Scientists: New phylum sheds light on ancestor of animals, humans
...ther: lancelets and tunicates. "It's a tremendous surprise that this mysterious creature from the ocean will help us understand our distant past," said Leonid Moroz, a professor of neuroscience and zoology at UF's Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience near St. Augustine and one of the researchers who part...Novel experiment documents evolution of genome in near-real time
...e for an enzyme called RNA polymerase. "That was a surprise to almost everybody because RNA polymerase is involved in one of the core processes of any cell," said Palsson. "You wouldn't expect that gene to change because a wide variety of cellular process would be affected; it's like replacing the wiring syst...Chronic jet-lag conditions hasten death in aged mice
...-week period. The findings may not come as a great surprise to exhausted globe-trotting business travelers, but the research nonetheless provides, in rather stark terms, new insight into how the disruption of circadian rhythms can impact well-being and physiology, and how those impacts might change with age. ...Protein shown to rally biological clock
...ly at 8 a.m. to SCN cells synchronizes them. The surprise was that GABA was not needed, said Herzog. VIP synchronizes even when we block all GABA signaling. When we blocked GABA, synchrony was perfectly fine. Instead, the oscillations got bigger. Herzog likens VIP to the Pony Express rider telling all th...Vanishing beetle horns have surprise function
...st out of thick larval shells. The finding will surprise anyone who assumed hornless Onthophagus adults (usually the females) never form the horns in the first place. They do, the scientists say, but the nubile horn tissue is reabsorbed before the beetles' emergence as adults. "The formation of horns by...Sea urchin genome suprisingly similar to man and may hold key to cures
...ngtons diseases and muscular dystrophy. "Another surprise is that this spiny creature with no eyes, nose or hears has genes involved in vision, hearing and smell in humans," Calestani said. "The comparison of human genes with their corresponding ancestral sea urchin genes may give important insight on their...Extreme life, marine style highlights 2006 ocean census
...ts. Wider ranges When studying distribution, the surprise of finding a species in a new place is as exciting as the discovery of a new species. A species in a new place may indicate the species adapted, the environment changed, or the area was seriously undersampled. During 2006, counts rose to 31 species ...Worms produce surprise insight into human fever
...th a small zoo of pathogenic microbes. The big surprise was the discovery that the HSF-1 pathway was required for C. elegans immunity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella enterica, Yersinia pestis, and Enterococcus faecalis. It indicated that HSF-1 is part of a broad, multi-pathogen defense pathway....Contrary to common wisdom, scientist discovers some mammals can smell objects under water
... of bubbles while swimming. "This came as a total surprise because the common wisdom is that mammals can't smell underwater,' said Catania, who earlier this year won a $500,000 "genius grant" from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. "When mammals adapt to living in water, their sense of smell ...Polarstern's biggest fish catch in 24 years of research in Antarctic waters
...cod (Notothenia rossii), now that was surely a big surprise to scientists and crew on board of Polarstern, alike considering that previous and subsequent hauls barely ever reaped such plentiful harvests. Their shimmering silver and dark blue bodies, which can grow up to 70 cm, were piled on the aft deck of t...Study finds surfing safer than soccer
...great chance of injury. "It would come as little surprise to most surfers that the injury rate more than doubles when surfing in larger surf (overhead) compared to smaller waves, as the energy of waves increases as it grows in height. In addition, a sea floor with a sandy bottom is much more forgiving upon ...Public shares views on environmental, health and safety research needs for nanoscale materials
...'s thoughtful and comprehensive nature. It was no surprise that there are some people awaiting the next steps and movement toward a strategic plan. And we're now one step closer to that goal." Dr. Teague noted that even those who would like to see this process move rapidly agreed that the research and prio...Genetic variation may reduce Alzheimer's risk
... found an attraction for fetal hemoglobin, another surprise since most adults have little of this substance that snatches oxygen from the placenta and holds onto it tightly for the fetus. Looking further, his lab found adult hemoglobin was binding as well, so Dr. Hill and MCG hemoglobin experts Drs. Abdullah ...Wheat can fatally starve insect predators
...role in creating resistance to Hessian flies was a surprise to U.S. Department of Agriculture and Purdue University researchers, discoverers of the gene and its function. They made the finding as they investigated new, long-term methods to protect wheat from insect damage. "This is a different kind of defen...Large size crucial for Amazon forest reserves
...onger than the effects of isolation. "It is no surprise that small isolated fragments lack many species" said Ferraz. "Many birds are so uncommon that they will rarely occur in small plots even in the middle of vast undisturbed forest." The question is, does isolation aggravate this pervasive effect of si...AAAS/EurekAlert! refocus on China with 2007 Fellowships for Science Reporters in Developing Regions
...an inspiration to my career" and that it came as a surprise "because I still considered myself too young a reporter to win any prestigious award like this." The program is an important part of AAAS's mission to encourage international scientific dialogue and development, according to Vaughan Turekian, AAAS'...White blood cells in lung produce histamine seen in allergies
In a surprise finding, scientists have discovered that histamine, the inflammatory compound released during allergic reactions that causes runny nose, watery eyes, and wheezing, can be produced in large amounts in the lung by neutrophils, the white blood cells tha...Bumblebee house warming -- it takes a village
...r workers would be incubators, but we found to our surprise the opposite was true," O'Donnell said. "We don't know whether the smaller bees are really better at warming the nest, or whether the larger bees avoid incubating for other reasons. In general, larger bumblebee workers are foragers for food and the...Gene knockouts reveal FoxOs' vital functions in cancer defense, health of stem cells
... abnormalities but not outright leukemia. A bigger surprise was that the blood stem cells "were really in trouble without those transcription factors," he said, dividing too rapidly, losing their ability to renew themselves, and dying out. "This means that FoxOs contribute to the longevity of stem cells, and ...'Good vibrations' from deep-sea smokers may keep fish out of hot water
...roduce the rumbling, Crone's analysis revealed the surprise that the vents also produce resonant tones. There could be a number of things generating such tones. For example, flows along the cavities and bumps inside the vent structures may cause tones in the same way jug band members produce sound by blowing ...