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Heather Mills’ fashion faux pas at London red carpet

May 12, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

London, May 12 (ANI): Heather Mills went for the world premiere of StreetDance 3D in London looking not as trendy as she may have thought.

Sir Paul McCartney”s ex-wife, 42, showed off her legs – and curves – in a clingy playsuit at the premiere, reports the Mirror.

Mills, who teamed the daring outfit with thigh high boots, was more than happy to pose and pout for the cameras on the red carpet outside the Empire cinema in Leicester Square.

British dance troupe Flawless performed on the red carpet, which was enjoyed by hundreds of fans.

The free show marked the group”s film debut, alongside Britain”s Got Talent winners Diversity and George Sampson. (ANI)

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MI5 warns that young Brits heading for terrorist training Somalia soaring

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep.13 (ANI): British intelligence chiefs have targeted war-torn Somalia as the next major challenge to their efforts to repel Islamic terrorism, after receiving reports of scores of youths leaving the UK for “jihad training” in that failed African state.

According to The Independent, MI5 bosses have warned ministers that the number of young Britons travelling to Somalia to fight in a “holy war”, or train in terror training camps, has soared in recent years as the country has emerged as an alternative base for radical Islamic groups.

The number of young Britons following the trail every year has more than quadrupled to at least 100 since 2004 – and analysts warn that the true figure (which would include those who enter the country overland) will be much higher.

However, the British authorities are particularly concerned about the number of people with no direct family connection to Somalia who are travelling to fight and train there.

The diversity suggests Somalia is flourishing as a training ground for radical British Muslims, who could join the local terrorist militia al-Shabaab (“the youth”), go on to join conflicts including the Afghan campaign, or return home to pose a security threat to the UK. (ANI)

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Socks and hiking boots can spread seeds over large distances

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Sydney, September 13 (ANI): A new research has revealed that socks and hiking boots can spread seeds over large distances.

According to a report by ABC News, the research was carried out by researchers at the Griffith University in Brisbane.

It determined that socks are fairly inconspicuous and rarely fashionable, but they can catch and spread far more seeds than previously thought.

Ecologist and co-researcher Associate Professor Catherine Pickering, of the Griffith University in Brisbane, said the aim of the research was to look at how far seeds can be transported over a short walk of about 100 metres.

“We also wanted to know whether the amount of seed you pick up depends on what you wear,” she said.

Pickering said her colleague Dr Ann Mount, also of Griffith University, spent several days walking along the roadsides of Kosciuszko National Park.

“On one leg, she was wearing a boot, sock and fake trouser leg and on the other a boot, sock and shorts,” said Pickering.

She said that in total, 24,776 seeds were collected on more than 200 pieces of clothing sampled.

According to Pickering, when Mount wore specialist explorer socks they collected more seeds of greater diversity than sports socks.

“But, the sports socks still picked up a dramatic amount of seed,” she said.

She said that wearing trousers reduces the amount of seed a person collects on their clothing by 17 percent.

Pickering said that throughout the experiment, 50 species were collected, and of those, 40 percent were non-native.

She said as many as 25 percent of the seeds collected on the clothing remain attached after a five kilometre walk.

“It’s amazing how much you can carry around unintentionally,” she said.

She said if seeds can be carried over kilometres, they could be introduced into a National Park.

Pickering recommends that people cover up their socks when out walking in vegetation.

“You need to cover them with a material like new synthetic trousers that’s impervious to seeds,” she said.

She said walkers should also resist the urge to pull seeds that have become attached out of their socks.ickering said that they now want to determine to what extend seed dispersal is caused by human movement.

“Long distance seed dispersal is rare, but it’s really important in the invasion process,” she said. (ANI)

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Artist recreates Taj Mahal – with toothpicks!

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, September 12 (ANI): An artist has recreated the Taj Mahal and other famous landmarks around the world using toothpicks.

It took Stan Munro six years, six million toothpicks and more than 170 litres of glue as he built his latest exhibition, entitled ‘Toothpick City II – Temples and Towers’.

The 38-year-old’s models at the Museum of Science and Technology in Syracuse, New York, feature buildings such as Big Ben, Tower Bridge, The Vatican and Sydney’s Opera House.

