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Stopping Anti-platelet Medications Prior To Surgery Increases Risk Of Permanent Disability Or Death, Study SuggestsStopping anti-platelet medications prior to a surgical procedure places a patient at greater risk of permanent disability or death. The probability of a patient bleeding depends on the over-the-counter and/or prescribed drug or combinations of drugs.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 2 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm An Ace For Visually-impaired Students In Computer ScienceMany computing luminaries, such as Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, have an early experience in common -- an engaging experience in middle school or high school that sparked an excitement for learning everything they could about computers. Today, many young people are surrounded by computing at home and in school, and some of them will likely find a similar passion that will lead them to push tomorrow's frontiers in computer science.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 2 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm Persistent Pollutant May Promote ObesityA persistent pollutant, tributyltin, has effects on gene activity in a wide range of animal species at concentrations of parts per billion. Tributyl tin and its chemical relatives bind to nuclear receptors that in turn activate genes influencing the formation of fat storage cells. This and other evidence suggests a possible role for tributyl tin in the obesity epidemic. The compound has been shown to affect gene activity at extremely low concentrations.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 2 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm Measuring Greenhouse Gases In Old Bottles Of WineIn order to investigate the greenhouse gas effect in Europe, one has to measure the concentrations of CO2 from fossil fuels at different places all over the continent. This could be done with 14C tests of air samples, but the same types of measurements can also be carried out on plants that have absorbed CO2. To that end one would need plant material that is known to come from a specific region and also know which year it grew in.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 2 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm Cell Phones That Never Need To Be Charged? Sound Wave-powered Devices PossibleImagine a self-powering cell phone that never needs to be charged because it converts sound waves produced by the user into the energy it needs to keep running. It's not as far-fetched as it may seem.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 2 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm Iceman Oetzi's Last SupperA new study identifies six different mosses from the Tyrolean Iceman's alimentary tract.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 2 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm Accelerated Melting Of Continental Icepacks Is Major Reason For Rise In Sea Level Between 2003 And 2008The accelerated melting of continental icepacks is the major reason for the rise in sea level over the 2003 to 2008 period, something which has minimized the effect of thermal expansion of seawater, according to new research.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 2 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Key To Keeping Killer T Cells In Prime Shape For Fighting Infection, CancerResearchers have found multiple receptors on the outside of the body's killer immune system cells which they believe can be selectively targeted to keep the cells in superb infection and disease-fighting condition. In a study published in Nature Immunology, the researchers describe their discovery of seven different receptors on T cells that can tamp down immune responses during a prolonged battle with an infectious pathogen or against developing cancer.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 2 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Possible Mechanism For Creating 'Handedness' In Biological MoleculesThe basic molecules that make up all living things have a predetermined chirality or "handedness," similar to the way people are right or left handed. This chirality has a profound influence on the chemistry and molecular interactions of living organisms. Scientists have discovered a way to induce this handedness in pre-biological molecules.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 2 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Lack Of Vitamin D Could Spell Heart TroubleVitamin D deficiency -- which is traditionally associated with bone and muscle weakness -- may also increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. A growing body of evidence links low 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels to common CVD risk factors such as hypertension, obesity and diabetes, as well as major cardiovascular events including stroke and congestive heart failure.