Featured Articles

How Did Iguanas Reach Fiji?

How Did Iguanas Reach Fiji?

Jan 11 2010 | comment(s)

Scientists have long puzzled over how iguanas, a group of lizards mostly found in the Americas, came to inhabit the isolated Pacific islands of Fiji and Tonga. For years, the leading explanation has been that progenitors of the island species must have rafted there, riding across the Pacific on a mat of vegetation or floating debris. But new research in the January issue of The American Naturalist suggests that iguanas may have simply walked to Fiji and Tonga when the islands were still a part of an ancient southern supercontinent.
Education Keeps Your Memory Sharp

Education Keeps Your Memory Sharp

Jan 11 2010 | comment(s)

Education plays a key role in lifelong memory performance and risk for dementia, and it's well documented that those with a college degree possess a cognitive advantage over their less educated counterparts in middle and old age. But if you didn't attend college there's still a way to retain your memory, and it'll probably cost you a lot less than a degree.  A large national study published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry shows that people with less schooling can significantly compensate for poorer education by frequently engaging in mental exercises such as word games, puzzles, reading, and lectures.
Too Much Couch Time May Cut Your Life Short

Too Much Couch Time May Cut Your Life Short

Jan 11 2010 | comment(s)

Spending too many hours on the couch watching TV could cut your life short, according to a new study in Circulation. Australian researchers tracked the lifestyle habits of 8,800 adults and found that for every hour of television watched per day, the risk of dying earlier from cardiovascular disease increased by 18 percent. The team also found that each hour spent in front of the television daily was associated with an 11 percent increased risk of death from all causes and a 9 percent increased risk of cancer death.
Making Pesticides Out Of Scorpions

Making Pesticides Out Of Scorpions

Jan 11 2010 | comment(s)

Scorpion venom is composed of a complex cocktail of poisonous peptides that immobilize animal prey on the spot. Some of the toxins in this cocktail, however, are only harmful to insects, which has prompted researchers to harness them to create a safe and ecologically sound pesticide.

Scientists from Tel Aviv University's Department of Plant Sciences have isolated the genetic sequences for important neurotoxins in the scorpion venom and have also developed methods to produce and manipulate toxins to restrict their toxicity in certain insects or mammals. The findings appear in a study published in Molecular Biology and Evolution.
Environment Influences Our Reading Skills As We Grow

Environment Influences Our Reading Skills As We Grow

Jan 11 2010 | comment(s)

While genetics play a key role in children's initial reading skills, a new study of twins is the first to demonstrate that environment plays an important role in reading growth over time. The results, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, give further evidence that children can make gains in reading during their early school years, above and beyond the important genetic factors that influence differences in reading.
Butterflies Feeling Effects Of Climate Change, Habitat Alteration

Butterflies Feeling Effects Of Climate Change, Habitat Alteration

Jan 11 2010 | comment(s)

The compounded effects of climate change and land development are taking a toll on California butterflies, says an analysis conducted by scientists from UC Davis and the University of Nevada, Reno. The new analysis, scheduled to be published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, gives insights into how a major and much-studied group of organisms is reacting to the Earth's warming climate.
Do Our Genes Explain Why We Take Financial Risks?

Do Our Genes Explain Why We Take Financial Risks?

Jan 11 2010 | comment(s)

Why are some people willing to take risks by gambling on "longshot" payoffs while, on the other hand, taking the opposite tack by buying insurance to reduce their risks? An international team of economists and molecular geneticists says the answer can be found in our genetic makeup.

In an article recently published online in PLoS ONE, researchers combined the tools of experimental economics and molecular genetics to examine the role of a well-characterized
gene, monoamine oxidase A (MAOA), in predicting whether subjects are more likely to buy the lottery or insurance (or both) under well-controlled laboratory conditions.
Ongoing Evolution May Explain Rise In Autoimmune Diseases, Reproductive Cancers

Ongoing Evolution May Explain Rise In Autoimmune Diseases, Reproductive Cancers

Jan 11 2010 | comment(s)

Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers say the subtle but ongoing pressures of human evolution could explain the seeming rise of disorders such as autism, autoimmune diseases, and reproductive cancers. They suggest that certain adaptations that once benefited humans may now be helping such ailments persist in spite of – or perhaps because of – advancements in modern culture and medicine.

The team first presented their research at the Arthur M. Sackler Colloquium, co-sponsored by the National Academy of Science and the Institute of Medicine. Colloquium presentations described in the current paper include research suggesting that:



Ancient Egyptians' Cosmetics Protected Against Eye Disease

Ancient Egyptians' Cosmetics Protected Against Eye Disease

Jan 11 2010 | comment(s)

A new study conducted by scientists in France concludes that the alluring eye makeup worn by ancient Egyptians also may have been used to help prevent or treat eye disease by doubling as an infection-fighter. The study appears in the January 15 issue of Analytical Chemistry.

The researchers note that thousands of years ago the ancient Egyptians used lead-based substances as cosmetics, including an ingredient in black eye makeup. Some Egyptians believed that this makeup also had a "magical" role in which the ancient gods Horus and Ra would protect wearers against several illnesses. Until now, however, modern scientists largely dismissed that possibility, knowing that lead-based substances can be quite toxic. 
Alda-1 Repairs Defective Alcohol Metabolism Enzyme

Alda-1 Repairs Defective Alcohol Metabolism Enzyme

Jan 11 2010 | comment(s)

A molecule called Alda-1 can repair Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2), an often defective alcohol metabolism enzyme that affects an estimated 1 billion people worldwide, according to research published Jan. 10 in the advance online edition of Nature Structural and Molecular Biology. The findings suggest the possibility of a treatment to reduce the health problems associated with the enzyme defect.