“Toothpick City was so much fun to build, I decided to build another one. This one is bigger and much more detailed,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

“I want this exhibit to be a celebration of religious diversity, architectural achievement and historical accuracy – or just ‘wow, that’s a lot of toothpicks’.

“No one has built all these buildings to the same scale and put them side by side before – let alone out of toothpicks.

“I really wanted to see what it would look like. If you can’t travel the world, I want people to see this exhibit and think they just did,” he added. (ANI)

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Rat as big as a cat found in extinct volcano in Papua New Guinea

September 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, September 7 (ANI): An expedition team has found a new species of giant rat in an extinct volcano in the jungle of Papua New Guinea, which at 82cm length, is as big as a cat.

According to a report by BBC News, the creature, which has not yet been formally described, was discovered by an expedition team filming the BBC programme ‘Lost Land of the Volcano’.

The rat, which has no fear of humans, is among the largest species of rat known anywhere in the world.

Like the other exotic species, the rat is believed to live within the Mount Bosavi crater, and nowhere else.

“This is one of the world’s largest rats. It is a true rat, the same kind you find in the city sewers,” said Dr Kristofer Helgen, a mammalogist based at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History who accompanied the BBC expedition team.

Initially, the giant rat was first captured on film by an infrared camera trap, which BBC wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan set up in the forest on the slopes of the volcano.

The expedition team, from the BBC Natural History Unit, recorded the rat rummaging around on the forest floor, and was awed by its size.

Immediately, they suspected it could be a species never before recorded by science, but they needed to see a live animal to be sure.

Then trackers accompanying the team managed to trap a live specimen.

“I had a cat and it was about the same size as this rat,” said Buchanan.

The trapped rat measured 82cm in length from its nose to its tail, and weighed approximately 1.5kg.

It had a silver-brown coat of thick long fur, which the scientists who examined it believe may help it survive the wet and cold conditions that can occur within the high volcano crater.

The location where the rat was discovered lies at an elevation of over 1,000m.

Initial investigations suggest the rat belongs to the genus Mallomys, which contains a handful of other out-sized species.

It has provisionally been called the Bosavi woolly rat, while its scientific name has yet to be agreed.

Mount Bosavi, where the new rat was found, is an extinct volcano that lies deep in the remote Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea.

The expedition team entered the crater to explore pristine forest, where few humans have set foot.

The island which includes Papua New Guinea and New Guinea is famous for the number and diversity of the rats and mice that live there. (ANI)

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Indians, Chinese credited with helping make Wellington an international city

September 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Wellington, Sep. 5 (ANI): New Zealand-born Indians and Chinese living in Wellington have been credited with helping the capital in its quest to become an international city.

According to an Asia NZ Foundation report by Auckland University’s Wardlow Friesen, India and China have close links with the city, as one-third of Indians and Chinese living in Wellington are New Zealand-born.

“The report shows how far the city has come in terms of diversity of its population, which was something people had generally embraced and celebrated.

“Its conclusions reflect a very important step on Wellington’s journey to becoming a truly international city,” The Dominion Post quoted Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast, as saying.

The study points out that a small Chinatown emerged in Wellington in the 19th century as Chinese moved north after the gold rush, whereas Indian settlement was more sporadic and gradual.

Thanks to diplomatic posts and international universities, Wellington is continuously attracting Asian population, which is predicted to double from 37,000 to 61,000 by 2012, it adds.

Asians living in Wellington consider the city to be “cosmopolitan”, “quiet”, and its people friendly.

“I never feel like a stranger in this city. Actually now it feels like my home,” said Sarjon Warde, originally from Iraq.

There are 121 Asian restaurants in Wellington, including 30 Indian, 29 Chinese and 15 Thai restaurants. (ANI)

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O.J. Simpson’s request to be freed on bail denied

September 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 5 (ANI): Convicted felon O.J. Simpson’s request to be freed on bail, as he appeals his kidnap and robbery conviction, has been denied by a court in Nevada.

Simpson, 62, is currently serving a minimum of nine years in prison after he was found guilty of masterminding a heist on two sports memorabilia dealers’ hotel room in September 2007, reports Contactmusic.

