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Female Fish Choose Attractive Friends to Avoid Attention

By Guest PostDecember 8, 2011Naturearipo river, attractive friends, females, freshwater fish, male attention, mating, receptive, reduce harassment, safi darden, scientists, sexual attention, sexual pheromone, species, trinidad, trinidadian guppy, universities of exeter

Scientists have observed a strategy for females to avoid unwanted male attention: choosing more attractive friends.

Published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the study is the first to show females spending time with those more sexually attractive than themselves to reduce harassment from males.

Carried out by the Universities of Exeter and Copenhagen, the study focuses on the Trinidadian guppy, a species of small freshwater fish. It shows that the females choose companions that are relatively more attractive than themselves and in this way reduce harassment from males. The research shows that the tactic is successful and by ensuring they are less attractive than other group members, the fish experience less harassment and fewer mating attempts from males. (more…)

Study: Giant Super-Earths Made of Diamond Are Possible

By Guest PostDecember 8, 2011Sciencecarbon super earths, diamond planet, super earths

SAN FRANCISCO – A planet made of diamonds may sound lovely, but you wouldn’t want to live there.

A new study suggests that some stars in the Milky Way could harbor “carbon super-Earths” – giant terrestrial planets that contain up to 50 percent diamond. (more…)

NASA Finds Japan Tsunami Waves Merged, Doubling Power

By Guest PostDecember 7, 2011Environmentjapan tsunami waves, merging tsunami, ocean ridges, tsunami height, tsunami jets, tsunami wave

PASADENA, Calif. – NASA and Ohio State University researchers have discovered the major tsunami generated by the March 2011 Tohoku-Oki quake centered off northeastern Japan was a long-hypothesized “merging tsunami.” The tsunami doubled in intensity over rugged ocean ridges, amplifying its destructive power at landfall. (more…)

Researchers Study Toenails as Marker for Arsenic Exposure

By Guest PostDecember 7, 2011Environmentarsenic exposure, marker, test for arsenic, toenail samples, toenails

UA scientists have teamed up to study the relationship between arsenic in human toenails and arsenic concentration in drinking water. Exposure to arsenic is associated with several chronic diseases ranging from dermatitis to various cancers. (more…)

Today’s Severe Drought, Tomorrow’s Normal

By Guest PostDecember 7, 2011Environmentclimate models, drought conditions, drought measure, evapotranspiration, warming planet

Berkeley Lab scientists part of team that analyzed 19 state-of-the-art climate models

While the worst drought since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s grips Oklahoma and Texas, scientists are warning that what we consider severe drought conditions in North America today may be normal for the continent by the mid-21^st century, due to a warming planet. (more…)

Researchers Assess Radioactivity Released to the Ocean from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Facility

By Guest PostDecember 7, 2011Environmentcesium concentration, fukushima, nuclear power plants, radioactive leaks, radioactivity

With news this week of additional radioactive leaks from Fukushima nuclear power plants, the impact on the ocean of releases of radioactivity from the plants remains unclear. But a new study by U.S. and Japanese researchers analyzes the levels of radioactivity discharged from the facility in the first four months after the accident and draws some basic conclusions about the history of contaminant releases to the ocean. (more…)

Infectious Fungus, Thought to Be Asexual, Isn’t

By Guest PostDecember 6, 2011Scienceallison m porman, asexual, brown university, candida albicans, candida genus, candida tropicalis, drug resistance, fungi, genetic switch, genus, infections, kevin alby, mating, matthew hirakawa, richard bennett, sex, sex as a survival tactic, sexual nature, species, the mating habits, wor1

*Candida tropicalis turns out to have sex, making it the second medically important member of the genus to be capable of mating. Sex may improve the survival of the species, particularly when it’s under pressure. It may also mean the species can achieve greater virulence or drug resistance more quickly than previously thought.*

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The fungi of the Candida genus, known to millions of patients worldwide for their ability to cause serious infections, were once all thought to be asexual. Even after scientists discovered that the mating habits of Candida albicans were many and varied, they remained convinced that many of the more infectious ones did not mate. Now with the first report that Candida tropicalis can mate sexually as well, the chastity of the whole genus comes into further doubt. (more…)

Adult Stem Cells Use Special Pathways to Repair Damaged Muscle, MU Researchers Find

By Guest PostDecember 6, 2011Scienceadult stem cells, muscle repairs, muscular dystrophy, satellite cells, therapy

Discovery could help future treatments for muscle repairs, disorders

COLUMBIA, Mo. – When a muscle is damaged, dormant adult stem cells called satellite cells are signaled to “wake up” and contribute to repairing the muscle. University of Missouri researchers recently found how even distant satellite cells could help with the repair, and are now learning how the stem cells travel within the tissue. This knowledge could ultimately help doctors more effectively treat muscle disorders such as muscular dystrophy, in which the muscle is easily damaged and the patient’s satellite cells have lost the ability to repair. (more…)

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