Culture
A collaborative research project carried out under the auspices of the GeoBio-Center at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich has developed an integrative approach to the classification of fossil cichlids, and identified the oldest known member of the Tribe Oreochromini.
WASHINGTON -- Belief in the "racist police officer" stereotype may become a self-fulfilling prophecy for law enforcement officers and lead to increased support for forceful or threatening policing tactics, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
Researchers successfully reconstructed anthropic influences on sedimentation, including dredging and canal gates use, in the ancient harbour of Portus - a complex of harbour basins and canals that formed the hub of commerce in the capital of the Roman Empire.
The findings suggest that the Romans were proactively managing their river systems from earlier than previously thought - as early as the 2nd century AD.
Developing synthetic materials that are as dynamic as those found in nature, with reversibly changing properties and which could be used in manufacturing, recycling and other applications, is a strong focus for scientists.
The European eel (Anguilla anguilla), the freshwater blenny (Salaria fluviatilis), the freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera auricularia) and the pronged clubtail (Gomphus graslini) are some of the vulnerable species that are not represented enough in the biodiversity catalogue of the Natural River Basins (RNF) in Spain, according to a new article published in the journal Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems -in which researchers Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles and Núria Bonada, from the Research Group Freshwater Ecology, Hydrology and
WASHINGTON-(July 15, 2019)-States with stricter firearms laws had lower firearm-related deaths among children and adolescents, finds research led by faculty at Children's National in Washington, D.C. Furthermore, state laws that had been in place for more than five years requiring universal background checks for firearm purchases were associated with a 35% lower firearm-related death rate among children.
Podcast post-embargo link: https://soundcloud.com/cmajpodcasts/190559-com
Strong political support and strong public health systems are necessary to combat measles outbreaks, which are growing in frequency around the world, argue public health experts in a commentary in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
For the first time, a study has measured antioxidant levels in commercially available edible insects.
Sure, most of them don't have six legs - and scorpions, spiders, and centipedes aren't even insects. But for open-minded health freaks, it's good news: crickets pack 75% the antioxidant power of fresh OJ, and silkworm fat twice that of olive oil.
Scientists at the University of Kent have developed a new method of determining gene function in a breakthrough that could have major implications for our understanding of the processes of life.
A team at the University's School of Biosciences developed a novel computational approach which enabled them to assign functions to genes which hitherto had unknown function.
One approach to improve understanding of the basic features and requirements of life is to generate organisms with a minimal genome, i.e. the smallest number of genes that enable life.
Researchers from the National Museums of Kenya, University of Arkansas, University of Missouri and Duke University have announced the discovery of a tiny monkey that lived in Kenya 4.2 million years ago.
Nanopithecus browni was the same size as a modern talapoin monkey, the smallest living Old World monkey species that weighs only 2 to 3 pounds, about the size of a cottontail rabbit. Talapoins are part of a large group of monkeys called guenons, which are commonplace and widespread across Africa today. Most species are several times larger in size than Nanopithecus browni.
For the first time, the bivalve mollusc Guyanella clenchi has been reported from Abrolhos Bank, Brazil. This almost unknown bivalve had previously been reported solely from the Caribbean region. Apart from being the southernmost record for the species, its presence also helps the experts to determine the way the marine fauna from the Caribbean interacts with its South American relatives.
Young Australian eastern blue-tongue lizards (Tiliqua scincoides) are every bit as clever as adults, researchers have found.
Life is hard for baby blue-tongues. As soon as they are born, they are on their own, with neither parental support nor protection. Adults of the species can grow to 600 millimetres long and enjoy the benefits of thick scales and a powerful bite, but the young are much smaller and thus more vulnerable to predation.
And that means they have to box clever if they are to survive.
MONDAY 15TH JULY - The most complete skull of a duck-billed dinosaur from Big Bend National Park, Texas, is revealed in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology as a new genus and species, Aquilarhinus palimentus. This dinosaur has been named for its aquiline nose and wide lower jaw, shaped like two trowels laid side by side.
In previous studies, males have been found to kill when females will not mate with them if they are still caring for an offspring sired by their previous partner. Dieter Lukas and Elise Huchard have now looked into infanticide by female mammals. "Across mammals, females are more likely to commit infanticide when conditions are harsh and when having offspring is particularly costly to females", says Huchard. "The potential triggers and likely benefits of infanticide however appear to differ according to the specific circumstances."
Infanticide can remove potential competitors
Bottom Line: This observational study looked at whether a healthy lifestyle was associated with a lower risk of dementia regardless of genetic risk. Genetic factors are associated with increased risk of dementia but to what extent these might be offset by lifestyle factors is unknown. Genetic information from the UK Biobank was available for the 196,383 adults in this study who were of European ancestry, at least 60 years old and without dementia at the study baseline.