Birds with frog's mouth

LiveScience.com - A Bird With A Frog's Mouth

Well, sorry but it looks like same bird mouth to me. :-)

Brain wave-reading technology

New toys read brain waves (AP)

AP - A convincing twin of Darth Vader stalks the beige cubicles of a Silicon Valley office, complete with ominous black mask, cape and light saber. But this is no chintzy Halloween costume. It's a prototype, years in the making, of a toy that incorporates brain wave-reading technology.

Scar-free surgery explored

Scar-free surgery procedures explored (AP)

AP - A 4-year-old boy lay on an operating table here a few weeks ago with a tumor that had eaten into his brain and the base of his skull. Standard surgery would involve cutting open his face, leaving an ugly scar and hindering his facial growth as he matured.

Marine Animals dying of toxic acid

More Marine Animals Sickened by Acid

Rescuers worked Saturday to save more dead and dying dolphins and sea lions that have washed up on Southern California beaches, believed poisoned by a naturally occurring toxic acid.

Disagreements on shaken-baby syndrome

Studies disagree on shaken-baby syndrome (AP)

AP - When 7-month-old Natalie Beard's body arrived in the autopsy room, there were no outward signs of physical abuse. No broken bones, bruises or abrasions. But behind her pretty brown eyes and beneath her fine dark-brown hair, there was chaos.

Hypothesis testing controversy

Comments and recommendations regarding the hypothesis testing controversy

Hypothesis tests are routinely misinterpreted in scientific research. Specifically, the failure to reject a null hypothesis is often interpreted as support for the null hypothesis while the rejection of a null hypothesis is often interpreted as evidence of an important finding. Many of the most frequently used hypothesis tests are "non-informative" because the null hypothesis is known to be false prior to hypothesis testing. We discuss the limitations of non-informative hypothesis tests and explain why confidence intervals should be used in their place. Several examples illustrate the use and interpretation of confidence intervals. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Field study in a diverse top-management context

Racial differences in promotion candidate performance and reactions to selection procedures: a field study in a diverse top-management context

The present study examined African-American and White promotion candidates' reactions to and performance on selection procedures that were completed within a police department where African Americans occupied the majority of top-management positions. Reactions (perceived job relatedness and test-taking motivation) of 187 candidates competing for promotion to the rank of sergeant were assessed after completing a written job knowledge test and a situational interview. Analyses showed that both the African-American and White candidates judged the situational interview to be more job-related than the pencil-and-paper job knowledge test. In addition, African Americans perceived both selection measures to be more job-related and reported higher levels of test-taking motivation than White candidates even though African Americans performed more poorly than White candidates on the paper-and-pencil test. These results challenge the contention that lower test-taking motivation for African-American candidates is related to racial differences in performance on pencil- and-paper tests. Implications and directions for future research on reactions to selection procedures for promotion in racially diverse employment settings are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Ancient camel bones in Arizona

Ancient camel bones found in Arizona (AP)

AP - Workers digging at the future site of a Wal-Mart store in suburban Mesa have unearthed the bones of a prehistoric camel that's estimated to be about 10,000 years old.

Thoughtful

Thoughtful Monkeys

LiveScience.com posted a photo:

Monkeys might be able to reflect about their thoughts and assess their performance, an ability thought to be exclusive to humans.

Sometimes, animals are more humane than humans. Some humans, more animalistic. Some humans are also less thoughtful.

Sex does this

Sex Fattens Female Ticks to 100 Times Normal Size

After mating, one species of female tick balloons to a body-bursting 100 times its original size.

Paper substandard, wolves really cloned.

Cloned wolves genuine, paperwork substandard (AFP)

AFP - South Korea's top university said Friday its researchers' claims to have created the world's first cloned wolves are genuine, even though their paperwork was poor.

***Define scientific work.  Do it in Korean for Chrissake.  There is no scientific discovery without replication.  No replication without documentation.  If the paper is not good, then, the cloning process would remain questionable.

Bionic Eyes

Bionic Eyes Plug Directly into the Brain

Bypassing most of the vision system, video cameras would feed images straight to the brain.

Algae killing birds

Algae killing birds, sealife in Calif. (AP)

AP - A bloom of ocean algae that produces a toxic acid has sickened and killed hundreds of birds, sea lions and dolphins in California, environmentalists said.

Landmark study on what causes type 2 diabetes

Landmark study highlights complex genetic risk factors behind type 2 diabetes

A UK collaboration of scientists has identified three new genes that predispose individuals to develop type 2 diabetes, bringing scientists a step closer towards understanding what causes this complex disease.

