#Butterflies Caught Lapping Up Crocodile Tears Crocodile tears may be drinks for thirsty butterflies and bees new research reveals.
The insects likely rely on croc tears for salt. The discovery was made when aquatic ecologistcarlos de la Rosa was sailing on a slow quiet boat down the Puerto Viejo River in northeastern Costa rica with researchers students
and visitors to watch and photograph wildlife in December. It was like traveling back in time
when rivers were the main highways for both humans and wildlife said de la Rosa director of the La Selva Biological Station for the Organization for Tropical Field Studies in San pedro Costa rica.
The researchers photographed and filmed butterflies and bees fluttering about the corners of the eyes of a spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus) a crocodilian that can reach up to 8. 2 feet (2. 5 meters) long that was basking on the riverbank.
The insects were drinking the giant reptile's tears. See Video of Butterflies Drinking Croc Tears
& Tear-Drinking Images It was one of those natural history moments that you long to see up close de la Rosa said in a statement.
But then the question becomes what's going on in here? Why are these insects tapping into this resource?
Although salt is plentiful in the ocean the molecule technically known as sodium chloride is often a rare and valuable resource on land.
Animals sometimes drink salt from sweat urine and even blood de la Rosa said. These new findings support a 2012 report of a bee sipping the tears of a yellow-spotted river turtle in Ecuador's Yasunã National park. Similar findings were seen with butterflies drinking the tears of yellow-spotted river
turtles in the Amazon. When de la Rosa did research online he was surprised to find more evidence of tear-drinking than he expected not only from scientists but also casual tourists wilderness enthusiasts and professional photographers.
This suggests tear-drinking or lachryphagous behavior may not be as rare as biologists had assumed. It remains uncertain
what other kinds of nutrients might be in crocodilian tears in addition to the sodium in salt.
While sodium is an essential element for the metabolism and reproduction of these insects there are also proteins enzymes
and micronutrients that could also play a role in the fitness of the insects tapping this resource de la Rosa said.
Not a lot has been published on these topics and all published reports indicate the need for further research.
Scientists also aren't sure whether the reptiles somehow benefit from such tear-drinking. The reptiles may allow insects to drink tears simply
because they do not care or cannot easily drive them away. The caiman seemed very tolerant of both the butterfly
and the bee de la Rosa said. However I've seen these bees approach river turtles
and miso (a Japanese soybean paste used as a seasoning). Then there are foods that seemingly jumped on the probiotics bandwagon.
#Broccoli: Health Benefits, Risks & Nutrition Facts Your parents knew what was up when they told you to eat your broccoli.
This verdant vegetable is a powerhouse of nutrients. It's reputed to benefit digestion the cardiovascular system
and the immune system and to have anti-inflammatory and even cancer-preventing properties. Plus broccoli is low in sodium and calories at about 31 calories per serving.
It's also a fat-free vegetable. Broccoli has an impressive nutritional profile. It is high in fiber very high in Vitamin c
and has potassium B6 and Vitamin a raved Victoria Jarzabkowski a nutritionist with the Fitness Institute of Texas at the University of Texas at Austin.
For a nonstarchy vegetable it has a good amount of protein Broccoli is packed also with phytochemicals and antioxidants.
Phytochemicals are chemicals in plants that are responsible for color smell and flavor. Research shows that they have numerous healthful benefits according to the American Institute for Cancer Research.
Phytochemicals in broccoli are good for the immune system. They include glucobrassicin; carotenoids such as zeaxanthin and beta-carotene;
or found in fruits vegetables and grains. Antioxidants can help find and neutralize free radicals that cause cell damage Jarzabkowski told Live Science.
Broccoli is a good source of lutein a compound antioxidant and sulforaphane which is a very potent antioxidant Jarzabkowski said.
