Disruption Of Circadian Rhythms Affects Both Brain And Body, Mouse Study Finds

A new study has found that chronic disruption of one of the most basic circadian (daily) rhythms -- the day/night cycle -- leads to weight gain, impulsivity, slower thinking, and other physiological and behavioral changes in mice, similar to those observed in people who experience shift work or jet lag.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 12:00 pm

Deadly Stomach Infection Rising In Community Settings, Study Finds

Researchers have found that a sometimes deadly stomach bug, Clostridium difficile, is on the rise in outpatient settings. Clostridium difficile is a serious bacteria that can cause symptoms ranging from diarrhea to life-threatening inflammation of the colon.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 12:00 pm

Scientists Use World's Fastest Supercomputer To Create The Largest HIV Evolutionary Tree

In a new study the evolutionary history of more than 10,000 sequences from more than 400 HIV-infected individuals was compared. The idea is to identify common features of the transmitted virus, and attempt to create a vaccine that enables recognition the original transmitted virus before the body's immune response causes the virus to react and mutate.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 12:00 pm

Pain Of Torture Can Make Innocent Seem Guilty

Psychologists have found that the more a person appears to suffer when tortured, the guiltier they are perceived to be. According to the researchers, those complicit with the torture need to justify the torture, and therefore link the victim's pain to blame.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 12:00 pm

Tsunami Evacuation Buildings: Another Way To Save Lives In The Pacific Northwest

Coastal towns and cities in the northwest are woefully unprepared for a large-scale natural disaster. In response, geotechnical engineers are working to develop a series of tsunami evacuation buildings up and down the northwest coast. They would be the first buildings of their kind in the United States.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 12:00 pm

Robot Armada Might Scale New Worlds

An armada of robots may one day fly above the mountain tops of Saturn's moon Titan, cross its vast dunes and sail in its liquid lakes.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 12:00 pm

First Evidence For A Second Breeding Season Among Migratory Songbirds

Biologists for the first time have documented a second breeding season during the annual cycle of five songbird species that spend summers in temperate North America and winters in tropical Central and South America.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 9:00 am

Globalization: Diseases Spreading From Humans To Animals, Study Finds

Globalization and industrialization are causing diseases to spread from humans to animals, a study has shown. Researchers have shown that a strain of bacteria has jumped from humans to chickens.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 9:00 am

Weekly And Biweekly Vitamin D2 Prevents Vitamin D Deficiency

Researchers have found that 50,000 International Units of vitamin D2, given weekly for eight weeks, effectively treats vitamin D deficiency.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 9:00 am

Does Diabetes Speed Up Memory Loss In Alzheimer's Disease?

Research has shown that diabetes increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease and the risk of memory loss in people who don't have Alzheimer's disease. But it hasn't been clear whether people with Alzheimer's disease and diabetes have more rapid memory loss than those who have Alzheimer's disease but no diabetes.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 9:00 am

The nation's weather (AP)

The Weather Underground forecast for Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009 says another round of mixed precipitation and chilly temperatures will develop in the Intermountain West as low pressure shifts into the Plains. Exiting disturbances in the Southeast will fuel showers and thunderstorms in the Mid-Atlantic and the Southeast. (AP Photo/Weather Underground)AP - Wintry weather was forecast to persist over the Rockies on Wednesday, and the Northeast was expected to remain rainy.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 4:29 am

Spot Crinkly, the odd-necked swan

A wildlife charity asks the public to watch for the arrival of a special swan called Crinkly, who survives despite a disability.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 28 Oct 2009 | 4:09 am

NASA tries 2nd time to launch experimental rocket (AP)

The Ares I-X test rocket at Pad 39B is seen moments after the launch was scrubbed due to weather concerns at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009. (AP Photo/John Raoux)AP - Bad weather was interfering with NASA's attempt to launch a new, experimental rocket for the second day in a row early Wednesday.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 4:05 am

