SCIENCE IN THE NEWS
from Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society


Today's Headlines - January 4, 2008

Images Magnify the Marvels of Life Under a Microscope

from the San Diego Union-Tribune (Registration Required)

The image is a microscopic melange of muscle fibers stained actin-red
surrounded by green filamentous membranes and blue DNA. A rat's tongue
never looked lovelier.

Beauty is where you behold it. Thomas Deerinck beholds it at the end of
light microscopes - not the simple instruments of a high school biology
class, but astonishingly powerful and penetrating devices employed at
UCSD's National Center for Microscopy and Research (NCMIR), one of only
a
few places in the world entirely devoted to developing new technologies
and
techniques for imaging and analyzing biological systems.

..."Our primary focus is upon communicating a concept or finding," said
Deerinck ... "I've found, though, that if the (microscopic image) is
beautiful, communication happens easier. People seem to understand
things
better if what they're looking at is also pleasing to the eye."

To read more: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/science/20080103-9999-
1c03micro.html

Or: http://snipurl.com/1whqy


Melting Ice May Not Explain Warming Arctic

from New Scientist

Energy flowing from the equator up towards the North Pole may partly
explain the rapid warming of the Arctic, say researchers. It is well
documented that the Arctic is warming about twice as fast as the rest of
the globe, but the reason for this remains a mystery.

The leading hypothesis is that ice disappearing as a result of climate
change is largely to blame. Warmer temperatures melt the Arctic ice and
expose water, which absorbs more sunlight than ice. This causes
temperatures to rise further, melting more ice, and so on.

But a team led by Rune Graversen at the University of Stockholm in
Sweden
now challenges this theory. ... The researchers found that most of the
warming is happening high above ground. At midsummer, the data shows
that
the air that has warmed the most is 2 kilometres above land. This, says
Graversen, rules out the theory that Arctic warming is being accelerated
by
melting ice.

To read more:
http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn13134-melting-
ice-may-not-explain-warming-arctic.html

Or: http://snipurl.com/1whq2


The Battle of the Butterflies and the Ants

from Nature News

Butterflies that trick ants into helping to raise their young are
driving
an evolutionary arms race between the two species, researchers have
found.
The discovery is important to the conservation of rare Alcon blue
butterfies, they say.

Maculinea alcon butterflies infect the nests of Myrmica ants by hatching
caterpillars nearby, hoping that the caterpillars will be 'adopted' and
cared for by ants that mistake them for their own young.

The caterpillars achieve this by mimicking the surface chemistry of the
ants. Getting this chemistry right is important: if an ant doesn't
recognize a caterpillar as one of its own it will eat it, says David
Nash,
a zoologist at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

To read more:
http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080103/full/news.2007.405.html

Or: http://snipurl.com/1whok


Trees Absorbing Less CO2 as World Warms, Study Finds

from the Guardian (UK)

The ability of forests to soak up man-made carbon dioxide is weakening,
according to an analysis of two decades of data from more than 30 sites
in
the frozen north.

The finding published [yesterday] is crucial, because it means that more
of
the CO2 we release will end up affecting the climate in the atmosphere
rather than being safely locked away in trees or soil.

The results may partly explain recent studies suggesting that the amount
of
CO2 in the atmosphere is increasing faster than expected. If higher
temperatures mean less carbon is soaked up by plants and microbes,
global
warming will accelerate.

To read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jan/03/climatechange.carbonem
issi
ons

Or: http://snipurl.com/1wi2h


Commentary: Six Tech Trends to Watch in 2008

from the Christian Science Monitor

When it comes to predicting tech trends, I think back to a luncheon I
attended a dozen years ago. There, a prominent reporter for a major New
York newspaper told me that the Internet would go nowhere. It would
never
be a threat to newspapers, he said.

I wonder how he's feeling about that prediction now. But whenever a new
year starts, film and music columnists look backward, and business and
tech
columnists look forward. So ... here are a few thoughts about where we
may
be headed in 2008:

1. Apple moves into movies. 2. Fewer copyright protections restrict
digital
music. 3. Phone companies face a growing assault from free alternatives.
4.
Social networking continues to grow. 5. Privacy is in free fall. 6.
Google
battles Microsoft for control.

