Culture

In the era of global warming, when many scientists say we are experiencing a human-caused mass extinction to rival the one that killed off the dinosaurs, one might think that the discovery of a host of new species would be cause for joy. Not entirely so, says Paul Ehrlich, co-author of an analysis of the 408 new mammalian species discovered since 1993.

"What this paper really talks about is how little we actually know about our natural capital and how little we know about the services that flow from it," said Paul Ehrlich, the Bing Professor of Population Studies at Stanford.

Berkeley – The decline of amphibian populations worldwide has been documented primarily in frogs, but salamander populations also appear to have plummeted, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, biologists.

By comparing tropical salamander populations in Central America today with results of surveys conducted between 1969 and 1978, UC Berkeley researchers have found that populations of many of the commonest salamanders have steeply declined.

Following a rollover automobile accident, driver and passengers are usually unable to call for help. So, unless the accident occurs on a busy road, rescue is unlikely to arrive in time to save them. Writing in the International Journal of Intelligent Defence Support Systems, US researchers describe SAVE, which could solve that problem and reduce deaths on the roads.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Feb. 9, 2009 -- For the first time, farmers have data that tracks at the county level on-site and off-site energy use and carbon dioxide emissions associated with growing crops in the United States.

This information is vital for examining changes in cropland production and management techniques and could play an even bigger role as more land is devoted to bioenergy crops, said Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Tristram West, lead author of a paper published on line in the Journal of Environmental Quality.

Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance, or SSNMR, is a valuable tool to image and analyze the chemical makeup of proteins and other biomolecules. But the imaging process is time-consuming and requires large amounts of costly isotope-labeled sample for study.

Overfishing on coral reefs isn't simply caused by too many people, according to a new report published in the February 10th issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. Rather, the researchers found that the biomass of fish found on coral reefs in the western Indian Ocean depended mostly on the complexity of the reefs themselves and the socioeconomic status of the people living on the shores.

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Mars Rover device gets new mission on EarthAnalytical Chemistry

Iron dust, the gold of the oceans and rarest nutrient for most marine life, can be washed down by rivers or blown out to sea or – a surprising new study finds – float up from the sea floor.

The discovery, published online Feb. 8 in Nature Geoscience, connects life at the surface to events occurring at extreme depths and pressures.

The two worlds were long assumed to have little interaction.

CLEVELAND – A recent discovery at Case Western Reserve University may help keep food and drugs safer and fresher longer and electronic equipment dryer and more secure than ever before – all at a lower cost.

Scientists can easily explain the structural order that makes steel and aluminium out of molten metal. And they have discovered the molecular changes that take place as water turns to ice. But, despite the fact that glass blowers have been plying their trade since the first century BC, we have only just begun to understand what makes molten glass solid.

"Conventional wisdom – and conventional theory – tells us that when infection can potentially be spread to almost everyone in a community, such as for measles, a disease outbreak can never be contained using voluntary vaccination," says Chris Bauch and Ana Persic, researchers from the University of Guelph. "However, our work shows conventional wisdom may be wrong for diseases that are spread primarily through close contact, such as smallpox." Their findings appear in the open-access journal PLoS Computational Biology on February 6th.

Alcohol advertising and marketing may lead to underage drinking. A large systematic review of more than 13,000 people, published in the open access journal BMC Public Health, suggests that exposure to ads and product placements, even those supposedly not directed at young people, leads to increased alcohol consumption.

Interrupting chest compressions during resuscitation reduces the chances of heartbeat return after defibrillation. New research published in the open access journal BMC Medicine shows that for every second of a pause in compressions there is a 1% reduction in the likelihood of success.

A new series of mutations have been discovered that allow rats to resist the effects of the popular poison warfarin. Research published in the open access journal BMC Genetics describes eighteen new genetic changes found in rats from four continents.

Montreal, February 5, 2009 – It's not uncommon for students to consume energy drinks to increase their concentration as they study throughout the night. "Energy drinks are the coffee of a new generation," says Stéphanie Côté, nutritionist with Extenso, a Université de Montréal health and nutrition think-tank. "These drinks are made up of sugar and caffeine and can have a negative impact on health."