Curry compound kills cancer cells: scientists

LONDON (Reuters) - A molecule found in a curry ingredient can kill esophageal cancer cells in the laboratory, suggesting it might be developed as an anti-cancer treatment, scientists said on Wednesday.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 4:02 am

NASA hopes weather will allow new rocket liftoff (AFP)

NASA's Ares 1-X test rocket sits on launch pad 39-b at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA is hoping calmer weather will permit a second-attempt launch of a prototype rocket that could take astronauts back to the Moon -- and perhaps one day send them to Mars, too.(AFP/Getty Images/Matt Stroshane)AFP - NASA is hoping calmer weather Wednesday will permit a second-attempt launch of a prototype rocket that could take astronauts back to the Moon -- and perhaps one day send them to Mars, too.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 3:57 am

Energy group BG says third-quarter profits slide (AFP)

Energy producer BG Group said Wednesday that net profit tumbled 43.5 percent in the third quarter due to weaker natural gas prices and lower-than-expected output.(AFP/File/Shaun Curry)AFP - Energy producer BG Group said Wednesday that net profit tumbled 43.5 percent in the third quarter due to weaker natural gas prices and lower-than-expected output.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 3:30 am

Envoy: No China-US climate pact from Obama visit (AP)

FILE - In this March 3, 2009 file photo, factory chimneys pour out smoke in Shanghai, China. President Barack Obama's visit to China next month is not likely to yield a separate accord on countering global warming, though both countries are pushing for progress for upcoming global talks in Copenhagen, the top U.S. envoy on climate change said Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)AP - President Barack Obama's visit to China next month is not likely to yield a separate accord on countering global warming, though both countries are pushing for progress for upcoming global talks in Copenhagen, the top U.S. envoy on climate change said Wednesday.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 2:54 am

World's tigers years away from extinction - experts (Reuters)

A wounded male Royal Bengal Tiger sits in a cage at a veterinary zoo hospital in March 16, 2009. REUTERS/Jayanta Shaw/FilesReuters - Tigers could become extinct in the wild in two decades unless the world ramps up conservation efforts to halt the decline in their population, wildlife experts said on Wednesday.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 2:08 am

NASA Poised for 2nd Try to Launch Landmark Rocket Test (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA will try a second time to launch its experimental Ares I-X test rocket Wednesday, after cloudy weather and minor setbacks foiled a first attempt.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 1:50 am

China poisoning Pearl River Delta: Greenpeace (AFP)

A young man sifts through thick sludge from the bottom of the heavily-polluted Pearl River seeking anything of value in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. Factories in southern China are poisoning the waterway, an area where almost one-third of the country's exports are made, Greenpeace said in a report Wednesday.(AFP/File/Peter Parks)AFP - Factories in southern China are poisoning the Pearl River Delta, an area where almost one-third of the country's exports are made, Greenpeace said in a report Wednesday.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 1:40 am

U.S and Cuban scientists plan joint Gulf research

HAVANA (Reuters) - U.S., Cuban and Mexican scientists have drawn up plans for joint research in the Gulf of Mexico, in another sign of improvement in long-hostile U.S.-Cuba relations.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 12:27 am

Sex, alcohol, fat among world's big killers: WHO

LONDON (Reuters) - Tackling just five health factors could prevent millions of premature deaths and increase global life expectancy by almost 5 years, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 28 Oct 2009 | 12:24 am

Rare birds 'faring better' in UK

Rare birds in the UK have been faring far better than their more common counterparts over the last decade
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 27 Oct 2009 | 7:16 pm

'Melting fast'

Time running out for Kyrgyzstan's retreating glaciers
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 27 Oct 2009 | 6:52 pm

Curry spice 'kills cancer cells'

An extract found in the curry spice turmeric can kill off cancer cells, scientists have shown in the laboratory.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 27 Oct 2009 | 6:02 pm

Silence! The Last of the Giant Radio Telescopes Is Listening to the Universe

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There’s a geek mecca in them thar hills. And don’t expect your iPhone’s GPS to guide you to it. Hidden in the green hills of West Virginia, in a 13,000-square-mile National Radio Quiet Zone, is the world’s largest fully steerable telescope.

