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Study Finds Significant Skull Differences Between Closely Linked Groups

By Guest PostApril 15, 2012Scienceann ross, ashley humphries, biohistorical context, coimbra, coimbra female, craniofacial characteristic, facial feature, female, female skull, forensic anthropologist, immigrant, intraorbital distance, lisbon, male, male skull, portugal, portuguese women, skeletal remain, skull

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…)

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

By Guest PostApril 15, 2012Environmentatmosphere, coronal mass ejections, dark sky, earth, flagpole, fm broadcasts, forecast, frank lind, gps, john sahr, k p index, kuow, laura vertatschitsch, magnetic field, magnetosphere, mars, mary levin, mechanical energy, molecular plasma, northern light, satellites, seattle, sieg hall, solar flares, solar storms, source, space weather, sunspot cycle, sunspotty, transmitter, xray

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…)

Scientists Find Possible Cause of Movement Defects in Spinal Muscular Atrophy

By Guest PostApril 15, 2012Healthmotor neurons, movement defects, movement problems, spinal cord, 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. (more…)

The Emperor’s New Close-Up

By Guest PostApril 15, 2012Nature, ScienceAntarctic, antarctic ice shelves, behavior of emperor, brent pellinen, british antarctic survey, cape crozier, census, claire porter, climatic, deane morrison, ecology, emperor penguins, Environment, guano, icons, mcmurdo station, michelle larue, pansharpening, penguin poo, peter fretwell, polar geospatial center, satellite image, satellites, university of minnesota

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…)

800-Year-Old Farmers Could Teach Us How to Protect The Amazon

By Guest PostApril 14, 2012Environmentamazon deforestation, amazonian savannas, columbian encounter, raised field farmers, raised field farming

In the face of mass deforestation of the Amazon, we could learn from its earliest inhabitants who managed their farmland sustainably. (more…)

Famed Bollywood Actor Says He Just Wants to Make People Smile

By Guest PostApril 14, 2012Entertainmentcreative expression, good art, king of bollywood, make people happy, objective in life, shah rukh khan

During his visit to the Yale campus as a Chubb Fellow, Indian movie actor Shah Rukh Khan said he has no higher objective in life than to make people happy. (more…)

‘Time Machine’ Will Study the Early Universe

By Guest PostApril 14, 2012Sciencedistant galaxies, early universe, expansion of universe, faint galaxies, low mass stars, radio waves, time machine

UCLA’s Ian McLean, colleagues build most advanced instrument of its kind

A new scientific instrument, a “time machine” of sorts, built by UCLA astronomers and colleagues, will allow scientists to study the earliest galaxies in the universe, which could never be studied before. (more…)

Seed Size is Controlled by Maternally Produced Small Rnas, Scientists Find

By Guest PostApril 14, 2012Naturecrop seeds, gene silencing, plant evolution, seed size, small interfering rnas

AUSTIN, Texas — Seed size is controlled by small RNA molecules inherited from a plant’s mother, a discovery from scientists at The University of Texas at Austin that has implications for agriculture and understanding plant evolution. (more…)

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