To read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0102/p17s01-stct.html

Or: http://snipurl.com/1wi34


Navy's Use of Sonar Is Severely Limited

from the Washington Post (Registration Required)

A federal judge yesterday severely limited the Navy's ability to use
mid-
frequency sonar on a training range off the Southern California coast,
ruling that the loud sounds would harm whales and other marine mammals
if
not tightly controlled.

The decision is a blow to the Navy, which has argued that it needs the
flexibility to train its sonar operators without undue restrictions.

In her decision, however, U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper said
the Navy could conduct productive training under the limitations, which
she
said were required under several environmental laws.

To read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2008/01/03/AR2008010303887.html

Or: http://snipurl.com/1wk6e


Evolution Book Sees No Science-Religion Gap

from the New York Times (Registration Required)

In 1984 and again in 1999, the National Academy of Sciences, the
nation's
most eminent scientific organization, produced books on the evidence
supporting the theory of evolution and arguing against the introduction
of
creationism or other religious alternatives in public school science
classes.

On Thursday, it produced a third. But this volume is unusual, people who
worked on it say, because it is intended specifically for the lay public
and because it devotes much of its space to explaining the differences
between science and religion, and asserting that acceptance of evolution
does not require abandoning belief in God.

"We wanted to produce a report that would be valuable and accessible to
school board members and teachers and clergy," said Barbara A. Schaal, a
vice president of the academy, an evolutionary biologist at Washington
University and a member of the panel that produced the book.

To read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/us/04evolve.html

Or: http://snipurl.com/1wk52


Bio-Rich Costa Rica's New Marvels

from BBC News Online

Three new species of salamander have been discovered in a remote forest
reserve in Costa Rica. They were among some 5,000 plants and animals
recorded by scientists from London's Natural History Museum during three
expeditions to Central America.

Two species are nocturnal, while the third is a dwarf variety, growing
to
little longer than a thumbnail. The three new finds bring the number of
Costa Rican salamanders known to science to a total of 43.

Salamanders eat insects and worms, and live in water or in moist areas.
They usually feed at night and hide during the day, often hibernating
during the winter.

To read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7170205.stm

Or: http://snipurl.com/1wk5y


Possible Mars Impact Highlights Risk to Earth

from New Scientist

An asteroid hurtling towards Mars has a 1 in 28 chance of walloping the
Red
Planet on 30 January, according to the latest calculations.

The rock's discovery just a couple of months before a possible impact
begs
the question of what would happen if it were instead headed for Earth.
With
so little warning, the only option would be to evacuate any inhabited
areas
it might hit, astronomers say.

The asteroid, called 2007 WD5, was discovered on 20 November by a 1.5
metre
telescope near Tucson, Arizona, US, that combs the skies as part of
NASA's
efforts to detect asteroids with a chance of hitting Earth. It is an
estimated 50 metres across, putting it in the same class as the Tunguska
object that exploded over Siberia in 1908, flattening trees in an area
extending many kilometres from the explosion.

To read more:
http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn13141-possible-mars-
impact-highlights-risk-to-earth.html

Or: http://snipurl.com/1wk83


How to Live Forever

from the Economist

"In the long run," as John Maynard Keynes observed, "we are all dead."
True. But can the short run be elongated in a way that makes the long
run
longer? And if so, how, and at what cost? People have dreamt of
immortality
since time immemorial.

They have sought it since the first alchemist put an elixir of life on
the
same shopping list as a way to turn lead into gold. They have written
about
it in fiction ... And now, with the growth of biological knowledge that
has
marked the past few decades, a few researchers believe it might be
within
reach.

To think about the question, it is important to understand why organisms
-
people included - age in the first place. People are like machines: they
wear out. That much is obvious. However a machine can always be
repaired.

To read more: http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?
story_id=10423439

Or: http://snipurl.com/1wk8x