The GBT (Great Big Telescope, Great Big Thing or Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, depending on whom you ask) is the most overbooked telescope in the world. The waiting list to get some time on this baby is long and prestigious. And with good cause: Its sensitivity to radio signals is unparalleled.

The telescope is so sensitive, in fact, that the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) has a van that drives around the surrounding countryside asking people to stop using their wireless speaker systems, electric fences, broadband wireless modems, military radar, etc. — anything that might interfere with the telescope’s readings.

With the growing popularity of radio-array telescopes, the GBT may end up being the last single-dish telescope of its kind built in the world. The difference between an array and a giant single-dish like the GBT is the difference between a zoom and wide-angle lens on your camera. The GBT is extremely good at finding a source in space by searching a wide area, while the radio array is like a telephoto lens that good at looking at the details.

Read on for a tour of this towering instrument of space exploration.

Above: The GBT is 485 feet tall, a nudge taller than the Statue of Liberty and a nudge shorter than the Washington monument. It was put into service in early 2000.

Below: The NRAO’s 140 telescope is just around the corner from the GBT. The 140 was out of service for a number of years, but has been brought back online in conjunction with an MIT project to study turbulent properties of the earth’s ionosphere.

Photos: Jim Merithew/Wired.com



Source: Wired: Wired Science | 27 Oct 2009 | 6:00 pm

Hybrid automaker Fisker to buy shuttered GM plant (AFP)

US Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the former GM Boxwood Plant in Wilmington, Delaware. Fisker Automotive announced that the company is buying the plant to produce affordable plug-in hybrid automobiles.(AFP/Getty Images/Jeff Fusco)AFP - Budding US hybrid car maker Fisker Automotive will reopen a shuttered General Motors plant in Delaware to build fuel-efficient, plug-in cars, the White House announced Tuesday.



Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 27 Oct 2009 | 5:53 pm

U.S. panel: More study on Human Genome anthrax drug (Reuters)

Reuters - Animal data suggests a proposed Human Genome Sciences Inc drug may help people exposed to anthrax but more study is needed to show the treatment adds benefit beyond antibiotics alone, a U.S. advisory panel said on Tuesday.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 27 Oct 2009 | 4:25 pm

U.S. panel: More study on Human Genome anthrax drug

SILVER SPRING, Maryland (Reuters) - Animal data suggests a proposed Human Genome Sciences Inc drug may help people exposed to anthrax but more study is needed to show the treatment adds benefit beyond antibiotics alone, a U.S. advisory panel said on Tuesday.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 27 Oct 2009 | 4:25 pm

BLOG: 'Unicorn Fly' Buzzed During Dinosaur Age

The "unicorn fly," a one-of-a-kind insect that lived among giants, had a horn with three eyes.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Oct 2009 | 4:00 pm

Giant Sea Monster Skull Unearthed in U.K.

Bones of a pliosaur, a predator that lived 150 million years ago, have been found.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Oct 2009 | 4:00 pm

Megaquake Looms Over Seattle

The Cascadia thrust fault, one of the most powerful faults on Earth, has Seattle in its crosshairs.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Oct 2009 | 2:30 pm

Pseudo Black Hole Created in Lab

Researchers have simulated a mini black hole in the lab, though luckily not the kind that could swallow up the Earth.
Source: Livescience.com | 27 Oct 2009 | 2:29 pm

DIY Botox: Site Offers Injectable Drug Without Prescription — With How-To Video

botox-queen

A website that sells a prescription drug similar to Botox without requiring a prescription claims it has more than 2,000 customers. Some have learned how to inject the botulism-derived drug into their own faces from YouTube videos produced for the site.