Blast from the past

Gassy blast from prehistoric volcanoes heated Earth (Reuters)

Reuters - Ancient volcanoes may have caused a dramatic warming of the Earth's atmosphere that raised sea temperatures and killed off many marine species, resulting in a "planetary emergency," U.S. and European scientists said on Thursday.

Biggest solar power plant

North America's biggest solar farm set for Ontario (Reuters)

Reuters - Work on North America's biggest solar power plant will start next year in Ontario, the Canadian province's energy minister said on Thursday.

Astronaut on earlier flight home

Astronaut to catch early flight home (AP)

AP - NASA managers decided Thursday to bring U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams back to Earth on an earlier shuttle flight than planned so she doesn't spend more than six months in the cosmos.

This week in Science

Disappearing in the Twilight Zone

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/316/5824/511c?rss=1

Science 27 April 2007:
Vol. 316. no. 5824, p. 511
DOI: 10.1126/science.316.5824.511c

This Week in Science

Most of the organic carbon produced in the sunlit upper layer of the ocean is recycled (remineralized) as dead organisms sink to greater depths, but there is considerable uncertainty about how efficient this remineralization process is in the ocean's "twilight zone" (depths between the bottom of the euphotic zone and about 1000 meters). Buesseler et al. (p. 567, see the cover) have used neutrally buoyant sediment traps that can sample sinking particles more faithfully than traps moored in fixed spots that are subject to strong cross-flow from ocean currents. The transfer efficiency of sinking particulate organic matter differed by more than a factor of 2 between the two sites examined; this difference is poorly represented in present biogeochemical models.

Parasites evolve to being good

Parasites Evolve from Bad to Good

Parasites are by definition bad for you. But they can also morph to be useful.

Omega-3 vs Alzheimer brain changes

Omega-3 may fight Alzheimer brain changes (Reuters)

Reuters - A fatty acid found in fish may help thwart the buildup of brain proteins linked to Alzheimer's disease, a study in mice suggests.

Hawking gets his bliss

Most Viewed Photos on Yahoo! News Photos

EU open to co-operation on Mars mission

EU open to co-operation on its mission to Mars (Reuters)

Reuters - The European Union is open to co-operation with the up-and-coming Indian and Chinese space industries on its Mars operations but it will maintain control over the mission, the European Space Agency said on Thursday.

Galileo may be scrapped

EU parliament 'deeply concerned' about troubled Galileo project (AFP)

AFP - The European Parliament voiced deep concerns on Thursday about the EU's delayed Galileo satellite navigation system while a top EU official ruled out pulling the plug on the troubled programme.

***Thou shalt not delay in outer space.  Dumb question:  Who's going to pull the plug out there?  :=)

Too much heat

Overheated Aphids

LiveScience.com posted a photo:

Tiny bacteria living inside of pea aphids determine whether the insects can reproduce. When overheated, one variant of the gene puts the brakes on aphids' ability to multiply, finds a new study.

India elephants

India elephants prefer crops to forest fodder (Reuters)

Reuters - A government study in India has shown elephants prefer food crops to forest fodder and often travel hundreds of miles to the same farmland every year, even remembering specific months of harvesting.

Next solar cycle peak

Scientists predict next solar cycle peak (AP)

AP - The peak of the next sunspot cycle will come in late 2011 or early 2012 — potentially affecting airline flights, communications satellites and electrical transmissions. But forecasters can't agree on how intense it will be.

Chemical probes beat antibodies at own game

Chemical probes beat antibodies at own game

A new way of detecting biological structures could help in the fight against disease. The new method, developed by scientists at Oxford University, uses chemistry to assemble proteins into ‘protein probes’ that can be sent into the body to, for instance, detect inflammation and disease in the brain.

Search for life

Swiss scientist: Search for life next (AP)

AP - Swiss scientist Michel Mayor, who heads the European team that announced the discovery of a new potentially habitable planet, has his sights set on an even bigger target, detecting signs of extraterrestrial life.

Gender-bending global warming

Philstar.com - The Filipino Global Community

De Rerum Natura by Maria Isabel Garcia

Dear Mr. Groucho Macho,

I do understand your difficulty understanding how a temperature rise by a couple of degrees could send nations panicking. After all, you say you have lived in tropical climes most of your life and have seen that while indeed temperatures have gone up, it has never approached that of a disaster of global proportions. Maybe, as you always say, you just have to put your shirt up more and rally a train of yawns to foil the heat.

