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Fat - The Sixth Taste

Fat - The Sixth Taste

Feb 12 2015 | comment(s)


People are not as conscious of tasting fat as they are of other taste qualities. John Benson, CC BY

By Russell Keast, Deakin University

Skyglow: Big Variations In The Radiance Of The Night

Skyglow: Big Variations In The Radiance Of The Night

Feb 12 2015 | comment(s)

A team has undertaken what they call the most comprehensive examination of skyglow -  variations in the radiance of the night sky - ever done and found remarkably large variations in artificial night sky brightness at the different observation sites.  

Light became popular because it allowed us to extend the day - and electricity meant people could read a book without falling asleep and setting themselves on fire. But the introduction of light into the nighttime environment is one of the most striking changes humans have made to the Earth’s physical environment, and it is associated with several unintended negative consequences. One example is skyglow, the artificial brightening of the night sky.
Men Do Want Commitment...If Women Are Scarce

Men Do Want Commitment...If Women Are Scarce

Feb 12 2015 | comment(s)

The gender stereotype is that women want commitment and men want sex - but a study of the Makushi people in Guyana upends that, finding that men more likely to seek long-term relationships. Why? Because women are in short supply so a lack of commitment is a romantic negative. Some villages in Guyana are the opposite of New York City, where you could have sex with a different person every day for 5,000 years and never duplicate.

Also debunked is the conventional view that when men outnumber women, there are more likely to be male-male fights and increases in sexually transmitted diseases.

Danger to Gay Men Huffing Poppers

Danger to Gay Men Huffing Poppers

Feb 12 2015 | comment(s)

Participants in a new study have reported a small but growing and worrisome trend among some gay American men.

Cancer False Alarms Lead To Future Complacency

Cancer False Alarms Lead To Future Complacency

Feb 12 2015 | comment(s)

A cancer false alarm could put people off checking out cancer symptoms they develop in the future, according to a review of papers.

More than 80 percent of patients with potential cancer symptoms are given the all-clear after investigations. But according to the new paper, having a false alarm might discourage people from seeking help, even years later, if they notice possible symptoms of the disease again.
Privacy Is The Real Disruptive Force In Digital Techology

Privacy Is The Real Disruptive Force In Digital Techology

Feb 12 2015 | comment(s)


Facebook knows what you're doing. What you're watching. How you're feeling. Khakimullin Aleksandr/Shutter/Wired

By Paul Levy, University of Brighton

Did you recently buy a Samsung smart TV? If you are worried about privacy, you may be wondering how smart that decision was following the manufacturer’s warnings that its voice-activated televisions may record personal information – that is, your conversations – and transmit them to a third party.

Notch Cell Signaling Pathway Goes Awry In Common Pediatric Brain Tumor

Notch Cell Signaling Pathway Goes Awry In Common Pediatric Brain Tumor

Feb 12 2015 | comment(s)

A new study links a well-known cell communication pathway called Notch to one of the most common -- but overall still rare -- brain tumors found in children.

IL-6 Signaling Pathway Helps Protect Healthy Tissue From Overly Active Immune Responses

IL-6 Signaling Pathway Helps Protect Healthy Tissue From Overly Active Immune Responses

Feb 12 2015 | comment(s)

Researchers have uncovered a pathway that's key for protecting healthy tissue from overly active immune responses. The findings, which are described in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, may help clinicians provide better treatments for patients with a variety of autoimmune diseases.

During inflammatory responses due to infection, trauma, or cancer, the body's immune system becomes highly activated in an attempt to fend off invading organisms, foreign bodies, or tumor cells. Excessive immune activation, however, often results in collateral damage to surrounding healthy tissues. Even worse, uncontrolled immune responses can lead to the development of self-destructive autoimmune diseases.

How The Brain’s Internal Maps Are Linked To The External World

How The Brain’s Internal Maps Are Linked To The External World

Feb 12 2015 | comment(s)

The brain’s GPS wouldn't be much value if its maps of our surroundings that were not calibrated to the real world - grounded in reality.

But they are, and a new study shows how this is done.

The way that the brain’s internal maps are linked and anchored to the external world has been a mystery for a decade, ever since 2014 Nobel Laureates May-Britt and Edvard Moser discovered grid cells, the key reference system of our brain’s spatial navigation system. Now, researchers at the Mosers’ Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience believe they have solved this mystery. 
These Twin Stars May Need A Cosmological C-Section

These Twin Stars May Need A Cosmological C-Section

Feb 12 2015 | comment(s)

Most people don't realize it, but the majority of stars in our galaxy arrive in pairs. These fraternal twins tend to be somewhat equal partners when it comes to mass, but in a quest to find mismatched star pairs called extreme mass-ratio binaries, astronomers have discovered a new class of binary stars: One star is fully formed while the other is still in its infancy.

The Double-Edged Sword Of Osteoporosis Bone Formation And Degradation

The Double-Edged Sword Of Osteoporosis Bone Formation And Degradation

Feb 12 2015 | comment(s)

Osteoporosis is the most common type of bone disease, it is characterized by bones becoming so weak and brittle a simple cough can cause a fracture.  About half of all women over the age of 50 are at risk. 