Discountmedspa sells a variety of other DIY cosmetic treatments, including prescription Renova, and lip-filling gels. The botulinum toxin-derivative for sale on the site is Dysport, produced by the pharmaceutical company Ipsen and is a competitor of Allergan’s Botox. The site simply calls it “the Freeze.”

A Grand Prairie, Texas, woman, Laurie D’Alleva, who appears to be the site’s proprietor, performs treatments on herself in self-made videos posted to the site’s YouTube channel. In one video, D’Alleva pulls out a vial of what is presumably Dysport and a syringe filled with saline.

“It’s important to remember that you are mixing the potency of the botox,” she says, mixing the contents of the vial with the saline solution. She then injects her forehead and the areas around her eyes.

Ipsen received FDA clearance to sell Dysport in the United States a few months ago, but it’s a prescription medication. It’s the first direct competitor for the branded Botox, which is the most popular cosmetic treatment in America. Doctors did more than 2.4 million Botox procedures in 2008, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. In recent years, the vast amounts of money spent on the treatment have attracted scams and knockoffs, which the FDA has had to crack down on. In May, the FDA also ruled the drug needed a tougher “black-box” warning label to reflect an increased understanding of the small, but real risks of the treatment.

In the U.S., it is illegal for anyone but a doctor or nurse practitioner to prescribe drugs to patients and only pharmacists can dispense drugs to people. Yet drug sellers on the internet routinely flout the FDA’s regulations. A review published last month in the Annals of Family Medicine found more than 130 websites offering antibiotics without a prescription. The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy tracks thousands of sites that don’t meet its standards for brick-and-mortar shops. LegitScript, a private firm that works with the NABP, has database of 47,633 internet pharmacies; 46,570 of them aren’t up to snuff.

These sites are brazenly circumventing regulations that protect consumers from bad or fake drugs and ensure that the chemicals are used correctly. The laws were designed precisely to prevent Americans with little to no medical training from doing things like buying a form of toxin, mixing it with saline and injecting it into their faces. Yet, precisely that appears to be possible with the help of discountmedspa.com.

Wired.com was able to complete the ordering process on discountmedspa.com for the Freeze without being asked for a prescription. In fact, the word, “prescription” does not appear anywhere on the website.

The domain’s registration details are private, but medspacanada.com, which refers back to discountmedspa.com, is registered to Cristie Stone, with the same phone number and e-mail address listed on discountmedspa’s website. The physical address listed for medspacanada.com is the home of the Manitoba Society of Pharmacists, which has no record of Stone.

“Not only is Christie [sic] Stone not a member or the Society, I can honestly say that I have never heard her name before,” wrote Jill Ell, executive director of the society, in an e-mail to Wired.com.

Wired.com was unable to track down any trace of Stone anywhere, but did discover that D’Alleva’s maiden name is Stone.

Wired.com reached D’Alleva’s assistant, but had not heard back from D’Alleva at publication time.

The discountmedspa.com blog administrator, presumably D’Alleva posting under the handle Botox Queen, provided an explanation from a purported “long-time customer,” Tamara Lesley, explaining how the site is able to offer a prescription product.

“Laurie belongs to the Texas Medical Council and is licensed to sell these products to the women that want to use them and understand that it is their responsibility to use them safely,” she wrote.

Wired Science could not find an organization called the Texas Medical Council. It does not maintain a website and has not been mentioned in the press. A representative for the Texas Department of State Health Services had never heard of it.

Barry DiBernardo, a plastic surgeon from Mont Clair, New Jersey, had not heard of people home-administering Botox or Dysport, but did not think it was a good idea.

“I’m not aware of that,” DiBernardo said. “You need to know where the muscles are, the depth, the dosage. That doesn’t seem good.”

Short of buying and testing it, there is no way to verify that the product sold on the site is the genuine article, but the site swears by it — and the legality of its practices.

