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| April 24, 2014 |
 60% of China underground water polluted: report Beijing (AFP) April 23, 2014 - Sixty percent of underground water in China which is officially monitored is too polluted to drink directly, state media have reported, underlining the country's grave environmental problems. Water quality measured in 203 cities across the country last year rated "very poor" or "relatively poor" in an annual survey released by the Ministry of Land and Resources, the official Xinhua news agen ... more |  |
 Brain size matters when it comes to animal self-control Berkeley CA (SPX) Apr 24, 2014 - Chimpanzees may throw tantrums like toddlers, but their total brain size suggests they have more self-control than, say, a gerbil or fox squirrel, according to a new study of 36 species of mammals and birds ranging from orangutans to zebra finches. Scientists at Duke University, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Yale and more than two-dozen other research institutions collaborated on this first large ... more |  |
 What gave us the advantage over extinct types of humans Jerusalem (SPX) Apr 24, 2014 - In parallel with modern man (Homo sapiens), there were other, extinct types of humans with whom we lived side by side, such as Neanderthals and the recently discovered Denisovans of Siberia. Yet only Homo sapiens survived. What was it in our genetic makeup that gave us the advantage? The truth is that little is known about our unique genetic makeup as distinguished from our archaic cousins ... more |  |
Cyber buddy is better than 'no buddy' East Lansing MI (SPX) Apr 24, 2014 - A Michigan State University researcher is looking to give exercise enthusiasts the extra nudge they need during a workout, and her latest research shows that a cyber buddy can help. The study, which appears in the Games for Health Journal, is the first to indicate that although a human partner is still a better motivator during exercise, a software-generated partner also can be effective. ... more |  |
Wildlife response to climate change is likely underestimated Amherst MA (SPX) Apr 24, 2014 - Analyzing thousands of breeding bird surveys sent in by citizen scientists across the western United States and Canada over 35 years, wildlife researchers report that most of the 40 songbird species they studied shifted either northward or toward higher elevation in response to climate change, but did not necessarily do both. This means that most previous studies of potential climate chang ... more |  |
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How Australia got the hump with 1 million feral camels Exeter UK (SPX) Apr 24, 2014 - A new study by a University of Exeter researcher has shed light on how an estimated one million-strong population of wild camels thriving in Australia's remote outback have become reviled as pests and culled on a large scale. Sarah Crowley, of the Environment and Sustainability Institute at the University of Exeter's Penryn Campus, explored the history of the camel in Australia, from their ... more |  |
Too many chefs: Smaller groups exhibit more accurate decision-making Princeton NJ (SPX) Apr 24, 2014 - The trope that the likelihood of an accurate group decision increases with the abundance of brains involved might not hold up when a collective faces a variety of factors - as often happens in life and nature. Instead, Princeton University researchers report that smaller groups actually tend to make more accurate decisions while larger assemblies may become excessively focused on only cert ... more |  |
Animal Kingdom Communication Coral Gables FL (SPX) Apr 24, 2014 - There are all sorts of signaling strategies in nature. Peacocks puff out their feathers and spread their colorful tails; satin bowbirds build specialized stick structures, called bowers, and decorate them with blue and shiny objects; and European bitterling males show off bright nuptial coloration during spawning season. Each species has evolved a unique method to communicate with others. ... more |  |
Male or female? Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Apr 24, 2014 - Man or woman? Male or female? In humans and other mammals, the difference between sexes depends on one single element of the genome: the Y chromosome. It is present only in males, where the two sexual chromosomes are X and Y, whereas women have two X chromosomes. Thus, the Y is ultimately responsible for all the morphological and physiological differences between males and females. But thi ... more |  |
Microbes provide insights into evolution of human language Durham, UK (SPX) Apr 24, 2014 - Big brains do not explain why only humans use sophisticated language, according to researchers who have discovered that even a species of pond life communicates by similar methods. Dr Thom Scott-Phillips of Durham University led research into Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a type of bacteria common in water and soil, which showed that they communicated in a way that was previously thought to be u ... more |  |
