Fat-sensing hormone helps control tadpole metamorphosis
ANN ARBOR — When tadpoles are but tadpoles, they’re voracious eaters, chomping down all of the plant matter in their paths. (more…)
Technology
Wolves in Chernobyl could spread to other areas, help support other populations
Long free of humans, the site of a nuclear disaster may play an important role in wildlife conservation in the region.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ) is a 1,660 square mile area surrounding the remains of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which exploded on April 25, 1986, and released large amounts of radiation into the area. Living in the zone remains prohibited 32 years later, and the resulting lack of human presence has led some to call the zone a de-facto nature reserve. (more…)
Do you know where your xenon is? Maybe it’s hanging out with iron and nickel in the Earth’s core
Washington, DC — The paradox of the missing xenon might sound like the title of the latest airport thriller, but it’s actually a problem that’s stumped geophysicists for decades. New work from an international team including Carnegie’s Alexander Goncharov and Hanyu Liu, and Carnegie alumni Elissaios Stavrou and Sergey Lobanov, is chasing down the solution to this longstanding puzzle. (more…)
Pragmatismus als (Über-)Lebensstrategie
Wer kann, zieht dorthin, wo der Ruf gut ist. Familien mit Migrationshintergrund haben diese Wahl oft nicht. Wie sich die Wohngegend auf deren Lebensalltag auswirkt, wurde nun in einem vom Wissenschaftsfonds FWF geförderten Forschungsprojekt untersucht. (more…)
Riding the (quantum magnetic) wave
In 1991, University of Utah chemist Joel Miller developed the first magnet with carbon-based, or organic, components that was stable at room temperature. It was a great advance in magnetics, and he’s been exploring the applications ever since. (more…)
Wenn Strom durch Bakterienkabel fließt
ForscherInnen liefern direkten Nachweis für Stromfluss in Bakterienketten
Die Böden der Meere und Süßgewässer sind von vertikalen, zentimeterlangen Ketten aus aneinandergereihten Zellen bestimmter Bakterien durchzogen. Diese Bakterienketten erlauben es den einzelnen Zellen, als vielzelliger Organismus in tiefen, sauerstoffarmen Zonen zu überleben. Damit verbinden sie sich mit der sauerstoffreichen Oberfläche, um Nährstoffe aus tiefen Schichten veratmen zu können. Ein internationales Team um Andreas Schramm von der Aarhus University in Dänemark unter Beteiligung von Forschern um Michael Wagner von der Universität Wien konnte nun erstmal direkt in einzelnen Bakterienkabeln Stromfluss nachweisen. Die Studie erscheint aktuell in der Zeitschrift “PNAS”.
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Study reveals vision’s role in vowel perception
In a study based at Brown University, researchers found that the motion and configuration of a speaker’s lips are key components of the information people gather when distinguishing vowels in speech.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — For all talkers, except perhaps the very best ventriloquists, the production of speech is accompanied by visible facial movements. Because speech is more than just sound, researchers set out to ascertain the exact visual information people seek when distinguishing vowel sounds. (more…)
UCLA study finds that more than 78,000 U.S. children are – or have been – married
A new report by UCLA Fielding School of Public Health researchers found that approximately 78,400 children in the U.S. are or have been married.
Although all states in the U.S. set 18 as the legal age minimum for marriage, exceptions to the minimum can be granted in every state under varying conditions, including parental consent and official approval. (more…)