(Click the link here to read the full article on Philippine Star dtd today, April 26, 2007)

Target: Highest Clouds

NASA Satellite Takes AIM at Earth's Highest Clouds

A piano-sized NASA satellite is poised to launch spaceward Wednesday afternoon on a mission to reveal the unsolved mysteries of Earth's highest clouds.

Hawking on weightlessness

Hawking: Weightlessness will be 'bliss' (AP)

AP - Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who has been confined to a wheelchair for most of his adult life, expects weightlessness to feel like "bliss" when he goes on a "zero-gravity" flight Thursday aboard a refitted jet.

How to grow a new limb

How to Grow a New Limb

Starfish can grow new arms. Why can't we?

Carina Nebula

This photo, taken with NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's cameras, ...

(AP) - This photo, taken with NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's cameras, shows a portion of the Carina Nebula released Tuesday, April 24, 2007, to celebrate the 17th anniversary of the launch and deployment of the Hubble. The image shows a towering 'mountain' of cold hydrogen gas laced with dust which is the site of new star formation. A pencil-like streamer of gas shoots out in both directions from the pillar. The jet is being launched from a newly forming star hidden inside the column. A similar jet appears near the bottom of the image.These stellar jets are a common signature of the birth of a new star. The fireworks in the Carina region started three million years ago when the nebula’s first generation of newborn stars condensed and ignited in the middle of a huge cloud of cold molecular hydrogen. The immense nebula is an estimated 7,500 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina. (AP Photo/NASA-ESA)

Potentially habitable planet

Potentially habitable planet found (AP)

AP - For the first time astronomers have discovered a planet outside our solar system that is potentially habitable, with Earth-like temperatures, a find researchers described Tuesday as a big step in the search for "life in the universe."

Ethanol from Carbon gas

Carbon Gas Is Explored as a Source of Ethanol

A New Zealand company said it secured financing to produce ethanol from an untapped source — carbon monoxide gas.

Mystery fossil is a fungus

Mystery fossil turns out to be giant fungus (Reuters)

Reuters - Scientists have identified the Godzilla of fungi, a giant, prehistoric fossil that has evaded classification for more than a century, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

45thousand year-old carvings in Russia

How Europeans Got to Europe

45,000-year-old carvings found in Russia

Cancer vaccine in high demand

Demand high for cancer vaccine in N.H. (AP)

AP - Demand for the vaccine against cervical cancer is outstripping supply as New Hampshire offers the shots for free, leading some providers to create waiting lists.

Older folks should have sun exposure for Vitamin D

Vitamin D affects physical function in elderly (Reuters)

Reuters - Older men and women who fail to get enough vitamin D -- either from their diets or exposure to the sun -- are at heightened risk for muscle weakness and poor physical performance, a study shows. This is troubling, researchers say, given the high numbers of older folks who are deficient in vitamin D.

Fossilized rain forest

Researchers probe fossilized rain forest (AP)

AP - Standing on the wind-swept flatlands of southern Vermilion County, you might think you'd have to drive the 180 miles to Chicago's Field Museum to find the nearest fossilized tree trunk from the Pennsylvania Age, 300 million years ago. Nah, just drill straight down.

One of the 3-Dimages of the Sun

This photo release by NASA shows one of the 3-Dimages of the ...

(AP) - This photo release by NASA shows one of the 3-Dimages of the sun from the agency's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory captured on March 20, 2007. The images were captured by SECCHI/Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope. (AP Photo/NASA)

Ancient Rainforest Revealed

Ancient Rainforest Revealed in Coal Mine (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - Scientists exploring a mine have uncovered a natural Sistine chapel showing not religious paintings, but incredibly well preserved images of sprawling tree trunks and fallen leaves that once breathed life into an ancient rainforest. Replete with a diverse mix of extinct plants, the 300-million-year-old fossilized forest is revealing clues about the ecology of Earth’s first rainforests . The discovery and details of the forest are published in the May issue of the journal Geology. “We’re looking at one instance in time over a large area. ...

Himalayas in peril

Global warming imperils Himalayan glaciers (Reuters)

Reuters - Global warming could wipe out large areas of glaciers in the Himalayas and surrounding highlands, threatening livelihoods across much of Asia, climate scientists said in Beijing on Monday.

Parkinsons and pesticides link

Studies line up on Parkinson's and pesticides link (Reuters)

Reuters - Evidence that pesticides can cause Parkinson's disease is stronger than it has ever been after a meeting of experts who have put together links in animals and people, scientists say.

Flower Power

Flower Power

LiveScience.com posted a photo:

Scientists have uncovered a protein in plant leaves that causes plants to flower. Changes in day length drive the flowering process.

