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Biologists find an evolutionary Facebook for monkeys and apes

By Guest PostDecember 2, 2013Nature, Scienceangolan talapoin monkey, anthropology, apes, asian primate species, biologist, canopy density, central, cercopithecus cephus, chimpanzees, common chimpanzee, complex facial patterns, ecology, environmental variables, equator, evolutionary detectives, evolutionary facebook, Facebook, facial diversity, facial pigmentation, facial vocabulary, fission fusion societies, geographic location, hamadryas baboons, human skin pigmentation, identification, intra species level, iucn, javan langur, jessica lynch alfaro, macaca arctoides, mandrill, mandrillus sphinx, michael alfaro, miopithecus talapoin, monkey, moustached guenon, nasalis larvatus, nomascus leucogenys, northern, old world african, orangutans, pan troglodytes, piliocolobus tephrosceles, predictor, primate faces, primate radiations, primate specialist group, proboscis monkey, rainfall, rhinopithecus avunculus, sharlene santana, snub nosed monkey, social group, south america, ssc, stephen d nash, stump tailed macaque, temperature, tonkin, trachypithecus auratus, ucla biologists, ugandan red colobus, white cheeked gibbon

Why do the faces of some primates contain so many different colors — black, blue, red, orange and white — that are mixed in all kinds of combinations and often striking patterns while other primate faces are quite plain?

UCLA biologists reported last year on the evolution of 129 primate faces in species from Central and South America. This research team now reports on the faces of 139 Old World African and Asian primate species that have been diversifying over some 25 million years. (more…)

Acid raid, ozone depletion contributed to ancient extinction

By Guest PostDecember 2, 2013Science3d modeling technique, acid raid, ancient extinction, arctic siberia, atmospheric effects, base, benjamin black, carbon dioxide, christine shields, CO2, earth history, ecological diversity, fluctuations in ph, global ozone collapse, jean francois lamarque, jeffrey kiehl, kotuy river, linda elkins tanton, mass extinction, massachusetts institute, ozone depletion, permian mass extinction, permian period, rise of dinosaurs, russia, Siberia, siberian traps, so2, sulfur dioxide, Technology, terrestrial species, ultraviolet radiation, volcanic eruptions, volcanic rock, volcanic sequence

Washington, D.C.— Around 250 million years ago, at the end of the Permian period, there was a mass extinction so severe that it remains the most traumatic known species die-off in Earth’s history. Some researchers have suggested that this extinction was triggered by contemporaneous volcanic eruptions in Siberia. New results from a team including Director of Carnegie’s Department of Terrestrial Magnetism Linda Elkins-Tanton show that the atmospheric effects of these eruptions could have been devastating. Their work is published in Geology.

The mass extinction included the sudden loss of more than 90 percent of marine species and more than 70 percent of terrestrial species and set the stage for the rise of the dinosaurs. The fossil record suggests that ecological diversity did not fully recover until several million years after the main pulse of the extinction. (more…)

Protein interplay in muscle tied to life span

By Guest PostDecember 1, 2013Health, Scienceactivin equivalent, alzheimer's disease, ana maria hernandez, atg8a, autophagy, brain, brown university biologists, central culprit, chain, dawdle, dfoxo, female reproductive system, fly version, fruit flies, gene, hua bai, human aging biology, insulin producing cells, ipcs, life span, mammalian protein, marc tatar, menstrual cycle, misfolded proteins, molecular event, muscle, muscle fibers, muscle tissue, natural mechanism, ping kang, protein degradation, protein interplay, rolf bodmer

Brown University biologists have uncovered a complicated chain of molecular events that leads from insulin to protein degradation in muscles and significantly diminished life span in fruit flies. The new study in PLoS Genetics, which may have broad implications across species, identifies the fly version of the mammalian protein activin as the central culprit in the process.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Fruit flies are notoriously short-lived but scientists interested in the biology of aging in all animals have begun to understand why some fruit flies live longer than others. They have documented a direct association between insulin and life span, for example, and have observed a tradeoff between prolific reproduction and longevity. A new study, which may have broad implications across species, ties those findings more closely together by tracing an insulin signaling cascade through to protein quality control in muscle tissue and shortened life span. (more…)

Researchers Integrate Single-Crystal BFO onto a Silicon Chip, Open Door to Smart Devices

By Guest PostDecember 1, 2013Sciencebismuth ferrite, data, electronic functions, jay narayan, john prater, magnetic field, magnetic field strength, north Carolina, s rao, silicon chip, single crystal bfo, smart devices, state university, substrate

Researchers from North Carolina State University have for the first time integrated a material called bismuth ferrite (BFO) as a single crystal onto a silicon chip, opening the door to a new generation of multifunctional, smart devices.

