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UF Study Finds Cats No. 1 Predator to Urban Mockingbird Nests

By Guest PostMay 9, 2011Nature, ScienceAmerican crow and swallow-tailed kite, blue jay, cat predation, christine_stracey, dominant nest predator, dominant predator, environmental indicators for metropolitan areas, florida museum of natural history of file photo, may 2011 issue of biological conservation, mockingbird eggs and nestlings, mockingbird nest predators, nesting mockingbirds, opossum, raccoon, scott robinson, squirrel, sylvester & tweety, university of florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A new University of Florida study shows cats are the dominant predator to mockingbird eggs and nestlings in urban areas, prompting conservationists to urge pet owners to keep felines indoors at night.

The findings challenge assumptions that urban areas are places of refuge for nesting mockingbirds, a species researchers say plays an important role in controlling insect pests and serving as environmental indicators for metropolitan areas. (more…)

For UCLA Expert on Chumash Indians, Roughly Hewn Beads are Child’s Play

By Guest PostMay 8, 2011Culture, Scienceanomalous artifacts, artifacts, bead makers, beads, chumash apprentices, chumash indians, shell beads

As the world’s leading authority on beads manufactured from shells by California’s Chumash Indians, UCLA archaeologist Jeanne Arnold was stumped by a series of anomalous artifacts excavated at former settlements on the Channel Islands. (more…)

Four Planets Huddle Up Before Dawn Next Week

By Guest PostMay 8, 2011Scienceanimation, beautiful astronomical photos, binoculars, ecliptic, jupiter, mars, mcdonald observatory, mercury, moon, page sky almanac, planets, sky, skymaps, skywatching events, stardate magazin, venus

AUSTIN, Texas — Four of the five planets visible to the unaided eye huddle quite close together in the pre-dawn sky next week, according to the editors of StarDate magazine.

On the morning of May 10, Venus and Jupiter will stand side by side, quite low in the east, as dawn brightens. If you have a horizon clear of buildings and trees, they will be easy to spot. They are the brightest objects in the night sky after the moon. Venus is the brighter of the two. Jupiter is to its left. (more…)

Harris School Economist: Refunds Don’t Always Help Lower-Income Taxpayers

By Guest PostMay 8, 2011Economyincome tax return, money back, refund anticipation loans, tax policies, tax refund, taxpayers

Getting a tax refund from the federal government at the end of the year may not always be the best option for lower-income populations, according to the research from Harris School economist Damon Jones. (more…)

New Use for Kinect: Teaching Kids in Africa

By Guest PostMay 7, 2011Education, Technologykinect for xbox, kinect games, kwazulu, larry venter, school in vryheid, south african schoolchildren, structured gaming

*Microsoft employee Larry Venter, a native South African, had a hunch that Kinect for Xbox 360 could help the children at a rural school in his hometown get excited about learning English and that gaming could help in the fight against widespread illiteracy.*

REDMOND, Wash. – A story that began with a mischievous Icelandic volcano has ended happily with South African schoolchildren using Kinect for Xbox 360 to learn English. (more…)

Yale Researchers Identify Four Key Weapons in Immune System’s Arsenal

By Guest PostMay 7, 2011Health4 key weapons, bacterial infections, deliver antimicrobial enzymes, food-borne bacteria, gastrointestinal illness, gtpases, hepatitis c, immune-compromised, interferon therapy, john d. macmicking, macrophage, marshal immune system, microbial pathogenesis, mimic, noxious chemicals, pathogens, pulmonary diseases, tuberculosis, variety of pathogens, winchester fund and cancer research institute, yale university

Yale University researchers have identified four unique host defense proteins among thousands that seem to play a crucial role in mobilizing the immune system’s response to bacterial infections, they report in the May 6 issue of the journal Science.

The findings suggest it may be possible to find new ways to assist immune-compromised patients to fight off a variety of pathogens, the authors say.

“We can start to think about how to mimic these chemical processes and deliver them in drug form,” said John D. MacMicking, associate professor of microbial pathogenesis at Yale School of Medicine and senior author the study. (more…)

Measuring the Distant Universe in 3-D

By Guest PostMay 7, 2011Science3 d map, absorption, anže slosar, apache point observatory, bao, baryon acoustic oscillation, baryon oscillation, baryon oscillation spectroscopic survey, berkeley lab, bill carithers, BOSS, centers of galaxies, dark energy, david schlegel, james rich, lyman alpha forest, map intergalactic hydrogen gas, new mexico, of light years, precision tool, quasars, red galaxies, redshift, sdss, sloan digital sky survey, sloan telescope, spectrum, supermassive black holes, universe, wiggly structure

*Berkeley Lab-led BOSS proves it can do the job with quasars*

The biggest 3-D map of the distant universe ever made, using light from 14,000 quasars — supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies many billions of light years away — has been constructed by scientists with the third Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III).

The map is the first major result from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), SDSS-III’s largest survey, whose principal investigator is David Schlegel of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The huge new map was presented at the April meeting of the American Physical Society in Anaheim, CA, by Anže Slosar of Brookhaven National Laboratory. (more…)

New Website Highlights Musical Groups’ Summer European Tours

By Guest PostMay 6, 2011EntertainmentEurope, istanbul, music lovers, musical groups, passion for music, summer, summer 2011, Sweden, the spizziwinks, uppsala, whiffenpoofs, whim 'n rhythm, yale, yale baroque ensemble, yale glee club, yale groups, yale music, yale schola cantorum

Music lovers vacationing or living in Europe this summer won’t have to wait to come back to campus for some Yale-made music; they can just drop by one of the many concerts being presented by Yale groups touring the region.

Each summer, musical groups from Yale travel the world to share their passion for music. A new website, “Yale Music in Europe, Summer 2011,” tracks the whereabouts of eight of these troupes: Yale Schola Cantorum, Redhot & Blue, Yale Glee Club, Whim ‘n Rhythm, Yale Alumni Chorus, Whiffenpoofs, The Spizziwinks(?) and Yale Baroque Ensemble. (more…)

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