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The Mystery of Lizard Breath

By Guest PostDecember 19, 2013Nature3d image, aerodynamic valves, african savannah, alligators, archosaurs, c g farmer, ct scans, dinosaurs, emma schachner, evolution, fast metabolisms, flying pterosaurs, gular pumping, harvard university, humans, james butler, lepidosauromorpha, lizard breath, lizard like creature, lungs, mass extinction, monitor lizards, mystery, one way patterns, oxygen consumption, permian triassic, rate, robert cieri, tidal breathing pattern, tuataras, unidirectional airflow, university of utah, varanus exanthematicus

One-Way Air Flow May Be 270 Million Years Old

Air flows mostly in a one-way loop through the lungs of monitor lizards – a breathing method shared by birds, alligators and presumably dinosaurs, according to a new University of Utah study.

The findings – published online Wednesday, Dec. 11 in the journal Nature – raise the possibility this breathing pattern originated 270 million years ago, about 20 million years earlier than previously believed and 100 million years before the first birds. Why remains a mystery. (more…)

Study: Greenhouse gas might have warmed early Mars enough to allow liquid water

By Guest PostDecember 3, 2013Scienceastronomer, atmosphere, carbon dioxide, computer climate model, computer models, early mars, greenhouse effect, greenhouse gas, hydrogen, james kasting, liquid water, michael e zugger, mystery, pennsylvania state university, ramses ramirez, ravi kopparapu, sunlight, surface of mars, temperature, tyler robinson, university of washington

The mystery of how the surface of Mars, long dead and dry, could have flowed with water billions of years ago may have been solved by research that included a University of Washington astronomer.

There is evidence that Mars had water at its surface 3.8 billion years ago or before, but scientists are divided on how that might have happened, especially since the sun was about 30 percent fainter back then, thus less able to melt water ice on Mars. (more…)

Mystery of the mutant polyomavirus

By Guest PostJuly 7, 2013Health, Scienceaaron derdowski, astrocytes, bethany ohara, brain glial cells, brown university, carbohydrate, crystal structure, DNA, gretchen gee, infectious, jc polyomavirus, lstc, luisa ströh, melissa maginnis, mutant form, mutant polyomavirus, myelin, mystery, non infection, oligodendrocytes, pathogen, pml, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, thilo stehle, university of tübingen, ursula neu, vanderbilt university, virus, walter atwood, wild type, xray crystallography

A new study shows that common mutant forms of the deadly JC polyomavirus are not responsible for the pathogen’s main attack, which causes a brain-damaging disease in immunocompromised patients called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. But that finding raises the ominous question of what the mutants might be up to instead.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The JC polyomavirus is clearly opportunistic. It infects half the population but lethally destroys brain tissue only in immunocompromised patients — and it may be outright sneaky, too. Even as a new research paper allays fears that common mutant forms of the virus are the ones directly responsible for the disease’s main attack, that same finding raises new questions about what the mutants are doing instead. (more…)

Studying meteorites may reveal Mars’ secrets of life

By Guest PostMay 24, 2013Scienceage old question, alterations, Antarctica, billion years ago, data from meteorites, earth, geochemical processes, mars, michael velbel, michigan state university, miller range, mineralogical studies, mystery, nakhlite meteorite, rover data, secrets of life, solar system, studying meteorites

In an effort to determine if conditions were ever right on Mars to sustain life, a team of scientists, including a Michigan State University professor, has examined a meteorite that formed on the red planet more than a billion years ago.

And although this team’s work is not specifically solving the mystery, it is laying the groundwork for future researchers to answer this age-old question. (more…)

Astronomers find evidence of hungry young exoplanets

By Guest PostMay 22, 2013Scienceasteroids, astronomer, complex, disk material, distorted formation, evidence, Galaxy, hungry young exoplanets, mystery, planetary childhood, planets, stefan kraus, the mechanics, university of exeter, v1247 orionis, weird

While astronomers now know that exoplanets are exceedingly common in the galaxy, the mechanics by which they are formed aren’t well understood. Planetary childhood remains a mystery.

Young stars start out with a massive disk of gas and dust that over time, astronomers think, either diffuses away or coalesces into planets and asteroids.

“The speculation is that as planets form they clear out a region of gas and dust around them, forming a telltale ‘gap’ in the disk”, said Stefan Kraus, from Physics and Astronomy at the University of Exeter. (more…)

UA Researchers Solve Mystery of Lincoln’s Funeral Train

By Guest PostApril 25, 2013General, Politicsabraham lincoln, american history, benedictine university, brook beam, car project, Chicago, chicago group, color, death, funeral train, karen zimmermann, keck imaging center, lincoln, lincoln funeral, lincoln train project, model, mystery, nancy odegaard, new york, northern population, northern states, presidential funeral procession, presidential use, private railroad car, rich chocolate brown, robert kennedy, sesquicentennial, southern sympathizers, traditional funeral, train, united states, united states military, university of arizona, Washington, wayne wesolowski

With the 2015 sesquicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s death approaching, interest is rising, and with new tools, UA researchers have turned their attention to one of the last remaining mysteries about what reportedly was the largest traditional funeral in American history – the train’s color.

A trove of information exists about Abraham Lincoln’s funeral, which drew millions of mourners during a two-week railway procession across the Northern states.

But until now, the precise color of the president’s railcar had been lost to history. (more…)

Female Lemurs Play It Safe, Live Longer, Study Suggests

By Guest PostMarch 14, 2013Natureadipose tissue, brian gerber, colorado state university, endangered lemur species, escape from predators, females, hormone level, lifestyle, male testes, masculinized genitalia, milne edwards sifaka, mortality risk factors, mystery, patricia wright, primate, rainforest dweller, rainforests of madagascar, ranomafana national park, safer sex, shu fahk, southeastern madagascar, stacey tecot, stephen king, stony brook university, ua anthropologist, university of massachusetts

Females of a little-known primate from the rainforests of Madagascar have been known to outlive their male peers by many years, despite no obvious differences in hormone levels or lifestyle. A team led by a UA anthropologist has found the likely answer to the mystery.

Researchers studying aging in an endangered lemur species report that in old age, females are the safer sex: They live much longer than their male peers.

Females tend to outlive males in many animals, including humans. But in the Milne-Edwards’ sifaka – a rainforest-dweller with orange-red eyes, a black face and woolly dark brown fur – the sexes didn’t seem to differ in any of the ways thought to give females a survival advantage in other animals. (more…)

Yale Researchers Identify Salt as a Trigger of Autoimmune Diseases

By Guest PostMarch 14, 2013Healthautoimmune diseases, autoimmune encephalomyelitis, aviv regev, david hafler, destructive immune system, dietary salt, disease, dominik mueller, Environment, function, gene, Germany, hallmark of autoimmunity, high salt content, hypertension, immune cell, low fat diet, low salt, molecular circuitry, ms, multiple sclerosis, mystery, Nature, pathogenic th17 cells, prime suspect, sub-saharan africa, t helper 17, th17 cell, vijay kuchroo

For the past few decades, health officials have been reporting increases in the incidence of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Now researchers at Yale Medical School, Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute have identified a prime suspect in the mystery — dietary salt.

In the March 6 issue of the journal Nature, Yale researchers showed that salt can induce and worsen pathogenic immune system responses in mice and that the response is regulated by genes already implicated in a variety of autoimmune diseases. (more…)

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