Author Archives: Guest Post

Pigeons’ Homing Skill Not Down to Iron-Rich Beak Cells

The theory that pigeons’ famous skill at navigation is down to iron-rich nerve cells in their beaks has been disproved by a new study published in Nature.

The study shows that iron-rich cells in the pigeon beak are in fact specialised white blood cells, called macrophages. This finding, which shatters the established dogma, puts the field back on course as the search for magnetic cells continues. (more…)

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Distinct Brain Cells Recognize Novel Sights

The brain’s ability to learn to recognize objects plays out in the inferior temporal cortex. A new study offers a possible explanation of how two classes of neurons play distinct roles to help that happen.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — No matter what novel objects we come to behold, our brains effortlessly take us from an initial “What’s that?” to “Oh, that old thing” after a few casual encounters. In research that helps shed light on the malleability of this recognition process, Brown University neuroscientists have teased apart the potentially different roles that two distinct cell types may play.

In a study published online in advance in the journal Neuron, the researchers document that this kind of learning is based in the inferior temporal cortex (ITC), a brain area buried deep in the skull. Scientists already knew the area was important for visual recognition of familiar items, but they hadn’t figured out the steps required to move from novelty to familiarity, a process they refer to as “plasticity.” (more…)

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Study Finds Significant Skull Differences Between Closely Linked Groups

In order to accurately identify skulls as male or female, forensic anthropologists need to have a good understanding of how the characteristics of male and female skulls differ between populations. A new study from North Carolina State University shows that these differences can be significant, even between populations that are geographically close to one another.

The researchers looked at the skulls of 27 women and 28 men who died in Lisbon, Portugal, between 1880 and 1975. They also evaluated the skulls of 40 women and 39 men who died between 1895 and 1903 in the rural area of Coimbra, just over 120 miles north of Lisbon. (more…)

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Space Weather Forecast: Sunspotty, With an Increasing Chance of Solar Storms

The past few months have seen a spate of solar flares – bringing spectacular views of the northern lights as far south as Seattle – along with media speculation that the electrical activity could disrupt power grids, satellites or ground airplanes.

John Sahr, a UW professor of electrical engineering who studies the upper atmosphere, is the regional go-to guy for such questions. We found some time in Sahr’s busy schedule (he’s also the UW’s associate dean of undergraduate academic affairs and a part-time zombie hunter) to get his read on the space weather forecast. (more…)

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Scientists Find Possible Cause of Movement Defects in Spinal Muscular Atrophy

COLUMBUS, Ohio – An abnormally low level of a protein in certain nerve cells is linked to movement problems that characterize the deadly childhood disorder spinal muscular atrophy, new research in animals suggests.

Spinal muscular atrophy, or SMA, is caused when a child’s motor neurons – nerve cells that send signals from the spinal cord to muscles – produce insufficient amounts of what is called survival motor neuron protein, or SMN. This causes motor neurons to die, leading to muscle weakness and the inability to move. (more…)

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The Emperor’s New Close-Up

U researchers map emperor penguin colonies by satellite

Emperor penguins may be icons of the Antarctic, but they aren’t immune to disturbances in their environment.

As climatic and other changes unfold, emperors may dwindle in numbers. But how to tell, when researchers can’t access all the emperor colonies dotting the Antarctic ice shelves and count heads every year?

Satellites, that’s how. (more…)

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