All posts; Tags Include "Evolutionary Anthropology"
- October 16, 2013
- 05:08 AM
- 1,392 views
New insight into the Earth’s deep interior
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
For 300 years we have known that the Earth’s magnetic field moves gradually westward. Computer simulations on the CSCS super-computer “Monte Rosa” by researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Leeds explain why this happens.... Read more »
Livermore PW, Hollerbach R, & Jackson A. (2013) Electromagnetically driven westward drift and inner-core superrotation in Earth's core. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110(40), 15914-15918. PMID: 24043841
- October 14, 2013
- 07:32 AM
- 821 views
Battle scarred ant antennae can’t tell friend from foe
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
Novel research shows damage to fine hairs on ants’ antennae’s hinders the ability to determine who is a nest mate and who is a threat to the colony.... Read more »
Katherine P. Gill, Ellen van Wilgenburg, David L. Macmillan, & Mark A. Elgar. (2013) Density of Antennal Sensilla Influences Efficacy of Communication in a Social Insect. The American Naturalist. DOI: 10.1086/673712
- October 11, 2013
- 08:44 AM
- 797 views
Bone-Crack Detection, Targeting, and Repair Using Ion Gradients
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
Bone cracks can be detected by utilizing the damaged matrix itself as both the trigger and the fuel. A crack in a material with a high mineral content such as bone generates ion gradients, which can be utilized for active targeting and treatment. This approach to targeting a biological structure augments current methods, which are focused on biomacromolecular interactions involving proteins and nucleic acids.... Read more »
Yadav V, Freedman JD, Grinstaff M, & Sen A. (2013) Bone-Crack Detection, Targeting, and Repair Using Ion Gradients. Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English). PMID: 24039057
- October 10, 2013
- 06:12 AM
- 770 views
Sassy Scallops
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
How will shellfish fare as ocean conditions shift?
Months of experiments gave Meredith White ample time to observe her laboratory subjects: scallops. And perhaps for them to observe her, too. Resting in their trays, drawing water across their gills for food and oxygen, the scallops reveal rows of shiny eyes ringing the edge of their shells.... Read more »
Meredith M. White, Daniel C. McCorkle, Lauren S. Mullineaux, & Anne L. Cohen. (2013) Early Exposure of Bay Scallops (Argopecten irradians) to High CO2 Causes a Decrease in Larval Shell Growth. PLoS ONE. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0061065
- October 9, 2013
- 01:55 PM
- 843 views
Tears for Fears
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
Juvenile mice secrete a protective pheromone in their tears, blocking adult mating... Read more »
Ferrero DM, Moeller LM, Osakada T, Horio N, Li Q, Roy DS, Cichy A, Spehr M, Touhara K, & Liberles SD. (2013) A juvenile mouse pheromone inhibits sexual behaviour through the vomeronasal system. Nature. PMID: 24089208
- October 9, 2013
- 05:19 AM
- 659 views
The science behind the Nobel Prize of Stanford’s Thomas Südhof
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
Thomas Südhof won a Nobel prize for his work in understanding how nerve cells communicate. They use junctions known as synapses to transmit chemical messengers to each other.
