|
|
|
|
Vampires and collisions rejuvenate starsUsing the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have uncovered two distinct kinds of "rejuvenated" stars in the globular cluster Messier 30. A new study shows that both stellar collisions and a process sometimes called vampirism are behind this cosmic "face lift." The scientists also uncover evidence that both sorts of blue stragglers were produced during a critical dynamical event (known as "core collapse") that occurred in Messier 30 a few billion years ago.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 26 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm Physical activity associated with lower risk of mortality in men with history of colon cancerIncreased physical activity appears to be associated with a lower risk of cancer-specific and overall death in men with a history of colorectal cancer that has not spread to other parts of the body, according to a new study.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 26 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm How the daisy got its spot: Insect mimicryDark spots on flower petals are common across many angiosperm plant families and occur on flowers such as some lilies, orchids, and daisies. Much research has been done on the physiological and behavioral mechanisms for how these spots attract pollinators. But have you ever wondered what these spots are composed of, how they develop, or how they only appear on some but not all of the ray florets?Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 26 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm Half of urban teen girls acquire STIs within two years of first sexual activityHalf of urban teenage girls may acquire at least one of three common sexually transmitted infections within two years of becoming sexually active, according to a new study.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 26 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm Further progress toward AIDS vaccine: Rabies-virus vaccine protects monkeysResearchers are one step closer to developing a vaccine against the AIDS disease. They have found that a rabies virus-based vaccine administered to monkeys protected against the simian equivalent of the HIV virus (SIV).Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 26 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm Magnetic field measurements of the human heart at room temperatureA new optical sensor was successfully tested in the "magnetically best shielded room on Earth." The sensor does not need advanced cooling and is very small. Its suitability was proven for biomagnetic measurements in the picotesla range. So, magnetocardiographic measurement devices -- to be used as a supplement or an alternative to the ECG -- could become simpler and less expensive.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 26 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm Tourists in Antarctica cause of major concernThe 40,000 'eco-tourists' who visit the South Pole every year cause enormous greenhouse gas emissions. The visitors to the snow-covered landmass are endangering not just the Antarctic region by their actions, but also the rest of the world. Scientists have investigated the impacts of increased tourism on Antarctica and how this impact could be curbed.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 26 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am Genomic toggle switches divide autoimmune diseases into distinct clustersGenomic switches can predispose an individual to one set of autoimmune disorders but protect the same person against another set of them, scientists have found.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 26 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am Signaling decreases blood pressure, study findsBlood pressure is controlled in part by changes in the radius of blood vessels; when the smooth muscle cells in the wall of a blood vessel contract, the radius of the blood vessel decreases and blood pressure increases. Researchers have now identified in mice a new signaling pathway that contributes to relaxation of smooth muscle cells in blood vessel walls triggered by the molecule NO and thereby decreases blood pressure.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 26 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am Calorie restriction: Scientists take important step toward 'fountain of youth'Going back for a second dessert after your holiday meal might not be the best strategy for living a long, cancer-free life say researchers. That's because they've shown exactly how restricted calorie diets -- specifically in the form of restricted glucose -- help human cells live longer.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 26 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am The nation's weather (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 26 Dec 2009 | 3:09 am Scientists say magma building up in Mayon volcano (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 26 Dec 2009 | 3:06 am Musical impactScientists turning to music to put across their messagesSource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 26 Dec 2009 | 12:53 am Ancient whale sucked mud for foodAn ancient "dwarf" whale fed by sucking small animals out of the seafloor mud with its short snout and tongue.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 25 Dec 2009 | 8:24 pm Bowled OverWhat does bowling have to do with high energy particle physics? It's not an obvious connection, but when the two people bowling are particle physicist Bonnie Fleming and comedian Chris Hardwick (whose father just happens to be one of the ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 25 Dec 2009 | 7:41 pm Good to talkTechnology tackles uncracked problem in games designSource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 25 Dec 2009 | 7:21 pm Troubleshooters that block cancerA family of "limpet-like" proteins play a crucial role in repairing DNA damage which can lead to cancer, two studies show.