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Insect eye-inspired camera captures wide field of view with no distortion, according to study co-led by CU-Boulder

By Guest PostMay 4, 2013Nature, Science3d shape, boulder, bowl shaped eyes, camera, conventional cameras, conventional systems, crystalline cone, deform, distortion, dragonflies, electronic detector, electronic system, exoskeletons, experimental digital camera, eyes of arthropods, houseflies, insect eye, jianliang xiao, john roger, mammalian eyes, ommatidia, praying mantises, resolution, university of colorado, university of Illinois, urbana-champaign, viktor malyarchuk, yizhu xie, young min song

By mimicking the bulging, bowl-shaped eyes possessed by dragonflies, praying mantises, houseflies and other insects, a team of researchers that includes a University of Colorado Boulder engineer has built an experimental digital camera that can take exceptionally wide-angle photos without distorting the image.

To create the innovative camera, which also allows for a practically infinite depth of field, the scientists used stretchable electronics and a pliable sheet of microlenses made from a material similar to that used for contact lenses. The researchers described the camera in an article published on May 1, 2013 in the journal Nature. (more…)

Research Finds Invasive Kudzu Bugs May Pose Greater Threat Than Previously Thought

By Guest PostApril 29, 2013Natureagricultural pest, alejandro, asia, crop damage, del pozo valdivia, dominic reisig, entomology, generation a, georgia, invasive kudzu bug, megacopta cribraria, nc state, north Carolina, soybean crops, state university, united states, virginia

The invasive kudzu bug has the potential to be a major agricultural pest, causing significant damage to economically important soybean crops. Conventional wisdom has held that the insect pests will be limited to areas in the southern United States, but new research from North Carolina State University shows that they may be able to expand into other parts of the country.

Kudzu bugs (Megacopta cribraria) are native to Asia, and were first detected in the U.S. in Georgia in 2009. They have since expanded their territory as far north as Virginia. The bugs have an interesting life cycle, which has been thought to be a limiting factor on far they can spread. (more…)

Invasive crabs help Cape Cod marshes

By Guest PostApril 15, 2013Naturebrown university, cape cod, carcinus maenas, catherine matassa, ecological function, ecologists, erosion, grass eating crabs, invasion, invasive green crab, long vilified, mark bertness, marsh, non consumptive effects, non native species, predatory green crabs, sesarma reticulatum crabs, shores, tyler coverdale

Ecologists are wary of non-native species, but along the shores of Cape Cod where grass-eating crabs have been running amok and destroying the marsh, an invasion of a predatory green crabs has helped turn back the tide in favor of the grass. The counter-intuitive conclusions appear in a new paper in the journal Ecology.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Long vilified, invasive species can sometimes become an ecosystem asset. New Brown University research published online in the journal Ecology reports exactly such a situation in the distressed salt marshes of Cape Cod. There, the invasive green crab Carcinus maenas is helping to restore the marsh by driving away the Sesarma reticulatum crabs that have been depleting the marsh grasses. (more…)

Multi-Toxin Biotech Crops Not Silver Bullets, UA Scientists Warn

By Guest PostMarch 31, 2013Naturebiotech crops, bt crops, crop protecting toxins

The popular new strategy of planting genetically engineered crops that make two or more toxins to fend off insect pests rests on assumptions that don’t always apply, UA researchers have discovered. Their study helps explain why one major pest is evolving resistance much faster than predicted and offers ideas for more sustainable pest control.

A strategy widely used to prevent pests from quickly adapting to crop-protecting toxins may fail in some cases unless better preventive actions are taken, suggests new research by University of Arizona entomologists published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (more…)

Endangered Lemurs’ Genomes Sequenced

By Guest PostMarch 31, 2013Natureaakrosh ratan, african agriculturalists, anthropologist, aquarium, aye aye populations, aye ayes, biologist, dna samples, ecological niche, edward louis, endangered lemur, european descent, forest habitats, fragmentation, Galaxy, genetically distinct, genome, george perry, henry doorly zoo, human dna sequence, human genetic diversity, loss, Madagascar, madagascar biodiversity, national science foundation, omaha, open source, oscar bedoya reina, penn state university, population, regions of madagascar, richard burhans, sequence, simon malcomber, software, southeast asian, stephan schuster, type of lemur, webb miller, woodpecker

Three populations of aye-ayes on Madagascar studied

For the first time, the complete genomes of three populations of aye-ayes–a type of lemur–have been sequenced and analyzed.

The results of the genome-sequence analyses are published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). (more…)

True colors of some fossil feathers now in doubt

By Guest PostMarch 30, 2013Naturedinosaur feather colors, feathered dinosaurs, fossil feather colour, fossil feathers, melanosomes

Geological processes can affect evidence of the original colors of fossil feathers, according to new research by Yale University scientists, who said some previous reconstructions of fossil bird and dinosaur feather colors may now merit revision. (more…)

Some Alaskan trout use flexible guts for the ultimate binge diet

By Guest PostMarch 29, 2013Naturealaska, alec river, atlantic cod, bristol bay region, char family, chignik lake watershed, dolly varden, ecosystems, egg subsidy, eggs roll, intestines, jonathan armstrong, morgan bond, national science foundation, north american members, pacific northwest, salmon carcasses, stomach, thanksgiving feast, trout, university of washington

Imagine having a daylong Thanksgiving feast every day for a month, then, only pauper’s rations the rest of the year.

University of Washington researchers have discovered Dolly Varden, a kind of trout, eating just that way in Alaska’s Chignik Lake watershed.

Organs such as the stomach and intestines in the Dolly Varden doubled to quadrupled in size when eggs from spawning sockeye salmon became available each August, the researchers found. They were like vacuums sucking up the eggs and nipping at the flesh of spawned-out salmon carcasses. (more…)

Sleep consolidates memories for competing tasks

By Guest PostMarch 24, 2013Nature, Scienceavian, brain, brain function, consolidate learning, daniel margoliash, development in birds, excellent model, formation, howard nusbaum, mammalian brains, sleep, stable memories, starlings, timothy brawn, university of chicago

Sleep plays an important role in the brain’s ability to consolidate learning when two new potentially competing tasks are learned in the same day, research at the University of Chicago demonstrates.

Other studies have shown that sleep consolidates learning for a new task. The new study, which measured starlings’ ability to recognize new songs, shows that learning a second task can undermine the performance of a previously learned task. But this study is the first to show that a good night’s sleep helps the brain retain both new memories. (more…)

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