Biosentients - Science Biology… etc

Over the past decade, scientists have developed a variety of reliable real-time and archival instruments to study sounds made or heard by marine mammals and fish. These new sensors are now being used in research, management, and conservation projects around the world, with some very important practical results. Among them is improved monitoring of endangered North Atlantic right whales in an effort to reduce ship strikes, a leading cause of their deaths……..

A protein complex mutated in human disease removes excess signaling molecules to prevent them from damaging cilia, say scientists from UMass Medical School. The study would be reported in the December 28 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology (www.jcb.org). Defective cilia cause a range of diseases including Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS), a rare, multi-tissue disorder associated with mutations in 12 different proteins. Seven of these form a complex called the BBSome, but the function of this protein assembly in cilia and flagella is unclear. In worms, the complex glues together the intraflagellar transport (IFT) machinery that assembles and maintains cilia by hauling cargo back and forth along the organelle’s microtubules. But most mammalian cell types can still form cilia in the absence of BBS proteins, suggesting that the BBSome isn’t essential for IFT……..

The timing of molar emergence and its relation to growth and reproduction in apes is being reported by two scientists at Arizona State University’s Institute of Human Origins in the Dec. 28 online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). From the smallest South American monkeys to the largest African apes, the timing of molar development and eruption is closely attuned to many fundamental aspects of a primate’s biology, according to Gary Schwartz, a researcher at the Institute of Human Origins and an associate professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change in ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences……..

Microscopic ridges contouring the surface of flower petals might play a role in flashing that come-hither look pollinating insects can’t resist. Michigan State University researchers and his colleagues now have figured out how those form. The result could help scientists learn to enhance plants’ pollination success and even could lead to high-grip nanomaterials and “green chemical” feedstocks……..

Details of the lifestyle of mink, which escaped from fur farms and now live wild in the UK, have been revealed through analysis of their whiskers. Research led by the University of Exeter reveals more about the diet of this invasive species and provides a clue to its whereabouts. There are now plans to use the findings to eradicate it from environments where it can be devastating to native species……..

The journeys of two marine turtles around the world’s oceans will be available to view online this Christmas, thanks to a new research project launched by the University of Exeter. Noelle and Darwinia are two adult female leatherback turtles that nest in Gabon, Western Central Africa. The research team has fitted each turtle with a small satellite tracking device, which enables the researchers to monitor their precise movements and observe where and how deep they dive. The tracking began on 7 December 2009 and so far the turtles have travelled 800 miles between them……..

Landing is tricky: hit the ground too fast and you will crash and burn; too slow and you may stall and fall. Bees manage their approach by monitoring the speed of images moving across their eyes. By slowing so that the speed of the looming landing pad’s image on the retina remains constant, bees manage to control their approach. But what happens in the final few moments before touch down? And how do bees adapt to landing on surfaces ranging from the horizontal to upside-down ceilings? Flies land on a ceiling by simply grabbing hold with their front legs and somersaulting up as they zip along, but a bee’s approach is more sedate. Mandyam Srinivasan, an electrical engineer from the Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland and the Australian Research Council’s Vision Centre, knew that bees must be doing something different from daredevil flies. Curious to know more about bee landing strategies Srinivasan teamed up with Carla Evangelista, Peter Kraft, and Judith Reinhard from the University of Queensland, and Marie Dacke, visiting from Lund University. The team used a high-speed camera to film the instant of touch down on surfaces at various inclinations and publish their discoveries about bee landing tactics in The Journal of Experimental Biology on December 28 2009 at http://jeb.biologists.org……..

Dark spots on flower petals are common across a number of angiosperm plant families and occur on flowers such as some lilies, orchids, and daisies. Much research has been done on the physiological and behavioral mechanisms for how these spots attract pollinators. But have you ever wondered what these spots are composed of, how they develop, or how they only appear on some but not all of the ray florets? ……..

Using a microscope the size of a football field, scientists from The University of Western Ontario are studying why some insects can survive freezing, while others cannot. Why is this important? Because the common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) is one of the bugs that cannot survive freezing and the little creature just so happens to share much of the same genetic makeup as humans, therefore finding a way to freeze them for research purposes is a top priority for geneticists the world over (about 75 per cent of known human disease genes have a recognizable match in the genetic code of fruit flies)……..

Our cells are more like us than we may think. They’re sensitive to their environment, poking and prodding deliberately at their surroundings with hand-like feelers and chemical signals as they decide whether and where to move. Such caution serves us well but has vexed engineers who seek to create synthetic tissue, heart valves, implants and other devices that the human body will accept……..