Added: May 20, 2013
The catastrophic drought last year in the Horn of Africa affected millions of people but also caused the extremely late arrival into northern Europe of several migratory songbird species, a study published December 6 in Science shows. Details of the migration route was revealed by data collected from small backpacks fitted on birds showing that the delay resulted from an extended stay in the Horn of Africa.
Added: May 20, 2013
...he first attached motion-capture electrodes on the limbs and torsos of several human subjects and had them walk around in the U-M 3-D lab. He used the recordings of their motions to make true-to-life animations. Then by simulating their Doppler radar reflection over time, he identified a general pattern that he could program a computer to recognize. It's a spiky graph to the untrained eye, but to Sarabandi, it represents "the DNA of walking." To confirm that it was specific to humans, he compared it with the signal from a walking dog -- a short-haired Labrador.
Added: May 20, 2013
Overfishing has reduced fish populations and biodiversity across much of the world's oceans. In response, fisheries are increasingly reliant on a handful of highly valuable shellfish. However, new research by the University of York shows this approach to be extremely risky.
Added: May 20, 2013
Thanks to a process involving enzymes to digest food, poultry left-overs such as bone and meat trimmings can be converted into proteins dubbed functional animal proteins hydrolyzates. They differ from existing protein hydrolyzates, from eggs, buttermilk, or fish already on the market in that they have a higher content of nutritionally useful amino acids. They can be used as supplements for sports diet, to help build up muscle tissue, and as additives in processed food, for example. So far, some of their properties -- namely prebiotic, antimicrobiotic, antioxidant and hypotensive -- have been demonstrated in vitro.
Ice cream? One of the project partners, Mobitek-M, which is a Russian company specialised in production of protein-enriched food stuffs, is also planning on including these products into ice-cream, under the follow-up Rosano Project. They have built a plant in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation, which is about to start of transforming functional animal protein at...
Added: May 19, 2013
Snowy Plover is lighter than a stick of butter. Its habitat is threatened because of the water issue in the Monterey Bay Area. Have you ever asked yourself why there are migrations in the first place? Here is on study with a logical answer:
(They) found that directional migration has a profound impact on the population structure. It drives individuals to form a number of dense clusters, which resembles social cohesion. In these clusters, individuals organise into a well-functioning group in which there are shared goals and a readiness to cooperate with others.
Read our answer in our Science/Art Essay #2
The Egret in Me
Added: May 19, 2013
"Understanding the behaviour of these birds during migration is crucial for identifying important at-sea locations and for furthering conservation efforts. By tracking the movements, foraging behaviour and environmental drivers of such species, and developing new techniques to do so is critical as they continue to be subject to environmental and anthropogenic pressure." says Dr. Robin Freeman, from the UCL COMPLEX (Centre for Mathematics and Physics in the Life Sciences and Experimental Biology)
Added: May 19, 2013
painting by Mary Kay King
A coastal marsh is not the place for an artist to set up as an artist; the easel, the canvas, the box full of oils, the palette. Too many pieces. “So many brushes. I could fill a quiver,” Mary said as she reached into her pigment box on the back seat of her car and pulled out a few promising brushes. As she stepped carefully into the marsh, she scolded it. “Oh no! Too slippery. Too wet. Too soft.” She felt a gust of Santa Ana wind swirl around her causing her to grab her hat just as it was leaving her head. She began balancing herself, shifting her weight from one mud boot to the other as she carefully stepped through the mud. “He was standing right here yesterday. Did he leave already?” She asked some fairy shrimp that were swimming on their backs in a pool of marsh water. “Where is he?” She looked all around the marsh before spotting him just beyond a mound of hardstem bulrush.
“There he is,” Mary lowered the legs of her easel into the mud, set her palette...
Added: May 19, 2013
This is a game changer for all of us! Tell all teachers and parents you know about this event!
Added: May 8, 2013
Results suggest that restricting food intake increases the reward value of food, particularly high-calorie, appetizing food (chocolate milkshakes), and that the more successful people are at caloric-restriction dieting, the greater difficulty they will face in maintaining the restriction. This study focuses on "reward value" when caloric intake is restricted. So, be careful if you are trying the stay on a diet. Once you go off the diet the reward value comes into play big time!
Added: May 8, 2013
"Farming practices for food safety that target wildlife are damaging valuable ecological systems despite low risk from these animals," said lead author Sasha Gennet.
Check the back of your bag of spinach or prepackaged salad greens, and you'll probably find that they came from the Salinas Valley. Salad is big business in California.
Added: May 8, 2013
Dr Gagliano explained, "Our results show that plants are able to positively influence growth of seeds by some as yet unknown mechanism." Could this be the discovery of a kind of photogoogle process going on?
