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| January 16, 2014 |
 Ultrasound directed to the human brain can boost sensory performance Blacksburg VA (SPX) Jan 16, 2014 - Whales, bats, and even praying mantises use ultrasound as a sensory guidance system - and now a new study has found that ultrasound can modulate brain activity to heighten sensory perception in humans. Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute scientists have demonstrated that ultrasound directed to a specific region of the brain can boost performance in sensory discrimination. The study, ... more |  |
 Discovery of new Tiktaalik roseae fossils reveals key link in evolution of hind limbs Chicago IL (SPX) Jan 16, 2014 - discovery of well-preserved pelves and a partial pelvic fin from Tiktaalik roseae, a 375 million-year-old transitional species between fish and the first legged animals, reveals that the evolution of hind legs actually began as enhanced hind fins. This challenges existing theory that large, mobile hind appendages were developed only after vertebrates transitioned to land. The fossils are d ... more |  |
 KIT Researchers Develop Artificial Bone Marrow Karlsruhe, Germany (SPX) Jan 16, 2014 - Artificial bone marrow may be used to reproduce hematopoietic stem cells. A prototype has now been developed by scientists of KIT, the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, and Tubingen University. The porous structure possesses essential properties of natural bone marrow and can be used for the reproduction of stem cells at the laboratory. This might facilitate the treatment ... more |  |
 High levels of molecular chlorine found in arctic atmosphere Atlanta GA (SPX) Jan 16, 2014 - Scientists studying the atmosphere above Barrow, Alaska, have discovered unprecedented levels of molecular chlorine in the air, a new study reports. Molecular chlorine, from sea salt released by melting sea ice, reacts with sunlight to produce chlorine atoms. These chlorine atoms are highly reactive and can oxidize many constituents of the atmosphere including methane and elemental mercury ... more |  |
 Microbes buy low and sell high St. Louis MO (SPX) Jan 16, 2014 - The idea that people make calculated decisions that allow them to obtain the most goods with the smallest amount of effort - a complex hypothesis called 'economic man' for short - often has been challenged. People sometimes make irrational decisions, they rarely possess sufficient information to make the best decision, and they sometimes act against their own economic self-interest, critics say. ... more |  |
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Harvard scientists control cells following transplantation, from the inside out Boston MA (SPX) Jan 16, 2014 - Harvard stem cells scientists at Brigham and Women's Hospital and MIT can now engineer cells that are more easily controlled following transplantation, potentially making cell therapies, hundreds of which are currently in clinical trials across the United States, more functional and efficient. Associate Professor Jeffrey Karp, PhD, and James Ankrum, PhD, demonstrate in this month's issue o ... more |  |
Safe havens revealed for biodiversity in a changed climate Perth, Australia (SPX) Jan 16, 2014 - Researchers have found a way to project future habitat locations under climate change, identifying potential safe havens for threatened biodiversity. Associate Professor Grant Wardell-Johnson and Dr Gunnar Keppel from the Curtin University Institute for Biodiversity and Climate, along with lead researcher and former Curtin scientist Dr Tom Schut, now at Wageningen University in the Netherl ... more |  |
 Climate engineering - what do the public think? Southampton, UK (SPX) Jan 16, 2014 - Members of the public have a negative view of climate engineering, the deliberate large-scale manipulation of the environment to counteract climate change, according to a new study. The results are from researchers from the University of Southampton and Massey University (New Zealand) who have undertaken the first systematic large-scale evaluation of the public reaction to climate engineer ... more |  |
Primates: Now with only half the calories! Chicago IL (SPX) Jan 16, 2014 - New research shows that humans and other primates burn 50% fewer calories each day than other mammals. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that these remarkably slow metabolisms explain why humans and other primates grow up so slowly and live such long lives. The study also reports that primates in zoos expend as much energy as those in the ... more |  |
 Building 'belt' offers cheap, quick repair of earthquake damage Sheffield, UK (SPX) Jan 16, 2014 - Four years after the January 2010 earthquake, 145,000 people still remain homeless in Haiti. A cheap and simple technology to repair earthquake damaged buildings - developed at the University of Sheffield - could help to reduce these delays by quickly making buildings safe and habitable. Recent tests showed that a damaged building repaired using the technique could withstand a major earthq ... more |  |