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It's a bubble, but not as we know it Bristol UK (SPX) Apr 24, 2014 - Multi-sensory technology that creates soap bubbles, which can have images projected onto them or when the bubbles are burst release a scent, will be unveiled at an international conference later this month. The research paper, to be presented at one of the world's most important conferences on human-computer interfaces - ACM CHI 2014 [26 April-1 May], could be used in areas such as gaming ... more |  |
New technique enables detailed insights into mitochondria Munich, Germany (SPX) Apr 24, 2014 - A novel imaging technique provides insights into the role of redox signaling and reactive oxygen species in living neurons, in real time. Scientists of the Technische Universitat Munchen (TUM) and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen (LMU) have developed a new optical microscopy technique to unravel the role of "oxidative stress" in healthy as well as injured nervous systems. The work is r ... more |  |
 Catching more than fish: Ugandan town crippled by AIDS Kasensero, Uganda (AFP) April 23, 2014 - When you risk your life fishing on dangerous seas, a drink in the bars back on shore seem a welcome relief, but in Uganda, it has created a culture with staggering rates of HIV. Exhausted from a night of hard fishing on the vast inland sea of Uganda's Lake Victoria, fishermen come off the boats as the first rays of light glimmer at dawn. Once the fish is sold and the nets untangled, some ... more |  |
 Cancellations on Everest amid talks to save climbing season Kathmandu (AFP) April 23, 2014 - Nepal's government strove Wednesday to save the Everest climbing season from an unprecedented walkout by sherpa guides as another major mountaineering company abandoned its expedition following a deadly avalanche last week. New Zealand-based Adventure Consultants lost three people in Friday's avalanche, which struck a party of sherpas preparing routes for commercial climbers up the world's h ... more |  |
 China pork firm scales down IPO in volatile market Hong Kong (AFP) April 23, 2014 - Chinese pork producer WH Group has slashed a planned initial public offering in Hong Kong by almost two-thirds blaming concerns about the strength of the city's stock market, a report said Wednesday. The firm, which last year bought US giant Smithfield Foods in a landmark multi-billion-dollar deal, said this month it hoped to raise up to US$5.3 billion with a share sale and listing on April ... more |  |
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Australia says cost not a concern in MH370 search Perth, Australia (AFP) April 23, 2014 - Australia said Wednesday cost was not a concern in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, after the mini-submarine plumbing the depths of the Indian Ocean for wreckage ended its ninth mission empty-handed. Searchers were also investigating "unidentified material" which washed up on the country's southwest coast to see if it was linked to the Boeing 777, which vanished on March 8 with ... more |  |
Saudi prince killed endangered birds: Pakistan officials Quetta, Pakistan (AFP) April 23, 2014 - A Saudi prince with a taste for the traditional sport of falconry illegally hunted 2,100 endangered birds while on holiday in Pakistan, officials said Wednesday. Wildlife officials in Baluchistan province alleged to AFP that Prince Fahd bin Sultan and others in his party used specially trained falcons to kill the internationally protected houbara bustards while on a three-week trip in Januar ... more |  |
 Google online maps go back in time San Francisco (AFP) April 23, 2014 - Google on Wednesday added virtual time travel to its Internet offerings. The technology titan began letting people turn back the clock on Street View images to show how places have changed over the seven years it has been collecting pictures for its free online map service. "If you've ever dreamt of being a time traveler like Doc Brown, now is your chance," Street View product manager Vi ... more |  |
 Chinese dissident who died in detention nominated for rights 'Nobel' Geneva (AFP) April 23, 2014 - A Chinese dissident who died in detention last month is one of three nominees for an award often dubbed the Nobel prize for human rights, organisers said Wednesday. Cao Shunli, who died in mid-March at the age of 52, was hailed by the Martin Ennals Award organisers as an activist who since 2008 had "vigorously advocated for access to information, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly." ... more |  |
Brain size linked to self-control in new animal study Berkeley, Calif. (UPI) Apr 23, 2013 - If brain size dictates self-control, what does that say about America, the second most obese nation in the world? Unfortunately, scientists didn't broach that topic. But they did undertake a series of experiments that suggests if squirrels had easy access to Big Macs and extra-large fries, they'd probably be even fatter than we are. That's because the smaller an animal's brain is - in ... more |  |
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