Since its discovery in the 18th century, cocaine has been a scourge of western society. Strongly stimulating human reward centers in low doses, cocaine is extremely addictive and can be fatal in high doses.
But this potent compound did not evolve to ensnare humans in addiction, it is a powerful insect neurotoxin, protecting coca bushes from munching insects - without rewarding them.
CALI, Colombia, December 23 /PRNewswire/ --
An ice core drilled at the Belukha glacier in the Siberian Altai by a Swiss-Russian research team under the leadership of the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in 2001 has now provided new findings in climate research. Oxygen isotopes in the ice were used to reconstruct the temperatures in the Altai over the past 750 years. The scientists discovered a strong link between regional temperatures and the solar activity in the period 1250-1850, concluding that the sun was an important driver of preindustrial temperature changes in the Altai.
A study headed by researchers from the University of Barcelona (UB) shows that caffeine has a greater effect on men than women, and that these effects start just 10 minutes after it is drunk. In addition, contrary to what was previously thought, it has also been shown that decaffeinated coffee also produces an increased state of alertness.
“Numerous studies have demonstrated the stimulant effects of caffeine, but none of these have looked at their effects in terms of the consumer’s gender,” Ana Adan, lead author of the study and a researcher in the Psychiatry and Clinical Psychobiology Department of the UB, tells SINC.
The CoRoT satellite, a space mission led by the French Space Agency CNES with the participation of Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Spain and the European Space Agency, ESA (RSSD and Science programme, that includes an Italian contribution), has recently observed a star analogous to the young Sun at an age of approximately 500 million years, named CoRoTExo-2a.
Laws banning marriage between first cousins are based on outdated assumptions about a high degree of genetic risk for offspring and should be repealed, according to a population genetics expert.
In an opinion article published in the US open-access journal PLoS Biology, University of Otago Department of Zoology Professor Hamish Spencer and Professor Diane Paul, a Research Associate at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology, argue that laws against cousin marriage are ill-advised.
"Neither the scientific nor social assumptions behind such legislation stand up to close scrutiny," says Professor Spencer. For example, a 2002 expert review of studies regarding birth defects in offspring of cousins found that the risk was much smaller than generally assumed, he says.
In 3.5 billion years, life on earth went from single microscopic cells to giant sequoias and blue whales. Scientists have now documented quantitatively that the increase in maximum size of organisms was not gradual, but happened in two distinct bursts "tied to the geological evolution of the planet," said Michal Kowalewski, professor of geosciences at Virginia Tech.
NEW YORK, December 22 /PRNewswire/ --
ContourGlobal today announced that ContourGlobal Togo, its wholly owned subsidiary, has signed a US$146 million non-recourse financing agreement with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) for the construction of ContourGlobal's 100 MW power plant in Lome, Togo.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia, December 22 /PRNewswire/ --
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has been awarded a contract to upgrade weather and navigation radar systems on Iraqi Air Force C-130 cargo aircraft.
The Foreign Military Sales contract, valued at $5.1 million (USD), was awarded to Northrop Grumman's Sperry Marine business unit by Lear Siegler Services, Inc. Sperry Marine will deliver AN/APN-242 weather and navigation radars to replace obsolete AN/APN-59 systems on the aircraft. The contract also includes funding to develop a new high-resolution flat-panel cockpit display processor for the radars. Deliveries are to be completed by July 2009.
BIELEFELD, Germany, December 22 /PRNewswire/ --
- Getting Into the Swing With Germany's New Golf Legend
- Cross Reference: Picture is Distributed via EPA (European Pressphoto Agency) and can be Downloaded Free of Charge Under: http://www.presseportal.de/pm/16299/schueco_international_kg/
