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Public Release: 15-Jan-2009
PLoS Genetics
Why domestic animals changed coat
A new study on pigs, published Jan. 16 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics, reveals that the prime explanation for the bewildering diversity in coat color among our pigs, dogs and other domestic animals, is that humans have actively changed the coat color of domestic animals by cherry-picking and actively selecting for rare mutations. This process that has been going on for thousands of years.
Contact: Leif Andersson
leif.andersson@imbim.uu.se
46-184-714-904
Uppsala University
Public Release: 15-Jan-2009
PLoS Genetics
Scientists present the largest-to-date genetic snapshot of Iceland 1000 years ago
Scientists at deCODE genetics have completed the largest study of ancient DNA from a single population ever undertaken. Analyzing mitochondrial DNA, which is passed from mother to offspring, from 68 skeletal remains, the study provides a detailed look at how a contemporary population differs from that of its ancestors. The study is published Jan. 16 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics.
Contact: Edward Farmer
edward.farmer@decode.is
354-570-2819
Public Library of Science
Public Release: 15-Jan-2009
PLoS Computational Biology
A novel explanation for a floral genetic mystery
Scientists at the University of Jena, Germany have put forth a novel explanation of the evolutionary driving force behind a genetic switching circuit that regulates flower development and survival. The hypothesis, based around the obligatory pairing of certain molecules, is published Jan. 16 in the open-access journal PLoS Computational Biology.
Contact: Dr. Peter Dittrich
dittrich@minet.uni-jena.de
49-364-194-6460
Public Library of Science
Public Release: 15-Jan-2009
Current Biology
Strategic farming practices could help mitigate global warming
Researchers say that strategic farming practices might be part of the solution for curbing global warming. According to calculations reported online on Jan. 15 in Current Biology, by planting crop varieties that better reflect sunlight back out to space, summertime temperatures could be reduced by more than one degree Celsius throughout much of central North America and mid-latitude Eurasia.
Contact: Cathleen Genova
cgenova@cell.com
617-397-2802
Cell Press
Public Release: 14-Jan-2009
Environmental Science & Technology
Energy-efficient water purification made possible by Yale engineers
Water and energy are two resources on which modern society depends. As demands for these increase, researchers look to alternative technologies that promise both sustainability and reduced environmental impact. Engineered osmosis holds a key to addressing both the global need for affordable clean water and inexpensive sustainable energy according to Yale researchers.
National Science Foundation, US Office of Naval Research
Contact: Janet Rettig Emanuel
janet.emanuel@yale.edu
203-432-2157
Yale University
Public Release: 14-Jan-2009
Environmental Research Letters
Nations that sow food crops for biofuels may reap less than previously thought
Global yields of most biofuels crops, including corn, rapeseed and wheat, have been overestimated by 100 to 150 percent or more, suggesting many countries need to reset their expectations of agricultural biofuels to a more realistic level.
Contact: Matt Johnston
mjohnston@wisc.edu
608-217-1424
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Public Release: 14-Jan-2009
New report on science learning at museums, zoos, other informal settings
Each year, tens of millions of Americans, young and old, choose to learn about science in informal ways by visiting museums and aquariums, attending after-school programs, pursuing personal hobbies and watching TV documentaries, for example.
Contact: Sara Frueh
news@nas.edu
202-334-2138
National Academy of Sciences
Public Release: 13-Jan-2009
Science in China Series D: Earth Sciences
Cenozoic sedimentary records and geochronological constraints of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau uplift
The Northeastern part of the present-day Qinghai-Tibet region had a higher elevation than the Southwestern part until the earliest Miocene, i.e., circa 23 million years ago. Thereafter, two phases (12-8 and 5 million years ago) of intensive differential tectonic uplifting led to a significant geomorphologic reversal, resulting in the Southwest/Northeast tilting of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as seen today.
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Foundation of Geological Survey of China, Program for Innovative Research Team in University
Contact: Ke-Xin Zhang
kx_zhang@cug.edu.cn
0086-276-788-3027
Science in China Press
Public Release: 13-Jan-2009
Energy & Fuels
New NIST method accelerates stability testing of soy-based biofuel
NIST researchers have developed a method to accelerate stability testing of biodiesel fuel made from soybeans and identified additives that enhance stability at high temperatures, work that could help overcome a key barrier to the practical use of biofuels.