In a blog post response to a customer’s skeptical query, Laurie provided the following explanation for the legality of her site and the provenance of her products.

I know there is much information out on the net about fillers and Botox ‘knock-offs’. This is not what I am selling! The products I have are from a company names Ipsen… I have a connection that allows me to get products that are not usually available in the states because I purchase other products in their line. Now the trick is I have to market it and label it under my own brand, to keep them and myself from getting into any legal trouble. It does take a leap of faith, but I assure you I have over 2000 customers now who love the products and are saving literally hundreds of thousands of dollars between us!

It’s unclear how D’Alleva obtains the drugs and then resells them. Ipsen did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Wired.com.

Ipsen also sells Dysport in Mexico, so it’s possible the drugs are purchased there and illegally imported into the U.S.

“If it’s prescription-only, it doesn’t matter whether it’s over the counter in Mexico or not,” said Carmen Catizone, executive director of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. “Offering a prescription drug without a prescription is illegal any way you phrase it.”

Catizone also cautioned that the drugs might not actually be real, though his organization had picked up some buzz about purchasing Botox and its competitors without a prescription.

“Sometimes, if the site offers Botox, they may not really be selling Botox,” Catizone said.

Users of the site, though, testify to a variety of experiences with the drugs that seem to indicate that the Freeze is actually a botulinum toxin-derivative, as discountmedspa.com’s proprietor claims. If the site’s comments are a con — it’s a very elaborate one.

In comments on the discountmedspa blog, users testify to watching YouTube videos of doctors doing Botox injections to learn techniques for making themselves look the way they want. Dozens of cosmetic surgeons show off their Botox procedures in videos made to promote their services.

Lesley offered a helpful hint on how to inject the Freeze to make the corners of the mouth turn up so you appear to be always smiling.

“I watched a Doctor on YouTube.com do this to a patient and he warned people not to inject below the eyes however I had to put a smile on my face too,” Lesley commented on a blog post. “The trick to this is to hold a pencil just at the corner of one side of your mouth and inject two units of Freeze at the very bottom of your chin. This will cause your [sic] very end of your mouth to turn up. Then do the other side the same way. If you don’t get it even you may have a crooked smile so be very careful that the injection is placed in exactly the same place as the other side.”

Her recommendation for another user is to “watch YouTube.com and you will learn a lot of some of the Doctors [sic] secrets to recreating your face the way you want to look.”

Other women describe mishaps with over-injecting the drug.

“My Dr. would never inject the crows feet. I did and got GREAT results!” wrote a commenter named Pat. “Unfortunately, I can’t read those little hash marks on the syringe too well and over injected above the brow on one side. A week later I’m now sporting a half closed and swollen eye, and look ready for Halloween!”

In January, Wired.com reported on other similar websites that sell Melanotan, a tanning drug that has not been approved by the FDA, which has cracked down on the drug’s manufacturers and distributors.

In response to queries from Wired.com, the Texas Department of State Health Services released the following statement, but would not comment further.

“The Texas Department of State Health Services is aware of discountmedspa.com through a complaint we received. That complaint status remains open and under review,” the agency wrote.

The complaint was made under the Texas Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, which regulates the sale of prescription drugs like Dysport in the state.

“Botox is a prescription drug that must be dispensed or sold by a licensee pharmacy and only with a prescription from a licensed practitioner. Any over-the-counter sale of Botox is illegal,” the agency affirmed.

The Food and Drug Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the illegal sale of Dysport, but asked Wired.com for the web address of the offending site.

See Also:

WiSci 2.0: Alexis Madrigal’s Twitter, Google Reader feed, and green tech history research site; Wired Science on Twitter and Facebook.



