Uncategorized
- Earth
Sky Lights
Devoted to atmospheric optics, this Web site offers beautifully illustrated explanations of spectacular phenomena ranging from rainbows to ice haloes. Created by physicist Les Cowley, it features amazing images, along with explanations of how the imaged effects were created by nature. The ice halo section offers downloadable software for simulating various types of halos. Go […]
- Animals
Ultrasound alarms by ground squirrels
Richardson's ground squirrels may occasionally use ultrasound when calling out in response to a disturbance.
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I don’t think anyone should be surprised that squirrels have figured out how to say “nyah, nyah” to rattlesnakes. After all, it’s what they’ve been saying to cats, dogs, and bird-feeder owning humans for years. R. Kelly WagnerAustin, Texas
- Animals
Why does a buddy help another male flirt?
The sidekick male in the two-bird courtship display of lance-tailed manakins has to leave when the mating starts but may reap delayed benefits in real estate and performance practice.
- Animals
Farmer ant species may have lost all its males
A fungus-growing ant may be the first ant species known to have no power of sexual reproduction.
- Animals
Jumping spiders buzz, thump when dancing
Some jumping spiders, long considered visually oriented animals, turn out to utilize seismic communication for a successful courtship.
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Two-handed protein may protect DNA
An unusually shaped protein may help a bacterium thrive in tough times.
- Health & Medicine
Celiac disease affects kids’ minds
Attention deficits and learning disabilities have joined the list of neurological problems associated with the intestinal disorder known as celiac disease.
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Neurons take charge to change messages
Neurons in a developing embryo respond to changes in their electrical activity by altering the types of chemical messengers that they produce.
- Planetary Science
Cometary encounter
Planetary scientists are feasting on close-up images of Comet Wild 2 as well as on the first information about its composition.
- Ecosystems
More on California’s rogue seaweed
Scientists have obtained genetic confirmation of the assumption that a newfound rogue alga in California waters is the same strain that has been smothering seafloor communities in the Mediterranean.
- Earth
Sprawl’s aquatic pollution
A new study links the traffic associated with urban sprawl to an unexpectedly large rain of air pollutants entering local waters.