It is preventable but for those who have it, existing treatments for this pathological bone loss mean inhibiting osteoclasts (bone-destroying cells) to limit bone degradation - but by doing so, they also prevent bone formation since it is stimulated by the presence of these very same osteoclast cells.
Charles Darwin And A Koch Brother Everyone In Science Academia Can Like

Charles Darwin And A Koch Brother Everyone In Science Academia Can Like

Feb 12 2015 | comment(s)


Everyone has heard of Louis Pasteur - most people know that pasteurization is a process of sterilizing food to make it safer. (1) And today is Darwin Day, when Charles Darwin is fêted for his work on evolution and natural selection.

Fewer people have heard of Robert Koch, though he is responsible for keeping billions of people alive in much the same way Pasteur is.
Masters And Slaves: Locked In A Deadly Relationship

Masters And Slaves: Locked In A Deadly Relationship

Feb 12 2015 | comment(s)

By Tobias Pamminger, University of Sussex

Ants have a reputation of being industrious hard-working animals, sacrificing their own benefit for the good of the colony. They live to serve their queen and take care of all essential tasks including brood care, gathering food and maintaining the nest.

However, not all ant species live up to their reputation. A handful of ant species have figured out a way to outsource all these essential tasks – by exploiting their weaker cousins.

Graph Of The Week: The Flavor Of Astrophysical Neutrinos In IceCUBE

Graph Of The Week: The Flavor Of Astrophysical Neutrinos In IceCUBE

Feb 12 2015 | comment(s)

A preprint article by the IceCube collaboration captured my attention today in the Cornell Arxiv, and even more interesting was the main result of the analysis it reports, which can be shown as a "temperature plot" on an equilateral triangle. We will get to that, but let me first explain what is the experiment, what are the goals, and what it is that was measured.

Happy Darwin Day: Eotaria Crypta Fossil Ends 5-Million-Year 'Ghost Lineage'

Happy Darwin Day: Eotaria Crypta Fossil Ends 5-Million-Year 'Ghost Lineage'

Feb 12 2015 | comment(s)

A fossil discovery has provided a missing link that helps to resolve a more than 5-million-year gap in fur seal and sea lion evolutionary history.

This new genus and species of fur seal has been called Eotaria crypta. Eotaria means 'dawn sea lion'. The species was tiny, with adults being only slightly larger than a sea otter and around the size of a juvenile New Zealand fur seal, according to University of Otago graduate student Robert Boessenecker, who found the fossil while looking through the John D. Cooper Archaeological and Paleontological Center. 
Wave Function: Schrödinger's Cat Gets A Reality Check

Wave Function: Schrödinger's Cat Gets A Reality Check

Feb 11 2015 | comment(s)

Male And Female Exercise Difference: Oxygen Uptake In Respiratory Muscles

Male And Female Exercise Difference: Oxygen Uptake In Respiratory Muscles

Feb 11 2015 | comment(s)

Muscles necessary for breathing need a greater amount of oxygen in women than in men, according to a study published today in The Journal of Physiology.

Researchers found that at submaximal and maximal exercise intensities, respiratory muscles (muscles necessary for breathing, such as the diaphragm and muscles surrounding the ribcage) consume a greater amount of oxygen in women compared with men. This means that women use more energy when breathing because a significantly greater part of total oxygen is directed to the respiratory muscles.

Synthetic Biology: New Genetically Modified Plants Have Better Drought Tolerance

Synthetic Biology: New Genetically Modified Plants Have Better Drought Tolerance

Feb 11 2015 | comment(s)

Crops and other plants are constantly faced with adverse environmental conditions, such as rising temperatures (2014 was the warmest year on record) and lessening fresh water supplies, which lower yield and cost farmers billions of dollars annually.

Drought is a major environmental stress factor affecting plant growth and development. When plants encounter drought, they naturally produce abscisic acid (ABA), a stress hormone that inhibits plant growth and reduces water consumption. Specifically, the hormone turns on a receptor (special protein) in plants when it binds to the receptor like a hand fitting into a glove, resulting in beneficial changes - such as the closing of guard cells on leaves, called stomata, to reduce water loss - that help the plants survive.

Since Paramedics Are Probably First Line Of Treatment For Stroke, Let Them Give Drugs?

Since Paramedics Are Probably First Line Of Treatment For Stroke, Let Them Give Drugs?

Feb 11 2015 | comment(s)

There is no time to waste when it comes to stroke. The more time that passes between stroke onset and treatment, the worse the outcome is for the patient. A study designed to test the benefits of early administration of magnesium sulfate suggests that stroke patients may not have to wait until they get to the hospital for treatment -- paramedics may be able to start therapy as soon as stroke is suspected. Although the drug did not improve outcome in stroke patients, the study demonstrated the feasibility of early therapy in the ambulance. The results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the study was funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health.

The Hurricanes Of The Medieval Warming Period Were Doozies

The Hurricanes Of The Medieval Warming Period Were Doozies

Feb 11 2015 | comment(s)

The folks in Boston might feel like they are having a run of bad weather now, but it's nothing like the intense hurricanes, fueled by warmer oceans, that frequently pounded the region during the first millennium, from the peak of the Roman Empire into the height of the Middle Ages, according to a new study.