Weekly Science Headlines

[Kai]

December 2, 2008

A New Picture of the Early Earth
from the New York Times (Registration Required)

The first 700 million years of Earth's 4.5-billion-year existence are known as the Hadean period, after Hades, or, to shed the ancient Greek name, Hell.

That name seemed to fit with the common perception that the young Earth was a hot, dry, desolate landscape interspersed with seas of magma and inhospitable for life. Even if some organism had somehow popped into existence, the old story went, surely it would soon have been extinguished in the firestorm of one of the giant meteorites that slammed into the Earth when the young solar system was still crowded with debris.

... Norman H. Sleep, a professor of geophysics at Stanford, recalled that in 1986 he submitted a paper that calculated the probability of life surviving one of the giant, early impacts. It was summarily rejected because a reviewer said that obviously nothing could have lived then. That is no longer thought to be true.

http://snipurl.com/714t2 


Drug 'Could Cure Jet Lag'
from the Telegraph (UK)

A new cure for jet lag, which can reset the body's natural sleep rhythms, could be on the market within three years after tests proved successful. The new pill works by mimicking the effects of melatonin, the so-called sleep hormone, on the body.

Results of trials on the drug, called tasimelteon, published in the Lancet medical journal, show that it can cut the amount of time that it takes sufferers to fall asleep and keep them asleep for longer. The new drug is also likely to be less addictive than other more traditional medications used to help sleep, such as valium.

Writing in the Lancet Dr Daniel Cardinali, from the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, who reviewed the results of the study, said that the findings would be welcomed by "shift-workers, airline crew, tourists, football teams and many others".

http://snipurl.com/715db


DNA Gleaned from Ancient Coral Unlocks Clues about Warming
from the Boston Globe (Registration Required)

The skeletons in the Earth's closet reveal not only a dark past. They also cast a light on its future.

That is what Tim Shank discovered when he sent an underwater robot to sweep up a basket full of broccoli-like fossils from volcanoes under the sea. Shank, a researcher at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, found skeletons of 35,000- to 40,000-year-old corals littered on the New England Seamounts in the North Atlantic. He took them back to his laboratory, extracted what he could of their remaining DNA fragments, and started to piece together their past.

Their story—and similar ones gleaned from the DNA of ancient spiders entombed in ice cores, and the bones of dodos and woolly mammoths—tells us how ancient creatures survived or disappeared as a result of dramatic climate changes. That, in turn, provides a preview of how today's flora and fauna might react to global warming.

http://snipurl.com/714y9


1 in 5 Young Adults Has Personality Disorder
from USA Today

CHICAGO (Associated Press)—Almost one in five young American adults has a personality disorder that interferes with everyday life, and even more abuse alcohol or drugs, researchers reported Monday in the most extensive study of its kind.

The disorders include problems such as obsessive or compulsive tendencies and anti-social behavior that can sometimes lead to violence. The study also found that fewer than 25% of college-aged Americans with mental problems get treatment.

One expert said personality disorders may be overdiagnosed. But others said the results were not surprising since previous, less rigorous evidence has suggested mental problems are common on college campuses and elsewhere. Experts praised the study's scope—face-to-face interviews about numerous disorders with more than 5,000 young people ages 19 to 25—and said it spotlights a problem college administrators need to address.

http://snipurl.com/7150x 


Dig Unearths Stone Age Sculptures
from BBC News Online

Rare artefacts from the late Stone Age have been uncovered in Russia. The site at Zaraysk, 150km south-east of Moscow, has yielded figurines and carvings on mammoth tusks.

The finds also included a cone-shaped object whose function, the authors report in the journal Antiquity, "remains a puzzle." Such artistic artefacts have been found in the nearby regions of Kostenki and Avdeevo, but this is the first such discovery at Zaraysk.

The Upper Palaeolithic is the latter part of the Stone Age, during which humans made the transition from functional tool-making to art and adornment.

http://snipurl.com/7153g


Huge Impact Crater Uncovered in Canadian Forest
from National Geographic News

About 1,100 years ago a space rock the size of a big tree stump slammed into western Canada, carving an amphitheater-like crater into the ground and littering it with meteorites, a new study found.