Broccoli also contains additional nutrients including some magnesium phosphorus a little zinc and iron. Here are the nutrition facts for broccoli according to the U s. Food and Drug Administration
which regulates food labeling through the National Labeling and Education Act: Nutrition Facts Serving size:
Cancer prevention Probably the most publicized health benefit of broccoli is its possible ability to help prevent cancer.
Broccoli is a cruciferous vegetable and all vegetables in this group may be protective against some stomach and intestinal cancers Jarzabkowski said.
The American Cancer Society notes broccoli's isothiocyanates including sulforaphane and indole-3-carbinol. These chemicals boost detoxifying enzymes
and act as antioxidants reducing oxidative stress. They also may affect estrogen levels which may help reduce breast cancer risk.
Cholesterol reduction According to Jarzabkowski broccoli can help lower cholesterol because the soluble fiber in the vegetable binds with the cholesterol in the blood.
Detoxification Phytocheimcals glucoraphanin gluconasturtiin and glucobrassicin compose a terrific trio in broccoli. Together they aid all steps of the body's detoxification process from activation to neutralization and elimination of contaminants.
A study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United states of america found that the sprouts of broccoli may be especially potent in this regard.
Heart health In addition to reducing cholesterol broccoli can aid in heart health by helping to keep blood vessels strong.
The sulforaphane in broccoli is also an anti-inflammatory and may be able to prevent or reverse damage to blood vessel linings caused by chronic blood sugar problems.
And the vegetable'S b-complex vitamins can help regulate or reduce excessive homocysteine according to the Harvard university School of Public health.
Eye health You've probably heard that carrots are good for your eyes and that's because they contain lutein Jarzabkowski said.
and broccoli is also a great way to get it. Another antioxidant in broccoli called zeaxanthin is similarly beneficial.
Both chemicals may help protect against macular degeneration an incurable condition that blurs central vision and cataracts a clouding of the eye's lens.
Digestion Jarzabkowski emphasized broccoli's digestive benefits which she chalked up mostly to the vegetable's high fiber content.
Broccoli has nearly 1 gram of fiber per 10 calories. Fiber helps keep you regular
Broccoli also aids in digestion by helping to keep your stomach lining healthy. The sulforaphane in broccoli helps keep the stomach bacteria Helicobacter pylori from becoming overgrown
or clinging too strongly to the stomach wall. A 2009 Johns Hopkins study on mice found that broccoli sprouts are especially good at helping in this way.
Mice that were fed broccoli sprouts daily for two months reduced the levels of H. pylori in their stools by more than 40 percent.
Anti-inflammatory benefits Broccoli is a great anti-inflammatory and may slow down the damage to joints associated with osteoarthritis. A 2013 study at the University of East Anglia found that broccoli's sulforaphane may help people suffering from arthritis
because this chemical blocks the enzymes that cause joint destruction by stopping a key molecule known to cause inflammation.
Broccoli's isothiocyanates and omega-3 fatty acids also help to regulate inflammation. Furthermore a 2010 study published in the journal Inflammation Researcher suggested that the flavonoid kaempferol lessens the impact of allergens especially in the intestinal tract
which can reduce chronic inflammation. In general broccoli is safe to eat and any side effects are not serious.
The most common side effect is gas or bowel irritation caused by broccoli's high amounts of fiber.
All cruciferous vegetables can make you gassy Jarzabkowski said. But the health benefits outweigh the discomfort.
According to The Ohio State university Wexner Medical center people taking blood-thinning medications should watch their broccoli intake
since the vegetable's Vitamin k content may interfere with the medication's effectiveness. Those with hypothyroidism should also limit their intake of broccoli.
The way that you prepare broccoli can affect the amount of nutrients you get and which ones.
People looking to broccoli for its anticancer benefits will want to be sure not to cook the vegetable too long.
A 2007 University of Warwick study found that boiling broccoli can undermine the effects of the food's good cancer-fighting enzymes Researchers studied the effects of boiling steaming microwave cooking
and stir fry cooking on fresh broccoli Brussels sprouts cauliflower and green cabbage. Boiling led to the biggest losses of cancer-fighting nutrients.