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 2 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Dirty Teeth Reveal Ancient Peruvians Ate WellThanks to poor dental hygiene, researchers detect what Peruvians ate 9,200 years ago.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 2 Dec 2008 | 3:10 pm Timothy Beers on Being an AstrophysicistAs a graduate student, I was actually planning to research a different area of astrophysics.Source: Livescience.com | 2 Dec 2008 | 3:02 pm Strange Experiments Create Body-Swapping Experiences (LiveScience.com)LiveScience.com - Scientists now have manipulated people's perceptions to make them think they have swapped bodies with another human or even a "humanoid body," experiencing the sensations that the other would feel and giving the illusion of being inside the other's body. The bizarre achievement hearkens to body swaps portrayed on numerous TV shows and movies such as "Freaky Friday" and "All of Me." In real life, the cognitive neuroscientists at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet succeeded in making subjects perceive the bodies of mannequins and other people as their own. ...Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 2 Dec 2008 | 2:41 pm Strange Experiments Create Body-Swapping ExperiencesScientists have succeeded in making subjects think they have swapped bodies with mannequins.Source: Livescience.com | 2 Dec 2008 | 2:36 pm Body-swap illusion tricks mind in new study (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 2 Dec 2008 | 2:26 pm Buffet Behavior: The Science of Pigging OutHeavier people are more likely to use larger plates, chew less and engage in other behaviors that lead to overeating.Source: Livescience.com | 2 Dec 2008 | 2:24 pm No Frills Tickets to Space to Go on SaleXCOR Aerospace plans to begin selling tickets to space on its two-seater.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 2 Dec 2008 | 2:10 pm Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Search Begins AnewFour years after a much-debated ivory-bill sighting, the search goes on.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 2 Dec 2008 | 2:02 pm 1 in 5 Young Adults Has Personality DisorderEven more young adults abuse alcohol and drugs.Source: Livescience.com | 2 Dec 2008 | 1:28 pm Call him Mr TimeHow the world's director of time sees we're not lateSource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 2 Dec 2008 | 12:52 pm Mardell's EuropeA new EU deal on car emissions - but will it work?Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 2 Dec 2008 | 12:42 pm 70% deforestation cuts for BrazilBrazil's environment minister plans to reduce deforestation in the Amazon region by up to 70%, as UN climate talks begin.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 2 Dec 2008 | 12:26 pm Dig unearths Stone Age sculpturesAn excavation in Russia has unearthed female figurines, tools, and a cone-shaped carving of unknown purpose.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 2 Dec 2008 | 11:40 am Baby talkIs it ethical to add more people to our crowded planet?Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 2 Dec 2008 | 11:40 am Croc deathsThe race to find out what's killing the rare gharial crocSource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 2 Dec 2008 | 10:18 am Search for ivory-billed woodpecker to begin anew (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 2 Dec 2008 | 10:01 am 'Time-bending drug' for jet lagScientists announce promising trial results for a new drug for jet lag pill that can reset the body's natural sleep rhythms.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 2 Dec 2008 | 9:08 am Gene 'may ward off lung cancer'A British team of scientists have pinpointed a "tumour suppressor" gene which protects against lung cancer.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 2 Dec 2008 | 8:56 am Audio slideshowTour a secret 1960s nuclear bunker meant for ministersSource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 2 Dec 2008 | 8:25 am Bad back may stop cane toad invasionSYDNEY (Reuters) - It seems a bad back might be the only thing that can stop the relentless spread of Australia's poisonous cane toads, which are killing native animals as they hop across the nation, researchers say.Source: Reuters: Science News | 2 Dec 2008 | 7:16 am Researchers link C-section babies to asthma riskLONDON (Reuters) - Babies born by Caesarean section are more likely to develop asthma than children delivered naturally, Swiss researchers said on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Science News | 2 Dec 2008 | 12:46 am Canada's Pacific coast killer whales still at riskVANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Canada's killer whale population on the Pacific Coast remains at risk of extinction as its main food source continues to decline, a government panel said on Monday.Source: Reuters: Science News | 2 Dec 2008 | 12:43 am Palm oil offers no green solutionA major international study says palm oil plantations reduce plant and animal diversity, and do little to reduce carbon emissions.