Biosentients - Science Biology… etc

Researchers from the LSU Museum of Natural Science, or MNS, recently participated in a project joining together the most prominent ornithological research programs in the world. This study the largest study of bird genetics ever completed has not only shaken up the avian evolutionary tree, but completely redrawn it. The results of this massive research project, which relied heavily upon the LSU MNS’ genetic resources collection, will be published in Science on June 27……..

Not a number of people think about what it’s like to be a bat, but for those who do, it’s enlightening and potentially groundbreaking for understanding aspects of the human brain and nervous system. Cynthia Moss, a member of the Neuroscience and Cognitive Science program at the University of Maryland, College Park, Md., is one of few scientists who spend time trying to get into the heads of bats……..

Having a good nose is essential to a Japanese beetle’s survival. The beetle’s sense of smell helps it avoid enemies and zero in on a mate. Meanwhile, the potential mate is programmed to release sex pheromones in exactly the right proportions. Like cheap perfume, there is such a thing as too much: Excessive pheromones can get the attention of a passing fly, leading her to the beetle. The fly can then lay her eggs on the beetle’s back, setting up emerging fly larvae for their first meal (fresh Japanese beetle)……..

Previous to the federal Clean Air Act, unhindered industrial emissions were released into the air throughout the Midwestern and Eastern United States for decades. A number of of those harmful chemicals came right back down to earth in the form of acid rain, a chemical concoction that includes nitric and sulfuric acid……..

More than 15 years ago researchers discovered a way to stop a particular gene in its tracks. The Nobel Prize-winning finding holds tantalizing promise for medical science, but so far it has been difficult to apply the technique, known as RNA interference, in living cells. Now researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle and Emory University in Atlanta have succeeded in using nanotechnology known as quantum dots to address this problem. Their technique is 10 to 20 times more effective than existing methods for injecting the gene-silencing tools, known as siRNA, into cells……..

Almost every June for 30 years, Terry McEneaney drove around Yellowstone National Park and listed every bird he heard along three routes. Park ornithologist at the time, he would drive to a designated spot and identify the birds there. Then he’d drive another half mile, repeat the process and continue until he had stopped 50 times in 24.5 miles for the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Trying to finish before the birds quit singing, he’d ignore the scenery as best he could and try not to let the traffic bother him……..

Though the slow moving purple sea urchin may look oblivious, lacking a head, eyes and ears, this prickly creature has an impressive suite of sensory receptors to detect outside signals. And don’t overlook this animal’s self-defense abilities: it has much more ammunition to activate its innate immune system than humans have. The starlet sea anemone lives in coastal areas that face increasing pollution, and it is better equipped than a number of land, ocean, and freshwater animals to tolerate environmental stress……..

Biologists at Harvard University have determined that some African frogs carry concealed weapons: When threatened, these species puncture their own skin with sharp bones in their toes, using the bones as claws capable of wounding predators. The unusual defense mechanism is described by Harvard’s David C. Blackburn, James Hanken, and Farish A. Jenkins, Jr., in a forthcoming issue of the journal Biology Letters…….

Perhaps judging a man by his cologne isn’t as superficial as it seems. Duke University researchers, using sophisticated machinery to analyze hundreds of chemical components in a ringtailed lemur’s distinctive scent, have observed that individual males are not only advertising their fitness for fatherhood, but also a bit about their family tree as well……..

One dose of an insecticide can kill three generations of cockroaches as they feed off of each other and transfer the poison, as per Purdue University entomologists who tested the effectiveness of a specific gel bait. It is the first time that researchers have shown that a pest control bait will remain effective when it’s transferred twice after the first killing dose, said Grzegorz “Grzesiek” Buczkowski, assistant professor of entomology. Passing the insecticide from one cockroach to the next is called horizontal transfer……..