Source: Wired: Wired Science | 27 Oct 2009 | 2:19 pm

Volcanic Eruptions Caused Ancient Warming And Cooling

Eruptions created Appalachian Mountains; carbon dioxide caused warming, then weathering caused global cooling.
Source: Livescience.com | 27 Oct 2009 | 12:47 pm

Human Speech Gene Found

An Australian family with a speaking disorder has helped scientists discover the speech gene.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Oct 2009 | 12:00 pm

Bizarre Ancient Fly With Three-Eyed Horn Discovered

unicornfly1

Dinosaurs weren’t the only critters with spikes and horns to roam the Earth during the Cretaceous. Scientists have found a tiny fly with a three-pronged horn and spiky eyes preserved in a chunk of amber dating to roughly 100 million years ago. The fly has been named Cascoplecia insolitis (Casco meaning old and insolitis for strange, unusual) and is so bizarre that that it has been assigned to a new insect family, reports George Poinar, Jr. of Oregon State University in Corvallis.

sciencenewsMany insects, flies included, that have compound eyes also have three additional, simple eyes that sit atop their head. These simple eyes, known as ocelli, are thought to help insects keep their bearings during flight. In the newly discovered fly, the ocelli sit at the ends of each of the horn’s three prongs. The eyes may have helped this “unicorn fly” detect approaching enemies as it crawled the surfaces of flowers looking for pollen, Poinar speculates.

4046517297_ea969348f2Each small unit of the fly’s larger compound eyes spikes outward, rather than lying flat. Perhaps the spiked surface prevented pollen from sticking to the compound eye, notes Poinar. Pollen from two different plant species was also preserved with the specimen, which was found in an amber deposit in Burma.

The fly has tiny jaws, probably suitable only for munching pollen, unusually long legs and spiraled antennae. Photographs and a description of the specimen will appear in an upcoming issue of Cretaceous Research.

Follow us on Twitter @wiredscience, and on Facebook.

See Also:



Source: Wired: Wired Science | 27 Oct 2009 | 11:34 am

Cockroach Superpower No. 42: They Don’t Need to Pee

cockroach2

To survive in hostile environments, cockroaches rely on their own vermin: Blattabacterium, a microbe that hitched a ride inside roaches 140 million years ago, and hasn’t left since.

Researchers who sequenced the Blattabacterium genome have found that it converts waste into molecules necessary for a roach to survive. Every cockroach is a testimony to the power of recycling — thanks to their microbes, they don’t even need to pee.

Blattabacterium can produce all of the essential amino acids, various vitamins, and other required compounds from a limited palette of metabolic substrates,” write entomologists in a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers have known that cockroaches need the microbes to survive: Kill Blattabacterium with antibiotics, and the insects die. They also knew that roaches store excess nitrogen — one of life’s essential elements, needed to make proteins, amino acids and DNA — inside their bodies, in tiny deposits of uric acid. But researchers didn’t know exactly what became of the uric acid after it was stored, or precisely what Blattabacterium did.

cockroach_metabolismSequencing the microbe’s genome made the links clear. The microbe contains genes that code for enzymes that break down urea and ammonia, the components of uric acid. Other genes instruct the microbe to take the resulting molecules and use them to make amino acids, repair cell walls and membranes, and perform other metabolic tasks.

This allows cockroaches to subsist on nitrogen-poor diets, an ability “critical to the ecological range and global distribution of the cockroach species,” write the researchers. And what a range it is: There are nearly 5,000 species of cockroaches, spread on every continent, even Antarctica.

Blattabacterium also helps free cockroaches from the need to urinate, said study co-author Srinivas Kambhampati, a Kansas State University entomologist. In humans and other terrestrial animals, otherwise toxic uric acid is diluted with water, then flushed from the body as urine. Cockroaches save that water. Compared to them, the iconic stillsuits worn by the fictional Fremen of Dune would be wasteful.

At this point in cockroach evolution, roaches are utterly dependent on Blattabacterium, said Kambhampati. “They’ve lost the ability to produce their own amino acids, like other animals do. They can’t live without the bacteria,” he said.