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 2 Dec 2008 | 12:37 am George Monbiot: Lord Turner's climate change report is long, detailed and impressive - but futileLord Turner has two jobs. The first, as chair of the Financial Services Authority, is to save capitalism. The second, as chair of the committee on climate change, is to save the biosphere from the impacts of capitalism. I have no idea how well he is discharging the first task, but if his approach to the second one is anything to go by, you should dump your shares and buy gold. His climate change report, published yesterday, is long, detailed and impressive. It has the admirable objective of trying to cap global warming at two degrees or a little more. This, it says, means that greenhouse gas pollution in the UK should fall by 80% by 2050 and by 31% by 2020. But there's a problem. There is no longer any likely relationship between an 80% cut and two degrees of warming. This gets a little complicated, but please bear with me while I explain why Turner's proposal is about as likely to stop runaway climate change as the Maginot Line was to hold back the Luftwaffe. The 80% cut he recommends for the UK more or less matches a global target of 50% by 2050. A 50% global cut, the report says, would make roughly two degrees of warming a "central expectation" and would reduce the probability of four degrees (which it calls "extremely dangerous climate change") to less than 1%. Turner claims that to keep the temperature rise close to two degrees, the world's greenhouse gas emissions must peak in 2016 then fall by either 3% or 4% a year. A 3% rate of decline is most likely to deliver a temperature rise of 2.2 degrees this century; a 4% annual cut would produce about a 2.1 degree rise. That's more or less consistent with his 2050 targets. So far so good. But a recent paper in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, using the same sources, comes to completely different conclusions. It agrees that to deliver a reasonable chance of preventing more than two degrees of warming, greenhouse gases in the atmosphere need to stabilise at a maximum of 450 parts per million, carbon dioxide equivalent (ppmCO2e). But it shows that to achieve this, global emissions of greenhouse gases from the parts of the system we can control need to peak by 2015, then fall by 6%-8% a year between 2020 and 2040, leading to "full decarbonisation sometime soon after 2050". Even this, it shows, relies on an optimistic reading of the current data. Turner's suggested cuts are more likely to produce four degrees of warming than two degrees. The difference between the two reports comes down to this: Turner assumes that greenhouse gases can rise to 500 ppmCO2e before falling back to 450. The other paper shows that this is a dangerous assumption. Not only does this mean that the cut comes far too late but, far from falling back, the enhanced levels in the atmosphere are likely to trigger more emissions as the biosphere starts producing more greenhouse gases than it absorbs. We cannot afford to overshoot. Last week a paper published in Geophysical Research Letters produced what could be the first hard evidence that runaway global feedback has begun. In 2007 methane levels in the atmosphere, which had previously levelled off, began rising again. The most likely reason is that the Siberian permafrost is melting, as a result of the runaway warming of the Arctic. This wasn't supposed to begin for another 80 years. The great global meltdown appears to have started, yet Turner proposes that we carry on with the old plan as if nothing has changed. We're still digging trenches, even as the sky fills with bomber planes. My reading of the new projections suggests that to play its part in preventing two degrees of global warming, the UK needs to cut greenhouse gases by roughly 25% from current levels by the end of 2012 - a quarter in four years. But how the heck could this be done? Here is a list of measures that could be enacted almost immediately. They require no economic or technological miracles; but they do demand that the government is brave enough to govern. 1 Immediately renegotiate the European Emissions Trading Scheme, imposing a lower cap on carbon pollution and the mandatory sale of all emissions permits to the industries covered by the scheme (currently over 90% are given away). 