Another Reason To Avoid High-fat Diet: It Can Disrupt Our Biological Clock, Say Researchers
Indulgence in a high-fat diet can not only lead to overweight because of excessive calorie intake, but also can affect the balance of circadian rhythms – everyone’s 24-hour biological clock, Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers have shown.
Songs From The Sea: Deciphering Dolphin Language With Picture Words:
In an important breakthrough in deciphering dolphin language, researchers in Great Britain and the United States have imaged the first high definition imprints that dolphin sounds make in water.
Better Antifreezes To Preserve Donor Organs For Transplantation:
Chemists in Canada have developed a new approach for producing more effective medical antifreeze fluids for preserving kidneys, hearts, and other organs donated for transplantation. These next-generation antifreezes can decrease damage to organs caused by ice crystals, and thus prolong the time a donated organ will remain viable prior to transplantation. This could increase the number of available organs for potential recipients.
Aphids Leave Old Exoskeletons Near Their Colonies, As Decoys:
By leaving the remains of their old exoskeletons, called ‘exuviae’, in and around their colonies, aphids gain some measure of protection from parasites. New reserarch has shown that parasitoid wasps are likely to attack the empty shells, resulting in a lower attack rate on their previous occupants – much like in the popular ‘shell game’ confidence trick.
Genes That Made 1918 Flu Lethal Isolated:
By mixing and matching a contemporary flu virus with the “Spanish flu” — a virus that killed between 20 and 50 million people 90 years ago in history’s most devastating outbreak of infectious disease — researchers have identified a set of three genes that helped underpin the extraordinary virulence of the 1918 virus.
Skipping Sleep May Signal Problems For Coronary Arteries:
One extra hour of sleep per night appears to decrease the risk of coronary artery calcification, an early step down the path to cardiovascular disease, a research team based at the University of Chicago Medical Center reports. The benefit of one hour of additional sleep was comparable to the gains from lowering systolic blood pressure by 17 mm Hg.
Area Of Brain Key To Choosing Words Identified:
New research by a Rice University psychologist clearly identifies the parts of the brain involved in the process of choosing appropriate words during speech.
Clockwork That Drives Powerful Virus Nanomotor Discovered:
Peering at structures only atoms across, researchers have identified the clockwork that drives a powerful virus nanomotor.
Mouse Trap? Immunologist Calls For More Research On Humans, Not Mice:
The fabled laboratory mouse — from which we have learned so much about how the immune system works — can teach us only so much about how we humans get sick and what to do about it, says a leading researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Shade Coffee Benefits More Than Birds:
Here’s one more reason to say “shade grown, please” when you order your morning cup of coffee. Shade coffee farms, which grow coffee under a canopy of multiple tree species, not only harbor native birds, bats and other beneficial creatures, but also maintain genetic diversity of native tree species and can act as focal points for tropical forest regeneration.
How The Spider Spun Its Web: ‘Missing Link’ In Spider Evolution Discovered:
New interpretations of fossils have revealed an ancient missing link between today’s spiders and their long-extinct ancestors. The research by scientists at the University of Kansas and Virginia’s Hampden-Sydney College may help explain how spiders came to weave webs.
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