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A Whole New Meaning for Thinking on Your Feet

By Guest PostJanuary 9, 2012Natureaxons, biodiversity of spiders, body cavities, brain, brain cells, brain power, brain size and behavior, central nervous systems, costa rica, diameter, energy, genes, genus, hallers rule, human brains, miniaturization, mysmena, nephila clavipes, nerve fibers, nerve signals, nervous system, nucleus, nymphs of spiders, panama, rainforest, rainforest giant, smallest spiders, smithsonian researchers, smithsonian tropical research institute, species of spiders, tiny spiders, tropical ecosystems, tropics, understanding of tropical nature, william wcislo

Smithsonian researchers report that the brains of tiny spiders are so large that they fill their body cavities and overflow into their legs. As part of ongoing research to understand how miniaturization affects brain size and behavior, researchers measured the central nervous systems of nine species of spiders, from rainforest giants to spiders smaller than the head of a pin. As the spiders get smaller, their brains get proportionally bigger, filling up more and more of their body cavities.

“The smaller the animal, the more it has to invest in its brain, which means even very tiny spiders are able to weave a web and perform other fairly complex behaviors,” said William Wcislo, staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. “We discovered that the central nervous systems of the smallest spiders fill up almost 80 percent of their total body cavity, including about 25 percent of their legs.” (more…)

MSU Chemists Become The First To Support an 84-Year-Old Theory

By Guest PostDecember 23, 2011Scienceabsorption of light, angular momentum, chemical reactions, energy, energy transfer, molecules

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The same principle that causes figure skaters to spin faster as they draw their arms into their bodies has now been used by Michigan State University researchers to understand how molecules move energy around following the absorption of light. (more…)

NASA: Climate Change May Bring Big Ecosystem Changes

By Guest PostDecember 15, 2011Environmentbiodiversity, biome changes, biosphere, boreal forests, caltech, carbon, climate, climate change, climate model projections, computer modeling, desert, duane waliser, earth, eastern equatorial africa, ecological consequences, ecological sensitivity, ecosystem, element cycles, energy, environmental changes, forest, global climate simulations, grassland, great lakes, great plains, greenhouse gases, himalayas, hotspots, ice, jon bergengren, last glacial maximum, Madagascar, major ecological community type, mediterranean region, melting glaciers, migrate, model projections, modern climate changes, multiple generations, NASA, North America, northern hemisphere, plant communities, rising sea levels, southern south america, tibetan plateau, tundra, water

PASADENA, Calif. – By 2100, global climate change will modify plant communities covering almost half of Earth’s land surface and will drive the conversion of nearly 40 percent of land-based ecosystems from one major ecological community type – such as forest, grassland or tundra – toward another, according to a new NASA and university computer modeling study.

Researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., investigated how Earth’s plant life is likely to react over the next three centuries as Earth’s climate changes in response to rising levels of human-produced greenhouse gases. Study results are published in the journal Climatic Change. (more…)

Yale Engineers Making Solar Power More Efficient

By Guest PostDecember 14, 2011Environment, Scienceandre d taylor, applied physicists, arrays, chinedum o osuji, clean energy technology, electricity, energy, engineers, flow of electrons, fraction of light, hybrid organic inorganic pv devices, lisa d pfefferle, magnetic fields, photovoltaic systems, photovoltaics, polymer coated nanowires, pv, pv systems, sohrab ismail beigi, solar cell, solar power technology, yale university

Innovations by a team of Yale University researchers could lead to improvements in basic solar power technology that result in lower-cost, higher-efficiency photovoltaic systems.

Photovoltaics (PV) directly convert sunlight into electricity. PV systems can be arrayed on rooftops to generate electricity for entire buildings, among other uses. Less expensive, more efficient systems could encourage broader use of this clean energy technology. (more…)

Research Sheds New Light on Body Parts’ Sensitivity to Environmental Changes

By Guest PostNovember 23, 2011Sciencealexander shingleton, beacon, blood sugar levels, body parts, brain, changes in nutrition, energy, evolution in action consortium, fruit flies, glucose, humans, insulin, malnutrition, michigan state university, nongenetic, normal size, sensitive to environmental change, sensitivity to environmental issues, type 2 diabetes, variety of diseases, zeroing, zoology

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Research by a team of Michigan State University scientists has shed new light on why some body parts are more sensitive to environmental change than others, work that could someday lead to better ways of treating a variety of diseases, including Type-2 diabetes.

The research, led by assistant zoology professor Alexander Shingleton, is detailed in the recent issue of the Proceedings of the Library of Science Genetics. (more…)

Scientists Uncover Mechanism That Regulates Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Metabolism

By Guest PostNovember 16, 2011Scienceadenosine triphosphate, atp, body cells, california institute for regenerative medicine, carbon dioxide, carla koehler, cell differentiation, cell functions, chicken or the egg question, cytoplasm, electron transport chain, energy, energy generation by mitochondria in pluripotent stem cells, glycolysis, glycolytic and biosynthesis pathways, human pluripotent stem cells, inactive mitochondria, jin zhang, kim irwin, mature cells in children and adults, metabolic activities, method of generating energy, michael teitell, mitochondria, oxidative phosphorylation, protein, respiration, stem cells, sugar fermentation, ucp2, uncoupling protein 2, visual appearance

Human pluripotent stem cells, which can develop into any cell type in the body, rely heavily on glycolysis, or sugar fermentation, to drive their metabolic activities.

In contrast, mature cells in children and adults depend more on cell mitochondria to convert sugar and oxygen into carbon dioxide and water during a high energy–producing process called oxidative phosphorylation. (more…)

Poll: Americans Believe U.S. Headed in Wrong Direction on Energy

By Guest PostOctober 19, 2011Environmentamericans, bill powers, consumption of oil from foreign sources, energy, energy costs, energy index, energy prices, energy users and energy producers, global energy issues, hybrid or electric vehicles, jobs, key energy issues, majority of americans, poll, renewable sources, solar panels, university of texas at austin

AUSTIN, Texas — A poll released today by The University of Texas at Austin found less than 14 percent of Americans think the country is headed in the right direction on energy. Of more than 3,400 consumers surveyed, 84 percent were worried about U.S. consumption of oil from foreign sources and 76 percent about a lack of progress in developing better ways to use energy efficiently and develop renewable sources.

While jobs overwhelmingly top the list of national concerns, the majority of Americans care about energy issues. For instance, the poll found 68 percent are concerned about the energy efficiency of their homes and 60 percent about global energy issues. (more…)

Testing the Water for Bioenergy Crops

By Guest PostSeptember 3, 2011Environmentanjuli bamzai, atmospheric humidity, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, changing climate, corn, darren drewry, energy, environmental advocates, Germany, grasses, hydrologic cycle, hydrology, land conversion, large scale biofuel production, large scale land conversion, limiting factor, max planck institute, miscanthus, phong le, praveen kumar, rainfall patterns, runoff, soil moisture, switchgrass, university of illinois at urbana champaign, vietnam education foundation, water

*Water significant limiting factor in growing crops like switchgrass*

Energy researchers and environmental advocates are excited about the prospect of gaining more efficient large-scale biofuel production by using large grasses like miscanthus or switchgrass rather than corn.

They have investigated yields, land use, economics and more, but one key factor of agriculture has been overlooked: water.

“While we are looking for solutions for energy through bioenergy crops, dependence on water gets ignored, and water can be a significant limiting factor,” said Praveen Kumar, an environmental engineer and atmospheric scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (more…)

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