2 Use the money this raises for: a. A crash programme for training builders. As the major component of a green new deal - delivering jobs as well as carbon cuts - the government will immediately launch training schemes for tens of thousands of specialist builders, insulators, window-fitters, plasterers and decorators. b. A home improvement scheme like Germany's, but twice as fast. Every year between January 2010 and 2020, 10% of homes will be fully insulated and fitted with good windows or secondary glazing, at state expense. Landlords will have a legal obligation to join, or lose their right to take tenants. Announce that when the scheme is complete, gas and electricity bills will be subject to an escalating tariff: the more you use, the more you will have to pay for every unit. 3 Announce that incandescent lightbulbs will no longer be sold in the UK from next April. Announce that no fridge or freezer with an energy rating below grade A++, and no other appliance rated below grade A, will be sold from next July. 4 Increase vehicle excise duty for the most polluting cars to £3,000 a year (from the current £400). Use the money this raises to: a. Start closing key urban streets to private cars and dedicating them to public transport and cycling. b. Increase the public subsidy for bus and train journeys. Oblige the bus companies to sign contracts providing a wider range of services. Give us the integrated low-carbon transport we have long been promised, in which buses are scheduled to meet trains, buses and trains carry bicycles, and safe cycle lanes connect with each other across entire cities. c. Train thousands of new coach drivers and public transport operators. Create coach lanes on all motorways and start moving coach stations from the city centres to the motorway junctions, to enable coach travel to become as fast and efficient as car travel. Link them to city centres with dedicated bus lanes. d. Scrap the airport expansion programme. Set a cap on the number of landing slots, which will fall every year until it reaches 5% of current capacity. 5 Stop the burning of moorland because this exposes and oxidises peat. Grouse shoots (which are mostly responsible) produce a staggering proportion of the UK's emissions. 6 Stop all opencast coal mining and rescind planning permission for new works. Impose stonking taxes on the extraction of all fossil fuels. Is this enough? No. But it puts us on the right track. It's all a gamble from now on: the only reliable advice is that we shouldn't start from here. But two decades of procrastination ensure that only emergency measures now have a chance of preventing a climate disaster. What Turner's report - polite, measured and impressive as it is - proposes is more procrastination. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 2 Dec 2008 | 12:07 am New jet lag drug has been successfully testedYou have been staring at the ceiling of your darkened hotel room for an hour and half but despite willing your eyelids to droop you are still wide awake. You glance at the clock. It is 4.10am. The sleepless nights and blurry days of jet lag will be familiar to anyone who has travelled across time zones for a holiday or business trip. But a new drug that has been successfully tested in human volunteers may offer hope for future travellers and shift-workers. In two clinical trials the drug tasimelteon, which helps to shift the natural ebb and flow of the body's sleep hormone, melatonin, increased the time volunteers spent asleep, helped them to get to sleep quicker and reduced the amount of time they spent awake during the night. The research team did not test how well their subjects performed the day after taking the drug - something that would be crucial on a business trip - but it should help travellers to feel more normal. "All the evidence suggests it would because if you have shifted your clock and you've slept well, then you should perform well the next day," said Dr Elizabeth Klerman, at Brigham and Women's hospital, Boston, who led the study. Melatonin is released naturally by the pineal gland deep in the brain in response to light levels. It binds to receptors in the brain's circadian clock and acts to entrain the clock to the day-night cycle. "You can think of melatonin as something which quiets the awakening signal from your body clock," said Klerman. "It does not put you to sleep ... but once you drop off it prevents you from waking up early if you are trying to sleep at an unusual time." Tasimelteon mimics melatonin and binds to the same receptors. Klerman and her colleagues conducted two clinical trials in which they studied volunteers who had their body clock advanced by five hours - the same as travelling from New York to London. They compared sleep patterns in people given the drug and those given a placebo. Neither the researchers nor the subjects knew who had been given which. The researchers report today in the Lancet that in the larger of the trials, volunteers on the medium dose of the drug slept for an average of 48 minutes longer. The time they spent awake during the night was also less: 140 minutes on average for the placebo group, compared with 106 minutes for people who took a medium dose of tasimelteon. The study was funded by Vanda Pharmaceuticals, which makes the drug, though it has not yet been approved by the Federal Drug Administration. Klerman said although melatonin is available in US health food stores - it is not legal in the UK - there is conflicting evidence about how well it works. It is licensed as a supplement and does not fall under the remit of the FDA. "What you get in a health food store isn't necessarily pure and the dose isn't necessarily what they say on the bottle," she said. To combat jet lag, the NHS recommends