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Female mammals follow their noses to the right mates

Female birds often choose their mates based on fancy feathers. Female mammals, on the other hand, may be more likely to follow their noses to the right mate. That's one conclusion of Cambridge zoologist Tim Clutton-Brock and Harvard researcher Katherine McAuliffe, whose review of evidence for fema...

Bee swarms follow high-speed 'streaker' bees to find a new nest

It's one of the hallmarks of spring: a swarm of bees on the move. But how a swarm locates a new nest site when less than 5% of the community know the way remains a mystery. Curious to find out how swarms cooperate and are guided to their new homes, Tom Seeley, a neurobiologist from Cornell Univers...

Wandering albatrosses follow their nose

The first study of how individual wandering albatrosses find food shows that the birds rely heavily on their sense of smell. The birds can pick up a scent from several miles away, U.S. and French researchers have found. "This is the first time anyone has looked at the odor-tracking behavior of ...

Ants and avalanches: Insects on coffee plants follow widespread natural tendency

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Ever since a forward-thinking trio of physicists identified the phenomenon known as self-organized criticality---a mechanism by which complexity arises in nature---scientists have been applying its concepts to everything from economics to avalanches. Now, researchers at the U...

Want to save polar bears? Follow the ice

In the wake of the U.S. government’s watershed decision to propose listing the polar bear as "Threatened" under the Endangered Species Act, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is launching a bold initiative to save the Earth’s largest terrestrial predator, not by following the bears themselves...

Imaging techniques permit scientists to follow a day -- or four -- in the life of a cell

\The movement and growth of cells are critical for normal physiological processes, and--when perturbed--can result in negative outcomes such as tumor formation. Understanding how live cells function is therefore invaluable for molecular and cellular biologists, and advanced techniques to visualize ...

History-hunting geneticists can still follow familiar trail

As the world's first explorers branched away from humanity's birthplace in east Africa some 65,000 years ago, distinct mutations accumulated in the DNA of each population, essentially providing a genetic trail for modern researchers to follow. Recently some scientists have raised doubts about thi...

Study: Paramedics save more lives when they don't follow the rules

Survival rates following the most common form of cardiac arrest increased three-fold when emergency medical personnel used a new form of CPR developed at The University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center. The new approach, called Cardiocerebral Resuscitation, is dramatically different from guideline-di...

Shorter colds, milder flu may follow from newly revealed immune mechanism

Enlisted to help fight viral infections, immune cells called macrophages consume virus-infected cells to stop the spread of the disease in the body. Now researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have uncovered how macrophages keep from succumbing to the infection themselv...

Geoscientists follow arsenic from chicken feed to streambeds

What happened to the chicken when she crossed the road is less important that what happens to what she eats when it is used as fertilizer. Organic arsenic is fed to poultry to prevent bacterial infections and improve weight gain. A little bit of arsenic is taken up by the tissue and the majority ...

Effective Cancer Treatments Follow The Clock

Interesting application of chronopharmacology : Oncologists have long thought that cancer treatments tend to be more effective at certain times of day. But they have been unable to turn this knowledge into practice, because they did not understand the phenomenon well enough. Now, researche...

Scientists find universal rules for food-web stability

...rmediate trophic levels. The computations also reveal that small ecosystems follow other rules than large ecosystems: differences in the strength of predator-...erent from webs consisting of many species. "Small ecosystems apparently follow different rules than large ecosystems," says Ulf Dieckmann. "Systems with f...

More than half of Texas physicians do not always recommend HPV vaccine to girls

...ts of a recent survey showed that more than half of Texas physicians do not follow these recommendations. The survey was published in Cancer Epidemiology...tudy suggests that additional efforts are needed to encourage physicians to follow these national recommendations," said Jessica Kahn, M.D., M.P.H., associate...

Holding breath for several minutes elevates marker for brain damage

...ts, could cause neurological damage over time. The researchers recommended further research on free divers that would begin early in their careers and follow them for years to monitor their neurological function. The study is "Increased serum levels of the brain damage marker S100B after apnea in trained...

