemical mixture produced by his fungus could be used in a modern diesel engine without any modification. Another advantage of the G. roseum fungus is its ability to eat up cellulose. This is a compound that, along with lignin, makes up the cell walls in plants and is indigestible by most animals. As such, it makes up much of the organic waste currently discarded, such as stalks and sawdust. Converting this plant waste into useful fuels is a major goal for the biofuel industry, which currently uses food crops such as corn and has been blamed for high food prices. Normally, cellulosic materials are treated with enzymes that first convert it to sugar, with microbes then used to ferment the sugar into ethanol fuel. In contrast, G. roseum consumes cellulose directly to produce mycodiesel. "Although the fungus makes less mycodiesel when it feeds on cellulose compared to sugars, new developments in fermentation technology and genetic manipulation could help improve the yield," said Strobel. "In fact, the genes of the fungus are just as useful as the fungus itself in the development of new biofuels." "Fungi are very important but we often overlook these organisms," Tariq Butt, a fungus expert at Swansea University, said: "This is the first time that a fungus has been shown to produce hydrocarbons that could potentially be exploited as a source of fuel in the future. Concept-wise, the discovery and its potential applications are fantastic. However, more research is needed, as well as a pilot study to determine the costs and benefits. Even so, another potential supply of renewable fuel allows us to diversify our energy sources and is certainly an exciting discovery." John Loughhead, executive director of the UK Energy Research Centre, also welcomed the discovery but noted it is at its earliest stage of development. "This appears another encouraging discovery that natural processes are more capable of producing materials of real value to mankind than we had previously known. It's another piece of evidence that there is real potential to adapt such processes to provide energy sources that can help reduce our need for, and dependence on, fossil fuels." The next stage for Strobel's work will be to refine the extraction of mycodiesel from the fungus. This requires more laboratory work to identify the most efficient ways to grow the organism and, perhaps, genetic modification of the fungus to improve yields. If successful, Strobel's technology will then need to be tested in a large-scale demonstration plant to solve any problems in scaling up to to commercial production. Strobel also said that his discovery raises questions about how fossil fuels were made in the first place. "The accepted theory is that crude oil, which is used to make diesel, is formed from the remains of dead plants and animals that have been exposed to heat and pressure for millions of years. [But] if fungi like this are producing mycodiesel all over the rainforest, they may have contributed to the formation of fossil fuels." guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 4 Nov 2008 | 12:13 am World losing Aids battle, minister warns as £220m fund launchedThe HIV/Aids epidemic will spiral out of control unless more money and effort is devoted to stopping its spread, the UK's development minister, Gareth Thomas, will warn a meeting of scientists and experts convened by the government in London today. Although UN statistics show an apparent slow-down in the growth of the epidemic, and drugs to keep people alive are now at least partly available in heavily affected parts of the developing world, Thomas will stress that all the progress will be in vain unless a means is found to stop the spread of infection. "The reality is that the spread of HIV is set to spiral out of control unless we act now," he will say. "Five people are infected with HIV every minute. We must increase our efforts - and increase them now." The message is backed by a new UK £220m fund for research into technological solutions to halt the spread, such as vaccines and microbicide gels, which women could use during sex. Five more people are infected for every two who are put on life-saving drugs, 33 million people now live with the virus and 15 million children have been orphaned. The government's warning is a departure from recent international rhetoric about the progress being made against Aids. The latest UNAids report on the state of the pandemic, in July, said the epidemic was slowing and highlighted countries such as Rwanda and Zimbabwe, where warnings about more cautious sexual behaviour seemed to be gaining ground. Although the roll-out of Aids drugs is saving some lives, only around 3 million in the developing world have them. The focus has now switched to preventing infection, but there is a long way to go. Wider condom use has not taken off, for social and cultural reasons, and all efforts to develop a vaccine have failed, due to the propensity of the virus to mutate. The new £220m research fund is likely to go to scientists working on new technologies such as a vaccine, a microbicide or drugs based on those now used for treatment, which might be able to protect the partners of HIV sufferers. "Only through research will we find ways to halt this epidemic," Thomas said. "I hope this funding will help discover new life-saving technology." guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 4 Nov 2008 | 12:12 am Rainfall autism theory suggestedIncreased rainfall - or something linked to it - may be connected to the development of autism, scientists claim.