The rock that made the newly identified crater might have created a sky show similar to the one that tore across northern Alberta's skies in the early evening hours of November 20.

But unlike the recent fireball—which broke apart as it streaked through Earth's atmosphere—the meteorite that carved the newly announced crater would have stayed solid until impact. "You need to have that wallop," said study author Christopher Herd, an associate professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

http://snipurl.com/6wp5l


First Inventory of Life at Poles
from BBC News Online

The first comprehensive inventory of the sea and land animals living in a polar region has been carried out by British and German scientists.

A team from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and Hamburg University found that Antarctica's South Orkney Islands were surprisingly rich in life. More than 1,200 species were counted, including five new to science.

The data, published in the Journal of Biogeography, will help to monitor how the animals respond to future changes. David Barnes, from BAS, said: "This is the first time this has been done, not just anywhere in Antarctica, but anywhere in either polar region."

http://snipurl.com/6zq2i 


Polar Opposites
from the San Diego Union-Tribune (Registration Required)

In the 2003 science fiction movie "The Core," the Earth stood still. Or more precisely, its molten outer core stopped flowing, spelling an end to the planet's protective magnetic field and the beginning of a slew of global catastrophes ...

... It's all utterly implausible except for one thing: Every once in a while, the Earth's magnetic field does actually, sort of, disappear.

Or more precisely, the field reverses polarity, switching magnetic poles so that a compass needle that once pointed north now points south. Such reversals have happened many times over the history of the Earth. Some scientists say there's evidence to suggest the poles are preparing to flip again.

http://snipurl.com/6w5av 


Report Sounds Alarm Over Bioterror
from the Washington Post (Registration Required)

Seven years after the 2001 anthrax attacks, a congressionally ordered study finds a growing threat of biological terrorism and calls for aggressive defenses on par with those used to prevent a terrorist nuclear detonation.

Due for release this week, a draft of the study warns that future bioterrorists may use new technology to make synthetic versions of killers such as Ebola, or genetically modified germs designed to resist ordinary vaccines and antibiotics.

The bipartisan report faults the Bush administration for devoting insufficient resources to prevent an attack and says U.S. policies have at times impeded international biodefense efforts while promoting the rapid growth of a network of domestic laboratories possessing the world's most dangerous pathogens.

http://snipurl.com/6ykqo


Remains of the Slave Ship Trouvadore Found
from the Los Angeles Times (Registration Required)

Texas researchers have discovered the wreck of the slave ship Trouvadore, which slammed into a reef off the coast of the Turks and Caicos Islands in 1841, freeing the 193 Africans who were being brought to the U.S. South for a life of servitude.

It is the only known wreck of a ship involved in the illegal slave trade, said marine archaeologist Don Keith, president of the underwater archaeology institute Ships of Discovery in Corpus Christi, Texas.

One of the female Africans on board was shot by the crew, but the rest escaped and were rescued by local authorities. Their descendants may now make up a significant proportion of the 30,000 residents of the island country. The Spanish crew members were captured and sent to Cuba for trial. Their fate is unknown.

http://snipurl.com/6zvqt

[Iason Ouabache]

1 in 5 Young Adults Has Personality Disorder
from USA Today

CHICAGO (Associated Press)—Almost one in five young American adults has a personality disorder that interferes with everyday life, and even more abuse alcohol or drugs, researchers reported Monday in the most extensive study of its kind.

The disorders include problems such as obsessive or compulsive tendencies and anti-social behavior that can sometimes lead to violence. The study also found that fewer than 25% of college-aged Americans with mental problems get treatment.

One expert said personality disorders may be overdiagnosed. But others said the results were not surprising since previous, less rigorous evidence has suggested mental problems are common on college campuses and elsewhere. Experts praised the study's scope—face-to-face interviews about numerous disorders with more than 5,000 young people ages 19 to 25—and said it spotlights a problem college administrators need to address.

http://snipurl.com/7150x 

This number seemed really high until I saw that they included depression in the study.  Now the numbers seem low. I figured that the percentage of college aged students with depression would be a lot higher than 7%. 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I'M THE GUY WHO SUCKS

PLUS I GOT DEPRESSION.

[Kai]

I'M THE GUY WHO SUCKS

PLUS I GOT DEPRESSION.