Contact: Laura Ost
laura.ost@nist.gov
303-497-4880
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Public Release: 13-Jan-2009
'Green' gasoline on the horizon
University of Oklahoma researchers believe newer, more environmentally friendly fuels produced from biomass could create alternative energy solutions and alleviate dependence on foreign oil without requiring changes to current fuel infrastructure systems. According to Lance Lobban, director of the School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering, the development of "green" fuels is an important part of the world's, and Oklahoma's, energy future.
Contact: Jana Smith
jana.smith@ou.edu
405-325-1322
University of Oklahoma
Public Release: 13-Jan-2009
Applied Physics Letters
Smart lighting: New LED drops the 'droop'
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed and demonstrated a new type of light emitting diode (LED) with significantly improved lighting performance and energy efficiency. The new polarization-matched LED, developed in collaboration with Samsung Electro-Mechanics, exhibits an 18 percent increase in light output and a 22 percent increase in wall-plug efficiency.
Samsung, National Science Foundation, US Department of Energy
Contact: Michael Mullaney
mullam@rpi.edu
518-276-6161
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Public Release: 13-Jan-2009
Palaeontologia Electronica
A case of mistaken dino-identity
A Texas legislator is seeking a name change for the official state dinosaur, after master's level research at Southern Methodist University revealed the titleholder was misidentified. The Texas State Dinosaur, currently identified as Pleurocoelus, is actually Paluxysaurus jonesi - a new genus and species unique to Texas.
Contact: Kim Cobb
cobbk@smu.edu
214-768-7654
Southern Methodist University
Public Release: 13-Jan-2009
Nature Geoscience
Study links swings in North Atlantic oscillation variability to climate warming
Using a 218-year-long temperature record from a Bermuda brain coral, researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have created the first marine-based reconstruction showing the long-term behavior of one of the most important drivers of climate fluctuations in the North Atlantic.
Contact: Media Relations
media@whoi.edu
508-289-3340
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Public Release: 13-Jan-2009
Voracious sponges save reef
Tropical oceans are known as the deserts of the sea. And yet this unlikely environment is the very place where the rich and fertile coral reef grows. Dutch researcher Jasper de Goeij investigated how caves in the coral reef ensure the reef's continued existence. Although sponges in these coral caves take up a lot of dissolved organic material, they scarcely grow. However, they do discard a lot of cells that in turn provide food for the organisms on the reef.
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research
Contact: Jasper de Goeij
jmdegoeij@gmail.com
31-065-247-1433
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research
Public Release: 13-Jan-2009
Eos
Great Lakes water level sensitive to climate change
The water level in the Great Lakes has varied by only about two meters during the last century,
but new evidence indicates that the water level in the lake system is highly sensitive to climate changes.
Contact: Todd McLeish
tmcleish@uri.edu
401-874-7892
University of Rhode Island
Public Release: 13-Jan-2009
Genetics
When it comes to sleep research, fruit flies and people make unlikely bedfellows
You may never hear fruit flies snore, but rest assured that when you're asleep, they are too. According to research published in the January 2009 issue of the journal Genetics, scientists have shown that sleep/wake cycles of fruit flies and vertebrates are regulated by some of the same "cellular machinery" as humans. This is significant because the sleep-regulating enzyme that was analyzed is one of only a few possible drug targets for circadian problems.
Contact: Tracey DePellegrin Connelly
td2p@andrew.cmu.edu
412-268-1812
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
Public Release: 13-Jan-2009
International Journal of Human Factors Modelling and Simulation
The auto change bicycle
Researchers in Taiwan are designing a computer for pedal cyclists that tells them when to change gear to optimize the power they develop while maintaining comfort. The system is described in the latest issue of the International Journal of Human Factors Modeling and Simulation.
