Population of rare gorillas may be increasing in war-torn Congo
...e Conservation Society (WCS). WCS conservationists say that a band of park guards who have heroically defended the gorillas and their rainforest home in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, have played a key role in safeguarding these endangered primates. The census, led by WCS project director Innocent...Harvard scientists discover how the venus flytrap snaps
... active biochemical and a passive elastic process, say Mahadevan and former students and postdocs Yol Forterre, Jan M. Skotheim, and Jacques Dumais. When an insect brushes up against a hair trigger, the plant responds by moving water to actively change the curvature of its leaves. While exactly how the w...Green tea extract boosts exercise endurance 8-24%, utilizing fat as energy source
...level on endurance capacity is controversial, they say that increased supply of circulating fatty acids would "induce the uptake of fatty acids, and thereby stimulate lipid metabolism in muscle." Indeed, lab results showed that muscular beta-oxidation was higher in GTE-fed mice (compared with non-exerci...Reviewing scientists say proposed conservation measures unlikely to help whales
... sanctuaries are unlikely to fully protect whales, say three independent scientists charged by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) with reviewing their sanctuary program to manage whale populations. In a Policy Forum article forthcoming in the January 28 issue of the journal Science, Arizona State...Highlights of the February Journal of the American Dietetic Association
...nough to warrant a general intake recommendation," say the researchers. The Journal of the American Dietetic Association is the official research publication of the American Dietetic Association and is the premier peer-reviewed journal in the field of nutrition and dietetics....Bioartificial kidney under study at MCG
... of the device over 72 hours, although researchers say that if the device is eventually approved by the Food and Drug Administration, it likely would be used as long as the patient is in failure. Kidneys require a lot of oxygen and energy to perform their endless task, which makes them easy targets in t...National survey shows Americans are in the dark regarding genetically modified foods
...(FPI) at RutgersCook College, while most Americans say they are interested in the technology and have opi...ze they regularly consume GM foods. Even those who say they are aware of GM foods are confused as to which foods are out there; the majority (79%) incorrec...Beer-drinking rats count calories better than many people, UF researchers say
...tting calories when indulging in alcoholic drinks, say researchers at the University of Florida's psychol.... McKnight Brain Institute. Rats also know how to say no to the brew, stopping at what would amount to two or three drinks in most people, according to a ...Key mechanism in genetic inheritance during cell division identified
...tubule binding protein complex. While the authors say that ring formation is a complicated way to construct a microtubule binding structure, a microtubule binding ring might be uniquely suited to fulfill the functions of the Dam1 complex. In comparison with the purified Dam1, the Dam1 mutants produced ...Transgenic plants remove more selenium from polluted soil than wild plants, new tests show
...ing serious deformities in birds. The researchers say cleaning up the sediment in the San Luis Drain cou...ashing, excavation and reburial. In contrast, they say that using plants to remove contaminants - a process called phytoremediation -- provides one of the ...Calit2 launches prize program to encourage bioinformatics research by UCSD undergraduates
...an. "It certainly gives you something important to say in the interview." Friedman is waiting to hear from several schools, but says MIT is his first choice. Kohlenberg's research was published in the journal Genome Research , one of the most prestigious research journals in bioinformatics. Since he st...Cricket's finicky mating behavior boosts biodiversity
...oting the formation of new species. The scientists say their findings shed light on the role of individua...t and youngest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, say the two scientists. Some 38 different species of the cricket now inhabit the island chain. Among all...Melatonin shrinks bird gonads. What does the popular supplement do in humans?
...reason to be cautious about taking the supplement, say Japanese and University of California, Berkeley, researchers. A new study shows that melatonin, a hormone available without prescription, has broader effects in the brain than once thought. In experiments on the Japanese quail, the researchers found ...Physics team puts new twist on spin hall effect
... in conventional bulk semiconductors. Team members say the more than 10 times larger signal detected in the Hitachi device can be attributed to the special layered design of the semiconductor chip that yielded operation in a regime close to the intrinsic spin Hall effect. "They are both beautiful experi...Study finds direct association between cardiovascular disease and periodontal bacteria
...imated 200 million Americans. But the researchers say the findings are not proof that the bacteria cause cardiovascular disease, directly or indirectly. "What was interesting to us was the specificity of the association," said Mose Desvarieux, M. D., Ph. D., the study's lead author and an infectious dis...Examination of internal 'wiring' of yeast, worm, and fly reveals conserved circuits
...ng interaction." Systems biologists such as Ideker say their ultimate goal is a comprehensive computer model of how cells work. A description of all protein-interaction circuits would make such a model possible. "We'd like to simulate diseased cell types, such as cancer cells, and then simulate the effec...Gene therapy for Parkinson's disease moves forward in animals
... show complete recovery in their paws. Researchers say not only did the rats recover substantial degrees of function in their impaired forelimbs, continuous levels of L-dopa were being produced in their brains, blocking side effects....Family trees of ancient bacteria reveal evolutionary moves
...rcent of what it is today. There were three some say four global glaciations, and the fossil record reflects a major shift in the number of organisms metabolizing sulfur and a major shift in carbon cycling. "The question is: Why?" said Blank. "My contribution is the attempt to find evolutionary expl...Falling ants glide back to trunk to avoid dangers of forest floor
... as it sounds snakes. Now, add ants to that list, say biologists at the University of California, Berkel...rimitive ants. "This discovery doesn't necessarily say something about the evolution of flight in terms of insect lineages, but it does give us good inform...Bird brains show how trial and error may contribute to learning
...rent notes. Neurobiologists studying the finch now say the improvisation arises from a component of a crucial learning circuit in a section of the forebrain that seems to generate the trial and error necessary to master sophisticated motor skills, such as singing in birds or speech and sports in humans. ...