Health food

Fruity cocktails count as health food, study finds (Reuters)

Reuters - A fruity cocktail may not only be fun to drink but may count as health food, U.S. and Thai researchers said on Thursday.

Ancient Mass Extinctions every 62 million years

Ancient Mass Extinctions Caused by Cosmic Radiation, Scientists Say

Scott Norris
for National Geographic News

April 20, 2007

Cosmic rays produced at the edge of our galaxy have devastated life on Earth every 62 million years, researchers say.

The finding suggests that biodiversity has been strongly influenced by the motion of the solar system through the Milky Way and of the galaxy's movement through intergalactic space.

(Digg Article) The Exodus of the Honeybees

"Bye, Bye Honey", says the Honeybees. Scientists are worried

Billions of bees have done just that, leaving the crop fields they are supposed to pollinate, and scientists are mystified about why. "They're the heavy lifters of agriculture," Pettis said of honeybees. "And the reason they are is they're so mobile and we can rear them in large numbers and move them to a crop when it's blooming."

Top Environmental prize

Salmon campaigner lands top award

An Icelander's campaign to save Atlantic salmon from extinction has won a top environmental prize.

New virus

New virus found in Australia deaths

SYDNEY--Australian doctors revealed Sunday that three people who died shortly after receiving organ transplants from the same donor were all infected with a previously unknown virus.

Merged Sciences vs. Cancer

Merged Sciences May Aid Cancer Treatment

Western science and traditional Eastern medicine could be combined to enhance treatment of cancer and other diseases, an oncology professor told a medical forum Sunday.

Origins of Human Brain

Human Brain Has Origin in Lowly Worm

The origin of the human brain has been traced back to primitive central nervous systems in worms and bugs, researchers now say.

Moth quarantine in California

Calif. officials impose moth quarantine (AP)

AP - State agricultural authorities have expanded their efforts to stop the spread of a voracious Australian moth by imposing a quarantine on the hundreds of plants the pest eats in a five-county region.

No Evidence Against Aspartame

FDA: No Evidence Aspartame Causes Cancer

A federal review of a 2005 Italian study found no data to support the conclusion the sugar substitute aspartame causes cancer, a health official said Friday.

Unknown Virus kills Fish

Fish-Killing Virus Spreading in the Great Lakes

The virus is devastating to the ecosystem and so unfamiliar, experts said, that its full biological impact might not be clear for years.

Earth from afar

Astronauts recall view before Earth Day (AP)

AP - When astronauts return from space, what they talk about isn't the brute force of the rocket launch or the exhilaration of zero gravity — it's the view. And it's mankind's rarest view of all, Earth from afar.

35th Annual Killian lecture

Horvitz will deliver Killian Lecture on April 24

Nobel laureate H. Robert Horvitz, the David H. Koch Professor of Cancer Biology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, will deliver the 35th annual Killian Award lecture April 24 at 4:30 p.m. in Kirsch Auditorium (Room 32-123) of the Stata Center.

Inventions

Inventors look to turn creations to cash (AP)

AP - What do the automatic fish catcher, easy sushi-maker, and body-shaping petticoat have in common? They're the latest creations by some of the world's most innovative minds for the world's laziest bodies.

Robotic flacons versus Liverpool pigeons

Robotic falcons enlisted to fight pigeons (AP)

AP - Liverpool's pigeon population has it easy. Feasting on fast food and leaving droppings wherever they please, the fat birds are an embarrassment to a city chosen to be next year's European Capital of Culture.

Singapore aims to be environmental research center

Singapore aims to be environmental research center

SINGAPORE -- Singapore aims to become a center for research in environmental sustainability, the government said Friday as a major UN-backed conference on climate change ended in the city-state.

Endangered gorillas on a comeback

East Africa's endangered gorillas make a steady comeback: WWF (AFP)

AFP - Highly-endangered mountain gorillas in the Eastern Africa region have shown a steady resurgence in the past decade due to conservation efforts, a wildlife group said Friday.

Flowers Evolve to Suit Birds and Bats

Flowers Evolve to Suit Birds and Bats

The varying shapes of flowers found in tropical forests may have to do with what has stuck its nose in there to pollinate in past evolutionary eras.    

Termites are social cockroaches

Termites Are Actually Social Cockroaches

Termites may look like white ants, but new genetic research confirms they are really cockroaches.

     

The new meaning of drought

Man vs. Nature and the New Meaning of Drought

The definition of "drought" has become watered down and is really just a matter of perspective. 