topping up on sleep before you travel; adjusting to your destination, by shifting your watch as soon as you get on the plane; avoiding alcohol; and by spending lots of time outdoors in the daylight. If you are considering taking melatonin supplements the NHS recommends consulting your doctor first. Travellers' tips"'Change your watch to local time as soon as you get on the plane. Shower on arrival, then stay awake until local bedtime ... I find copious amounts of booze is the only way to get through the flight. Just drink a ton of water" "Melatonin speeds up the resetting of circadian rhythms. Not legally sold in the UK but widely available in most other countries, including the US" "Flying west to east is the killer. Don't sleep on the plane. That's important" From readers of guardian.co.uk/travel 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 | 2 Dec 2008 | 12:04 am Monday Night: Planets Align in a Frown
Look up at the sky Monday night to see a bright cosmic frown. The planets Jupiter and Venus will briefly align to form (nearly upside down) two eyes and a frowning mouth in the southwest. In what's called a planetary conjunction, the two planets —the brightest in the night sky — will appear extremely close, separated by only the width of a finger held at arm's length. They won't be this close together and well-placed for evening viewing again until May 2013. In fact, some astronomers think a similar alignment of the planets on June 17 in the year 2 BC is behind biblical accounts of the Star of Bethlehem present during Christ's birth. The bright planets would have appeared so close together they could have been taken as a single shining star. Though the three celestial objects will appear to be close together Monday night, they lie at drastically different distances from Earth. While the moon is only 252,000 miles away, Venus is 370 times farther away, at 94 million miles. And distant Jupiter lies nearly six times farther away than Venus, at around 540 million miles. The tables are turned when we think about the heavenly objects' relative size. While the moon appears as the largest of the three, it is really a tiny speck in space compared to the vast bulk of Venus, which is again dwarfed by Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system. Jupiter's diameter is 40 times that of the moon. Though Jupiter is much larger than Venus, it appears dimmer to us, because the latter planet is so much closer to Earth. Plus, Jupiter is much farther away from the sun than Venus, so the light bouncing off it is much less intense than the light bouncing off Venus, which hasn't had to travel so far. See Also:
Image: Sky and Telescope Source: Wired: Wired Science | 1 Dec 2008 | 11:52 pm Wintry storm strands travelers in Chicago airports (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 1 Dec 2008 | 11:48 pm What Ancient People AteThanks to poor dental hygiene, researchers are getting a more detailed understanding.Source: Livescience.com | 1 Dec 2008 | 11:14 pm The First Aid: Iceman May Have Dressed His Own Wounds
The 5,000-year-old Tyrolean iceman may have used bog moss as a prehistoric wound dressing, according to a new analysis of his body's remains. Suffering from an arrow wound and a deep cut to the right hand, the iceman, known as Ötzi, may have engaged in some ancient first aid using the moss, a well-known wound dressing used as recently as the 20th century. "If he knew of the useful properties of bog mosses, as seems entirely plausible, then he may have gathered some to staunch the wound or wounds," wrote James Dickson, an archaeobotanist at the University of Glasgow, and his team in the journal Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. "Tiny pieces could well have stuck to the blood drying on his fingers and then he accidentally ingested some of them when next eating meat or bread as we know he did during his last few days." His medical skills, however, couldn't prevent his death; archaeologists believe he was killed by an arrow. The analysis of the fauna found near or inside human remains has added new dimensions to the study of the diets and habits of prehistoric people. The discipline has been particularly fruitful in the case of the iceman. Archaeologists had previously identified both intestinal parasites in Ötzi's colon and an anti-parasitic bark fungus that they believe he was using to treat himself. Five samples of Ötzi's intestinal tract formed the basis of the new study. In total, six mosses were found in the bowels of the Iceman of the Alps, who has stirred widespread interest since his discovery in 1991. Some of the mosses, the scientists say, reveal aspects of the final days of this Copper Age man. They believe that the iceman wrapped food in Neckera complanata, a fan moss, because it was found in all of the alimentary samples. That prevalence suggests that it was used systematically and wasn't just accidentally swallowed. The presence of a different moss found in wet areas indicates that Ötzi drank brackish water in the days leading up to his death.