Contact: TY Lin
tsylin0912@hotmail.com
886-988-211-181
Inderscience Publishers
Public Release: 13-Jan-2009
Proceedings of the Royal Society B
High-tech imaging of inner ear sheds light on hearing, behavior of oldest fossil bird
The earliest known bird, the magpie-sized Archaeopteryx, had a similar hearing range to the modern emu, which suggests that the 145 million-year-old creature -- despite its reptilian teeth and long tail -- was more birdlike than reptilian, according to new research published today.
Natural Environment Research Council, National Science Foundation
Contact: Andrea Gibson
gibsona@ohio.edu
740-597-2166
Ohio University
Public Release: 13-Jan-2009
New digital map of Africa's depleted soils to offer insights critical for boosting food production
Responding to sub-Saharan Africa's soil health crisis, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture announced today an ambitious new effort to produce the first-ever, detailed digital soil map for all 42 countries of the region. This project combines the latest soil science and technology with remote satellite imagery and on-the-ground efforts to analyze thousands of soil samples from remote areas across the continent to help provide solutions for poor farmers.
Contact: Jeff Haskins
jhaskins@burnesscommunications.com
254-729-871 x422
CIAT
Public Release: 12-Jan-2009
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History
Microscopic morphology adds to the scorpion family tree
In a new research paper, Carsten Kamenz of the Humboldt University in Berlin and Lorenzo Prendini of the American Museum of Natural History image the book lung of scorpions. Tiny morphological features like the sculpting of the hair-like outgrowths on lamellae -- structures that fold like the leaves of a book and give the scorpion respiratory system its name, the book lung -- gives insight into the evolutionary relationships among scorpions.
Contact: Kristin Elise Phillips
kphillips@amnh.org
212-496-3419
American Museum of Natural History
Public Release: 12-Jan-2009
Current Directions in Psychological Science
Primate culture is just a stone's throw away from human evolution, study finds
For 30 years, scientists have been studying stone-handling behavior in several troops of Japanese macaques to catch a unique glimpse of primate culture. By watching these monkeys acquire and maintain behavioral traditions from generation to generation, the scientists have gained insight into the cultural evolution of humans.
Contact: Katie Kline
kkline@psychologicalscience.org
202-293-9300
Association for Psychological Science
Public Release: 12-Jan-2009
Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres
Dirty snow causes early runoff in Cascades, Rockies
Soot from pollution causes winter snowpacks to warm, shrink and warm some more. This continuous cycle sends snowmelt streaming down mountains as much as a month early, a new study finds, which could exacerbate winter flooding and summer droughts. How pollution affects a mountain range's natural water reservoirs is important for water resource managers in the western United States and Canada who plan for hydroelectricity generation, fisheries and farming.
Department of Energy
Contact: Mary Beckman
mary.beckman@pnl.gov
509-375-3688
DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Public Release: 12-Jan-2009
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
As super-predators, humans reshape their prey at super-natural speeds
Fishing and hunting are having broad, swift impacts on the body size and reproductive abilities of fish and other commercially harvested species, potentially jeopardizing the ability of entire populations to recover, according to the results of a new study that will appear in the Jan. 12, 2009, online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Contact: Jennifer McNulty
jmcnulty@ucsc.edu
831-459-2495
University of California - Santa Cruz
Public Release: 12-Jan-2009
American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- Jan. 7, 2009
The American Chemical Society News Service Weekly Press Package with reports from 34 major peer-reviewed journals on chemistry, health, medicine, energy, environment, food, nanotechnology and other hot topics.
Contact: Michael Woods
m_woods@acs.org
202-872-6293
American Chemical Society
Public Release: 12-Jan-2009
Genome Research
'Museomics' yields new insights into extinct Tasmanian tiger
In 1902, the National Zoo brought an endangered animal called the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, from Tasmania. By the mid-1930s, the thylacine was extinct, leaving behind only preserved museum specimens. In a study published online in Genome Research, researchers used DNA sequencing to analyze preserved thylacines, including one brought to the National Zoo, making novel discoveries in thylacine genomics and the burgeoning field of "museomics."
Penn State University, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Pennsylvania Department of Health
Contact: Peggy Calicchia
calicchi@cshl.edu
516-422-4012
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
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