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Category Archive for 'Science'

Researchers, using micro-computed tomography systems, have shed new light on the way bats echolocate. With echolocation, animals emit sounds and then listen to the reflected echoes of those sounds to form images of their surroundings in their brains.

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Researchers who last year genetically engineered bacteria to keep track of time by turning on and off fluorescent proteins within their cells have taken another step toward the construction of a programmable genetic sensor. The scientists recently synchronized these bacterial “genetic clocks” to blink in unison and engineered the bacterial genes to alter their blinking [...]

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Neuron connections seen in 3-D

Scientists have managed to obtain 3-D images of the vesicles and filaments involved in communication between neurons. The method is based on a novel technique in electron microscopy, which cools cells so quickly that their biological structures can be frozen while fully active.

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A new study offers intriguing insights into the biology of human running speed. The study identifies the critical variable imposing the biological limit to running speed, and projects how the biological limits might be pushed beyond speeds achieved by Usain Bolt to perhaps 35 or even 40 miles per hour, said study authors.

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Reducing salt in the American diet by as little as one-half teaspoon per day could prevent nearly 100,000 heart attacks and 92,000 deaths each year, according to researchers.

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Deep within the Kairei Indian hydrothermal vent field, two-and-one-half miles below the central Indian Ocean, scientists have discovered a gastropod mollusk, whose armor could improve load-bearing and protective materials in everything from aircraft hulls to sports equipment.

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A team of scientists has documented that Yasuni National Park, in the core of the Ecuadorian Amazon, shatters world records for a wide array of plant and animal groups, from amphibians to trees to insects. The authors also conclude that proposed oil development projects represent the greatest threat to Yasuni and its biodiversity.

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Surgeons have demonstrated that artificial muscles can restore the ability of patients with facial paralysis to blink, a development that could benefit the thousands of people each year who no longer are able to close their eyelids due to combat-related injuries, stroke, nerve injury or facial surgery.

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An increase in the variability of local conditions could do more to harm biodiversity than slower shifts in climate, a new study has found.

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Scientists in Texas are reporting the development of a “nanodragster” that may speed the course toward development of a new generation of futuristic molecular machines. The vehicle — only 1/50,000th the width of a human hair — resembles a hot-rod in shape and can outperform previous nano-sized vehicles.

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The first comprehensive comparison of Y chromosomes from two species sheds new light on Y chromosome evolution. Contrary to a widely held scientific theory that the mammalian Y chromosome is slowly decaying or stagnating, new evidence suggests that in fact the Y is actually reinventing itself through continuous, wholesale renovation.

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Abandon any notion that the duck-billed platypus is a soft and cuddly creature — maybe like Perry the Platypus in the Phineas and Ferb cartoon. The males can deliver a mega-sting that causes immediate, excruciating pain, like hundreds of hornet stings, leaving victims incapacitated for weeks. Now scientists are reporting an advance toward deciphering the [...]

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Forests in northern areas are stunted, verging on the edge of survival. It has been anticipated that climate change improves their growth conditions. A new study shows that due to their genetic characteristics trees are unable to properly benefit from the lengthening growing season. Furthermore, the researchers were surprised to find that the mortality of [...]

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On the marine microbial stage, there appears to be a vast, varied group of understudies only too ready to step in when “star” microbes falter. New research provides the first evidence that microorganisms can be rare for long periods before completely turning the tables to become dominant when ecosystems change.

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Why do gardeners say you shouldn’t water your plants in the midday sun? Does it really lead to burnt plants or worse? A team of scientists found that water droplets on a smooth surface, such as maple or ginkgo leaves, cannot cause leaf burn. However in contrast the they found that floating fern leaves, which [...]

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