:/

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

The finds also included a cone-shaped object whose function, the authors report in the journal Antiquity, "remains a puzzle."

It was obviously for the Pterodactyls.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I'M THE GUY WHO SUCKS

PLUS I GOT DEPRESSION.

:/

From http://achewood.com/index.php?date=08042003 :

[Reginald Ret]

photosynthetic slugs wtf?

Two quite different groups of sea slugs have evolved ways of using the ability of plants to convert the sun's energy into sugars and other nutrients. In simple terms they have become "solar powered".

http://www.seaslugforum.net/showall.cfm?base=solarpow

I want photosynthesis too!

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

photosynthetic slugs wtf?

Two quite different groups of sea slugs have evolved ways of using the ability of plants to convert the sun's energy into sugars and other nutrients. In simple terms they have become "solar powered".

http://www.seaslugforum.net/showall.cfm?base=solarpow

I want photosynthesis too!

Me too... no fair!

[Kai]

photosynthetic slugs wtf?

Two quite different groups of sea slugs have evolved ways of using the ability of plants to convert the sun's energy into sugars and other nutrients. In simple terms they have become "solar powered".

http://www.seaslugforum.net/showall.cfm?base=solarpow

I want photosynthesis too!

ProTIP: Most corals are "solar powered" too. All lichens are.

Its endosymbiosis with algae, and its awesome. It doesn't surprise me that some nudibranchs are doing it. What surprises me is the storage, not of the whole algae, but just of the plastids. The reason it suprises and excites me is because this is the way plants evolved, through endosymbiosis of photosynthetic bacteria. Thats how algae came about, and then other types of animals ate that type of algae and made a NEW type. Srsly, I think its dinoflagellates that came about by tertiary endosymbiosis. Anyway, that you see this indicates that there may be an eventual movement towards total endosymbiosis and animals that not only contain plastids but transfer them during reproduction. Its pretty incredible.

[Reginald Ret]

photosynthetic slugs wtf?

Two quite different groups of sea slugs have evolved ways of using the ability of plants to convert the sun's energy into sugars and other nutrients. In simple terms they have become "solar powered".

http://www.seaslugforum.net/showall.cfm?base=solarpow

I want photosynthesis too!

ProTIP: Most corals are "solar powered" too. All lichens are.

Its endosymbiosis with algae, and its awesome. It doesn't surprise me that some nudibranchs are doing it. What surprises me is the storage, not of the whole algae, but just of the plastids. The reason it suprises and excites me is because this is the way plants evolved, through endosymbiosis of photosynthetic bacteria. Thats how algae came about, and then other types of animals ate that type of algae and made a NEW type. Srsly, I think its dinoflagellates that came about by tertiary endosymbiosis. Anyway, that you see this indicates that there may be an eventual movement towards total endosymbiosis and animals that not only contain plastids but transfer them during reproduction. Its pretty incredible.

hence the 'wtf?'

this reminds me of a scifi book about mars where mons olympus was one living creature chockfull of endosymbiosis but i forgot what the book was called.

[Kai]

Well, its like I said essentially the way most algal groups evolved. Algae before they were photosynthetic were probably all free living and heterotropic, obtaining food from the environment.

There are some microorganisms that still do exactly what those nudibranchs do. There is a whole division of algae that have endosymbiotic cyanobacteria more or less changed from the non endosymbiotic type. There is so much weird stuff out there.

I mean, think of diatoms here for a second. First of all, they're photosynthetic by secondary endosymbiosis, so a bluegreen was eaten by a brown was eaten by some organism that became a yellow-green algae. Diatoms then evolved this hard exterior frustule which is composed of silicon dioxide, so basically glass. The frustule is in two parts, a bottom layer and a top layer. The two parts overlap each other like a petri dish. And you start thinking about how these things move, they actually excrete a fluid that pushes them along, a sort of microscopic slime trail. And they have this weird life cycle which involves both asexual and sexual elements.

So, you got this photosynthetic organism, with weird life cycle and a glass case that moves itself around like a slug. And THEN you start looking at all the amazing shapes and surface structures of these frustules, pits, ridges, grooves, pores.

