Brunch Basket!
'Missing Link' Fossil Was Not Human Ancestor as Claimed, Anthropologists Say
(Mar. 3, 2010) - A fossil that was celebrated last year as a possible "missing link" between humans and early primates is actually a forebearer of modern-day lemurs and lorises, according to two papers by scientists at The University of Texas at Austin, Duke University and the University of Chicago. In an article now available online in the Journal of Human Evolution, four scientists present evidence that the 47-million-year-old Darwinius masillae is not a haplorhine primate like humans, apes and monkeys, as the 2009 research claimed. (Full ScienceDaily article here)
'Pompeii-Like' Excavations Tell Us More About Toba Super-Eruption
(Mar. 3, 2010) - Newly discovered archaeological sites in southern and northern India have revealed how people lived before and after the colossal Toba volcanic eruption 74,000 years ago. The international, multidisciplinary research team, led by Oxford University in collaboration with Indian institutions, unveiled to a conference in Oxford what it calls 'Pompeii-like excavations' beneath the Toba ash.
The seven-year project examines the environment that humans lived in, their stone tools, as well as the plants and animal bones of the time. The team has concluded that many forms of life survived the super-eruption, contrary to other research which has suggested significant animal extinctions and genetic bottlenecks. (Full ScienceDaily article here)
Red Tide: Researchers Issue Outlook for a Significant New England Bloom of a Toxic Alga in 2010
(Mar. 3, 2010) - Scientists from the NOAA-funded Gulf of Maine Toxicity (GOMTOX) project have issued an outlook for a significant regional bloom of a toxic alga that can cause 'red tides' in the spring and summer of this year, potentially threatening the New England shellfish industry. An abundant seed population in bottom sediments has set the stage for a significant bloom of the toxic alga Alexandrium fundyense. This organism swims in the water, and divides again and again to form a "bloom" or red tide, but it also produces dormant cells or cysts that fall to the ocean bottom at the end of these blooms. (Full ScienceDaily article here)
Genetic Footprint of Natural Selection
(Mar. 2, 2010) - A further step has been taken towards our understanding of natural selection. CNRS scientists working at the Institut de Biologie of the Ecole Normale Supérieure (CNRS/ENS/INSERM) have shown that humans, and some of their primate cousins, have a common genetic footprint, i.e. a set of genes which natural selection has often tended to act upon during the past 200,000 years. This study has also been able to isolate a group of genes that distinguish us from our cousins the great apes. Its findings are published in PLoS Genetics (26 February 2010 issue).
During evolution, living species have adapted to environmental constraints according to the mechanism of natural selection; when a mutation that aids the survival (and reproduction) of an individual appears in the genome, it then spreads throughout the rest of the species until, after several hundreds or even thousands of generations, it is carried by all individuals.But does this selection, which occurs on a specific gene in the genome of a species, also occur on the same gene in neighboring species? On which set of genes has natural selection acted specifically in each species? (Full ScienceDaily article here)
Where Will the Next Food Crisis Strike? Extended Geographical Monitoring Using Satellite Observation
(Mar. 3, 2010) - The European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the American Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) are working to innovate and reinforce their food security monitoring systems and to develop more efficient early warning tools. These efforts come as a response to the 2007-2008 global food crisis that increased significantly the number of countries under threat of famine. (Full ScienceDaily article here)
Exotic Magnetar Has Extremely Strong Magnetic Fields
(Mar. 2, 2010) - The Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC) has observed an uncommon neutron star. Classified as magnetar, its nature is as peculiar as its official name: SGR 0418+5729. The observations at the largest optical telescope of the world reached an unprecedented depth at optical wavelengths for this kind of sources, helping in constraining the physical properties of this celestial body characterized by extremely strong magnetic fields. (Full ScienceDaily article here)
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Since I got feedback that folks liked this format I'll use it. =) Today we have a basket, but no hands.. hopefully to prevent confusion about any possible destinations! :D
(Mar. 3, 2010) - A fossil that was celebrated last year as a possible "missing link" between humans and early primates is actually a forebearer of modern-day lemurs and lorises, according to two papers by scientists at The University of Texas at Austin, Duke University and the University of Chicago. In an article now available online in the Journal of Human Evolution, four scientists present evidence that the 47-million-year-old Darwinius masillae is not a haplorhine primate like humans, apes and monkeys, as the 2009 research claimed. (Full ScienceDaily article here)
'Pompeii-Like' Excavations Tell Us More About Toba Super-Eruption
(Mar. 3, 2010) - Newly discovered archaeological sites in southern and northern India have revealed how people lived before and after the colossal Toba volcanic eruption 74,000 years ago. The international, multidisciplinary research team, led by Oxford University in collaboration with Indian institutions, unveiled to a conference in Oxford what it calls 'Pompeii-like excavations' beneath the Toba ash.
The seven-year project examines the environment that humans lived in, their stone tools, as well as the plants and animal bones of the time. The team has concluded that many forms of life survived the super-eruption, contrary to other research which has suggested significant animal extinctions and genetic bottlenecks. (Full ScienceDaily article here)
Red Tide: Researchers Issue Outlook for a Significant New England Bloom of a Toxic Alga in 2010
(Mar. 3, 2010) - Scientists from the NOAA-funded Gulf of Maine Toxicity (GOMTOX) project have issued an outlook for a significant regional bloom of a toxic alga that can cause 'red tides' in the spring and summer of this year, potentially threatening the New England shellfish industry. An abundant seed population in bottom sediments has set the stage for a significant bloom of the toxic alga Alexandrium fundyense. This organism swims in the water, and divides again and again to form a "bloom" or red tide, but it also produces dormant cells or cysts that fall to the ocean bottom at the end of these blooms. (Full ScienceDaily article here)
Genetic Footprint of Natural Selection
(Mar. 2, 2010) - A further step has been taken towards our understanding of natural selection. CNRS scientists working at the Institut de Biologie of the Ecole Normale Supérieure (CNRS/ENS/INSERM) have shown that humans, and some of their primate cousins, have a common genetic footprint, i.e. a set of genes which natural selection has often tended to act upon during the past 200,000 years. This study has also been able to isolate a group of genes that distinguish us from our cousins the great apes. Its findings are published in PLoS Genetics (26 February 2010 issue).
During evolution, living species have adapted to environmental constraints according to the mechanism of natural selection; when a mutation that aids the survival (and reproduction) of an individual appears in the genome, it then spreads throughout the rest of the species until, after several hundreds or even thousands of generations, it is carried by all individuals.But does this selection, which occurs on a specific gene in the genome of a species, also occur on the same gene in neighboring species? On which set of genes has natural selection acted specifically in each species? (Full ScienceDaily article here)
Where Will the Next Food Crisis Strike? Extended Geographical Monitoring Using Satellite Observation
(Mar. 3, 2010) - The European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the American Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) are working to innovate and reinforce their food security monitoring systems and to develop more efficient early warning tools. These efforts come as a response to the 2007-2008 global food crisis that increased significantly the number of countries under threat of famine. (Full ScienceDaily article here)
Exotic Magnetar Has Extremely Strong Magnetic Fields
(Mar. 2, 2010) - The Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC) has observed an uncommon neutron star. Classified as magnetar, its nature is as peculiar as its official name: SGR 0418+5729. The observations at the largest optical telescope of the world reached an unprecedented depth at optical wavelengths for this kind of sources, helping in constraining the physical properties of this celestial body characterized by extremely strong magnetic fields. (Full ScienceDaily article here)
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Since I got feedback that folks liked this format I'll use it. =) Today we have a basket, but no hands.. hopefully to prevent confusion about any possible destinations! :D