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 4 Nov 2008 | 12:07 am Magnetic shield for spacefarersExperimental evidence confirms that a plan to protect spaceships from radiation using magnetic fields would work.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Nov 2008 | 11:57 pm Antelope's sex signal in the kneeEland antelope bulls use the unusual tactic of clicking a tendon in their knees to demonstrate their sexual fitness.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Nov 2008 | 11:57 pm Indian Moon probe pictures EarthIndia's Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft sends back images of the Australian landmass as it makes a pass of Earth.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Nov 2008 | 11:35 pm Bones confirm Steve Fossett deathDNA tests on bones found near a plane crash site in California show them to be those of adventurer Steve Fossett.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Nov 2008 | 11:27 pm Feds propose much fewer snowmobiles in Yellowstone (AP)AP - A cap on snowmobile use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks would be lowered by 40 percent under a federal proposal released Monday in response to a judge's rejection of earlier plans.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 3 Nov 2008 | 11:24 pm Bone DNA Tests Confirm Fossett's Death
The Associated Press and others report that Madera County Sheriff John Anderson announced today the results of DNA tests on bones that found last week. Also found were Fossett's tennis shoes and driver's license. Both had bite marks, suggesting that animals dragged his remains from the crash. The test results are a final note in a saga spanning Fossett's disappearance, a fruitless search for his plane, conspiracy theories that Fossett faked his own death, the finding of the wreckage last month by a hiker and last week's discovery of additional remains. Image: Steve Fossett in 2006 / WikiMedia Commons. Source: Wired: Wired Science | 3 Nov 2008 | 10:42 pm Frozen mice cloned - are woolly mammoths next?WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Japanese scientists have cloned mice whose bodies were frozen for as long 16 years and said on Monday it may be possible to use the technique to resurrect mammoths and other extinct species.Source: Reuters: Science News | 3 Nov 2008 | 10:30 pm Nanoparticles Made to SwimPlatinum/gold nanorods in distilled water migrate toward a source of hydrogen peroxide.Source: Livescience.com | 3 Nov 2008 | 10:30 pm Brains of depressed people handle pain differentlyWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have found clues in the brains of people with major depression that might help explain why so many depressed people also battle chronic pain, according to a U.S. study published on Monday.Source: Reuters: Science News | 3 Nov 2008 | 10:28 pm Fresh Genes Needed to Save Chicken Industry
Industrial chickens, bred to grow big and fast, have lost about half of the genetic variation found in their wild counterparts. The precise role of each lost variant isn't known, but many likely affect resistance to disease. Until now, the system has worked — but the evolutionary clock could be ticking. "New diseases, or mutations of old ones, occur all the time. Nature overcomes those new challenges by creating new defenses from existing genetic variability," said Purdue University animal geneticist Bill Muir, lead author of a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. If commercial breeders don't introduce new stock, said Muir, "genetic variability will be exhausted." Commercial chicken farming relies primarily on just three breeds — the White Leghorn, Rhode Island Red and Indian Game. A single bird can produce 200 offspring; breeding populations are kept small and isolated, and a few chickens' genes can soon spread through millions of birds. This never-ending cycle of inbreeding has made possible a $26-billion industry capable of producing one million birds an hour and 75 billion eggs each year in the United States alone, accounting for nearly half of all consumed meat. In financial terms the industry is healthy, but there are warning signs. The avian lucosis virus, a fast-spreading and highly lethal hybrid of old and new chicken viruses first identified in 1988, has already put several poultry breeding companies out of business. Avian influenza has wreaked havoc on poultry in many parts of the world, and security experts see domestic food production as a prime target for bioterrorists. What's needed, argue Muir and Hans Cheng, United States Department of Agriculture avian disease specialist and co-author of the study, is an infusion of genetic material from chickens outside the industry, especially those bred by small farmers in the developing world. The standards of commercial farming won't be easy to crack, but it's necessary. "This will take much time and effort," said Muir, "but it's an insurance policy on the future." The hardest part may be selling companies on a new approach to breeding. Even if fresh breeds aren't introduced directly but rather bred separately