That raises the possibility of designing pesticides “that somehow interfere with the function of Blattabacterium, rather than directly killing cockroaches,” Kambhampati said. But he doubted that any such pesticide would work for long before resistance developed, and seemed glum at the prospect of his research being used to exterminate an animal that’s proved so fascinating to study.

“There’s about five or six species associated with humans, and unfortunately they give a bad name to the 4,900 species that live quietly in the forest,” said Kambhampati.

Images: 1. Flickr/Sarah Camp 2. From PNAS, a map of cockroach biosynthetic pathways; functions in which Blattobacterium is not involved are in red.

See Also:

Citation: “Nitrogen recycling and nutritional provisioning by the cockroach endosymbiont, Blattabacterium.” By Zakee L. Sabree, Srinivas Kambhampati, and Nancy A. Moran. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 106, No. 43, October 27, 2009.

Brandon Keim’s Twitter stream and reportorial outtakes; Wired Science on Twitter. Brandon is currently working on a book about ecosystem and planetary tipping points.



Source: Wired: Wired Science | 27 Oct 2009 | 10:44 am

BLOG: Smart Grid Gets Investment

Millions are allocated for smart grid infrastructure. Learn more about smart grids.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Oct 2009 | 10:35 am

NASA postpones Ares rocket test flight

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA on Tuesday delayed the test flight of an unmanned prototype moon rocket due to poor weather.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 27 Oct 2009 | 9:52 am

Huge Meteorite Crater Deemed a Hoax

The large hole found in a Latvian field was made by spades, not a giant meteorite.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Oct 2009 | 9:45 am

Ares Rocket Test Delayed by Weather

Cloudy weather has delayed a test launch of NASA's new rocket until at least Wednesday.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Oct 2009 | 9:40 am

Fergus On Flu

How not to run an immunisation campaign
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 27 Oct 2009 | 9:31 am

Weather delays Nasa rocket launch

The launch of the prototype Ares I-X rocket designed to replace the aging shuttle is delayed by bad weather.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 27 Oct 2009 | 9:28 am

Algorithm Judges Musical Hit Potential

A new Web service based on an algorithm helps determine chart-topping hits.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Oct 2009 | 9:00 am

Ancient 'Unicorn' Fly Had Five Eyes

The plentiful eyes would have helped this insect watch out for nibbling predators.
Source: Livescience.com | 27 Oct 2009 | 8:48 am

Giant Pumpkin Breaks Record

Weather affects pumpkin harvests, both the normal-sized and giant varieties.
Source: Livescience.com | 27 Oct 2009 | 8:25 am

Moon Tubes: Future Astronaut Homes?

Holes in the lunar surface may lead to hollow tubes where future astronauts could take refuge.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Oct 2009 | 8:00 am

Fighting the Flu: Do Hand Sanitizers Work?

Hand-sanitizer mania has gripped the nation. But fortunately these alcohol-based gels are excellent for preventing the spread of the flu and, although limited, pose little harm.
Source: Livescience.com | 27 Oct 2009 | 7:54 am

Nepotism Rules Among Spiders

Related spiders cooperate better and are more efficient at foraging for food than those that aren't related, a new study says.
Source: Livescience.com | 27 Oct 2009 | 7:47 am

Australia coastal living at risk

A new report warns that coastal life - favoured by most Australians - could become impossible due to climate change.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 27 Oct 2009 | 7:16 am

'Smart Grid' Gets $3.4 Billion Jolt

President Obama will announce $3.4 billion in grants aimed at reducing blackouts and cutting utility bills.
Source: Livescience.com | 27 Oct 2009 | 6:53 am

Drinking Water Wells Contaminated with Zinc

Zinc may be creeping into water supplies, which could have an affect on brain function.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Oct 2009 | 6:00 am

Earth Watch

Should the West pay countries not to drill for oil?
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 27 Oct 2009 | 5:19 am

Bear facts

They hum when happy, and "flutter" as they mate
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 27 Oct 2009 | 3:43 am