May 2009
55 posts
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Carbon Capture Technology Tested →
New carbon capture technology is being tested for the first time in the UK on a working coal-fired power station.
A 30-tonne test unit will process 1,000 cubic metres of exhaust gas per hour from Longannet power station in Fife.
Carbon dioxide will be removed using chemicals and turned into a liquid, ready for storage underground…. (continues @ BBC News)
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A Human Language Gene Changes the Sound of Mouse... →
People have a deep desire to communicate with animals, as is evident from the way they converse with their dogs, enjoy myths about talking animals or devote lifetimes to teaching chimpanzees how to speak. A delicate, if tiny, step has now been taken toward the real thing: the creation of a mouse with a human gene for language.
The gene, FOXP2, was identified in 1998 as the cause of a subtle...
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Watermelons Tapped For Ethanol →
With their sweet, refreshing juices and succulent interior, watermelons are a favorite summertime treat, especially around July 4th. But now this Independence Day favorite could become even more of a patriotic commodity.
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) studies in Lane, Okla., have shown that simple sugars in watermelon juice can be made into ethanol. In 2007, growers harvested four billion...
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Chick-fil-A Gets A Little Bit Closer →
Chick-fil-A is planning on opening stores in Chicagoland…I’m excited, it has been too long.
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North African Migrant Painted Lady Butterflies... →
Monarch butterflies are not the only butterflies to migrate long distances:
From the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, millions of North African butterflies are arriving in Britain - expected to be the largest migration of the Painted Lady species ever seen in the UK.
With warm, southerly winds over the bank holiday weekend, the extraordinary annual journey of these fragile looking insects suddenly...
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Germany bans cola after drug test →
The authorities in six German states have ordered retailers to stop selling Red Bull Cola energy drinks after traces of cocaine were found in it.
The recall came after a sample analysis conducted in North-Rhine Westphalia found one litre of the drink contained 0.4 micrograms of the banned substance. Officials said the cocaine levels were too low to pose a health threat but were not permitted...
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Climate link to mockingbird songs →
A team of US scientists has found that mockingbirds living in variable climates sing more elaborate songs.
Complex tunes, sung by males to impress females, are likely to signal the birds’ intelligence.
Published in Current Biology, the findings suggest that females seek mates with superior singing skills - smart enough to survive harsh climes…. (continues @ BBC News)
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Yosemite's Giant Trees Are Disappearing →
The oldest and largest trees within California’s world famous Yosemite National Park are disappearing. Climate change appears to be a major cause of the loss.
The revelation comes from an analysis of data collected over 60 years by forest ecologists.
They say one worrying aspect of the decline is that it is happening within one of most protected forests within the US, suggesting that...
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Wolfram Alpha Google Adds Computational Answers to... →
Here is a cool firefox extension that adds the Wolfram Alpha results to you Google output (via Lifehacker)
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As Alaska Glaciers Melt, It’s Land That’s Rising →
Global warming conjures images of rising seas that threaten coastal areas. But in Juneau, as almost nowhere else in the world, climate change is having the opposite effect: As the glaciers here melt, the land is rising, causing the sea to retreat….
The geology is complex, but it boils down to this: Relieved of billions of tons of glacial weight, the land has risen much as a cushion...
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A Tunnel To Unite Old Rivals? →
Plans for a tunnel linking Bolivia to the Pacific Ocean have been unveiled by three architects who say it could put an end to a 130 year-old dispute between the landlocked country and its neighbour, Chile.
The three Chilean architects claim the tunnel would allow Bolivia to regain access to the sea since it was defeated by Chile in the Pacific War in 1879. This has been one of Bolivia’s...
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Introduction to Wolfram|Alpha by Stephen Wolfram →
I can’t wait to use this - it goes live tonight, apparently. Watch the video - this search engine looks amazing
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'Velcro'-like Structures On Flower Petals Help... →
New research shows that bumblebees can recognise the texture of petal surfaces by touch alone. More importantly, they choose to land on petals with conical cells that make it easier to grip, rather than on flat, smooth surfaces. With this extra grip, they can extract nectar from the flower more efficiently…. (more @ ScienceDaily)
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Outrage at 'Slavery' in Bolivia →
A senior UN official recently described as “unacceptable” the alleged forced labour of indigenous people by landowners in Bolivia. The BBC’s Andres Schipani reports on the contentious issue of “slavery” from the eastern province of Santa Cruz….
Over the past two years, Bolivia’s government and several indigenous groups, have been giving a controversial...
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29% Of Cancer Studies Report Conflict Of Interest →
Nearly one-third of cancer research published in high-impact journals disclosed a conflict of interest, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The most frequent type of conflict was industry funding of the study, which was seen in 17 percent of papers. Twelve percent of papers had a study author who was an industry employee....
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Producing Biofuels Without Stressing Global Food... →
Scientists in California are reporting use of a first-of-its-kind approach to craft genetically engineered microbes with the much-sought ability to transform switchgrass, corn cobs, and other organic materials into methyl halides — the raw material for making gasoline and a host of other commercially important products. The new bioprocess could help pave the way for producing biofuels from...
