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Ancient Popcorn Discovered in Peru

By Guest PostJanuary 26, 2012Scienceacademia nacional de la historia, andean region, ceramic pottery, coast of peru, corn microfossils, corncobs, dolores piperno, duccio bonavia, grains, huaca prieta, human welfare, husks, kernels, maize, male flowers, Mexico, panama, panama city, paredones, phytoliths, popcorn, smithsonian tropical research institute, south america, stalks, tassels, teosinte, tom dillehay, tropical ecosystem, tropical forests, tropical nature, vanderbilt university, wild grass

People living along the coast of Peru were eating popcorn 2,000 years earlier than previously reported and before ceramic pottery was used there, according to a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences co-authored by Dolores Piperno, curator of New World archaeology at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and emeritus staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

Some of the oldest known corncobs, husks, stalks and tassels (male flowers), dating from 6,700 to 3,000 years ago were found at Paredones and Huaca Prieta, two mound sites on Peru’s arid northern coast. The research group, led by Tom Dillehay from Vanderbilt University and Duccio Bonavia from Peru’s Academia Nacional de la Historia, also found corn microfossils: starch grains and phytoliths. Characteristics of the cobs—the earliest ever discovered in South America—indicate that the sites’ ancient inhabitants ate corn several ways, including popcorn and flour corn. However, corn was still not an important part of their diet. (more…)

Archaeologists Find New Evidence of Animals Being Introduced to Prehistoric Caribbean

By Guest PostDecember 13, 2011Scienceagoutis, animal remains, armadillos, arrival of columbus, caribbean, caribbean islands, carriacou, charcoal, daily consumption, guinea pigs, michelle lefebvre, north carolina state university, opossum, pig like peccaries, pre columbian caribbean, prehistoric non native animal, prehistoric villages, rodents, scott fitzpatrick, south america, tiny island, university of florida, university of washington

An archaeological research team from North Carolina State University, the University of Washington and University of Florida has found one of the most diverse collections of prehistoric non-native animal remains in the Caribbean, on the tiny island of Carriacou. The find contributes to our understanding of culture in the region before the arrival of Columbus, and suggests Carriacou may have been more important than previously thought.

The researchers found evidence of five species that were introduced to Carriacou from South America between 1,000 and 1,400 years ago. Only one of these species, the opossum, can still be found on the island. The other species were pig-like peccaries, armadillos, guinea pigs and small rodents called agoutis. (more…)

Jeopardy! Winnings Spur IBM and Scripps Research Institute Collaboration to Fight Against Malaria

By Guest PostNovember 18, 2011Science, Technologyafrica, alex l perryman, asia, clean water techniques, critical to human health, drug resistant strains, economic distress, go fight against malaria, hiv, human competitors, ibm, jeopardy game, malaria, mike pique, multi drug resistant aids, plasmodium falciparum, renewable energy materials, ruth huey, sargis dallakyan, scripps research institute, south america, stefano forli, subhash sinha, supercomputer of the people, watson computing system, world community grid, world health organization

*Project to use 2 million PCs to crunch numbers, compress 100 years of research into just one*

LA JOLLA, CA and ARMONK, NY – IBM’s Watson computing system broke new ground earlier this year when it defeated two celebrated human competitors on the Jeopardy! game show. Now, The Scripps Research Institute is hoping to do something equally novel but more critical to human health with part of the prize money from that tournament: Find a cure for drug-resistant malaria. And it’s asking for the public’s help.

To that end, Scripps Research and IBM are encouraging anyone in the world with a personal computer to join World Community Grid, a sort of “supercomputer of the people” that will crunch numbers and perform simulations for “GO Fight Against Malaria”—the project that Scripps Research and IBM have launched at https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org. (more…)

Glaciers Contributing To Faster Sea-Level Rise

By Guest PostApril 9, 2011Environmentglaciers, industrial revolution, little ice age, mountain glaciers, neil glasser, outlet glaciers, patagonian icefields, sea-level rise, south america, stephan harrison

Melting mountain glaciers are contributing to sea-level rise faster than at any time in the last 350 years, according to new research published in Nature Geoscience.

A research team from the University of Exeter, Aberystwyth University, and Stockholm University undertook a survey of the 270 largest outlet glaciers of the South and North Patagonian Icefields of South America. (more…)

X-Ray Diffraction May Play Key Role in Stopping ‘Kissing Bug,’ Fungus

By Guest PostOctober 22, 2010Health, Scienceaspergillus fumigates, blood-sucking insect, chagas parasite, crime scenes, cure, dale karr, drugs, enzyme, fungus, john tanner, kissing bug, organisms, pablo sobrado, parasite, pathogens, pulmonary diseases, south america, sugar molecule, virginia tech, x ray diffraction

John Tanner, who also teaches chemistry in the College of Arts and Science, is studying Aspergillus fumigatus. Image credit: University of Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. – If finding the cure for a fungus and parasite that affects millions of people were the subject of a detective show, University of Missouri Chemistry Professor John Tanner would be the forensic expert in the lab, using high-tech equipment to make a model that could eventually solve the crime.

Tanner, who also teaches chemistry in the College of Arts and Science, has joined forces with Pablo Sobrado, an assistant professor of biochemistry at Virginia Tech, to study a unique enzyme found on two “crime scenes”: in Aspergillus fumigatus, a fungus that causes pulmonary diseases in immuno-compromised people; and in a blood-sucking insect prevalent in South America and now being found in the southwestern U.S., called the Chagas parasite, also known as the “kissing bug” for the red welts left on the victims’ faces after being bitten in his or her sleep.

“My job is to figure out what the enzyme looks like using X-ray diffraction,” Tanner said. “This enzyme makes a special sugar molecule that these organisms need to survive, so if we can find a way to stop the reaction that makes that sugar, then we might find a way to kill these pathogens.” (more…)

Ancient “Terror Bird” Used Powerful Beak to Jab Like Boxer

By Guest PostSeptember 13, 20102 commentsScienceancient terror bird, andalgalornis, Argentina, boxer, christmas tree, federico degrange, flightless birds, karen moreno, muhammad ali, phorusrhacids, south america, stephen wroe, titanis

The ancient “terror bird” Andalgalornis couldn’t fly, but it used its unusually large, rigid skull–coupled with a hawk-like hooked beak–in a fighting strategy reminiscent of boxer Muhammad Ali.

(more…)

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