After alcohol is consumed, it is metabolized into acetaldehyde, a toxic chemical that causes DNA damage.  Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) is the main enzyme responsible for breaking down acetaldehyde into acetate, a nontoxic metabolite in the body.  It also removes other toxic aldehydes that can accumulate in the body.
Energy Efficient Appliances Are A Waste Of Money (And Energy)

Energy Efficient Appliances Are A Waste Of Money (And Energy)

Jan 11 2010 | comment(s)

In an effort to be more environmentally conscious, the United States government is dolling out various rebates and tax credits to consumers who purchase more earth friendly, energy efficient appliances. While the aim of the rebate program may be admirable, economists from the University of Delaware say taxpayers will lose a significant portion of the $300 Million they are contributing to the federal government's appliance rebate program and the energy-saving program could actually increase energy usage. Their analysis is published in the 1st Quarter 2010 issue of the Milken Institute Review.
Bering Strait Had Profound Impact On Ice Age Climate

Bering Strait Had Profound Impact On Ice Age Climate

Jan 11 2010 | comment(s)

New research published in Nature Geoscience shows that water levels in the Bering Strait helped drive global climate patterns during ice age episodes dating back more than 100,000 years. The study, led by researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), found that the repeated opening and closing of the narrow strait due to fluctuating sea levels affected currents that transported heat and salinity in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

As a result, summer temperatures in parts of North America and Greenland oscillated between warmer and colder phases, causing ice sheets to alternate between expansion and retreat and affecting sea levels worldwide.
Entitlement Expanding?

Entitlement Expanding?

Jan 11 2010 | comment(s)

"Don't feel entitled to anything you didn't sweat and struggle for." -Marian Wright Edelman

Concern Who It May

Concern Who It May

Jan 10 2010 | comment(s)

Concern Who It May

When should one use 'who', and when 'whom'?  A simple enough question on the face of it, but in practice a path through a quagmire.

Generally, making a choice between 'who' and 'whom' in constructs does not lead to a significant change in meaning.  But it may.  Consider the stock phrase "to whom it may concern."  Here, the term 'concern' means 'be of interest'.   By way of contrast, in the phrase "concern who it may", 'concern' may mean 'trouble', 'worry', or 'annoy'.  Annoy who it may!
Music Sounds Like Moving People

Music Sounds Like Moving People

Jan 10 2010 | comment(s)

Joggers love their head phones. If you ask them why, they’ll tell you it keeps them motivated. The right song can transform what is by all rights an arduous half hour of ascetic masochism into an exhilarating whirlwind (or, in my case, into what feels like only 25 minutes of ascetic masochism).

Music-driven joggers may be experiencing a pleasurable diversion, but to the joggers and bikers in their vicinity, they’re Tasmanian Devils.
Jesse Ventura and the Global Warming Conspiracy Theory

Jesse Ventura and the Global Warming Conspiracy Theory

Jan 10 2010 | comment(s)

I was watching Jesse Ventura's show on Global Warming today. He went after those who are promoting Global Warming as a way to increase their pocket books. He had interviewed one of the business owners who are providing tax breaks for those who willing to remove their carbon footprints.
These tax credits were to be said to give business the license to pollute rather than clean up their messes. While Al Gore, from what I understood from the show, isn't the master mind behind the Global Warming Theory. He is more of a spokesman who is also making money off of this conspiracy theory.
Evolutionary Psychology – The Good, The Bad Or The Ugly?

Evolutionary Psychology – The Good, The Bad Or The Ugly?

Jan 09 2010 | comment(s)

As a young woman from France working as a civil servant in Liverpool in 1999, I once stumbled upon a book in a discount book shop, which was going to change the way I would look upon things. The book was called “Baby Wars: The Dynamics of Family Conflict” by Robin Baker and Elizabeth Oram.

Jatropha curcas plant needs better understanding

Jatropha curcas plant needs better understanding

Jan 09 2010 | comment(s)

When some one iterrupted me and told me that he has seen Jatropha growing on bare rocks I could not deny this fact but when people say its a plant for wasteland and Government of over 30 countries go after its mass plantation I feel scared as a botanist. The simple reason is that althogh this plant has the ability to grow in adverse climate that does not mean it will produce fruits also. Our experience of 25 years of work on Jatropha has proved that although it can grow below 300 mm rainfall also but it will need at least 400 to 600 mm of rainfall for bearing fruits.
Separation Science Celebrated

Separation Science Celebrated

Jan 09 2010 | comment(s)

Separation science has seen glamour and growth with ever-increasing demand for analysis ranging from environmental, toxicological to forensics. The list is endless and the genre is getting narrower for the graduates. Considering these points, eminent professors and research scientists have rolled out a wonderful interface for evolving pedagogy.      
separationsNOW marks and celebrates chromatography education through webinar series, " Year of Education in Separation Science."
It is fascinating and interesting interface to ask generic to advanced questions. I was intrigued by the idea and would love my graduate class to learn afresh. I would love to challenge the age-old universal method of teaching.
Biological Engineering - Present and Future

Biological Engineering - Present and Future

Jan 08 2010 | comment(s)

The latest issue of Cell has some goodies on synthetic and systems biology: "Engineering Static and Dynamic Control of Synthetic Pathways, by William Holtz and Jay Keasling:
Maximizing the production of a desired small molecule is one of the primary goals in metabolic engineering. Recent advances in the nascent field of synthetic biology have increased the predictability of small-molecule production in engineered cells growing under constant conditions. The next frontier is to create synthetic pathways that adapt to changing environments.