until ready to go commercial, they will almost certainly grow more slowly than standard chickens, whose lives have been compressed into a fraction of their natural span, and have physiques dictated by consumer preference. "Using the same production systems, the food conversion and growth rate would be slower," said University of Bristol veterinary scientist Toby Knowles, who was not involved in the study. If demand for high-growth, high-speed chickens isn't tempered, the problem of genetic homogeneity might also be delayed rather than solved, with the latest birds entering the cycle of intensive inbreeding. But Knowles noted that growing numbers of consumers now want meat grown and produced in healthier ways. "Highly intensive systems are likely to become less sustainable when there is consumer resistance," he said. Once the chicken problem is fixed, scientists might move on to other menu items. "The same concern exists for other commercially developed livestock species, such as dairy cattle and swine," said Muir. "They have had a similar domestication history but with perhaps even smaller breeding sizes." Image: Laura Hadden WiSci 2.0: Brandon Keim's Twitter stream and Del.icio.us feed; Wired Science on Facebook. Source: Wired: Wired Science | 3 Nov 2008 | 10:01 pm Female Shaman's Grave Loaded with GoodiesThis elderly woman got elite burial treatment, surrounded by tens of tortoise shells and even a human foot.Source: Livescience.com | 3 Nov 2008 | 8:45 pm At 40, Brain and Body SlowThe part of the brain in charge of motion starts a gradual slide in middle age.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 3 Nov 2008 | 8:04 pm Space junk falls harmlessly in South Pacific (AP)AP - A refrigerator-sized piece of space junk fell harmlessly into the South Pacific Sunday night, according to NASA.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 3 Nov 2008 | 6:54 pm Tasmanian Devils Could Be Gone in 20 YearsA national project aims to save the endangered Tasmanian devil from extinction.Source: Livescience.com | 3 Nov 2008 | 6:51 pm My Take: E-Voting Not User FriendlyOpinion: Electronic voting machines don't always capture the intent of voters.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 3 Nov 2008 | 4:52 pm Can Foods Prevent Disease? Debate ContinuesThe theory that eating well can stave off disease remains to be proven.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 3 Nov 2008 | 3:52 pm Marcus du Sautoy gives lessons in scienceThe Emperor Scrumptious was born in 35 BC, and died on his birthday in AD 35. What was his age when he died? This is a trick question, from a dizzying new book called Professor Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities (Profile, £10.99) and I mention it because a variation of the same question was put to the broadcaster John Humphrys on Radio 4's Today Programme. It was put by the mathematician Marcus du Sautoy, who had just been appointed the new Charles Simonyi professor of the public understanding of science at Oxford. Humphrys deliberately provoked the challenge, and then failed it, because of course he had forgotten, or had never known, that there had been no Year Zero in the switch from the ancient to the modern calendar. The annual countdown jumped directly from 1BC to AD1, not because the ancients didn't understand maths – they invented it - but because there was in Europe then, and for many centuries afterwards, no mathematical concept of zero. At the time, the question didn't seem to have much to do with science, but this conclusion is probably quite wrong. Mathematics is about number, measure, pattern, probability and proof: it is rationalism's ultimate defence. Plato thought God was a geometer, but the author of the books of Moses also seemed to understand that God did things by numbers. Mathematics is the secret language of the universe, in senses that most of us never appreciate: Van Gogh's Sunflowers, and Caravaggio's Supper at Emmaus aren't just expressions of Fibonacci numbers or the Golden Section, they work their magic because each is at bottom the experience of a precise set of wavelengths of visible light reflected from mineral surfaces chosen for their unique optical properties, received by a retina and converted to energy and information along an optic nerve and then assembled by that astonishing virtual reality headset called the brain. You can enjoy art without knowing these things, but if you ever wanted to understand why a great painting – an almost flat surface smeared with glue, oil, soot and crushed stone – packs such power, then you might end up using numbers, measure, pattern and proof. The same goes for all science, from archaeology to zoology, not excluding climate research, immunology and cancer chemotherapy. In principle, a mathematician starts with a handicap: what science is he an expert in the public understanding of? In practice, that won't be a disadvantage. That is because public understanding is a pretty loose concept, and the public understanding of science is even more deliciously imprecise. The role for a professor of the public understanding of science is even more of a puzzle, partly because as an academic post, it is hardly older than the average undergraduate, and partly because although there is clearly a public need to be met, there may not be an obvious public