hypothesis – Page 4 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Male Sandpipers That Sleep Less Have More Sex

By Guest PostAugust 14, 2012Nature, Scienceamanda watson, arctic circle, electroencephalogram, electromyogram datalogger, female, Germany, hypothesis, male sandpipers, mating, mating season, max planck institute, more sex, offspring, seewiesen, sleep deprivation, sleep less, stress

A study conducted by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen, Germany has shown that the male members of a sandpiper population who spend less time sleeping are more successful at mating with females and have more offspring.

The sandpiper mating season takes place during the summer in the Arctic Circle, when the sun practically never goes down. Males of the species compete to impress females by fighting with each other, defending territory, and flying over the females while making a hooting sound. (more…)

Science Outreach : Getting Started is Easy!

By Guest PostMarch 17, 2012Media, Scienceblogs, climate change, debate, Facebook, hypothesis, information pyramid, knowledge, marie lambert chan, Media, methodology, scientific knowledge, scientists, traditional media, Twitter, university life, william raillant clark

Sharing scientific knowledge is a fundamental part of university life. Regardless of whether you’re an undergraduate or a tenured professor, everyone has the responsibility of spreading their knowledge as widely as possible.

Why would you want to, though? “For a variety of reasons,” answers William Raillant-Clark, Press attaché at Université de Montréal’s Office of Communications and Public Relations. “The media is an excellent vehicle for communicating your ideas or your discoveries to the general public, and it can also draw the attention of your research peers to your work. This is one of the reasons why funding partners and potential research directors take into consideration science outreach work.” (more…)

Monogamous Birds….Peeping on the Neighbours!

By Guest PostJanuary 28, 2012Naturecolourful plumage, courtship dance, disease, dominique drullion, female, female zebra finche, frederique dubois, hypothesis, immunosuppressive effect, laboratory, male bird, male genetic quality, monogamous species, public information, reproduction period, sexual selection, social environment, song, testosterone, zebra finch

It is well documented that male birds seduce females using their songs, colourful plumage and courtship dances. These signals reflect male genetic quality and will be graded by the female to determine a male’s potential as a mate. The stronger the grade, the better the odds of being selected.

But this basic rule isn’t the only yardstick used by females. As surprising as it seems, birds know how to use data from their social environment to maximize their chances of reproduction. Frédérique Dubois, a professor at the Université de Montréal Department of Biological Sciences, has already demonstrated that female Zebra Finches will favour a male chosen by another female. Dubois refers to this as imitation and the use of “public information” in choosing a mate. (more…)

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

By Guest PostDecember 23, 2011Scienceabsorption of light, astronomers, chemical reaction pathways, chemical reactions, chromium, cobalt, conservation of angular momentum, distant planets, dong guo, energy, fluorescence resonance energy transfer, fret, fundamental property, hypothesis, jim mccusker, michigan state university, molecules, Nature, principle, properties, satellites, skaters, spin, troy knight

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.

Conservation of angular momentum is a fundamental property of nature, one that astronomers use to detect the presence of satellites circling distant planets. In 1927, it was proposed that this principle should apply to chemical reactions, but a clear demonstration has never been achieved. (more…)

Dictators in The Dock

By Guest PostDecember 23, 2011Politicsabdullah al senoussi, al capone, arab spring, Argentina, augusto pinochet, Chile, dictatorial regimes, dictators, dictatorship, egyptian president, embezzlemen, ex dictators, exile, hosni mubarak, human rights, hypothesis, intelligence chief, international criminal court, juan maria bordaberry, justice cascade, kangaroo courts, kathryn sikkink, latin america, libya, malefactors, military junta, moammar gadhafi, prosecution, sadam hussein, saif al islam, slobodan milosevic, trial, university of minnesota, uruguay, violations, yugoslavia and serbia

*Human rights trials for ex-dictators speed healing*

If dictators who torture, kill, or otherwise abuse their citizens’ human rights are overthrown, should they be brought to trial?

On one hand, convicting and punishing an ex-dictator and his minions would strike a welcome blow for justice in countries where it has been denied. (more…)

New Study to Test Unusual Hypothesis on Beta Brainwaves

By Guest PostDecember 4, 2011Sciencebasal ganglia, beta, beta brainwaves, beta oscillations, brown university, christopher moore, cortex, david orenstein, hypothesis, key brain circuit, model, moore and jones, neurons, neuroscientists, optogenetics, parkinsonian symptoms, parkinsons disease, physical brain, predictions, sensory information, somatosensory system, stephanie jones, thalamocortical circuit, thalamus, touch, touch perception circuit

Beta oscillations are tightly linked to Parkinson’s disease and the ability to process sensory information, such as touch. Two neuroscientists have brought their collaboration to Brown University and won funding from the National Science Foundation to see if they can finally provide a definitive, if unorthodox, explanation for beta brainwaves.

Before she could seek to convince the world that her computer model of a key brain circuit explains a fundamental, 80-year-old mystery of neuroscience with potential relevance to Parkinson’s disease, Stephanie Jones sought to convince Christopher Moore. The new Brown neuroscience professors are now close collaborators, but when they first started talking about the beta oscillations of the cortex, Moore thought Jones was plain wrong, if not a bit nuts. (more…)

Newly Found Dwarf Galaxies Could Help Reveal the Nature of Dark Matter

By Guest PostNovember 12, 2011Scienceandromeda, andromeda xxviii and xxix, astronomers, colin slater, dwarf galaxies, dwarf galaxies around andromeda, dwarf spheroidal galaxy 200 kpc from andromeda, earth, eric bell, gemini north telescope, gravitational effects, gravity, hawaii, how matter relates to dark matter, hypothesis, invisible substance, light years, night sky, predictions, satellites of andromeda, sloan digital sky survey, spiral galaxy, star counting technique, telescopes, understanding of dark matter, universe mass, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— In work that could help advance astronomers’ understanding of dark matter, University of Michigan researchers have discovered two additional dwarf galaxies that appear to be satellites of Andromeda, the closest spiral galaxy to Earth.

Eric Bell, an associate professor in astronomy, and Colin Slater, an astronomy Ph.D. student, found Andromeda XXVIII and XXIX—that’s 28 and 29. They did it by using a tested star-counting technique on the newest data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which has mapped more than a third of the night sky. They also used follow-up data from the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii. (more…)

Glow-in-the-Dark Millipede Says ‘Stay Away’

By Guest PostSeptember 28, 2011Nature, Scienceaequorea victoria, bioluminescent millipedes, charity hall, clay models, dan papaj, enzymatic reaction, genus motyxia, giant sequoia national monument in california, glowing and non glowing individuals, grasshopper mouse, green fluorescent protein, hypothesis, jellyfish, metalsmith, millipedes, motyxia, mountain regions in california, multi legged invertebrates, nocturnal predators, onychomys torridus, paul marek, santa monica mountains, southern sierra nevada mountains, tehachapi mountains, vegetarians, wendy moore

*The world’s only bioluminescent millipedes use their glow as a warning signal to nocturnal predators, a UA-led research team has discovered.*

As night falls in certain mountain regions in California, a strange breed of creepy crawlies emerges from the soil: millipedes that glow in the dark. The reason behind the glowing secret has stumped biologists until now.

Paul Marek, a research associate in the University of Arizona’s department of entomology and Center for Insect Science, and his team now provide the first evidence gained from field experiments of bioluminescence being used as a warning signal. They discovered that the nightly glow of millipedes belonging to the genus Motyxia helps the multi-legged invertebrates avoid attacks by predators. (more…)

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