New hope for fisheries

...in the size and amount of fish available, and a consequent increase in fishers' incomes. "These successes are local - but they are inspiring others to follow suit," says Tim McClanahan of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Kenya. "We know that more fish can be harvested with less fishing effort and les...

Study shows cancer vaccines led to long-term survival for patients with metastatic melanoma

...ogenitor cells that can create new depots of cancer throughout the body. Data showed that the projected five-year survival rate is 54% at a median follow up of 4.5 years (range 2.4 to 7.4) for the 30 surviving patients. Although not a direct comparison, the results are superior to those observed followi...

Researchers capture bacterial infection on film

...ientists at the University of Bath and University of Exeter is the first to follow the progress of infection in real-time with living organisms. The resear...icroscopy. The researchers can also tag individual bacterial proteins to follow their movement and determine their specific roles in the infection process....

Chasing tiny vehicles

...the other end. What happens in between is anyone's guess." Now, his workgroup has employed highly sensitive single-molecule fluorescence microscopy to follow the nanoferries on their voyage. This highly sensitive method works by tagging individual particles with a dye that acts like a "molecular lamp" to li...

Study explains potential failure of oral contraceptives with obese women

...than that for some individuals. One woman in the study took more than 20 days to reach a "steady state" drug concentration. Women of normal weight who follow their oral contraceptive directions should have appropriate protection against pregnancy. But the delay in reaching a steady state drug concentration ...

Report shows the power of US cities to mitigate climate change and steps they need to take to adapt

...n their communities, across the country and around the world," said Michelle Wyman, Executive Director of ICLEI USA. "ICLEI's local government members follow methodologies and standards and take part in ongoing reporting that fosters the kind of transparency and rigor required of any entity addressing clima...

1-finger exercise reveals unexpected limits to dexterity

... "Push your finger as hard as you can against the surface. Now as hard as you can but move it slowly - follow the ticking clock. Now faster. Now faster." These were the commands for volunteers in a simple experiment that casts doubt on old ideas about mecha...

Scientists track chemical changes in cells as they endure extreme conditions

..., and geochemical phenomena. Their work was recently published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . "We can now follow chemical changes in living bacteria as they respond to extreme environments. This opens up a new window into how bacteria adapt and carry out some of ...

Scientists are learning more about big birds from feathers

...is a compilation of his research on the topic. Most birds are studied by catching them in nets and attaching tracking devices. Researchers can then follow the birds and use radio technology to triangulate their locations. Eagles and other large birds present several challenges, however, even beyond ca...

Clinical trial shows quadriplegics can operate powered wheelchair with tongue drive system

...de, however, the user is allowed to steer the powered wheelchair to the left or right as it is moving forward and backward, thus making it possible to follow a curve." Each subject completed the course at least twice using each strategy while the researchers recorded the navigation time and number of col...

The sound of light: Innovative technology shatters the barriers of modern light microscopy

...ole in developing the method, says, "This opens the door to a whole new universe of research. For the first time, biologists will be able to optically follow the development of organs, cellular function and genetic expression through several millimeters to centimeters of tissue." In the past, understandi...

Study shows Chronix technology using serum DNA can identify early presence of disease

...istinctive DNA signatures indicating the presence of BSE in all of the infected animals well before clinical symptoms appeared." These new findings follow three previous published studies demonstrating the utility of using serum DNA to identify human cancers, human infectious disease and BSE. For exampl...

Leading scientists and scholars urge action on climate issues

... issues in the United States is generally thought to be crucial in order for the negotiations at the COP lead to a significant international treaty to follow on the Kyoto Protocol. The letter was initiated after discussion among four scholars long involved in the issues: J. G. Speth, currently retiring ...

