The world economy is an elaborate, complex system so a recession can have unforeseen effects all along the food chain - even among sharks, though that is a good thing for people.

Shark attacks worldwide in 2008 dipped to their lowest level in five years, a sign that Americans may be forgoing vacation trips to the beach, said George Burgess, ichthyologist and director of the International Shark Attack File, which is housed at the University of Florida.

According to the latest statistics released today, the total number of shark attacks declined from 71 in 2007 to 59 in 2008, the fewest since 2003, when there were 57, said Burgess, who works at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus.

As we mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, there is much focus on evolution in animals and plants. But new research shows that for the countless billions of tiniest creatures – microbes – large-scale evolution was completed 2.5 billion years ago.

All living organisms need nitrogen, a basic component of amino acids and proteins. But for atmospheric nitrogen to be usable, it must be "fixed," or converted to a biologically useful form. Some microbes turn atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, a form in which the nitrogen can be easily absorbed by other organisms.

A new gene that provides resistance to a fungal disease responsible for millions of hectares of lost wheat yield has been discovered by scientists from the US and Israel.  Resistance to stripe rust has previously been achieved using genes that are specific to single races of the disease. Unfortunately, each of these genes has had limited durability in the field because the pathogen has mutated to overcome them.

In the paper to be published in Science Express tomorrow, the international team of scientists report finding a novel type of gene in wild wheat that is absent in modern pasta and bread wheat varieties.

Coffee shrubs, both in themselves and because they are most often cultivated in the shade of large trees, can have a positive impact on plant and animal diversity in those parts of the landscape that are deforested and dominated by agriculture.

What constitutes a dilemma for consumers wishing to shop ecologically is that when coffee is grown in a forest, which is also common, the impact on diversity is negative, say researchers at the Department of Botany, Stockholm University, in Sweden, who recently published two articles about the role of coffee cultivation in conserving plants and animals in Ethiopia, the original home of coffee.

For many children, a trip to the doctor or dentist is a stressful experience. The sensory environment (i.e., the sounds, smells, and lights associated with the clinical setting) can cause a child's anxiety levels to rise. This is especially true in children with developmental disabilities who may have difficulty understanding the unfamiliar clinical environment. A new study soon explores the relationship between the sensory environment and anxiety levels in children.

NASA's Kepler spacecraft will soon begin a journey to search for worlds that could potentially host life. Kepler is scheduled to blast into space from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., aboard a Delta II rocket on March 5 at 7:48 p.m. Pacific Time (10:48 p.m. Eastern Time). It is the first mission with the ability to find planets like Earth -- rocky planets that orbit sun-like stars in a warm zone where liquid water could be maintained on the surface. Liquid water is believed to be essential for the formation of life. 

WASHINGTON, February 19 /PRNewswire/ --

- 9th Biennial FISD Event Highlights Financial Information and its Interaction with Risk Management, New Markets, Product Innovation Cost Management

- Keynote by breakingviews.com's Rob Cox Offers Insights Regarding Today's Financial Services Challenges and Strategies

The Financial Information Services Division (FISD) of the Software Information Industry Association (SIIA) today announced that Rob Cox, US Editor and Director for breakingviews.com, will be the opening keynote for its 9th Biennial World Financial Information Services Conference (WFIC), slated for October 4-7, 2009, at Divani Apollon, Athens, Greece.

Show Me The Science Month Day 17



Often when something new crops up in evolutionary history, it's usually the result of tinkering with functional, preexisting molecular tools.. In a paper published in Science, some NYU researchers find that the protein cues used by  fruit fly embryos to direct their migrating reproductive cells are processed by some very ancient cellular machinery. The scientists test their ideas with a very weird experiment: they use their newfound knowledge to direct the reproductive cells to migrate into the embryos' brains.

SEATTLE, February 19 /PRNewswire/ --

- Groundspeak's Geocaching Application makes high-tech treasure hunting fun, easy and affordable

Geocaching.com, the global headquarters for the sport of geocaching, recently released their official Geocaching iPhone Application. Developed by Groundspeak, the owner of Geocaching.com, the US$9.99 Geocaching Application is available online at Apple's iPhone Apps Store.

SAN JOSE, California, February 18 /PRNewswire/ --

- First Phase of Planned 7.1-Megawatt Solar Power Development

SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq: SPWRA, SPWRB), a manufacturer of high-efficiency solar cells, solar panels and solar systems, today announced that it has signed an agreement with Sunshire, S.r.l., a subsidiary of Api Nova Energia S.r.l., to design and build a 2.2-megawatt solar electric power plant in Tolentino, Italy.