The former American footballer turned actor was convicted in December (08), and in May this year he lodged an appeal claiming judicial misconduct, a lack of racial diversity on the jury and errors in sentencing and jury instructions.

Simpson’s lawyer, Yale Galanter, asked the Nevada Supreme Court to release the former athlete on bail, arguing that his client is “not a flight risk” and would not leave the U.S. (ANI)

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Spare gene in fish provides raw materials for evolution of new Traits

September 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 4 (ANI): In a new research, scientists have discovered that a duplicate copy of a gene involved in embryonic development of fish has taken up a newer role in the evolution of fish scales.

Scientists have suspected that spare parts in the genome-extra copies of functional genes that arise when genes or whole genomes get duplicated-might sometimes provide the raw materials for the evolution of new traits.

Now, researchers say that they have discovered a prime example of this in fish.

The researchers show that a duplicate copy of a gene involved in embryonic development has taken up a newer and decidedly less essential role in the development of fish scales.

Zebrafish carrying a mutant version of that extra fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (fgfr1) gene show decreases in their scale formation.

What’s more, the spare fgfr1 gene is at the root of similar scale loss seen in domesticated carp, which have been selectively bred by humans for the last 2,000 years.

“Our finding is an excellent case for (gene) duplication supporting diverse forms,” said Matthew Harris of the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology.

“By ‘tweaking’ the use of one of the two copies of the fish fgfr1, the teleost order that contains zebrafish and carp have a specialized ‘toolbox’ gene that now controls adult-specific variation in form,” added Nicolas Rohner, also of the Max Planck Institute.

Fish species outnumber all other vertebrates combined and include many with spectacular features to match the diverse environments in which they live, according to Harris and Rohner.

Teleost fish in particular represent the largest assemblage of vertebrates, comprising over 26,000 species with astonishing diversity in their form and physiology.

Although little is known about the genetic basis of that diversity, it is clear that gene duplication is commonplace within teleost groups, providing a source of genetic raw material for selection.

To further explore in the new study, the researchers first examined mutant strains of zebrafish in search of those with changes to their fins, skulls, or scales, all structures that tend to vary among species.

They focused their attention on one with fewer scales and in an unusual pattern-an abnormality they traced to fgfr1.

“We were surprised to find severe coding mutations in such an important developmental gene to cause an adult-specific and viable phenotype,” Harris said.

Further study showed the reason why: zebrafish maintain two copies of fgfr1 that function redundantly during embryonic development. One of those two genes is also required for the formation of the scales in juveniles. (ANI)

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A unique story of parallel evolution in moths unraveled

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 2 (ANI): A new revision of the taxonomic relationships among one group of moths, the subfamily Dioptinae, sheds light on the diversity of tropical moth species and presents a unique story of parallel evolution.

“These diurnal moths are a microcosm of butterfly evolution,” said James Miller, author of the new Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History and a research associate in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the Museum.

“There are about 500 spectacular dioptine species, all of which evolved from a common ancestor-a nondescript brown nocturnal moth-into a diversity of butterfly mimics,” he added.

Miller qualifies this with a technicality, though, noting that no one is sure whether butterflies or diurnal moths evolved their colors first (and who is really mimicking whom).

The wing pattern diversity within the subfamily is enormous: some species mimic clear-winged butterflies and inhabit the darker parts of the forest understory where their co-mimics fly.

Still others have wings that are colored blue and yellow and feed on melastomes.

About 100 species feed on Passiflora, the poisonous passion flowers famous for being consumed by the caterpillars of Heliconious butterflies.

In fact, although most of the Dioptinae are diurnal, or fly during the day, a few species like those in Xenomigia have re-conquered the night.

Although most dioptines are neotropical, ranging from lowland jungles to cloud forests at 4,000 meters in the Andes, Phryganidia californica occurs in the western United States.

Miller’s new revision of the Dioptinae is the first systematic look at this group in almost a century.

After studying over 16,700 specimens housed at 38 different institutions and private collections around the world, Miller discovered and described 64 new species and seven new genera, bringing the total to 456 species in 43 genera.

Some of the new species were found during field work in parts of the tropical Americas poorly explored by lepidopterists.

Even so, there is much more work to be done on the Dioptinae.