UC Davis grant zeroes in on novel asthma diagnosis and treatment

..., including 23 million Americans. "In our study, we propose to evaluate whether the new field of metabolomics can be used to diagnose asthma and follow its treatment," said principal investigator Bruce Hammock, a distinguished professor and member of the National Academy of Sciences. Metabolomics in...

NOAA forecast predicts large 'dead zone' for Gulf of Mexico this summer

...s. An announcement of the official size of the 2009 hypoxic zone, which is an annual requirement of the Gulf of Mexico Task Force Action Plan, will follow a NOAA-supported monitoring survey led by the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium on July 18-26. In addition, NOAA's Southeast Area Monitori...

Study highlights massive imbalances in global fertilizer use

...ologists and agricultural experts warns against a "one-size-fits-all" approach to managing global food production. "Most agricultural systems follow a trajectory from too little in the way of added nutrients to too much, and both extremes have substantial human and environmental costs," said lead a...

Scientific evidence of health problems from past contamination of drinking water at Camp Lejeune is limited and unlikely to be resolved with further study

.... Department of the Navy, under which the Marine Corps operates, should not wait for the results of more research before making decisions about how to follow up on the evident contaminant exposures and their possible health consequences. They should undertake appropriate action in light of the available sp...

Brain-computer interface, developed at Brown, begins new clinical trial

...plinary, multi-institutional effort. A new academically based Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) application BrainGate2 was developed in 2008 to follow up on research previously published in peer-reviewed journals. Hochberg will direct the BrainGate2 clinical trials through MGH in close collaboration ...

Mars mission could ease Earth's energy supply crisis

...ctical engineering design." Dr Liz Towns-Andrews, Director of Knowledge Exchange at STFC, which is funding the study through its Knowledge Exchange follow on Fund award scheme, added, "This is a truly valuable study which will not only reveal more about our neighbour Mars, but could also deliver enormous...

Researchers shed light on trading behavior in animals -- and humans

...chimpanzees rely on personal interactions, humans have mechanisms to foster confidence in trade, such as legal or social penalties for those who don't follow through. At the simplest level, a critical aspect to confidence in trade is reputation reinforced through language, or gossip, which is something ch...

More than just the tailpipe

...udy creates a framework for comprehensive environmental inventorying of several modes and future assessment of non-conventional fuels and vehicles can follow this methodology in creating technology-specific results. "Through the use of life-cycle environmental assessments, energy and emission reduction d...

Springer Series editor John Smol receives two prestigious biology awards

... Ontario, Canada, has just received the 2009 Killam Prize as well as one of the five prestigious Premier's Discovery Awards for 2009. These two prizes follow the honor of being named one of the Environmental Scientists of the Year by The Royal Canadian Geographical Society in 2008. Smol, a biology professo...

Report updates guidelines on how much weight women should gain during pregnancy

... "We call on health professionals to adopt these guidelines and help women follow them so that mothers and their children will have the best health outcomes ...elines do no good if women do not know about them and care providers do not follow and promote them. Studies published after the 1990 guidelines were release...

Microtest Labs Adds Dissolution Testing to its Suite of Analytical and Stability Testing Services

...ding HPLC Assays , GC Analysis , Protein Analysis , FTIR Analysis , and UV/VIS Analysis . Microtest's analytical testing processes follow guidelines from all major standards authorities, including the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), the Japanese and European Pharmacopoeias, the U.S. Fo...

Jeepers creepers: Climate change threatens endangered honeycreepers

...bitat that honeycreepers liked, wrote the authors. While birds in those areas find refuge from the diseases dispersing juvenile birds and adults that follow seasonal flowering of native plants to lower elevations are exposed to disease. "Unfortunately," said study co-author, USGS scientist Dr. Dennis L...

Identification of genetic variants affecting age at menopause could help improve fertility treatment

...genetic factors. However, until now, GWAS had not been used to study the effect of genetic variants on age at menopause. The scientists intend to follow up their work with an even larger sample of menopausal women to identify more chromosomal loci. "GWAS gives you SNPs connected with menopausal age...