BFO has both ferromagnetic and ferroelectric properties, meaning that it can be magnetized by running an electric current through the material. Potential applications for BFO include new magnetic memory devices, smart sensors and spintronics technologies. (more…)

The Era of Neutrino Astronomy has Begun

By Guest PostNovember 30, 2013Scienceactive galactic nuclei, antarctic ice, askaryan radio array, astronomy, astrophysicists, black holes, cosmic neutrinos, data collection, era, extraterrestrial neutrinos, francis halzen, Galaxy, gamma ray, gregory sullivan, high energy particles, ice, icecube neutrino observatory, kara hoffman, magnetic fields, massless particles, mysterious phenomena, neutrino astronomy, neutrino detector, new age, nsf, origin and cause, solar system, south pole, statistically significant signal, stream to earth, telescope, teraelectronvolts, tev, university of maryland, vladimir papitashvili

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Astrophysicists using a telescope embedded in Antarctic ice have succeeded in a quest to detect and record the mysterious phenomena known as cosmic neutrinos – nearly massless particles that stream to Earth at the speed of light from outside our solar system, striking the surface in a burst of energy that can be as powerful as a baseball pitcher’s fastball. Next, they hope to build on the early success of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory to detect the source of these high-energy particles, said Physics Professor Gregory Sullivan, who led the University of Maryland’s 12-person team of contributors to the IceCube Collaboration.

“The era of neutrino astronomy has begun,” Sullivan said as the IceCube Collaboration announced the observation of 28 very high-energy particle events that constitute the first solid evidence for astrophysical neutrinos from cosmic sources. (more…)

Dreyfus Award

By Guest PostNovember 30, 2013Sciencedreyfus award, liquid fuel, renewable energy, synthetic liquid fuels

UD’s Rosenthal receives postdoctoral award in environmental chemistry

Chemist Joel Rosenthal, whose work in renewable energy focuses on the use of solar energy to convert carbon dioxide into synthetic liquid fuels, has been awarded a highly competitive grant to add a postdoctoral researcher to his lab. (more…)

Do Black Holes Come in Size Medium?

By Guest PostNovember 29, 2013Scienceblack holes, circinus spiral galaxy, dominic walton, exotic phenomenon, galactic landscape, hearts of galaxies, high energy xrays, immense gravity, Japan, largest black holes, matteo bachetti, NASA, nustar, open issue, size medium, suzaku satellite, topsy turvy galaxy, ulxs, xrays

Black holes can be petite, with masses only about 10 times that of our sun — or monstrous, boasting the equivalent in mass up to 10 billion suns. Do black holes also come in size medium? NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, is busy scrutinizing a class of black holes that may fall into the proposed medium-sized category.

“Exactly how intermediate-sized black holes would form remains an open issue,” said Dominic Walton of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. “Some theories suggest they could form in rich, dense clusters of stars through repeated mergers, but there are a lot of questions left to be answered.” (more…)

A decline in creativity? It depends on how you look

By Guest PostNovember 28, 2013Scienceagreed upon criteria, decline in creativity, donna dibartolomeo, dynamics of creativity, emily weinstein, everyday life, greater complexity, harvard university, howard gardner, intelligence, iq tests, katie davis, naturalistic setting, student visual art, subjective as creativity, university of washington, young americans, zachary clark

Research in recent years has suggested that young Americans might be less creative now than in decades past, even while their intelligence — as measured by IQ tests — continues to rise.

But new research from the University of Washington Information School and Harvard University, closely studying 20 years of student creative writing and visual artworks, hints that the dynamics of creativity may not break down as simply as that. (more…)

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