Nature – Page 112 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

The Genetics of Self-Incompatibility

By Guest PostNovember 6, 2010Nature, Scienceantigens, female, fertilization, genes, genetic, immune response, inbreeding, male, offspring, organism, petunia, petunia pistil, petunia pollen, plant, pollen, proteins, rna, rna-destroying enzyme, seiji takayama, sexual organs, t-cell receptors, teh-hui kao

*Petunias show that the mechanisms behind inbreeding prevention are similar to immune response*

About the image: The female part of the petunia flower secretes an enzyme that is designed to deter pollen tube growth, thereby preventing fertilization. However, in the cases that the pollen has come from a genetically different plant, the pollen produces its own protein that combats the pistil’s enzyme. With the enzyme out of the way, the pollen tube can keep growing and fertilization can occur. Image credit: Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation

Inbreeding is a bad strategy for any organism, producing weak and problematic offspring. So imagine the challenge of inbreeding prevention in a plant where male and female sexual organs grow right next to each other! Such is the genetic conundrum faced by the petunia. (more…)

Simulating Human Decision-Making Could Improve Emergency Evacuation Planning

By Guest PostNovember 6, 2010Education, Environment, Naturecomputer simulation, effective law-enforcement, evacuations, seungho lee, traffic management, university of arizona

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—A unique disaster-response planning tool takes real-time human decision-making into account to determine effective law-enforcement strategies during evacuations. A University of Michigan researcher contributed to the development of the tool. (more…)

Better Weather: Water-vapor Profiling System Could Result in More Accurate, Less Costly Forecasting

By Guest PostNovember 4, 20102 commentsEnvironment, Nature, Scienceatmosphere, bennett aerospace, david roberts, georgia institute of technology, laser radar, lidar, light detection and ranging, prototype, researchers, Technology, water vapor, water vapor profiler, wav-pro, weather forecasting

A vehicle from the National Severe Storms Laboratory observes conditions around a tornado in Wyoming during June of 2009. Image credit: Mike Coniglio, NOAA/NSSL

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Bennett Aerospace are leveraging light detection and ranging (lidar) technology to develop a ground-based system that will automatically measure water vapor in the atmosphere. Known as”WaV-Pro^TM,” for Water Vapor Profiler, the system aims to provide more frequent data collection that could dramatically improve weather forecasting.

Initial work on the project began in mid-2009, when Bennett Aerospace, in collaboration with the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), won a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop design requirements for the system. Recently, the researchers won a Phase II grant to build and test critical components needed for a final operating prototype of WaV-Pro. (more…)

Nature’s Backbone at Risk

By Guest PostOctober 31, 20101 commentNatureconservation efforts, endangered species, global biodiversity, threatened species, vertebrate species

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— One-fifth of the world’s vertebrate species are threatened with extinction, but the situation would be worse if not for current global conservation efforts, a new study finds. (more…)

Coral Algae Discovered in Black Corals at Never Before Seen Depths

By Guest PostOctober 25, 2010Naturealgae, black corals, coral, coral biology, daniel wagner, discovery, habitats, hawaii institute of marine biology, himb, jewelry industry, photosynthetic algae, photosynthetic symbiotic algae, shallow water reef building corals, symbiodinium, tropical, university of hawaii at manoa, zooxanthellae

Hawaiian Black Coral. Image credit: Daniel Wagner, HIMB

Researchers at the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB), an organized research unit in the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology have made a remarkable new discovery.

When most people envision coral, they typically think of shallow-water reef-building corals found along beaches and tropical nearshore habitats. These “typical” corals are dependent upon photosynthetic algae (also known as Symbiodinium or zooxanthellae) found in their tissues to obtain nutrients to live off of.

In deeper less known waters, closely related black corals were considered to be void of these algae because of the light shortage to support photosynthesis. In fact, all black corals were considered to lack Symbiodinium (algae), because they are typically found at great depths where light levels are very low. (more…)

Plants Play Larger Role Than Thought in Cleaning up Air Pollution

By Guest PostOctober 24, 2010Environment, Natureair-polluting chemicals, anne-marie schmoltner, aspens, atmospheric chemistry, chemicals, ecosystem services, Environment, human health, infection, metabolic cycle, ovocs, oxygenated volatile organic compounds, poplars, thomas karl, toxic substances, trees, white blood cells

*Chemicals known as oxygenated volatile organic compounds (oVOCs) affect environment, human health*

About the image: Poplars, aspens, other trees provide extensive “ecosystem services.” Image credit: USDA

Vegetation plays an unexpectedly large role in cleansing the atmosphere, a new study finds. (more…)

A River Ran Through It

By Guest PostOctober 17, 2010Nature, Sciencealan tessier, arizona state university, climate change, colorado, colorado river delta, downstream, ecosystems, food chain, grand canyon, humans, irrigation, jacques finlay, john sabo, las vegas, los angeles, minneapolis, Mississippi, new york city, Phoenix, river flows, rivers, sea of cortez, small tributaries, storm floods, streams

About the image: A now dry Colorado River delta branches into the Baja/Sonoran Desert near the Sea of Cortez. Image credit: Pete McBride

Rivers and streams supply the lifeblood to ecosystems across the globe, providing water for drinking and irrigation for humans as well as a wide array of life forms from single-celled organisms up to the fish humans eat.

But humans and nature itself are making it tough on rivers to continue in their central role to support fish species, according to new research by a team of scientists including John Sabo, a biologist at Arizona State University.

Globally, rivers and streams are being drained due to human use and climate change. These and other human impacts alter the natural variability of river flows.

Some affected rivers have dried and no longer run, while others have seen increases in the variability of flows due to storm floods. (more…)

Squid Studies Provide Valuable Insights Into Hearing Mechanisms

By Guest PostOctober 17, 2010Naturehearing capabilities, hearing mechanisms, sense of hearing, squid hearing system, squid studies

The ordinary squid, Loligo pealii—best known until now as a kind of floating buffet for just about any fish in the sea—may be on the verge of becoming a scientific superstar, providing clues about the origin and evolution of the sense of hearing. (more…)

Category Archives: Nature