'Portion distortion' may contribute to expanding waistlines, study reports
.... "Our study compared what people perceive to be a typical portion size now to what was perceived as typical two decades ago, before portions began to grow. We also compared current perceptions of typical port...Insect predation sheds light on food web recovery after the dinosaur extinction
...16 species of mostly thin-leaved, poorly defended, typical Paleocene plants temporarily became the hosts to diverse swarms of insects that then disappeared. This decoupling of producer and consumer diversity after mass extinction is a new pattern for the fossil record that researchers can now test for its ...Researchers discover brain abnormality in kids with autism
...dren with developmental delay and 10 children with typical development. All of the children were age two to f...tter of their brains compared to the children with typical development. "One of the more consistent brain findings associated with autism has been enlarged ...Rapid-fire jaws propel ants to safety
...chers write. "Without the subterranean strongholds typical of many ants, temporary escape from predators and ejection of intruders may be essential for this species." To study the ants' movements, the researchers used a high-speed imaging system capable of taking up to 250,000 frames per second. Because th...New Web database improves access to ionic liquid data
...easurable vapor pressure at room temperature. With typical vapor pressures in the range of 10-10 pascal (10-14 psi), ionic liquids have essentially no vapor emissions and so look like excellent candidates for "green solvents" to replace hazardous, air-polluting organic solvents like acetone and benzene. Wit...Newly discovered gene may hold clues to evolution of human brain capacity
...e a novel type of RNA gene, Salama said. In the typical process by which genes are expressed or activated, the gene's DNA sequence is transcribed to produce a messenger RNA molecule, which then guides the synthesis of a specific protein. The encoded protein carries out the gene's function. Some genes, how...More carbon dioxide may help some trees weather ice storms
...udying how this predicted extra gas would affect a typical Southeastern forest ecosystem. At the site, a computer-controlled network of pipes and valves feeds carbon dioxide from elevated towers to trees growing in three different open-air plots. Three other identical "control" plots receive no additional ca...Time of day tempers tadpoles' response to predators
...ponded similarly to the chemical cues, showing the typical plunge in activity. But at night they returned to feeding more quickly than during the day. "My interpretation of these results is that green frog tadpoles behave more conservatively in response to a predator chemical cue during the day because pre...With few factors, adult cells take on character of embryonic stem cells
... the physical, growth, and genetic characteristics typical of embryonic stem cells, they reported. "Pluripotent" refers to the ability to differentiate into most other cell types. "Human embryonic stem cells might be used to treat a host of diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, and dia...Invasive species alter habitat to their benefit
...s, such as bulrushes, rushes, and sedges, and more typical land plants like grasses, asters, and goldenrods. Next, Farrer did transplant experiments to figure out whether the invaders were causing the changes she observed. She set up four study plots in a previously uninvaded section of marsh. In one, she ...Genetic snooze button governs timing of spring flowers
...ed varieties we use are never exposed to cold in a typical farmer's field growing season." When that is the case, a cold snap can fool sugar beets, for example, into flowering, a process that can ruin the crop by redirecting nutrients from the valuable root to the production of seeds and flowers. And alt...New study reveals Rett syndrome can strike males
...o diagnose Rett syndrome in girls who present with typical symptoms after the age of one year. Prenatal diagnosis is also available in subsequent pregnancies for mothers of girls with Rett syndrome but beyond these families, doctors generally wouldn't test for the problem -- especially in baby boys," Dr Leon...Early exposure to synthetic estrogen puts 'DES Daughters' at higher risk for breast cancer
...suggests that DES-exposed women are developing the typical range of breast cancers after age 40 at a faster rate than non-exposed women of the same ages. The researchers also found that the highest relative risk of developing breast cancer was observed in study participants from the cohorts with the highest ...Cat parasite may affect cultural traits in human populations
...that normally help it complete its life cycle. The typical journey of the parasite involves a cat and its prey, starting as eggs shed in an infected cat's feces, inadvertently eaten by a warm-blooded animal, such as a rat. The infected rat's behavior alters so that it becomes more active, less cautious and m...Underwater robots work together without human input
...predict future ocean conditions. In contrast to typical ocean-observing systems, which are static, the mobility of the gliders allows them to capture the dynamic nature of the ocean, which is always shifting in time and space. Furthermore, the gliders will be coordinated onto patterns to ensure that as th...Regular multivitamin use near time of conception significantly reduces preeclampsia risk
...overweight women, Dr. Bodnar said. "It may be that typical multivitamins, which contain low nutrient doses, may not be adequate to overcome the metabolic challenges associated with the development of preeclampsia along with being overweight and pregnant," she added. "But again, more study is needed to test t...Controlling robots that search for Mars life
... kilometres of terrain in search of life In one typical example of the rover's autonomous operation, ground controllers might radio up a high-level command telling it to drive to a scientifically interesting spot anywhere from 500 to 2000 metres away and conduct science operations, such as drilling beneat...Producing flu vaccines will be faster and cheaper, thanks to MSU technology
...Each egg is injected with only one virus strain (a typical flu vaccine contains three strains) and produces enough virus for one or two doses. This means that huge numbers of fertilized chicken eggs are needed 270 million or more to produce a sufficient vaccine supply for the United States. The process i...Life cycle of operons yields new look at bacterial genetics
... prokaryotes, archaea as well as bacteria. In the typical prokaryote genome, about half of all the protein-coding genes are located in operons. Genes that are placed together in operons can vary widely across different types of microbes. Also, genes that are in the same operon in one bacterium are often fo......and a simple model of social dilemmas. Under the typical public goods game, an experimenter gives four players a pot of money. Each player can invest all or some of the money into a common pool. The experimenter then collects money thrown into the pool, doubles it and divides it amongst the players. The ou...