Plant lineages with multiple copies of their genetic information face higher extinction rates than their relatives, researchers report in Science magazine.
While duplication of hereditary information is a relatively rare event in animal evolution, it is common in plants. Potatoes, coffee, bananas, peanuts, tobacco, wheat, oats and strawberries, to name but a few, all carry multiple copies of their genetic material, in a condition called polyploidy. (more…)
UCLA life scientists have identified for the first time a particular gene’s link to optimism, self-esteem and “mastery,” the belief that one has control over one’s own life — three critical psychological resources for coping well with stress and depression.
“I have been looking for this gene for a few years, and it is not the gene I expected,” said Shelley E. Taylor, a distinguished professor of psychology at UCLA and senior author of the new research. “I knew there had to be a gene for these psychological resources.” (more…)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The USGS Alaska Science Center has released new high-resolution video of Pacific walruses hauling out near Point Lay, Alaska, in late August, 2011. (more…)
Appalachian tiger swallowtail butterfly is hybrid of other swallowtails
Flitting among the cool slopes of the Appalachian Mountains is a tiger swallowtail butterfly that evolved when two other species of swallowtails hybridized long ago. (more…)
A University of Exeter academic has spoken about the many chemical elements we rely on that are at risk.
Professor Frances Wall, Head of the University’s Camborne School of Mines, joined a panel of experts at the British Science Festival to reveal the new chemical ‘risk list’. (more…)
*Yahoo! Movies Premieres One of the Most Highly Anticipated Releases of the Year*
SUNNYVALE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)— Yahoo! Movies (https://movies.yahoo.com) in conjunction with Summit Entertainment, exclusively presents online the trailer for THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN – PART 1: https://yhoo.it/newbdtrailer
The highly anticipated fourth installment of The Twilight Saga, directed by Academy Award® winner Bill Condon, THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN — PART 1 reveals the mysteries of this romantic epic that has entranced millions. (more…)
*HTC and Samsung Emerge as Top Android Device Manufacturers*
LONDON, UK, 13 September 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the 
comScore MobiLens service analysing growth trends of the smartphone platforms across the five leading European markets (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom). In July 2011, nearly 1 in 4 smartphone users in EU5 reported using smartphones running on the Google Android platform. HTC had the highest market share among mobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), accounting for 34.6 percent of Android devices used across the region in this period, followed closely by Samsung with 31.7 percent of Android devices. (more…)
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University has licensed cutting-edge software that detects altered fingerprints to Morpho, part of the Safran group, one of the world’s leading suppliers of identification and detection solutions. (more…)