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Bacteria Create Aquatic Superbugs In Waste... →
For bacteria in wastewater treatment plants, the stars align perfectly to create a hedonistic mating ground for antibiotic-resistant superbugs eventually discharged into streams and lakes.
In the first known study of its kind, Chuanwu Xi of the University of Michigan School of Public Health and his team sampled water containing the bacteria Acinetobacter at five sites in and near Ann...
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Earwigs 'Sniff Out' Best Babies →
Earwig mothers sniff out their “best” offspring and lavish them with care, according to new research.
The insects pick up odours from their clutch of “nymphs” and adjust their maternal behaviour in response.
When they pick up a chemical signal from healthy, well-fed youngsters, they spend more time nursing them, at the expense of their hungrier babies…. (continues...
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Report warns against Coral Triangle collapse →
Experts have warned that the richly diverse coral reefs of the Coral Triangle around southeast Asia will disappear by the end of the century if action is not taken against climate change.
As well as the loss of one of the world’s most diverse underwater ecosystems, the knock on effect would be the collapse of coastal economies that supports around 100 million people, according to the...
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FDA Warns General Mills: Cheerios Is a Drug →
From the Wall Street Journal (via Consumerist):
Hey, General Mills: If you want to say Cheerios is “clinically proven to lower cholesterol,” you better get your whole-grain Os approved as a new drug by the FDA.
That’s what the FDA told the company in this letter, which says the labeling on Cheerios boxes is in “serious violation” of federal rules. The letter continues:
Based on claims made...
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Significant Genetic Variation Between Mexico's... →
Could genetic differences explain why some people and not others have died of H1N1 Influenza A? That is among the questions raised by a landmark Mexican study showing significant genetic variation between Mestizos (Latin Americans of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry) and the world’s other known genetic subgroups.
The study, by Mexico’s National Institute of Genomic Medicine...
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Orbitz Launches 'Open Cuba' Site to Promote... →
Encouraged by President Obama’s lift last month on allowing family visits to Cuba, the Chicago-based Orbitz Worldwide is launching a campaign this week to reverse a law that prohibits most other U.S. citizens and legal residents from traveling to the island.
The website, called OpenCuba.org, became active Sunday and is a place where Orbitz visitors can petition Obama, Secretary of State Hillary...
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Gorilla mums keep family in check →
Female gorillas clap their hands to get the attention of male silverbacks and infants.
The discovery in the forests of central Africa is only the second time the behaviour has been recorded in wild western lowland gorillas. It suggests that the great apes use hand-clapping to communicate over long distances and keep the family group together…. (continues @ BBC Earth News)
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Single bidder pays $68,000 to sequence his genome... →
Last week, we reported on an ongoing eBay auction for personal genome sequencing, analysis, and interpretation by Knome, Inc., a genetics company in Cambridge, Mass. At the time, no one had placed a bid.
But since then, someone did: The auction closed Monday afternoon, with a single bid at the $68,000 minimum Knome had set…. (via Scientific American)
The blog Genetic Future details why...
I've made 500 Posts!!!
Just noticed this, crazy isn’t it?
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Hobbits 'Are A Separate Species' →
No, not from Lord of the Rings….
Scientists have found more evidence that the Indonesian “Hobbit” skeletons belong to a new species of human - and not modern pygmies. The three-metre-tall, 30kg (65lbs) humans roamed the Indonesian island of Flores, perhaps up to 8,000 years ago. Since the discovery, researchers have argued vehemently as to the identity of these diminutive...
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As Bats Die, Closing Caves to Control a Fungus →
I previously mentioned that hunderds of thousads of bats are dying due to a fungus - apparently the problem is getting worse and spreading…
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Ancient Tsunami Hit New York →
Sedimentary deposits from more than 20 cores in New York and New Jersey indicate that some sort of violent force swept the Northeast coastal region in 300BC.
It may have been a large storm, but evidence is increasingly pointing to a rare Atlantic Ocean tsunami.
Steven Goodbred, an Earth scientist at Vanderbilt University, said large gravel, marine fossils and other unusual deposits found in...
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Climate Change Threatens Unique Ecosystems of... →
Siberia’s Lake Baikal, the world’s largest and most biologically diverse lake, faces the prospect of severe ecological disruption as a result of climate change, according to an analysis by a joint US-Russian team in the May issue of BioScience.
The lake is considered a treasure trove for biologists and was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO because a high proportion of its...
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Merck and Elsevier publish fake peer-reviewed... →
I don’t know how credible this is, but read it on BoingBoing, The Scientist, and blog.bioethics.net:
Pharmaceutical giant Merck paid science publishing juggernaut Elsevier to publish a fake peer-reviewed scientific journal, Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine.
What’s wrong with this is so obvious it doesn’t have to be argued for. What’s sad is that I’m...