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Piranha Kin Wielded Dental Weaponry Even T. Rex Would Have Admired

By Guest PostDecember 27, 2012Nature, Scienceamazon river, american alligator, american university, ancient relative, anecdotes, armored fish, barracuda, bite, bite force, black piranha, blacktip shark, bull shark, c caracharias, c leucas, c limbatus, cairo, carcharodon megalodon, carnivorous fishes, customized force gage, dunkleosteus terrelli, earth, egypt, extinct mega predators, extinct piranhas, fossilized jaw, george washington university, guillermo orti, hammerhead shark, history, hyperbole, jaw forces, jaw muscles, jorge porto, justin grubich, largest piranha, mega bites, megapiranha paranensis, piranha infested waters, piranha like ability, piranhas, prehistoric, s mokarran, serrasalmus rhombeus, skeleton, soft tissue, stephanie crofts, steve huskey, t rex, teeth, tendons, tyrannosaurus rex, university of washington, western kentucky university, whale eating sharks, white sharks

Taking into consideration its size, an ancient relative of piranhas weighing about 20 pounds delivered a bite with a force more fierce than prehistoric whale-eating sharks, the four-ton ocean-dwelling Dunkleosteus terrelli and – even – Tyrannosaurus rex.

Besides the force of the bite, Megapiranha paranensis appears to have had teeth capable of shearing through soft tissue the way today’s piranhas do, while also being able to pierce thick shells and crack armoring and bones, according to Stephanie Crofts, a University of Washington doctoral student in biology. (more…)

Commentary: Ian Straughn: Is Egypt’s Revolution in Doubt?

By Guest PostNovember 28, 2012Politicsanthropology, arab spring, ashwaiyat, authoritarianism, cairo, cease fire, egypt, egyptians, elected president, gaza, gaza ceasefire, hamas, ian straughn, israeli forces, joukowsky family librarian, middle east studies, mohamed morsi, multiple vectors, muslim brotherhood, presidential decree, slums, tahrir square, united states

Egypt’s new democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi recently made world headlines on two accounts. The first was for his central role in brokering a cease-fire in Gaza between Israeli forces and Hamas. The second, which followed almost immediately after the deal was confirmed, was a highly controversial presidential decree that would temporarily insulate his legislative and executive decisions from any judicial oversight. Ian Straughn, visiting assistant professor of anthropology and Joukowsky Family Librarian for Middle East Studies, analyzes the return of protesters to Cairo’s Tahrir Square and the future of the Arab Spring in Egypt. (more…)

Biologically Best

By Guest PostJanuary 28, 2012Educationalex walter, article, bacterial protein, baylor university, becky maki, biologist, blood, cairo, cincinnati, egypt, evolutionary biology, florida, foundations of biology, fungal lineage, gretchen floan, iraqi war veteran, jonathan christenson, lisa hirsch, mark decker, mcgill university, mysterious, natural selection, nature of life, oklahoma, practicing biologists, robin wright, student, toxic metal, university of minnesota

*The U’s active learning biology courses garner attention*

What if you could remove lead from a person’s blood with a bacterial protein that snags the toxic metal?

Or treat spinal cord injury by shutting off a gene that prevents nerve regrowth?

Ideas like these used to be the exclusive province of practicing biologists. But they are among 14 ideas conceived and presented recently by students in the University of Minnesota’s introductory biology course. (more…)

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Piranha Kin Wielded Dental Weaponry Even T. Rex Would Have Admired

Commentary: Ian Straughn: Is Egypt’s Revolution in Doubt?

Biologically Best