Miller estimates that there are about 100 to 150 species in collections that still need to be described and inserted into the taxonomy, and he thinks that additional fieldwork in under-sampled countries like Bolivia and Colombia will ultimately bring the total number of species to between 700 and 800.

Miller’s careful analysis has dissected the taxonomic groups, finding that 47 of the previously named species could be included within another existing species. (ANI)

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Early life nurturing influences social behaviors in adulthood

September 1, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 1 (ANI): A new study, conducted by researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, has shown that early life nurturing impacts later life relationships.

The researchers used prairie voles as a model to understand the neurochemistry of social behavior.

Prairie voles are small, highly social, hamster-sized rodents that often form stable, life-long bonds between mates.

By influencing early social experience in prairie voles, researchers gained insight into what aspects of early social experience drive diversity in adult social behavior.

In the wild, there is striking diversity in how offspring are reared. Some pups are reared by single mothers, some by both parents and some in communal family groups.

For the study, Todd Ahern, a graduate student in the Emory University Neuroscience Program, and Larry Young, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Yerkes Research Center and Emory University School of Medicine, compared pups raised by single mothers (SM) to pups raised by both parents (BP) to determine the effects of these types of early social environments on adult social behavior.

“Our findings demonstrate that SM- and BP-reared animals experienced different levels of care during the neonatal period and that these differences significantly influenced bonding social behaviors in adulthood,” Ahern said.

Young added: “These results suggest naturalistic variation in social rearing conditions can introduce diversity into adult nurturing and attachment behaviors. SM-raised pups were slower to make life-long partnerships, and they showed less interest in nurturing pups in their communal families.

The researchers also found differences in the oxytocin system. Oxytocin is best known for its roles in maternal labor and suckling, but, more recently, it has been tied to prosocial behavior, such as bonding, trust and social awareness.

“Very simply, altering their early social experience influenced adult bonding,” Ahern said.

Further studies will look at the altered oxytocin levels in the brain to determine how these hormonal changes affect relationships.

The study is currently available online in a special edition of Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. (ANI)

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Global warming threatens existence of tropical species

August 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, August 26 (ANI): A new research has determined that global warming threatens the existence of tropical species, the ecosystem and its by-products.

The research was done by herpetologist Laurie Vitt, curator of reptiles and George Lynn Cross Research Professor at the University of Oklahoma’s Sam Noble Museum of Natural History.

Vitt has studied the ecology of lizards in rain forests around the world and, for the past 20 years, as part of a biodiversity project in the Amazon.

As a fellow researcher on a study funded by the National Science Foundation, Vitt investigated the affects of global warming on tropical lizards and the diversity of the ecosystem.

“We depend on these tropical lizards and other species of animals and plants for food, materials, and pharmaceuticals, but we are losing these species as a result of global warming,” Vitt said.

Tropical species are affected more by the very narrow temperature range of their typically warm climate than are ectotherms living where the temperatures fluctuate in greater degrees.

Even the smallest change in the tropics makes a difference to the tropical species most susceptible to climate change.

“Climatic shifts are part of our natural history, but years of research indicate global warming has increased the rate at which climate change is taking place,” said Vitt.

As populations grow around the world, so does consumption. In the densest areas of the world, the elimination of animals that feed on disease vectors, such as mosquitoes and flies, adds to our growing human health problem.

“The loss of these predators, like tropical species, upset the natural biodiversity of the ecosystem,” said Vitt. “The effects may not be so obvious in the short term, but the long-term effects will be irreversible,” he added.

“Our ability to connect with nature and better understand tropical lizards is important because these animals serve as model organisms for detecting the effects of global warming,” Vitt summarized.

“Ecosystems are complex and interdependent. When one species becomes extinct, the entire system is affected. The long-term effects on human health can be dramatic,” he said. (ANI)

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Scientists discover deadly plant that eats rats

August 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, August 18 (ANI): British scientists have discovered a deadly plant that eats rats, and is believed to be the largest meat-eating shrub.

According to a report in The Sun, the giant pitcher plant lures rodents into its slipper-shaped mouth and dissolves them with acid-like enzymes.

Scientists, led by botanists Stewart McPherson and Alastair Robinson, tracked it down on Mount Victoria in the Philippines after hearing that missionaries had seen “whole rats” being eaten.