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 New discovery could stimulate plant growth and increase crop yields Durham, UK (SPX) Jan 16, 2014 - Scientists led by experts at Durham University have discovered a natural mechanism in plants that could stimulate their growth even under stress and potentially lead to better crop yields. Plants naturally slow their growth or even stop growing altogether in response to adverse conditions, such as water shortage or high salt content in soil, in order to save energy. They do this by m ... more |  |
Court blocks Swedish wolf hunt Stockholm (AFP) Jan 15, 2014 - Plans to hold licensed wolf hunts in Sweden were blocked by a Stockholm court Wednesday following an appeal by environmental groups. The controversial hunts, wich sought to cull 30 wolves in central Sweden in early February, were part of a new government wildlife policy to reduce wolf numbers. Responding to an appeal from the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SNCC), WWF Sweden an ... more |  |
 Environmentalists pleased over whale beer ban Reykjavik (AFP) Jan 15, 2014 - Environmentalists on Wednesday welcomed a decision by Icelandic authorities to ban a local beer containing whale meal. The controversial beer was the result of a joint business between a Stedji, a small local brewery, and whaling company Hvalur (whale in Icelandic), and contained whale meal, a byproduct of reducing whale meat and bones to oil. "Obviously we are pleased," Whale and Dolph ... more |  |
 Chinese firm to build replica of Titanic Hong Kong (AFP) Jan 14, 2014 - A Chinese firm plans to spend $165 million building a full-scale replica of the Titanic - the doomed luxury liner which sank more than a century ago - as the main attraction for a theme park, reports said Tuesday. The original and supposedly unsinkable luxury passenger liner struck an iceberg and went down in the North Atlantic in 1912, killing more than 1,500 people. The famous ship ... more |  |
Australia study debunks existence of 'sixth sense' or ESP Melbourne (UPI) Jan 14, 2013 - The belief that a sixth sense, also known as extrasensory perception, exists has no foundation in science, researchers at the University of Melbourne say. Instead, people can reliably sense when a change has occurred, even when they could not see exactly what had changed; for example, a person might notice a general change in someone's appearance but not be able to identify that the per ... more |  |
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Outside View: How could we be so stupid? Washington (UPI) Jan 15, 2013 - Today is a bad day for many with quarterly income tax estimates due to the U.S. government but a really bad day occurred five days short of 94 years ago. On Jan. 20, 1920, the 18th Amendment went into force. For those of you who haven't memorized the U.S. Constitution and its amendments, this one was called prohibition. It read in part: "After one year from the ratification of th ... more |  |
Polar bear dies at South African zoo Johannesburg (AFP) Jan 15, 2014 - One of South Africa's two polar bears has died at the Johannesburg Zoo, leaving its mate now believed to be the only polar bear in Africa, a veterinarian said Wednesday. Geebee, the 29-year-old polar bear, came from Canada and had long survived the warm climate in Johannesburg, where temperatures can rise above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer. She died of natural ... more |  |
 Sri Lanka and India release detained fishermen Colombo, Sri Lanka (UPI) Jan 15, 2013 - Sri Lanka and India each have released as many as 52 detained fishermen ahead of talks this week on how to solve poaching in territorial waters. Both countries have arrested a "substantial number" of fishermen in recent months for poaching, the official Sri Lankan government website NEWS.LK reported. The release of the detained fishermen was a "goodwill" gesture agreed between Sr ... more |  |
Hong Kong leader vows to tackle rising poverty Hong Kong (AFP) Jan 15, 2014 - Hong Kong's leader Wednesday announced plans to tackle rising poverty in a policy speech that largely skirted the burning issue of universal suffrage for the Chinese territory amid growing public discontent with his administration. There is considerable anger in Hong Kong about rising inequality, a lack of action on granting citizens full voting rights and resentment over Beijing's perceived ... more |  |
 Tornadoes, flood, drought cost US billions in 2013 Washington (AFP) Jan 15, 2014 - Seven weather disasters, including tornadoes, droughts and a flood, cost the United States at least a billion dollars each last year and killed more than 100 people, US authorities said Wednesday. While the total cost will not be added up until later this year, experts said 2013 was rather quiet compared to the previous two years in terms of the number of big disasters. "We saw a relativ ... more |  |
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