demand. Members of the public who want to understand chemistry or physics could enrol in university courses in these subjects. And as we know, there are fewer of these, because of falling demand. So although plenty of people may be interested in the large hadron collider, or the antioxidant properties or red wine and broccoli, or the possibility of life on Mars, there is no compelling evidence that anyone wants to know about science as such. That is challenge number one for Marcus du Sautoy. Like his predecessor, Richard Dawkins, he will have to create his own audience. The second challenge is more considerable. It is fair to say that what the general public doesn't know about science is epic. The first scholar to take up the title did so after a 1988 survey that asked people if they were interested in science (yes, they were!) and wanted more and better science communication (they certainly did!) and then: does the sun go round the Earth, or does the Earth go round the sun? The next question was: how long does it take? One in three failed the first question. Two out of three failed the second. And yet a mathematician might just be better placed to make his voice heard and his arguments count when it comes to getting people interested in science. He will in theory know no more about endocrinology or oceanography than his listeners. That is a good thing: he will know what questions to ask, and which explanations won't work. But he will understand why some things are reasonable, and others irrational, why some answers can be precise, why others will always involve a touch of uncertainty, and why some propositions are absurd. We began with mathematics in history. Let us end with another corker from Ian Stewart's new book. The state legislature of Indiana is supposed (it's a myth) to have passed a law declaring the precise value of pi, that exasperatingly imprecise number. But, Stewart points out, if you had a legal truth that was different from a mathematical truth, you could play some very interesting games. You could prove, with two simple equations, that 1=0. "Therefore all murderers have a cast-iron defence: admit to one murder, then argue legally that it is zero murders," says Professor Stewart. "And that's not the last of it. Multiply by one billion, to deduce that one billion equals zero. Now any citizen apprehended in possession of no drugs is in possession of drugs to a street value of $1 billion. In fact, any statement whatsoever would become legally provable." guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 3 Nov 2008 | 2:46 pm How dangerous is drum making?A second drum maker in two years has died after apparently inhaling anthrax spores from animal skins. What are the risks of this seemingly safe job?Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Nov 2008 | 2:23 pm Acropolis Gets Quake Monitoring SystemA network of instruments will monitor the 2,500-year-old Acropolis for weaknesses.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 3 Nov 2008 | 1:42 pm Ancient 'Water Monster' Facing ExtinctionA foot-long salamander that was a key part of Aztec legend is threatened by extinction.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 3 Nov 2008 | 1:35 pm Even a little caffeine may harm fetus, study findsLONDON (Reuters) - Pregnant women who consume caffeine -- even about a cup of coffee daily -- are at higher risk of giving birth to an underweight baby, researchers said on Monday.Source: Reuters: Science News | 3 Nov 2008 | 1:33 pm Prince calls for rainforest billsThe Prince of Wales gives support to the idea of charging developed nations a "utility bill" to maintain rainforests.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Nov 2008 | 1:19 pm Grand Canyon's Youth ConfirmedThe Grand Canyon is millions of years younger than previously thought, argue geologists.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 3 Nov 2008 | 1:16 pm High-Resolution Image of the Sun's Jets
Tens of thousands of spicules are active at any given moment, created through a complex interaction of sound waves and magnetic fields, shooting upwards and outwards before falling back into the sun minutes later. They compose the chronosphere, an atmospheric layer that surrounds the sun and is as thick as the Earth's diameter. Most of our own atmosphere is compressed into a layer about seven miles deep. It's sometimes easy -- for me, anyways -- to forget that the sun is 93 million miles away, and that Earthly life exists through the coincidental good fortune of our planetary rock's location, neither too far nor too close to that ball of gas. This photograph, taken by the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope, a good reminder. Spicules: Jets on the Sun [NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day] WiSci 2.0: Brandon Keim's Twitter stream and Del.icio.us feed; Wired Science on Facebook. Source: Wired: Wired Science | 3 Nov 2008 | 12:31 pm Future of physics 'under threat'Leading physicists have told the BBC that long-term research is under threat because of a shortage of funding.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Nov 2008 | 12:11 pm Low oil price should not deter output expansion: UAE minister (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 3 Nov 2008 | 11:10 am
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