“The plant produces spectacular traps which catch not only insects, but also rodents. It is remarkable that it remained undiscovered until the 21st century,” said McPherson, of Poole, Dorset.

The research team named the incredibly rare species after legendary wildlife broadcaster Sir David Attenborough.

“My team and I named it in honour of Sir David whose work has inspired generations toward a better understanding of the beauty and diversity of the natural world,” said McPherson.

“I was contacted by the team shortly after the discovery and they asked if they could name it after me. I was delighted and told them, ‘Thank you very much’,” said Sir David.

“I’m absolutely flattered. This is a remarkable species the largest of its kind. I’m told it can catch rats then eat them with its digestive enzymes. It’s certainly capable of that,” he added.

The plant, now dubbed Nepenthes attenboroughii, is green and red and can grow a stem more than 4ft long. It is found only in the scrub high on the windswept slopes of Mount Victoria.

McPherson and former Cambridge University botanist Robinson made their discovery during an expedition in 2007.

But, they have only just described the killer shrub in a journal after a three-year study of all 120 species of pitcher plant. (ANI)

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Global warming may spell demise of key salt marsh constituent

July 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 14 (ANI): A new research has shown that global warming may exact a toll on salt marshes in New England, with one key constituent of marshes being especially endangered.

Pannes are waterlogged, low-oxygen zones of salt marshes.

According to Keryn Gedan, a graduate student and salt marsh expert at Brown University, despite the stresses associated with global warming, pannes are “plant diversity hotspots,”

“At least a dozen species of plants known as forbs inhabit these natural depressions,” Gedan said.

The species include the purple flower-tipped plants Limonium nashii (sea lavender), the edible plant Salicornia europaea (pickleweed) and Triglochin maritima, a popular food for Brent and Canada geese as well as ducks and other migratory waterfowl.

Gedan and her adviser, Mark Bertness, chair of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at Brown, decided to find out how global warming may affect pannes.

In a series of experiments, the pair subjected plots of forb pannes to air as much as 3.3 degrees Celsius (about 6 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the surrounding area.

They found that the plants in the test plots responded initially by growing more but then began a rapid die-off. As they died, they were replaced by a salt marsh grass, Spartina patens.

At two sites – Nag Creek (Prudence Island, Rhode Island), and Little River (Maine) – the forbs covered less than 10 percent of the plot, from 50 percent originally, in tests that spanned the summer from 2004 to 2006.

At the third site, Drakes Island (Maine), the forb pannes cover decreased from 50 percent of the plot to 44 percent (a 12-percent decline) in just the summer of 2007.

The researchers believe the forbs disappeared due to changes in the plant-water balance in the zone.

What that means, Gedan explained, is the warmer air causes the forbs to take in more water, thus making the area less waterlogged and more hospitable to an invasion by Spartina patens, which prefers less water-soaked conditions.

“The forbs basically engineer themselves out of their habitat by making it more favorable for their competitor,” said Gedan.

The Brown experiments “demonstrate that New England salt marsh pannes are extremely sensitive to temperature increases and will be driven to local and regional extinction with the temperature increases expected to occur in New England over the next century,” Bertness said. (ANI)

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Bush’s court appointments emphasized ideology over diversity

July 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 12 (ANI): A new analysis has indicated that the judicial appointments of former president George W. Bush suggest that his motivation for appointing nontraditional judges was driven more by ideology and strategy than concerns for diversity.

The analysis was done by Jennifer Segal Diascro, a professor of government at American University’s School of Public Affairs, and Rorie Spill Solberg, a professor of political science at Oregon State University.

The examination of all the federal judicial appointments during the two terms of his presidency shows that Bush did make a number of diverse appointments, especially Hispanics, but the overall number of minority judges in the federal courts did not increase during his tenure.

“Bush cared about diversity, but it was not his first priority,” Diascro said. “We suspect that he had many Hispanic conservatives from whom to choose when filling vacancies on the bench, yet he chose to appoint traditional candidates instead,” she added.
ccording to the analysis, when compared with all presidents since Jimmy Carter, Bush maintained the status quo in appointing nontraditional judges to the bench.

He appointed more men (78 percent overall) than women (22 percent) and more Caucasians (82 percent) than minorities (18 percent).

