Siblicide In Nature: Study Of Galapagos Seabird Finds Death Can Ensure Species Survival
... his research teams camp, returns in July to close another season of data-gathering, and supervises the team through computer e-mail and satellite telephone. "The parents are tuckered out from the year before," Anderson said. "If the rest of our data show the same trend, then you would say that parents seem...A Sensor, A Switch, A Zipper: Protein Engineers Design Potential Tool
...fuse one protein to a coiled coil and fuse another protein to a loose helix, then add benzene to drive the formation of a triple helix. One example of such an application is to bring together a DNA-binding protein and a gene-activating protein to create a "switch" that...Bog Beetle, Misidentified For 85 Years, Is 'Discovered' At Cornell
...ained mixed into the Cornell collection along with another extremely common beetle species that's been known to science since 1823." Through careful anatomical comparisons with known species from North America, Europe and Asia, assisted by colleagues Smithsonian Institute in Washington and the Natural Histor...Bottom-up Ecological Processes Better For Clear Waters, Study Finds
...systemscan vary greatly. So Brett decided to take another look at the trophic cascade hypothesisusing a newer statistical technique called "meta-analysis." Moresensitive to smaller effects and to common patterns among different lakeecosystems, this method ignores the original statistical work of each studya...Bigger Biology Tackled Through Keyboards
... on to the next generationrisk anything by helping another organism. Well, computational work hasrevealed that individuals are more likely to help neighbors than randomstrangers they expect never to see again and that this can help explainhow altruism has evolved. "It's a strategy of, if you scratch my back...Penn State Wetlands Project Seeks Scientific Evaluation Criteria
...n State Cooperative Wetlands Center is initiating another three-year wetland project, led by Brooks and C. Andrew Cole, affiliate assistant professor of landscape architecture, designed to discover how wetlands function, including how wetlands change over time and how human disturbances affect their nat...Learning From Birds And Bees: Engineers Study Insects For Ideas On Tiny "Micro Air Vehicles"
... use. Batteries or other electrical sources offer another challenge, as doguidance and navigation systems -- and the tiny payloads that willtransmit television images or sniff the air for contaminants. Recentadvances in micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and microelectronicstechnology give engineers c...Vietnamese Chemist Finds New Use For Old Cashew Shells
...ardanol, Vu is also making blends using castoroil, another commonly available ingredient in Vietnam. She saysthe castor oil is very different chemically from cardanol, so sheexpects it to have a different effect on the properties ofrubber. Her primary goal is not to make a better tire. She said theultimate a...Ten Years of Progress For Superfund Basic Research Program
...h does not cause illness. What it can do ischew up another group of chemicals which can cause cancer and aren...shop is using otherSphingomonas strains to degrade another common pollutant, azodyes. "The dyes themselves are not particularly harmful," saidBishop, "but when...High Levels of Vitamin C Prove Toxic to HIV
... chemical form (ascorbic acid), it enters cells in another form (dehydroascorbic acid). Once inside the cell, this vital nutrient is reconverted to its original form, whose different shape and size prevent it from leaving the cell. This series of studies prompted Dr. Golde and his colleagues to ask whether ...Fund Aims To Repay Developing Nations For Valuable Genes
... as disease- or pest-resistance when inserted into another plant. As new laws evolved to allow protection of biotechnology inventions,research institutions were able to patent not only new plant varieties,but also novel genes. The rights to commercialize these genes now can belicensed to firms that are will...A Drug Pump On A Computer Chip
...nventional $600 devices that, while reusable, cost another $50 to sterilize and tune up before each use. About 20 million miniature blood pressure sensors are now being used each year, in addition to other downsized pumps and sensors. But there are still no closed-loop systems on the market that can re...New Study Shows Steps Leading To Colon Cancer
...that the protein enters cell nuclei, combines with another protein called dTCF, latches onto DNA and becomes the equivalent of a light switch. "Now that we understand what happens normally, we can imagine using fruit flies to search for and test potential drugs which might turn off or block the signaling p...Herpes-Based Gene Therapy Is Key To Promising Liver Tumor Vaccine
...tors also injected the rats with gamma-interferon, another cytokine now used clinically to help the body fight cancer. Then they measured the rats' resistance to cancer cells. Doctors found that inserting into cells a gene to boost the cytokine interleukin-2 (IL2) along with the gamma-interferon treatment wa...Purdue Researchers Prod Plants To Clean Up Pollution
...ables to change the way they take up toxic metals, another Purdue researcher pushes tobacco plants to clean up radioactive waste. Purdue botany Professor Mary Alice Webb uses tobacco seedlings to take up strontium, a contaminant made famous by the Chernobyl accident. Strontium 90 is one of the radioactive wa...Isle Royale Moose Continue Decline
...f winter ticks. The moose population was dealt yet another blow, the late arrival of spring greenup, which resulted in additional moose mortality from starvation. Dr. Rolf Peterson, a wildlife biologist at Michigan Technological University, conducts the annual survey for the National Park Service. Peterson n...Method Eases Making Amino Acids Critical In Medicinal Chemistry
...right hand of one person requires the righthand of another to perform a handshake. Thus, the correct chirality mustbe built into a synthesized biomolecule. "Our chemistry begins with a molecule that is superimposable onits mirror image, and converts it into an aryl amino acid that is nonsuperimposableon its...Teens Shop "Healthy", But Trust Label Claims Too Much
...eceive $19.2 billion for family food shopping and another $4 billion annually for their own food and snack purchases. In their report in the journal, Adolescence, the researchers write, "A previous marketing survey conducted by Food and Beverage Marketing and Forecast Magazine in 1988 did not show that...Hot 'Lanta: NASA, School Kids Team To Study How Trees Help Cities Keep Their Cool
...me. Luvall offers another striking view of the difference that trees make. He took an Inframetrics camera (which is not part ofthe Atlanta study) to Athens, Georgia, last year and videotaped heat patterns during the day and evening. Not only was atree in a mall parking lot co...