Steaming for up to 20 minutes microwaving for up to three minutes and stir-frying for up to five minutes produced no significant loss of cancer-preventive substances.
Raw broccoli maintains all of its nutrients but it is also more likely to irritate your bowels and cause gas.
Sources: Mindbodygreen. com Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction) This article is for informational purposes only
which trigger the production of appetite-reducing gut hormones compared with the bacteria fed with predigested potatoes.
But in the study it was really the potato diet that was leading to the production of more of these appetite-suppressing compounds
although the baboons mainly eat grass they seem to be producing more of these appetite-suppressing products on the potato diet as well Barraclough told Live Science.
either grass or potato that had been digested partially. The researchers also found that the appetite-suppression process that occurs in the gut turned out to be complicated more than expected.
#Earth-Friendly Packaging Made of Organic Mushroom Parts Most of today's gadgets and gizmos are packed with plastic
mushrooms. Biomaterials company Ecovative Design figured out a way to create protective packaging insulation and ceiling tiles that are made without using petroleum
and mixed with mycelium the root systems of mushrooms. The mixture is poured then into a mold and left to sit in the dark for a few days.
because the final step is to bake the now-solid mushroom material stopping the growth process.
The new genome detailed today (March 3) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences could pave the way for even more mouth-numbingly hot peppers.
The pepper which is part of a family that includes the tomato and the potato soon spread from the New world after Columbus arrived in The americas.
After hundreds of years of breeding chili peppers now come in a dizzying array of colors and flavors from the bland Anaheim pepper to the scorching Scotch bonnet
and more than 34.6 million tons of the peppers were harvested in 2011. Tip of the Tongue:
The 7 (Other) Flavors We Can Taste In recent years hot pepper aficionados have used old-fashioned breeding to amp up the heat-producing compound called capsaicin to make ever more insanely hot peppers.
and the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion can be 100000 times as spicy as the humble pimento pepper
The team found that the pepper diverged from tomatoes and potatoes about 36 million years ago.
#Puzzling New Animals Look like Deep-sea Mushrooms Mysterious animals discovered offshore Australia resemble floppy chanterelle mushrooms
Mysterious Ocean-Dwelling'Mushrooms'Only 18 Dendrogramma specimens exist; they were caught all in 1988 on a research ship exploring the eastern Bass Strait between Australia and Tasmania.
The deep-sea mushrooms were preserved in chemicals that destroyed their DNA and cells hampering classification. Just said he hopes more tiny Jell-o-like creatureswill someday surface in another deep-sea expedition so modern genetic studies can reveal their evolutionary branch.
At issue is the higher cost of healthy food such as fresh fruits and vegetables and lean meats and fish
and vegetables could be subsidized to cost pennies to consumers said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian lead author on the JAMA commentary and dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.
#Mom's Diet Linked to Risk of Preterm Birth Pregnant women who eat a diet rich in vegetables fruits
Pregnant women in the new study who ate either a diet of fruits veggies and whole grains or a diet of boiled potatoes and fish were less likely to have a preterm birth compared with women
whose diets included salty and sweet snacks and processed meat researchers reported today (March 4) in the journal BMJ.
A prudent diet consisted of raw and cooked vegetables salad fruit and berries nuts vegetable oils whole grain cereals poultry and water to drink.
A traditional diet by contrast was composed mainly of boiled potatoes fish gravy margarine rice pudding low-fat milk and cooked vegetables.
Lastly a Western diet contained a lot of salty snacks chocolate and sweets cakes French fries white bread ketchup sugar sweetened drinks processed meat products and pasta.
The archaeologists also found evidence that herders began farming millet wheat barley and legumes by 4000 years ago.
After about 10 days the eggs hatch and the little bean-sized babies will nurse for three to four months.