When comparing total appointments, the study found that Bush appointed more white females (50) than Carter (32), Ronald Reagan (27) or George H.W. Bush (31), but fewer than Bill Clinton (83).

He appointed more Hispanic females (12) than Clinton (5), but fewer African American females (8 compared to 15) than Clinton.

Like Carter, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush often appointed minorities to seats for political gain or for ideological purposes, Spill Solberg explained.

“There is a tendency, and we see this across the political spectrum, to use bench appointments to gain clout with certain voters,” said Diascro.

“The Bush administration was actively courting the Hispanic vote, so it isn’t surprising that he made more appointments of Hispanic judges than African Americans, but it was often also based on judicial philosophy,” she added.

According to Diascro, “Not so for African Americans. By the time Bush left office, the proportion of seats on the court of appeals held by African Americans had increased by only half a percent.”

“Replacement patterns are key to understanding efforts to increase diversity on the bench,” she said.

“Presidents may appoint a number of nontraditional judges, as President Bush did, but if their appointments maintain the status quo and don’t add nontraditional judges, then their impact is less than it could be,” she added. (ANI)

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Panama may hold cures to cancer, malaria and dengue fever

July 11, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 11 (ANI): A team of scientists is exploring the length and breadth of Panama in search of exotic molecules that could one day lead to new treatments for human diseases like cancer, malaria and dengue fever.

The team is being led by William Gerwick from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC (University of California) San Diego.

It was at the island of Coiba off Panama’s Pacific coast, where in June 2004, Kerry McPhail, then a postdoctoral scientist working with Gerwick, discovered a cyanobacterium in shallow water, a primitive photosynthetic organism with features unlike any previously encountered by scientists.

Laboratory analysis and testing revealed that the organism naturally produces a potent cancer-fighting compound.

“To the full extent that we can tell, the compound is working by a novel mechanism to kill cancer cells,” said Gerwick, a scientist with the Scripps Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine and the UCSD Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

“It has a very unusual molecular structure unlike any we’ve seen before,” he added.

Panama’s location as a bridge between North and South America and a natural thoroughfare for a diverse assortment of migratory land and water species gives it a unique appeal to scientists.

“Despite the fact that we all know Panama because of its famous canal, I have been struck by how remote and primitive and relatively unspoiled large stretches of Panama remain today,” said Gerwick.

Lena Gerwick, a biologist and fellow Scripps researcher, believes that in addition to cancer, the Panamanian environment could be holding biomedically promising sources for treating malaria and tropical diseases such as Chagas’ disease, leishmaniasis, and dengue fever.

Such diseases have been labeled as “neglected” afflictions because they impact millions of people, but have been largely forgotten by the developed world and pharmaceutical companies due to the anticipation of poor returns, and thus few resources are made available to find new treatments for these diseases.

“If you have a lot of diverse organisms, as you find in the tropics, they produce a large diversity of natural products,” said Lena Gerwick.

“There is high competition for every species to carve out its own niche and survive. With that you find a lot of compounds used in defense and other diverse activities. Within this biodiversity might be the next cure for malaria or the next cure for tuberculosis, so there is a great need to conserve it,” she added. (ANI)

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Indian students stand second in non-US division of NASA supersonic design contest

July 11, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 11 (ANI): Sahaj Panchal and Dhrumir Patel from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Technology, Gujarat, India, have stood second in the category of ‘non-US team’ in a contest to design a supersonic airliner, hosted by NASA.

The contest saw college students from the US, Japan and India, who researched technology and created concepts for a supersonic passenger jet.

The Fundamental Aeronautics Program in NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate sponsored the competition.

The participants were challenged to design a small supersonic airliner and submit a research paper limited to 25 pages.

Designs had to be efficient, environmentally friendly, low sonic boom commercial aircraft that could be ready for initial service by 2020.

A team of undergraduates from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, and a team of graduate students from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta tied for first place in the US division.

A University of Tokyo undergraduate team won top honors in the non-US category, with Panchal and Patel from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Technology, standing second for their design called ‘RASTOFUST’.

A group of NASA engineers reviewed the entries. The judges based their scores on how well students addressed all aspects of the problem they chose to discuss.