"We found starch from a variety of cultivated plants: squash, Phaseolus beans ... pacay, a fruit from a cultivated tree and peanuts," said one of the paper's authors, Dolores Piperno, an archaeobotanist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the National Museum of Natural History, in a press release. The success of the study — it pushed back the cultivation of beans and pacay 1,000 years — and others like it (e.g., last year's ancient chili pepper story) show the power of starch-grain analysis, which has been around for decades, but with few practitioners. The method, popularized by Piperno, could shed even more light on the diets and habits of prehistoric peoples. "Starch analysis of teeth should greatly improve our ability to address other important questions in human dietary change relating to earlier time periods, such as possible differences between Neanderthal and early modern human diets and their roles in Neanderthal extinction," said Piperno. See Also:
Citations: 1. "Six mosses from the Tyrolean Iceman’s alimentary tract and their significance for his ethnobotany and the events of his last days" by James H. Dickson, Wolfgang Hofbauer, Ronald Porley, Alexandra Schmidl, Werner Kofler and Klaus Oeggl. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany: DOI 10.1007/s00334-007-0141-7 2. "Starch grains on human teeth reveal early broad crop diet in northern Peru" by Dolores R. Piperno and Tom D. Dillehay. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: DOI 10.1073/pnas.0808752105 Image 1: Tyrolean iceman. Credit: Franco Rollo/University of Camerino Image 2. Hymenostylium recurvirostrum from the sample of food residue taken from the rectum. Credit: Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. WiSci 2.0: Alexis Madrigal's Twitter , Google Reader feed, and webpage; Wired Science on Facebook. Source: Wired: Wired Science | 1 Dec 2008 | 10:59 pm Danger Detector Found in MiceOne whiff of an alarm pheromone sends figurative shivers down a mouse's little spine.Source: Livescience.com | 1 Dec 2008 | 10:21 pm Dirty teeth reveal ancient diet (AP)AP - Thanks to poor dental hygiene, researchers are getting a more detailed understanding of what people ate thousands of years ago in what is now Peru.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 1 Dec 2008 | 10:01 pm First days after HIV infection may hold vaccine keyGENEVA (Reuters) - The body's initial response to contracting HIV could provide the answers scientists need to develop a vaccine for the AIDS-causing virus, a Nobel-winning expert said on Monday.Source: Reuters: Science News | 1 Dec 2008 | 9:24 pm Sleep terrors may have genetic rootsNEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Sleep terrors may run in the family, new research in twins shows.Source: Reuters: Science News | 1 Dec 2008 | 8:40 pm High court turns down pipeline company appeal (AP)AP - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a pipeline company over denial of environmental permits for a proposed natural gas pipeline through Long Island Sound.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 1 Dec 2008 | 8:38 pm 2009: 'Year of the Gorilla'The U.N. commits to raising awareness about the plight of gorillas in 2009.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 1 Dec 2008 | 7:54 pm Some Men Need MammogramsA new study finds male mammograms and sonograms can be useful in making breast cancer diagnoses.Source: Livescience.com | 1 Dec 2008 | 7:54 pm AIDS Crisis Overblown, Some Dare SayOn World AIDS Day, some experts say HIV consumes too much health funding.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 1 Dec 2008 | 6:54 pm UN Officials Launch 'Year of the Gorilla'A U.N. effort has begun to raise money for primates threatened with extinction.Source: Livescience.com | 1 Dec 2008 | 6:20 pm Iceman Mummy Had Moss in His TummyIceman may have accidentally drank water containing one of the mosses and used another to wrap food.Source: Livescience.com | 1 Dec 2008 | 6:04 pm Fuel Cell-Powered Devices Closer to RealityThe removal of a government roadblock paves the way for fuel cell-powered devices.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 1 Dec 2008 | 4:54 pm Endeavour touches down in CaliforniaCAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Endeavour wrapped up a 16-day mission to prepare the International Space Station for its first six-member crew with a flawless touchdown at NASA's backup landing site in California.Source: Reuters: Science News | 1 Dec 2008 | 4:04 pm New Laser Technique Produces Bevy of AntimatterBlasting a gold target with lasers creates a vast supply of antimatter.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 1 Dec 2008 | 3:54 pm SLIDE SHOW: Adventurer Steve FossettHighlights from the life, and mysterious death, of Steve Fossett.