Science – Page 341 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Poultry Farms that Go Organic Have Fewer Drug-Resistant Bacteria

By Guest PostAugust 14, 2011Health, Scienceamy r sapkota, antibiotic resistant enterococci, antibiotics, bacteria, bacterium and antibiotic, drug resistant enterococci bacteria, enterococci bacteria in poultry litter, enterococcus faecalis, erinna kinney, guangyu zhang, kellogg j schwab, organic poultry farms, organic practices, poultry farms, poultry houses in the mid atlantic region, r michael hulet, sam joseph, united states, us poultry farms

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Poultry farms that have adopted organic practices and ceased using antibiotics have significantly lower levels of drug-resistant enterococci bacteria that can potentially spread to humans, according to a groundbreaking new study led by a researcher in the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health.

The study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives (online August 10, 2011), is the first to demonstrate lower levels of drug-resistant bacteria on newly organic farms in the United States and suggests that removing antibiotic use from large-scale U.S. poultry farms can result in immediate and significant reductions in antibiotic resistance for some bacteria. (more…)

A Change in Perspective Could Be All It Takes to Succeed in School

By Guest PostAugust 13, 2011Scienceadrenal gland, choking under pressure, free press, hormone, marci decaro, math anxiety and salivary cortisol, neil albert, psychology, right way to handle stress, robin thomas, sian beilock, stress hormone, stress related changes in the body, university of chicago, working memory

*Study finds stress boosts performance for confident students, but holds back those with more anxiety*

Knowing the right way to handle stress in the classroom and on the sports field can make the difference between success and failure for the millions of students going back to school this fall, new University of Chicago research shows.

“We found that cortisol, a hormone released in response to stress, can either be tied to a student’s poor performance on a math test or contribute to success, depending on the frame of mind of the student going into the test,” said Sian Beilock, associate professor in psychology and one of the nation’s leading experts on poor performance by otherwise talented people. (more…)

Meteorites: Tool Kits for Creating Life on Earth

By Guest PostAugust 10, 2011Sciencecarbonaceous chondrites, chemical composition, extraterrestrial origin, life on earth, meteorites, nucleobase analogs, organic rich meteorite

Washington, D.C.— Meteorites hold a record of the chemicals that existed in the early Solar System and that may have been a crucial source of the organic compounds that gave rise to life on Earth. Since the 1960s, scientists have been trying to find proof that nucleobases, the building blocks of our genetic material, came to Earth on meteorites. New research, published next week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, indicates that certain nucleobases do reach the Earth from extraterrestrial sources, by way of certain meteorites, and in greater diversity and quantity than previously thought. (more…)

NASA Mars Rover Approaches Long-Term Goal

By Guest PostAugust 9, 2011Sciencecalifornia institute of technology, cape york, endeavour crater, environments on mars, mars, mars rover opportunity, microbial life, NASA, opportunity, pasadena, rovers, spirit point, victoria crater

The NASA Mars rover Opportunity has gained a view of Endeavour crater from barely more than a football-field’s distance away from the rim. The rim of Endeavour has been the mission’s long-term goal since mid-2008.

Endeavour offers the setting for plenty of productive work by Opportunity. The crater is 14 miles (22 kilometers) in diameter — more than 25 times wider than Victoria crater, an earlier stop that Opportunity examined for two years. Observations by orbiting spacecraft indicate that the ridges along Endeavour’s western rim expose rock outcrops older than any Opportunity has seen so far. The selected location for arrival at the rim, “Spirit Point,” is at the southern tip of one of those ridges, “Cape York,” on the western side of Endeavour. (more…)

Brain’s Map of Space Falls Flat When It Comes to Altitude

By Guest PostAugust 8, 2011Scienceanimal brain, brain, brain map of space, complex environments, grid cells, hippocampus, hotspots, kate jeffery, map of space, nature neuroscience, neurons, place cells, Space, third dimension, ucl psychology and language sciences, wellcome trust

Animal’s brains are only roughly aware of how high-up they are in space, meaning that in terms of altitude the brain’s ‘map’ of space is surprisingly flat, according to new research.

In a study published online in Nature Neuroscience, scientists studied cells in or near a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which forms the brain’s map of space, to see whether they were activated when rats climbed upwards. (more…)

Roman Civilisation Travelled Further than History Books Tell Us

By Guest PostAugust 6, 2011Culture, Sciencearchaeologist, coin, danielle wootton, devon, earthwatch, excavation, history of the romans in britain, ioana oltean, largest roman settlement, metal detectorists, pas, portable antiquities scheme, quarry pits, roman cemetery, roman coins, roman invasion and occupation of devon, sam moorhead, south west peninsula of britain, university of exeter

A University of Exeter archaeologist’s research has uncovered the largest Roman settlement ever found in Devon. The discovery could force us to rewrite the history of the Romans in Britain.

The discovery of a large Roman Settlement in Devon was the result of a chance metal detecting coin find. Danielle Wootton, the Finds Liaison Officer for the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and archaeologist at the University of Exeter was called on to investigate further. (more…)

Six Million Years of African Savanna

By Guest PostAugust 6, 2011Environment, Scienceancient soil, anthony macharia, ape, ardipithecus, australopithecus, bipedalism, c3 pathway of photosynthesis, c4 photosynthesis, carbon isotope ratios in fossil soils, chemical isotopes, david kimutai korir, early human fossils, east african, environments, fossils of human ancestors, geochemist, geological past, homo, human ancestors, kenya wildlife service, michael bird, national science foundation, omo turkana basin of ethiopia and kenya, open grasslands, paleo shade proxy for soil temperature and woody cover, paleosols, paranthropus, prehistoric tree cover, ratio of rare carbon 13 to common carbon 12, richard lane, samuel andanje, savanna, savanna landscape, scattered trees, thure cerling, tropical landscapes, university of utah, vegetation chronologies of the awash valley of ethiopia, woody cover and hominin environments in the past 6 million years

*Open, grassy environments accompanied human evolution*

Scientists using chemical isotopes in ancient soil to measure prehistoric tree cover–in effect, shade–have found that grassy, tree-dotted savannas prevailed at most East African sites where human ancestors and their ape relatives evolved during the past six million years.

“We’ve been able to quantify how much shade was available in the geological past,” says University of Utah geochemist Thure Cerling, lead author of a paper titled “Woody cover and hominin environments in the past 6 million years” on the results in this week’s issue of the journal Nature. (more…)

NASA Spacecraft Data Suggest Water Flowing on Mars

By Guest PostAugust 5, 2011Scienceflowing water, gullies, lineations, liquid water, mars, martian slopes, subsurface flows

PASADENA, Calif. –– Observations from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have revealed possible flowing water during the warmest months on Mars. (more…)

Category Archives: Science