Added: May 4, 2013
"This technology effectively creates a 'closed-loop' system that mimics the activity of the pancreas in a healthy person, releasing insulin in response to glucose level changes," Gu says. "This has the potential to improve the health and quality of life of diabetes patients." Notice the sources are shrimp and seaweed. How did scientists figure out where to look to use the important molecules in shrimp and seaweed for their diabetic work? This is what makes science so exciting. There are pieces we can use as important parts to solutions to our diseases everywhere in nature. If you suffer from diabetes, talk to your doctor about the posibility of this new method of treating this disease.
Added: Apr 26, 2013
Recently, Michael Jacobson Ph.D., executive director of CSPI, commissioned talented individuals from The Real Bears to begin to tell the real story of the damage these molecules have on the body, especially our childrens' bodies. In the video a polar bear family has an overwhelming amount of sadness due to the devastating health issues that are borne out of the consumption of sugary drinks. We see them suffer an amputation by Dr. Fox, tooth decay, and impotence. This video hints what happens in our own hospital surgery suites. Surgery suites in our hospitals are rented out by a "Dr.Fox" for 60,000 amputations per year in this country. Some of these amputations are on obese children. You may not want to hear this, but this is the truth. And herein lies the sadness for all of us. The real extension of this truth comes to mind when you ask yourself How did we get here? How did this happen in our culture? We love our children. What's going on? Read Bearing With Coke article by Dr. David...
Added: Apr 22, 2013
Initial results showed fruit sales increased by an average of 61%, when the fruit was sliced. Results showed that apple sales in schools with fruit slicers increased by 71% compared to control schools. More importantly, researchers found that the percentage of students who ate more than half of their apple increased by 73%, an effect that lasted long after the study was over.
This exciting result also occurs when you hang up our Healthy Choices flyer in the home kitchen. Consumption of healthy foods increases significantly because children make healthier choices when they see them each and every day. To view our Healthy Choices flyers and posters go to: www.starchildscience.org/healthy-living-initiative and on our products page www.starchildscience.org/products
Added: Apr 22, 2013
Who would have thought a new Tree of Life for fishes would be created by a biology professor in Oklahoma? Santa Cruz pehaps. Or Miami. But, Oklahoma? Where the wind comes sweepin down the plain; when the wind comes right behind the rain? Please! Science has many surprises when you start looking at who is doing what and where!
A team of scientists led by Richard Broughton, associate professor of biology at the University of Oklahoma, published two studies that dramatically increase understanding of fish evolution and their relationships. Broughton notes, "The scope of the project was huge in terms of the number of species examined and the number of genes analyzed, and the new patterns of relationships among fish families result in what may be the broadest revision of fish systematics in history."
This kind of study improves scientists' ability to predict how closely related species might react to environmental factors such as climate change. It helps identify and target potential...
Added: Apr 22, 2013
Y.H. Percival Zhang, an associate professor of biological systems engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering, led a team of researchers in the project that could help feed a growing global population that is estimated to swell to 9 billion by 2050. Starch is one of the most important components of the human diet and provides 20-40 percent of our daily caloric intake.
This kind of research is getting a tremendous amount of attention now because of the global food issues that are threatening entire countries. Keep your eyes open to this arena as things are changing quickly.
Added: Apr 22, 2013
A study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is the first to show that human stem cells can successfully implant themselves in the brain and then heal neurological deficits, says senior author Su-Chun Zhang, a professor of neuroscience and neurology.
Added: Apr 17, 2013
Maria Raquel Alcantara Miranda and colleagues from the Federal University of Ceara, Brazil.suggest that "...organic farming exposes plants to greater stress than conventional farming. They suggest that this increased stress may be the reason organic tomatoes had higher levels sugars, vitamin C and pigment molecules like lycopene, an anti-oxidant compound -- all of which are associated with the biological response to stress. Growing strategies for fruits and vegetables should..."
Added: Apr 17, 2013
"... Public acceptance is of major importance when it comes to deciding energy choices for the future and investors must take this into account." Read more: Robert Rapier's article
The Experts: What Renewable Energy Source Has the Most Promise?
Added: Apr 8, 2013
...researchers found that the three fatty acids -- both individually and combined -- were associated with a significantly lower risk of mortality. One type in particular -- docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA -- was most strongly related to lower risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) death (40% lower risk), especially CHD death due to arrhythmias (electrical disturbances of the heart rhythm) (45% lower risk). Of the other blood fatty acids measured -- eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) -- DPA was most strongly associated with lower risk of stroke death, and EPA most strongly linked with lower risk of nonfatal heart attack. None of these fatty acids were strongly related to other, noncardiovascular causes of death.
There are numerous plant-based foods that are also great sources of Omegs-3 fatty acids. The Cleveland clinic has a list of these sources. Walnuts, soy foods, pumpkin seeds, and canola (rapeseed) oil are additional sources of Omega-3 fats. These foods...