Biosentients - Science Biology… etc

LSU professor of biological sciences, in partnership with colleagues in Montana and France, recently found evidence that rain-making bacteria are widely distributed in the atmosphere. These biological particles could factor heavily into the precipitation cycle, affecting climate, agricultural productivity and even global warming. Christner and colleagues will publish their results in the prestigious journal Science on Feb. 29……..

The rise of oxygen and the oxidation of deep oceans between 635 and 551 million years ago may have had an impact on the increase and spread of the earliest complex life, including animals, as per a research studypublished in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online Early Edition during the week of February 25 29……..

A team of researchers led by Washington University in St. Louis has begun to unlock the genetic secrets of corn, a crop vital to U.S. agriculture. The scientists have completed a working draft of the corn genome, an accomplishment that should accelerate efforts to develop better crop varieties to meet society’s growing demands for food, livestock feed and fuel……..

Genomatix Software GmbH, a Systems Biology company focussed on high quality annotation and the understanding of gene regulation, has begun showcasing its abilities in the analysis of data generated by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology. Allan P. Boyle et al reported in the January 2008 issue of Cell some remarkable work on……..

Predators have considerably more influence than plants over how an ecosystem functions, as per a Yale study published recently in Science. Note: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) interviewed Oswald Schmitz for a story on this research. The interview is available on their site. The findings, as per the author, Oswald Schmitz, Oastler Professor of Population and Community Ecology at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, are a “revolutionary” shift in thinking on the subject. Ecosystem ecologists have long held that plants and their interaction with the soil determine the type and abundance of herbivores and carnivores in an ecosystem. Schmitz’s paper, “Effects of Predator Hunting Mode on Grassland Ecosystem Function,” shows that the opposite is true……..

As oceans warm and become more acidic, ocean creatures are undergoing severe stress and entire food webs are at risk. The information was presented by researchers at a press briefing on February 17 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston. Gretchen Hofmann, associate professor of biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has just returned from a research mission to Antarctica where she collected pteropods, tiny marine snails the size of a lentil, that she refers to as the “potato chip” of the oceans because they are eaten widely by so a number of species. The National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs funded the expedition……..

Michael Goodisman could be called the Maury Povich of the yellow jacket world. In his laboratory, Goodisman determines the paternity of yellow jackets to study family dynamics within a colony. Even though only one family lives within a colony, each yellow jacket queen mates with several males, creating a complex family tree……..

A team of researchers, led by Stony Brook University paleontologist David Krause, has discovered the remains in Madagascar of what may be the largest frog ever to exist. The 16-inch, 10-pound ancient frog, scientifically named Beelzebufo, or devil frog, links a group of frogs that lived 65 to 70 million years ago with frogs living today in South America……..

There are several predators in the Park, including bobcats, eagles, badgers, and cougars, but the coyotes are the most easily seen. Most research has shown that coyotes commonly feed on small mammals and birds. They do not feed heavily on livestock or larger ungulates, like elk, deer, or bison unless the animal is already dead or dying……..

Results are in from last years fifth annual Bonefish Population Census in the Florida Keys and the bonefish population has remained fairly steady from 2006, however, the number of volunteers participating in the annual event continues to grow. As per Jerry Ault, Ph.D., University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science Professor of Marine Biology and Fisheries, thats exactly the type of fish stock numbers and community involvement hed like to see……..