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 1 Dec 2008 | 3:54 pm Endeavour touches down in California (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 1 Dec 2008 | 3:52 pm Brains of autistic slower to react to sounds: studyCHICAGO (Reuters) - The brains of autistic children react to sounds a fraction of a second slower than those of normal children, which may help explain the communication problems associated with autism, researchers said on Monday.Source: Reuters: Science News | 1 Dec 2008 | 3:47 pm Antarctic seas richer in life than Galapagos Islands, study claimsSeas surrounding an archipelago near the tip of the Antarctic peninsula are richer in animal life than the Galapagos Islands, challenging the notion that warm seas in tropical zones are higher in biodiversity, scientists claimed today. Much less is known about the South Orkney islands than the tropical islands that helped to shape Charles Darwin's thoughts about natural selection on his Beagle voyage. But according to a new study published today by the Journal of Biogeography, the sea around them is teeming with a huge variety of life. The survey disproves the notion that the waters in chilly polar regions have a much poorer variety of fauna. "There has been a long-held belief that the tropics are rich and the polar regions are poor and mid-latitudes are somewhere in between," said Dr David Barnes at the British Antarctic Survey, who led the study, part of the international Census of Marine Life. "This is the first time we've been able to actually look at the fauna of a polar archipelago – it is not actually that poor at all." Barnes said the reason for carrying out the survey was to give a baseline from which changes in biodiversity due to global warming can be judged. "This is in the part of the world with fastest change in terms of temperature," he said. The Antarctic peninsula has already experienced warming of 3C over the past 50 years. "If you don't know what the fauna is at any one point it is very difficult to detect either species moving in or species moving out", he added. The survey recorded 1,224 species in 50 different biological classes. The team discovered five new species and one genus - the biological category that is higher than species - that was new to science. The new species are all sea mosses (bryozoans) or isopods (woodlouse-like animals) but they have not been given names yet. The team also scoured reports from scientific expeditions and the scientific literature going back decades to find every mention of species observed in the region in a bid to create the most complete and authoritative list of creatures that have ever been found there. But studying the sea creatures off the South Orkneys is not for the faint hearted - and a far cry from the balmy waters around the Galapagos. Barnes's team had to brave biting winds that frequently stopped them from working. And while diving in the freezing waters, they had to keep an eye out for potential attacks by orcas and leopard seals. If either predator came near they had to stop diving by climbing onto the British Antarctic Survey's Royal research vessel James Clark Ross or scrambling to shore. "Although that sounds dramatic, weather is a far bigger issue," said Barnes. "It stops us working far more and makes our work far more hazardous ... Sometimes it's much warmer under the water - it's only minus one and a half [degrees]!" Once underwater though the view is spectacular. "," said Barnes, who has dived extensively on coral reefs and all over the world. "I don't think I've been anywhere where you can see so many different types of major groups of animals all in one place. "You would have to swim quite a long way in the UK or maybe cover hundreds of metres in a coral reef to see so many types of animals that you can see in a very small space at the polar regions." He said that the marine environment off the South Orkneys is also pristine and free from invasive species. "It is literally the only place in the world where you can dive and not see alien species. Everything you can see in front of you is native to Antarctica." None of the trawls of the ocean depths brought up any plastic waste – something expected anywhere else in the world. The only human crafted item the team did uncover was a piece of lead shot that was probably fired by whalers who used the South Orkneys as a base at the turn of the last century. The team's survey covered all realms of sea life. As well as diving in the shallows they also trawled the sea bottom to a depth of 1,500m using nets and employed a special sled that when dragged across the bottom could collect even very tiny creatures. Its sieve held everything bigger than 0.3mm. Other team members combed the intertidal zone of the islands to survey life in rock pools and living on the shore. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 1 Dec 2008 | 3:26 pm In pictures: Antarctic seas rich in marine lifeThe first comprehensive inventory of sea and land animals around the South Orkney islands off the tip of the Antarctic peninsula has revealed a region rich in biodiversity, with more species than the GalapagosSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 1 Dec 2008 | 3:22 pm The Energy Debates: Small Wind PowerThe Energy Debates is a LiveScience series about the pros, cons, policy debates, myths and facts related to various alternative energy ideas.Source: Livescience.com | 1 Dec 2008 | 3:12 pm New Fan-Like Coral Found in Deep SeaA spectacular new coral species is found off the Pacific Northwest.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 1 Dec 2008 | 2:37 pm 150 whales die in stranding off Australian coastSYDNEY (Reuters) - At least 150 whales have died in a mass stranding off Tasmania's west coast, Australian authorities said on Sunday, despite the efforts of rescuers who managed to shepherd a small number back to the ocean.Source: Reuters: Science News | 1 Dec 2008 | 2:28 pm
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