-Nobel Prize press release... Read more »
Bruce Goldman. (2013) The science behind the Nobel Prize of Stanford's Thomas Südhof . Stanford University. info:/
- October 8, 2013
- 12:36 PM
- 823 views
Decoding Sounds’ Source: Researchers Unravel Part of Mystery
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
As Baby Boomers age, many experience difficulty in hearing and understanding conversations in noisy environments such as restaurants. People who are hearing-impaired and who wear hearing aids or cochlear implants are even more severely impacted. Researchers know that the ability to locate the source of a sound with ease is vital to hear well in these types of situations, but much more information is needed to understand how hearing works to be able to design devices that work better in noisy env........ Read more »
Day ML, & Delgutte B. (2013) Decoding Sound Source Location and Separation Using Neural Population Activity Patterns. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 33(40), 15837-15847. PMID: 24089491
- October 7, 2013
- 04:14 PM
- 837 views
Gene activity and transcript patterns visualized for the first time in thousands of single human cells
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
Biologists of the University of Zurich have developed a method to visualize the activity of genes in single cells. The method is so efficient that, for the first time, a thousand genes can be studied in parallel in ten thousand single human cells. Applications lie in fields of basic research and medical diagnostics. The new method shows that the activity of genes, and the spatial organization of the resulting transcript molecules, strongly vary between single cells.... Read more »
Nico Battich, Thomas Stoeger, & Lucas Pelkmans. (2013) Image-based transcriptomics in thousands of single human cells at single-molecule resolution. Nature Methods. DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.2657
- October 1, 2013
- 10:09 AM
- 1,022 views
Seeing light in a new way
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
Scientists from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are challenging the conventional wisdom about light, and they didn’t need to go to a galaxy far, far away to do it.... Read more »
Ofer Firstenberg, Thibault Peyronel, Qi-Yu Liang, Alexey V. Gorshkov, Mikhail D. Lukin, & Vladan Vuletić. (2013) Attractive photons in a quantum nonlinear medium. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature12512
- September 27, 2013
- 09:28 AM
- 1,362 views
‘Jekyll and Hyde’ Star Morphs from Radio to X-ray Pulsar and Back Again
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
Astronomers have uncovered the strange case of a neutron star with the peculiar ability to transform from a radio pulsar into an X-ray pulsar and back again. This star’s capricious behavior appears to be fueled by a nearby companion star and may give new insights into the birth of millisecond pulsars.... Read more »
A. Papitto, C. Ferrigno, E. Bozzo, N. Rea, L. Pavan, L. Burderi, M. Burgay, S. Campana, T. Di Salvo, M. Falanga.... (2013) Swings between rotation and accretion power in a binary millisecond pulsar. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature12470
- September 27, 2013
- 07:58 AM
- 971 views
Lasers key to UAH team’s asteroid defense system
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
A space-based laser system proposed to NASA by University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) researchers could be a cost-effective way to nudge small asteroids away from a collision course with Earth.... Read more »
Richard Fork, Spencer Cole, Luke Burgess, & Grant Bergstue. (2013) Mode-locked Lasers Applied to Deflecting a Near Earth Object on Collision Course with Earth. Cornell University Library. arXiv: 1309.3238v1
- September 27, 2013
- 05:32 AM
- 776 views
Rice U. biophysicists zoom in on pore-forming toxin
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
A new study by Rice University biophysicists offers the most comprehensive picture yet of the molecular-level action of melittin, the principal toxin in bee venom. The research could aid in the development of new drugs that use a similar mechanism as melittin’s to attack cancer and bacteria.
