Science talk returns to brighten your day one more time. New discoveries, new takes on old knowledge, and other bits of news are all available for the perusing in today's information world. Over the fold are selections from the past week from a few of the many excellent science news sites around the world. Today's tidbits include urban 'heat islands' may hint at trees of the future, birds cultivate decorative plants to attract mates, ocean trash is worse than we think, wearable electronics, Pacific shark losses, and a nano-safety and ethics problem.
Pull up that comfy chair and grab a spot in the sun. There is always plenty of room for everyone. Another session of Dr. Possum's science education, entertainment, and potluck discussion is set to begin.
Featured Stories
As climate change continues over time and species adapt there may be clues to the trees of the future in our present urban 'heat islands.'
City streets can be mean, but somewhere near Brooklyn, a tree grows far better than its country cousins, due to chronically elevated city heat levels, says a new study. The study, just published in the journal Tree Physiology, shows that common native red oak seedlings grow as much as eight times faster in New York’s Central Park than in more rural, cooler settings in the Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountains. Red oaks and their close relatives dominate areas ranging from northern Virginia to southern New England, so the study may have implications for changing climate and forest composition over a wide region.
Female bowerbirds are attracted to fruit bearing trees.
Male bowerbirds bring seeds to their area to promote the growth of the trees and attract a mate.
Bowers with many fruit on them are especially attractive to choosy females. Males collect the fruits, but when the fruits shrivel, they discard them nearby. This results in seeds germinating in the ground around the bower. Bowerbirds clear the area around their bower of grass and weeds, making ideal conditions for new plants to germinate. Male bowerbirds can maintain a bower in the same location for up to ten years, so will benefit from establishing plants that may survive for several years.
The researchers found that, like farmers selecting for fatter pigs or larger seeds, the bird’s behaviour may lead to a change in the appearance of fruits. The fruits from plants close to the bowers were slightly greener in colour than those found on other plants. The researchers tested the males’ choices and found they preferred this colour to that of the other fruit.
Various reports of
ocean trash make clear we have a global problem but the current thinking may not reflect the true severity of the problem.
...wind was pushing the lightweight plastic particles below the surface. That meant that decades of research into how much plastic litters the ocean, conducted by skimming only the surface, may in some cases vastly underestimate the true amount of plastic debris in the oceans...
In high winds the volume of plastic could be underestimated by a factor of 27.
(snip)
Plastic waste in the oceans is a concern because of the impact it might have on the environment. For instance, when fish ingest the plastics, it may degrade their liver functions. In addition, the particles make nice homes for bacteria and algae, which are then transported along with the particles into different regions of the ocean where they may be invasive and cause problems.
Research into the various uses and applications of graphene these days brings interesting news of a material that may allow
wearable electronics.
Called GraphExeter, the material could revolutionize the creation of wearable electronic devices, such as clothing containing computers, phones and MP3 players.
GraphExeter could also be used for the creation of ‘smart’ mirrors or windows, with computerized interactive features. Since this material is also transparent over a wide light spectrum, it could enhance by more than 30% the efficiency of solar panels.
New large scale estimates of
Pacific shark losses is sobering news.
Many shark populations have plummeted in the past three decades as a result of excessive harvesting – for their fins, as an incidental catch of fisheries targeting other species, and in recreational fisheries. This is particularly true for oceanic species. However, until now, a lack of data prevented scientists from properly quantifying the status of Pacific reef sharks at a large geographic scale.
(snip)
The numbers are sobering.
“We estimate that reef shark numbers have dropped substantially around populated islands, generally by more than 90 percent compared to those at the most untouched reefs”, said researchers.
The expansion of
nanotechnology in our daily lives brings new dilemmas in terms of human health effects.
The problem that Eggleson describes is that hospital-acquired infections are a persistent, costly and sometimes fatal issue. A patient goes in for one condition, say an injury, but ends up being infected by a microorganism picked up in the hospital itself. That microorganism might even have developed a resistance to conventional drug treatments.
The solution is that engineers are developing new and innovative ways of coating medical materials with nano-sized particles of silver, an element that has long been known for its antimicrobial properties. These particles are being applied to hard surfaces, like bedrails and doorknobs, and to fabrics, such as sheets, gowns and curtains, by a growing number of medical supply companies. And these new materials are proving effective.
(snip)
The possible new danger is that the vast majority of bacteria and other microorganisms are actually neutral, or even beneficial, to human life and a healthy environment. For example, some bacteria are needed to maintain appropriate levels of nitrogen in the air, and others, living inside the human body, are critical to both vitamin synthesis and digestion.
So overuse of nanosilver products, especially outside of clinical environments, could pose a danger to needed microorganisms, and enable resistant strains to flourish.
Knucklehead's Photo of the Week
Green Mandarin
©Knucklehead, all rights reserved. (Click on the image to see more in the same series.)
Other Worthy Stories of the Week
Hubble peeks inside a stellar cloud
Evidence for a geological trigger of the Cambrian explosion
Spitzer finds a galaxy with a split personality
Discerning males remain faithful...if you are a spider
Palms reveal the significance of climate change for tropical diversity
First fertile then futile: Ammonites or the boon and bane of many offspring
Martian volcanic glass could be hotspot for life
Tiny 'spherules' reveal details about Earth's asteroid impacts
New form of lava flow discovered on Mars
Why Western Africa pygmies are short
Cassini finds Saturn moon has planet-like properties
Golden potential for gold thin films
Ieght species of wild fish have been detected in aquaculture feed
Scientists find gene that inhibits pancreas cancer spread
Single nanomaterial yields many laser colors
"Warming hole" inhibited climate change over Eastern United States
For even more science news:
General Science Collectors:
Alpha-Galileo
BBC News Science and Environment
Eureka Science News
LiveScience
New Scientist
PhysOrg.com
SciDev.net
Science/AAAS
Science Alert
Science Centric
Science Daily
Scientific American
Space Daily
Blogs:
A Few Things Ill Considered Techie and Science News
Cantauri Dreams space exploration
Coctail Party Physics Physics with a twist.
Deep Sea News marine biology
Laelaps more vertebrate paleontology
List of Geoscience Blogs
ScienceBlogs
Space Review
Techonology Review
Tetrapod Zoologyvertebrate paleontology
Science Insider
Scientific Blogging.
Space.com
Wired News
Science RSS Feed: Medworm
The Skeptics Guide to the Universe--a combination of hard science and debunking crap
At Daily Kos:
This Week in Science by DarkSyde
Overnight News Digest:Science Saturday by Neon Vincent. OND tech Thursday by rfall.
Pique the Geek by Translator Sunday evenings about 9 Eastern time
All diaries with the DK GreenRoots Tag.
All diaries with the eKos Tag
A More Ancient World by matching mole
Astro Kos
SciTech at Dkos.
Sunday Science Videos by palantir
NASA picture of the day. For more see the NASA image gallery or the Astronomy Picture of the Day Archive
New View of the Tarantula Nebula, NASA, public domain