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Delving Into Manganite Conductivity

By Guest PostFebruary 14, 2011Sciencealexander goncharov, atmospheres, breakthrough, chemical compounds, conductivity, electric charges, jahn teller effect, lamno3, magnetic random access memories, magnetic sensors, magnetoresistance, manganites, maria baldini, metallic state, mysterious ways, non conductive insulating state, spintronic devices, structure, viktor struzhkin

Washington, D.C.— Chemical compounds called manganites have been studied for many years since the discovery of colossal magnetoresistance, a property that promises important applications in the fields of magnetic sensors, magnetic random access memories and spintronic devices. However, understanding—and ultimately controlling—this effect remains a challenge, because much about manganite physics is still not known. A research team lead by Maria Baldini from Stanford University and Carnegie Geophysical Laboratory scientists Viktor Struzhkin and Alexander Goncharov has made an important breakthrough in our understanding of the mysterious ways manganites respond when subjected to intense pressure. (more…)

MU, ASU Researchers’ Discovery Could Change Views of Human Evolution

By Guest PostFebruary 13, 2011Scienceardipithecus ramidus, australopithecus afarensis, brains, carol ward, discovery, donald johanson, ethiopia, feet arches, foot bone, fossil, fossil skeleton, hadar, hominids, human evolution, human like arches, human like walking, human locomotion, human origins, human species, humans, jaws, lucy, metatarsal, million year old, predators, predecessor, shock absorbing abilities, william kimbel

*3.2 million-year-old human predecessor had arches in feet*

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Feet arches give humans a spring in their steps, shock absorbing abilities, and stiff platforms to propel themselves forward, allowing them to walk upright consistently. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri and Arizona State University have found proof that arches existed in a predecessor to the human species that lived more than 3 million years ago. This discovery could change scientists’ views of human evolution. The study is being published this week in Science.

Carol Ward, an MU researcher in the Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences at the MU School of Medicine, and William Kimbel and Donald Johanson, director and founding director of the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University, studied a 3.2 million-year-old fourth metatarsal of Australopithecus afarensis. A team from the Institute of Human Origins and National Museum of Ethiopia led by Kimbel discovered the fossil in Hadar, Ethiopia. The species is often referred to as “Lucy,” the nickname of the most complete fossil skeleton of the species to be discovered. (more…)

Two-timing Spacecraft Has Date with Another Comet

By Guest PostFebruary 12, 20111 commentSciencecomet surface, comet tempel, comets nucleus, jupiter family comet, stardust next, stardust spacecraft, two timing spacecraft

NASA’s Stardust spacecraft, equipped with the University of Chicago’s Dust Flux Monitor Instrument (DFMI), is hurtling at more than 24,000 miles an hour toward a Valentine’s Day encounter with comet Tempel 1. (more…)

For Longer-Life, Disease-Free Roses, NC State Researchers Insert Celery Gene

By Guest PostFebruary 12, 2011Sciencealcohol, botrytis, bryon sosinski, celery, Colombia, disease, ecuador, environmental factors, fungal pathogens, gene, george allen, grocery stores, john dole, john williamson, lettuce, mannitol, petal blight, plant diseases, post harvest diseases, rose, rose plants, valentine day, vase life

A rose by any other name would smell … like celery?

North Carolina State University research intended to extend the “vase life” of roses inserts a gene from celery inside rose plants to help fight off botrytis, or petal blight, one of the rose’s major post-harvest diseases.

Some fungal pathogens, the bad guys that infect plants, produce a sugar alcohol called mannitol that interferes with the plant’s ability to block disease like petal blight, which produces wilty, mushy petals – an effect similar to what happens to lettuce when it’s been in the crisper too long. (more…)

Looking at a Tough Hill to Climb? Depends on Your Point of View

By Guest PostFebruary 12, 2011Scienceangle of stairs, bottom of the hill, climbing, constancy of slant perception, dennis shaffer, descending hills, fatigue, fear of falling, inclines, judgment, mariagrace flint, overestimates, people, slope of the escalator, slope of the steps, steepness of slopes

COLUMBUS, Ohio — People tend to overestimate the steepness of slopes – and psychologists studying the phenomenon have made a discovery that refutes common ideas about how we perceive inclines in general.

For more than a decade, researchers thought that our judgment was biased by our fatigue or fear of falling, explained Dennis Shaffer, associate professor of psychology at Ohio State University’s Mansfield campus. We perceive climbing or descending hills as difficult or dangerous, so when we look at an incline, our view is clouded by the expected physical exertion or danger of traversing it. (more…)

New View of Family Life in the North American Nebula

By Guest PostFebruary 10, 2011Sciencecontamination, cosmic community, earth, gulf of mexico, infrared view, light years, luisa rebull, micron, NASA, north american nebula, spitzer image, spitzer space telescope, stars, toddler stars, wavelength, young stars, zodiacal dust

Pasadena, Calif. — Stars at all stages of development, from dusty little tots to young adults, are on display in a new image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope.

This cosmic community is called the North American nebula. In visible light, the region resembles the North American continent, with the most striking resemblance being the Gulf of Mexico. But in Spitzer’s infrared view, the continent disappears. Instead, a swirling landscape of dust and young stars comes into view.

“One of the things that makes me so excited about this image is how different it is from the visible image, and how much more we can see in the infrared than in the visible,” said Luisa Rebull of NASA’s Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. Rebull is lead author of a paper about the observations, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. “The Spitzer image reveals a wealth of detail about the dust and the young stars here.” (more…)

Language May Play Important Role in Learning the Meanings of Numbers

By Guest PostFebruary 10, 2011Scienceformal sign language, homesigners, meanings of numbers, number words, sign language

Research shows “homesigners” unable to comprehend the value of large numbers

New research conducted with deaf people in Nicaragua shows that language may play an important role in learning the meanings of numbers. (more…)

Unexpected Exoskeleton Remnants Found in Paleozoic Fossils

By Guest PostFebruary 9, 2011Sciencearthropods, canada, cenozoic fossils, chitin protein complex, fossils, george cody, horseshoe crabs, low energy x rays, mesozoic fossils, molecular signature, ontario, organic fossil record, paleozoic era, partial bacterial degradation, polysaccharide, protein

Washington, D.C.— Surprising new research shows that, contrary to conventional belief, remains of chitin-protein complex—structural materials containing protein and polysaccharide—are present in abundance in fossils of arthropods from the Paleozoic era. Previously the oldest molecular signature of chitin-protein complex was discovered in 25 million year old Cenozoic fossils and remnants of structural protein have also been discovered in 80 million-year-old Mesozoic fossils. Carnegie’s George Cody and an international team of scientists discovered relicts of protein-chitin complex in fossils of arthropods from the Paleozoic era. Their findings, published online by Geology, could have major implications for our understanding of the organic fossil record. (more…)

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