Black holes exhale superheated gas 6 million light years wide

Black Holes Exhale Enormous Gas Cloud

Astronomers have spotted a giant cloud of superheated gas 6 million light years wide that might be generated by a cluster of supermassive black holes.   

Mum freezes eggs for daughter to have baby

Canada mum freezes eggs so daughter can have child (Reuters)

Reuters - A Montreal woman has frozen her eggs so they can be used by her seven-year-old daughter, who cannothave children because of a genetic condition.

Sex change for trees

Chinese poplar trees to undergo "sex change" (Reuters)

Reuters - Beijing's female poplars are to receive"sex change operations" to stop them from producing flyingpollen that has overwhelmed the city and worsened allergy andasthma problems among its citizens, Chinese media reported onFriday.

EU experts fail to agree on GMO beet

EU experts fail to agree approval of GMO beet (Reuters)

Reuters - EU biotech experts failed on Thursday to agree on approving an application for genetically modified (GMO) sugar beet, again exposing the bloc's deep-seated rift on biotech foods, the European Commission said on Thursday.

Sea lions being hunted

Fishermen go after protected sea lions (AP)

AP - The competition between protected sea lions gobbling Columbia River salmon and impatient humans with empty fishing lines has led to vigilante action.

Iran dam said to threaten ancient sites

Iran dam said to threaten ancient sites (AP)

AP - Iranian engineers began filling a new dam Thursday as archaeologists warned that its reservoir will flood newly discovered antiquities and could damage Iran's grandest site, the ancient Persian capital of Persepolis.

Whales already endangered?

Agency wants whales listed as endangered (AP)

AP - Beluga whales have long delighted residents and tourists alike when spotted swimming the silty waters off Alaska's biggest city, but now the gregarious white whales are in danger of becoming extinct.

This Week in Science

Bending Visible Light Backward

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/316/5823/335e?rss=1

Mantle Melt Mixing

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/316/5823/335b?rss=1

Measuring More Than Saturn's Rotation

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/316/5823/335c?rss=1

Beating Creep in the Heat

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/316/5823/335f?rss=1

Lightweight Cleaver

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/316/5823/335g?rss=1

Insight into Autism's Heritability

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/316/5823/335i?rss=1

Just Enough Oxygen Activation

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/316/5823/335j?rss=1

Hardness Without High Pressures

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/316/5823/335l?rss=1

Warming climate can turn males into females!

Warming Climate Reverses Sex of Lizards

High temperatures can reverse the sex of baby dragon lizards, turning males into females.   

Undersea mineral chimney

Smokin' Medusa

LiveScience.com posted a photo:

Oceanographers have discovered an undersea mineral chimney that churns out hot, iron-darkened water. Called the Medusa vent, the new "black smoker" resides about along the Pacific Ocean floor off Costa Rica.   

Asteroid jiggles like a jar of mixed nuts

Asteroid Jiggles Like a Jar of Mixed Nuts

Like a jiggled jar of nuts, shaking on the near-Earth asteroid Itokawa is sorting loose rock particles on its surface by size, with the smallest grains sinking to the bottom.

Harvard University: Advances in genetics

Advances in genetics can help kids learn

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2007/04.19/15-mbe.html

Study: Jury usually side with Doctors in Malpractice Cases

Juries Overwhelmingly Side With Doctors in Malpractice Cases

A new study reveals that juries in medical malpractice suits tend to rule in favor of doctors.   

Flu triggers heart attacks

Flu triggers heart attacks, study shows (Reuters)

Reuters - Influenza can trigger deadly heart attacks, researchers said on Wednesday in a study that supports what experts have long believed -- flu can kill people even if they do not die directly from the flu.

380 million years old

Wassat? It's a Wattieza, the world's oldest tree (AFP)

AFP - Fossil hunters in the United States have found the world's oldest known tree, a palm-like giant of a species called a Wattieza that lived some 380 million years ago.

How far should a star be?

Stellar Danger Zones, Planets Not Welcome (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - Astronomers have determined how far away from its hot stellar neighbors a star must be if a swirling disk of dust around it is to stand a chance of forming planets.

Oldest tree had fronds

Scientist: Oldest tree had fronds, not leaves

CHICAGO, Illinois (Reuters) -- The branches of Earth's oldest tree probably waved in the breeze like a modern palm, scientists said on Wednesday, based on two intact tree fossils that help explain the evolution of forests and their influence on climate.

The 385-million-year-old fossils, which scientists believe are evidence of Earth's earliest forest trees, put to rest speculation about fossilized tree stumps discovered more than a century ago in Gilboa, New York.

Scientists believe these early forests absorbed carbon dioxide, cooling the Earth's surface.