The study appears this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.... Read more »
Lee MT, Sun TL, Hung WC, & Huang HW. (2013) Process of inducing pores in membranes by melittin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110(35), 14243-8. PMID: 23940362
- September 26, 2013
- 12:38 PM
- 779 views
Optogenetics
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
Recent news stories have covered how light flashes can be used to implant false memories. In another study they were used to stimulate neurons in specific regions of the brain to turn on—and off— behaviors related with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Light is also being used at the single-gene level to rapidly start and stop the expression of a targeted gene. It essentially creates a genetic on-off switch that will make it much easier to figure out the roles of particular genes.- Mark........ Read more »
Konermann S, Brigham MD, Trevino AE, Hsu PD, Heidenreich M, Cong L, Platt RJ, Scott DA, Church GM, & Zhang F. (2013) Optical control of mammalian endogenous transcription and epigenetic states. Nature, 500(7463), 472-6. PMID: 23877069
- September 24, 2013
- 11:26 AM
- 720 views
Fish Virus May Help Save Human Lives
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
A fish virus characterized by USGS scientists in cutthroat trout in California is being used in early steps toward research that could save thousands of human lives, thanks to both its resemblance to and its key differences from the human virus Hepatitis E.... Read more »
Debing Y, Winton J, Neyts J, & Dallmeier K. (2013) Cutthroat trout virus as a surrogate in vitro infection model for testing inhibitors of hepatitis E virus replication. Antiviral research, 100(1), 98-101. PMID: 23916729
- September 24, 2013
- 09:24 AM
- 776 views
Yale team identifies molecular ‘finger’ that pushes the domino of life
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
The basics of conception are familiar to any high school freshman biology student, yet scientists have yet to find the initial molecular mechanisms that set off the cascade of events that form a developing embryo.... Read more »
Lee MT, Bonneau AR, Takacs CM, Bazzini AA, Divito KR, Fleming ES, & Giraldez AJ. (2013) Nanog, Pou5f1 and SoxB1 activate zygotic gene expression during the maternal-to-zygotic transition. Nature. PMID: 24056933
- September 24, 2013
- 05:44 AM
- 728 views
Chasing the black holes of the ocean
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
According to researchers from ETH Zurich and the University of Miami, some of the largest ocean eddies on Earth are mathematically equivalent to the mysterious black holes of space. These eddies are so tightly shielded by circular water paths that nothing caught up in them escapes.... Read more »
G. Haller, & F. J. Beron-Vera. (2013) Coherent Lagrangian vortices: The black holes of turbulence. Journal of Fluid Mechanics. arXiv: 1308.2352v1
- September 22, 2013
- 02:57 PM
- 776 views
Why don’t trees bleed to death when they get injured?
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
BLACKSBURG, Va., Researchers from Virginia Tech; George-August University in Gottingen, Germany; and the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, have discovered how “check valves” in wood cells control sap flow and protect trees when they are injured.... Read more »
Daniela Maschek, Barry Goodell, Jody Jellison, Mark Lessard, & Holger Militz. (2013) A new approach for the study of the chemical composition of bordered pit membranes: 4Pi and confocal laser scanning microscopy. American Journal of Botany. DOI: 10.3732/ajb.1300004
- September 19, 2013
- 10:54 AM
- 740 views
Just how weak is the weak force?
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
Using a unique technique, the Q-weak collaboration has found the value of the weak force to be in agreement with theory—so far.... Read more »
Qweak Collaboration. (2013) First Determination of the Weak Charge of the Proton. Cornell University Library. DOI: arXiv:1307.5275v2
- September 19, 2013
- 08:58 AM
- 835 views
Researchers discover first evidence to support controversial theory of 'buckyball' formation
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
Researchers at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute have reported the first experimental evidence that supports the theory that a soccer ball-shaped nanoparticle, commonly called a buckyball, is the result of a breakdown of larger structures rather than being built atom-by-atom from the ground up.... Read more »
Jianyuan Zhang, Faye L. Bowles, Daniel W. Bearden, W. Keith Ray, Tim Fuhrer, Youqing Ye, Caitlyn Dixon, Kim Harich, Richard F. Helm, Marilyn M. Olmstead.... (2013) A missing link in the transformation from asymmetric to symmetric metallofullerene cages implies a top-down fullerene formation mechanism. Nature Chemistry. DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1748
- September 19, 2013
- 05:32 AM
- 1,154 views
Time is in the eye of the beholder
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
Researchers show that time perception in animals depends on their pace of life... Read more »
Kevin Healy, Luke McNally, Graeme D. Ruxton, Natalie Cooper, & Andrew L. Jackson. (2013) Metabolic rate and body size are linked with perception of temporal information. Elsevier Animal Behaviour. DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.06.018
topics
join us!
Do you write about peer-reviewed research in your blog? Use ResearchBlogging.org to make it easy for your readers — and others from around the world — to find your serious posts about academic research.
If you don't have a blog, you can still use our site to learn about fascinating developments in cutting-edge research from around the world.
Research Blogging is powered by SMG Technology.
To learn more, visit seedmediagroup.com.