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 25 Dec 2009 | 5:03 pm Tug grounds on same reef as Exxon Valdez tanker (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 25 Dec 2009 | 4:57 pm GAO Warns Space Station May Be a BustThe Government Accountability Office has some somber words for U.S. taxpayers: After 25 years of work and billions of dollars, we may not get our money’s worth out of the International Space Station. There are several reasons for the situation, ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 25 Dec 2009 | 4:45 pm South Korea's Lee visits UAE; nuclear deal eyed (Reuters)Reuters - South Korean President Lee Myung-bak visits the United Arab Emirates on Saturday in a push to win one of the world's biggest nuclear power plant contracts.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 25 Dec 2009 | 3:51 pm Huge US storm puts the freeze on Christmas (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 25 Dec 2009 | 3:33 pm Wind Turbine Puts On Holiday ShowTravelers on Germany's A9 Autobahn are likely to do some double-takes this holiday. That giant light isn't an alien--it's the world's largest spinning Christmas star. Power giant Siemens contracted multimedia artist Michael Pendry for the massive project done in partnership ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 25 Dec 2009 | 11:42 am Americans Delay Cell Phone Upgrades (LiveScience.com)LiveScience.com - More Americans are delaying the purchase of a new cell phone because of the current economic slump, a new survey of recycled phones suggests.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 25 Dec 2009 | 10:50 am Ukraine facing 'serious problems' paying for gas: Gazprom (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 25 Dec 2009 | 10:24 am Ukraine has problems paying for gas: Gazprom (Reuters)Reuters - Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom said on Friday Ukraine was facing difficulties with payments for its gas, news agencies quoted Gazprom's Chief Executive Alexei Miller as saying.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 25 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am Warming Already Speeding Up Insect Breeding
Summertime and the insect breeding is easy.
Among the 263 species already known to have a second or third generation there during toasty times, 190 have grown more likely to do so since 1980, Altermatt reports online December 22 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Only a rough third or so of all the species Altermatt reviewed show the capacity to breed more than once a year. What warming is probably doing for them, he speculates, is jolting the insects’ overwintering form into action early and also speeding up insect development. These head starts may allow time for a bonus generation before a non-temperature cue, atumnal day length, plays its role in shutting down insects for winter. “From a pest perspective it’s an important issue,” says population ecologist Patrick Tobin based in Morgantown, W.Va., for the Forest Service Northern Research Station. Tobin has studied a warmth-related extra generation in a North American pest, the grape berry moth. He points out that an extra surge of attacking pests in the growing season means yet another headache, expense and round of damage for farmers.
Extra insect generations are important for ecosystems too, Tobin says, though predicting those ripples of consequences will be “extraordinarily complex.” An additional generation of insects might boost a population of the predators that feed on them and thus make life tougher for the other species the predators attack. Or an extra annual generation of an endangered insect might give the species an extra push toward recovery. When creatures manage an extra generation in a year, evolutionary processes happen faster, Altermatt says. Those species that do get an extra, successful generation win a little uptick in their chances of adapting. He’s not predicting that the effect will be enough for species to cope with widespread habitat loss or climate change, but, he says, “It’s maybe a little hope.” The possibility for climate-triggered extra generations hasn’t gotten the research attention paid to other kinds of insecty side effects of global change, Tobin says. Insects expanding their ranges northward or upslope have been the focus of more work, in part because data aren’t as scarce. Especially rare are studies of many species over decades. Altermatt based his analyses on field work plus a review of all the museum records and publications of butterflies and moths collected within roughly 30 kilometers of Basel, Switzerland. In researching a book, Altermatt and three colleagues gleaned 182,664 records dating from 1818 to the present and describing a total of 1,117 species of butterfly. Altermatt mined the data for information about reactions to climate change. A long-standing weather station in Basel let researchers check local temperatures for different time periods. Trends followed the recent pronounced warming in Central Europe. There, other researchers have said, mean annual temperature has increased some 1.5 degrees during the last three decades. Altermatt compared insect records before and after that temperature upswing. For species with decent records, he looked for the numbers of butterflies and moths recorded by date. Peak numbers at a particular time gave him the rough date when a new generation was maturing. When he saw multiple peaks in a year, he noted multiple generations. “I can’t say if the generations were successful,” he says. One peril of warming is that, when doing a little extra development, insects may not reach a winter-hardy phase. Image: Common blue butterfly./ Flickr/SouthEastern_Star See Also:
Source: Wired: Wired Science | 25 Dec 2009 | 3:00 am
|