Do I need to talk about lichens? Do I need to go into the fact that a fungus is basically a mat of fillamentous cell structures that dissolves dead or decaying organic matter, and then creates these elaborate reproductive structures which we then eat? Do I have to talk about catepilars that build underwater nets to filter food, or snakes that can dorsoventrally flatten their bodies to glide through the air? Should I even consider mentioning fungus that feeds off of radioactive decay, tubeworms that live around thermal vents several km down in the ocean, tardigrades that can survive in outer space?

This world is bizarre and wonderful and wild and evolution is a beautiful game that shows the best that the emergent creativity in the universe has to offer. I don't know how ANYONE can fail to be entertained, amazed, intrigued, engrossed, or amused with this planet. I don't know how anyone can be bored with living things. Every time I LOOK I hear about Acacia trees that have sugar glands and hollow horns so that ants will nest and protect, or colossal squid 8 meters long with huge claws on their suckers, or orangutans fishing with spears, or FUCK even bacteria or turfgrass or CORN is interesting if you look hard enough. Barbara McClintock pretty much put the period on that idea. I could go on and on for hours about these things.

I don't know how anyone can't.

[Kai]

No no no, I'll go on. I'm inspired now. Theres this caddisfly larva in the family Polycentropodidae. It makes this tube like web and lines of silk running outward from the edges. It senses when its prey is near, feels the vibrations on the threads and darts out to grab its prey, and this is all going on underwater.

Dragonfly naiads have a hinged and fanged lower jaw that shoots out alien style to catch food, sometimes fish sized organisms.

Back to the algae again, there are these organisms called Euglenoids. They are photosynthetic but heterotrophic, just like the nudibranchs above. They can get energy from the plastids and they can eat stuff. Plus, they have this weird exoskelleton that can change shape from a sphere to almost any sort of spheroid.

Or maybe to grasses. Grasses have some of the most amazing and complex flowers you will ever see, and include everything from woody bamboo to kentucky blue. They are almost all wind polinated too.

And speaking of polination, no really. Think of all the species of insects and plants that are made possible by the pollination symbiosis. First just consider directly all the plants that have flowers that are pollinated in some way by insects, and the insects that directly pollinate them. So, this includes most flowering plants excluding those that are wind pollinated, as well as thousands of species of insects.

Now consider all those organisms that live on and around those plants.

Now consider all those organisms that feed on those plants.

Now consider all those organisms that feed on the organisms that are feeding on those plants, or are feeding on the pollinators of those plants, or are feeding on the organisms that live and feed on those plants, etc etc etc, ad infinitum.

Ecology is fucking amazing and wild and FUCK.

YOU start thinking of all the connections begining with one species and increase the bounds outwards until it includes everything living on this planet and all the interactions with the environment RIGHT NOW, and then extend that forward and backward in time and see if you don't start sobbing like a little child at the immensity of it like I am right now, like I am whenever I consider it, like people do when they stare at the stars and consider the distance. YOU start looking at the connections, and maybe the reason I wrote The Process will become clear and obvious, because when you reach that threshold, when you consider the cell to the biosphere, a single organism to world ecology, bacteria to all the complexity, the past workings of creativity, the future workings of creativity, the innate capacity for creativity and tie it all together you are standing at the door of infinity, and you glimpse the Process that overlies it all and it destroys you and rebuilds you from the inside out until you are whole. Once you start considering THIS immensity, the stars seem close, and the distances small, because the innate emergent creativity here, on this planet, is greater than anything we have found out there, or daresay will ever find.

You want amazement, you want awe, you want eternal excitement? Do you want to see GOD every day in every single drop of water, every single dust mote or grain of soil?


Go into Biology. Srsly.

[LMNO]

I nominate the last two posts as not only , but Verriwung blog worthy.

[Vene]

for Kai.  That was awesome.

[Triple Zero]

Kai, I keep wondering about whether humans will turn out as endosymbionts of corporations or nations or stuff. Do you think that might happen? (or perhaps endosymbiosis is the wrong word if the organism is actually exclusively made up of its symbionts).

And if so, do you think that perhaps human's particular kind of self-conscious thought could make the species have a sort of choice in the matter? Unlike, for example, the bacteria that live in our intestines?