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Not a One-Way Street: Evolution Shapes Environment of Connecticut Lakes

By Guest PostMay 24, 2012Environment, Naturealewife, atlantic coast, bosminia, colonial settlers, colonial times, connecticut, daphnia, david post, ecology, environmental change, evolution, evolutionary change, evolutionary feedback, fish, force, genetic changes, john delong, lake, loop, matthew r walsh, organism, plankton, population growth, predator, prey, torrance hanley, water fleas, yale university, zooplankton

Environmental change is the selective force that preserves adaptive traits in organisms and is a primary driver of evolution. However, it is less well known that evolutionary change in organisms also trigger fundamental changes in the environment.

Yale University researchers found a prime example of this evolutionary feedback loop in a few lakes in Connecticut, where dams built 300 years ago in Colonial times trapped a fish called the alewife.

In a study published May 23 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Academy B, the Yale team describes how this event fundamentally changed the structure of the alewife and, with it, the water flea that the alewife feeds upon and the food chain that supports them both. (more…)

With Random Lasers, Yale Researchers Fight Random Noise, Improve Imaging

By Guest PostMay 1, 2012Sciencebeam of light, biomedical engineering, blood flow, diagnostic radiology, embryo heart, eric gershon, hui cao, illumination, imaging equipment, leds, light source, medical, michael a choma, pediatrics, photon, random laser, spatial mode, traditional lasers, yale university

Using “random lasers” as a source of illumination in medical imaging equipment could improve both processing time and the clarity of the final images, according to new research by Yale University scientists.

Imaging systems currently rely on a variety of light sources — specialty light bulbs, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and traditional lasers. But systems using traditional lasers, the brightest of these light sources, often yield undesirable visual byproducts that mar the final picture. One common byproduct, speckle, looks something like a snowfall pattern. (more…)

Yale Research Offers New Way To See Inside Solids

By Guest PostMarch 20, 2012Science3d mris, animal bone, array, artifact, assess, biological sample, bone quality, cow bone, gas bearing rock, hydrogen atom, joseph a madri, joshua n vanhouten, karl l insogna, magnetic resonance imaging, material, merideth a frey, michael michaud, mouse liver, mri, oil, phosphorus content, quadratic echo mri, quantum computing, radio wave, sean barrett, solid object, technique, tissue, yale university

Researchers at Yale University have developed a new way of seeing inside solid objects, including animal bones and tissues, potentially opening a vast array of dense materials to a new type of detailed internal inspection.

The technique, a novel kind of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), creates three-dimensional images of hard and soft solids based on signals emitted by their phosphorus content. (more…)

Torosaurus is Not Triceratops, Yale Researchers Say

By Guest PostMarch 1, 2012Scienceceratopsidae, daniel j field, dinosaur research institute, diversity, eric gershon, horned dinosaur, jurassic foundation, juvenile, nicholas r longrich, North America, paleontologist, plos one, skulls, stage of life, torosaurus, triceratops, yale university

A year-long study by Yale University paleontologists concludes that two related horned dinosaurs are different animals and not adult and juvenile versions of the same.

“We’re saying, ‘No, they’re different,’” said Nicholas R. Longrich, a postdoctoral fellow in Yale’s Department of Geology and Geophysics and the lead author of the study. “They’re separate animals.” (more…)

Molecular Duo Dictate Weight and Energy Levels, Yale Researchers Find

By Guest PostFebruary 29, 2012Scienceanthony van den pol, bill hathaway, brain control, cells, cellular mechanism, energy, energy balance, hypothalamic neurons, hypothalamus, journal of neuroscience, mch, melanin concentrating hormone, nervous system, neurons, neurotransmitter, thyrotropin releasing hormone, trh, xiaobing zhang, yale university

Yale University researchers have discovered a key cellular mechanism that may help the brain control how much we eat, what we weigh, and how much energy we have.

The findings, published in the Feb. 28 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, describe the regulation of a family of cells that project throughout the nervous system and originate in an area of the brain call the hypothalamus, which has been long known to control energy balances. (more…)

At Yale, Quantum Computing is a (qu)bit Closer to Reality

By Guest PostFebruary 18, 2012Scienceartificial atoms, computation, delft university of technology, eric gershon, errors, exponentially faster, information processing, l dicarlo, l frunzio, l sun, matthew reed, molecules, Nature, Netherlands, physicists, quantum bits, quantum computing, quantum error correction, qubit states, qubits, robert schoelkopf, s e nigg, s m girvin, superconducting circuits, trapped ions, yale university

Physicists at Yale University have taken another significant step in the development of quantum computing, a new frontier in computing that promises exponentially faster information processing than the most sophisticated computers of today.

In research published online this month in the journal Nature, the Yale physicists demonstrate the most basic form of quantum error correction — a way to compensate for quantum computing’s intrinsic susceptibility to errors. Developing technology to correct these errors on the fly is a necessary step for fully realizing quantum computers. (more…)

As Next Supercontinent Forms, Arctic Ocean, Caribbean will Vanish First

By Guest PostFebruary 13, 2012Scienceamasia, ancient rocks, arctic ocean, asia, caribbean sea, collision, continental blocks, david a d evans, earth, eurasia, Europe, extroversion, formation, geographic center, geologist, introversion, magnetism, north, north pole, northward migration, nuna, orthoversion, pangea, rodinia, ross n mitchell, south america, supercontinent, taylor m kilian, yale university

Geologists at Yale University have proposed a new theory to describe the formation of supercontinents, the epic process by which Earth’s major continental blocks combine into a single vast landmass. The new model radically challenges the dominant theories of how supercontinents might take shape.

In a paper published Feb. 9 in the journal Nature, Yale researchers introduce a process called orthoversion, in which each succeeding supercontinent forms 90 degrees from the geographic center of its ancient predecessor. Under the theory, the present-day Arctic Ocean and Caribbean Sea will vanish as North and South America fuse during a mutual northward migration that leads to a collision with Europe and Asia. (more…)

Freezing Technique Exposes Molecule-to-Molecule Attachments

By Guest PostFebruary 5, 2012Sciencealignment, atomic attachment, complex molecule, cryogenic infared spectroscopy, drug, etienne garand, freezing, large molecules, mark johnson, mechanics, michael z kamrath, molecular structure, nmr, non covalent interaction, non covalently bonded molecules, nuclear magnetic resonance, reactive system, standard analytical technique, supramolecular association, technique, yale university

Researchers at Yale University have developed a new way of exposing the atomic attachments that keep complex molecules in precise alignment. The new method could provide insight into the mechanics of a variety of molecular structures, potentially aiding efforts to manipulate them for drug discovery and other purposes.

“The method appears likely to become a central tool for the characterization of processes that depend on supramolecular associations,” said Mark Johnson, a Yale chemistry professor and the principal investigator of the technique, which is described in a paper published this month in the journal Science. Supramolecular associations are interactions taking place between molecules, rather than within them. (more…)

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