The judges used the following criteria: innovation and creativity; discussion of feasibility; a brief review of pertinent literature; and a baseline comparison with the relevant current technology, system or design.

“We use these competitions to generate excitement for aeronautics and the engineering behind aviation,” said Peter Coen, principal investigator of the Supersonics Project at Langley.

“I was pleased by the number and diversity of the entries we received. And I was impressed by the quality and innovative thinking demonstrated in the designs,” he added. (ANI)

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Seals quickly respond to gain and loss of habitat under climate change

July 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 10 (ANI): A new study has indicated that seals can quickly respond to gain and loss of habitat under climate change.

The study was conducted by an international research team, including post-doctorate Dr Mark de Bruyn and collaborators from the US, South Africa and Italy, led by Professor Rus Hoelzel from the School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Durham University.

It revealed that Southern Elephant seals responded rapidly to climate and habitat change and established a new breeding site thousands of kilometres from existing breeding grounds.

The scientists found that when the Antarctic ice sheets of the Ross Sea Embayment retreated in the Holocene period 8,000 years ago, elephant seals adopted the emergent habitat and established a new population which flourished.

DNA sequences from the ancient remains of seals from the now extinct Antarctic colony showed high levels of genetic diversity, probably due to the very large population size sustained there.

According to Professor Rus Hoelzel, “We’ve shown how a highly mobile marine species responded to the gain and loss of new breeding habitat.

“The new habitat was quickly adopted, probably because seals migrate annually into Antarctic waters to feed. However, when the ice returned and the habitat was lost, only a small proportion returned to the original source population. The Antarctic population crashed and much diversity was lost,” he said.

This habitat was released after the retreat of the grounded ice sheet in the Ross Sea Embayment 7,500-8,000 years ago, and is within the range of modern foraging excursions from the Macquarie Island colony.

Using ancient mtDNA and evolutionary models, the research team tracked the population dynamics of the now extinct colony and the connectivity between this and modern breeding sites.

The team found clear signs of rapid expansion in the new colony 8,000 years ago.

This was followed by directional migration away, coupled with a loss of diversity 1,000 years ago, when the sea ice is thought to have expanded.

The data suggest that the new colony seals came initially from Macquarie Island, and that some returned there, but in much smaller numbers, when the new colony habitat was lost 7,000 years later.

“The seals that discovered the new breeding site had things good, because food was abundant and nearby, however when the ice returned, the new colony collapsed and only a few seals made it back to their original home,” Hoelzel said. (ANI)

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New species of lungless salamander found in Appalachian foothills of the US

July 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 9 (ANI): A striking new species of lungless salamander has been found living in a small stream in the Appalachian foothills of the US.

According to a report by BBC News, the salamander, scientifically known as ‘Urspelerpes brucei’, is so distinct that it’s been classified within its own genus, a taxonomic grouping that usually includes a host of related species.

The creature breathes through its skin, and unusually for its kind, males and females have different colouration.

Such a distinct amphibian has not been found in the US for half a century.

The researchers who discovered the creature have dubbed it the ‘patch-nosed’ salamander after the yellow patch on the animal’s snout.

The tiny animal averages just 25 to 26mm long.

The researchers found so few of the animals that either it is highly secretive, or more likely it survives in such small, isolated numbers that it is already at risk of extinction.

“This animal is really a spectacular find,” said Biologist Carlos Camp of Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia, who led the team which described the new species.

“It is the first genus of amphibian, indeed of any four-footed vertebrate, discovered in the US in nearly 50 years,” he added.

The Appalachian Highlands of the southeastern US is a hot spot for lungless salamander diversity, with species occupying a variety of moist or wet environments including living in streams, underground, among the leaf litter of the forest floor, up cliffs and in trees.

“The salamander fauna of the US, particularly of the southern Appalachians, has been intensively studied for well over a century, so the discovery of such a distinct form was completely unsuspected,” said Carlos.

The amphibian also looks strikingly different to other species.

For a start, it has the smallest body size of any salamander in the US.

It is also the only lungless salamander in the US whose males have a different colour and pattern than females, a trait more characteristic of birds.

Males have a pair of distinct dark stripes running down the sides of the body and a yellow back. Females lack stripes and are more muted in colour.

Males also have 15 vertebrae, one less than females. Yet while most species of lungless salamander have male and females of differing sizes, those of Urspelerpes brucei are close to being equal in size.

Uniquely for such a small lungless salamander, Urspelerpes brucei has five toes, whereas most other small species have reduced that number to four. (ANI)

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Mediterranean algae lost their tropical element between 5 and 7 mln yrs ago

July 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 8 (ANI): A new research has suggested that Coralline algae in the Mediterranean Sea lost their tropical element between 5 and 7 million years ago.

The international team of researchers studied the coralline algae fossils that lived on the last coral reefs of the Mediterranean Sea between 7.24 and 5.3 million years ago.

The research team from the University of Granada (UGR) and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italia) show coralline algae distribution patterns in the west and centre of the Mediterranean Sea (in Salento, Italy and Almería, Spain) by way of a fossil register of 21 species collected in the two areas.

The study describes and interprets the disappearance of the last Messinian coral reefs (between 7.24 and 5.3 million years ago) in the Mediterranean Sea.

“In subsequent, more recent eras, this sea has not had the right oceanographic conditions (above all a high enough temperature) to house coral reefs,” said Juan C. Braga, the chief author and a researcher at the Stratigraphy and Paleontology Department of the UGR.

During the period studied by the scientists through the coralline algae fossils found in the Mediterranean, the last few reefs boasted very little coralline diversity.

“This is the result of the long history of global cooling over the last 20 million years and the isolation (separation) of the Mediterranean from the Indian Ocean, some 15 million years ago,” according to the research.

According to the results of the research, the relative abundance of coralline algae in reefs and slope deposits is 1-5 percent and 18 percent lower respectively in the Sorbas basin (Almería) than in Salento (Italy).

Furthermore, the main components of the coralline algae assemblages found in shallow water are extant species that are very common in the Mediterranean.

“Just like reef corallines, algae flora reflects the cooling of the Mediterranean and its isolation from the Indian Ocean, and only a few tropical biotas existed in the Messinian era. Moreover, most of them already had Atlantic affinities and resembled the algae that still inhabits our coasts today,” said Braga.

The Mediterranean-Atlantic characteristics of Messinian reef corallines therefore reflect the decrease in tropical biotas that occurred during the Miocene (around 20 million years ago).

According to the research team, the widespread decline of this type of algae was due to global cooling and the isolation of the Mediterranean during the middle Miocene. (ANI)

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Antibodies in blood may help prevent Alzheimer’s

July 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 7 (ANI): Stanford University Medical Centre scientists have identified certain antibodies in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid of healthy people that may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

They say that the levels of the antibodies found in healthy people decline with age and, in Alzheimer’s patients, with increasing progression of the disease.

Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by the build-up of amyloid plaques in the brain.

These are large aggregations of a protein breakdown product, or peptide, called A-beta. Many experiments have shown that immunization with A-beta can reduce the formation of amyloid plaques.

It is believed that more than the plaques themselves (which are also found in the brains of people with no Alzheimer’s symptoms), it is smaller aggregations of a few A-beta molecules, called oligomers, which are most toxic to neurons.

During the study, the researchers found that the antibodies target many forms and aggregation-states of A-beta in both healthy and diseased subjects’ blood, with antibodies to oligomers showing the most immunoreactivity.

A follow-on experiment showed that the same antibodies, whether isolated from plasma of either Alzheimer’s patients or healthy controls, were able to protect freshly cultured mouse neurons in a dish from destruction by A-beta, which is typically highly toxic to these neurons.

Previous studies conducted on vervet monkeys showed that immunizing with A-beta substantially cleared their plaques.

In this new study, the Stanford team obtained blood samples extracted from those monkeys before and after immunization, and compared levels and diversity of relevant antibodies in pre- and post-inoculation samples

They observed several such antibodies in the pre-immunized samples, as well as significant post-immunization increases in levels of several different antibodies.

“Other studies have found antibodies against A-beta, but nobody has ever done a large-scale analysis using hundreds of different samples and almost a hundred different peptides to look for what’s already in people’s bodies,” said the paper’s first author, Markus Britschgi, PhD, an instructor working as a researcher in the laboratory of Tony Wyss-Coray, PhD.

The study appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (ANI)

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