#Certain Starch May Reduce Colon-cancer Risk of Meat-Heavy Diet Eating your steak with a side of potatoes
and beans may be one way to reduce the colon cancer risk that comes with eating red meat findings from a new study suggests the resistant starch found in root vegetables grains
and legumes may reverse some of the damaging effects of red meat on cells. Researchers looked at23 healthy study participants who were assigned randomly to eat either about 0. 6 lbs.
Good examples of natural sources of resistant starch include bananas that are still slightly green cooked and cooled potatoes such as those in potato salad whole grains beans chickpeas and lentils.
Fruits and vegetables are good sources of potassium study co-author Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller a researcher at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New york said in a statement.
and vegetables. 8 Top Meals from Nutritionists The link between potassium intake and a lower risk of stroke was stronger among women in the study who didn't have high blood pressure the researchers found.
and sweet potatoes bananas and white beans she said. Other sources of potassium range from leafy greens and tomatoes to dairy foods and meat.
For example one cup of cooked spinach contains 840 mg of potassium a medium baked potato provides 800 mg
and a medium-size banana contains 450 mg of the mineral according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Grow Mushrooms on Them Disposable diapers are made of some of the most indestructible materials On earth
by growing mushrooms on them. The scientists grew the oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus on a substance made from used diapers
which mushrooms consume but they also contain nonbiodegradable materials such as polyethylene polypropylene and a superabsorbent gel known as sodium polyacrylate.
Lignin is a woody substance the mushrooms need in order to grow. The researchers also used commercially available fungus spores grown on wheat or sorghum
1 kilogram) of diapers would end up as 7 to 10 ounces (200 to 300 grams) of mushrooms.
Although the main purpose of growing the mushrooms was to degrade the diapers the researchers decided to taste their crop.
They also determined that these mushrooms had similar amounts of protein fat vitamins and minerals as commercial yeast.
However the mushrooms were grown on a small scale and were intended not to be sold for human consumption the researchers said.
The synthetic materials in the diapers could aid the mushrooms'growth possibly by providing air pockets
This means that the biodiversity benefits or otherwise to many familiar tropical crops such as bananas or cacao beans simply haven t been assessed.
They found that replacing a serving of chips with a serving of yogurt reduced the risk of diabetes by 47 percent. 9 Snack foods:
when cooked lightly in hot coals the skin develops the crisp flavorful texture of roast chicken.
During warm months rabbits will nibble on herbs peas grasses clover lettuce and greens. In the winter months they eat twigs bark and buds.
#Watercress Named Top'Powerhouse'Veggie For a sure way to boost the health benefits of your next meal you may want to add watercress to the salad bowl.
and vegetables a new study says. Watercress captured the No. 1 spot and a perfect score of 100 percent in the powerhouse-produce rankings.
The other powerhouses in the top 10 spots were Chinese cabbage chard beet greens spinach chicory leaf lettuce parsley romaine lettuce and collard greens the research found.
and vegetables by calculating a score for each food based on its health benefits. See the full list of powerhouse produce The score is a nutrient-to-calories ratio said study author Jennifer Di Noia an associate professor of sociology at William Paterson University in Wayne New jersey.
and rank powerhouse fruits and vegetables Di Noia told Live Science. The findings are published online today (June 5) in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease.
and vegetables involved in the study all but six of them blueberries raspberries cranberries tangerines garlic
and onions met the powerhouse criterion. These six had scores below 10 percent the minimum cutoff point to pass the powerhouse test.
and vegetables that didn't make the cut as powerhouses were not good sources of the nutrients used to index the foods
Using the list The top half of the powerhouse list included mainly green leafy and cruciferous vegetables from kale and spinach to Brussels sprouts and broccoli.
Citrus fruits yellow-and orange-colored vegetables and some berries were grouped in the bottom half the findings showed.
The five lowest-ranked powerhouses were grapefruit (white) sweet potato leek blackberry and turnip. The list of 47 foods that the researchers looked at left out some popular foods.
Previous research had determined that such popular mealtime standbys as apples corn potatoes and bananas were considered nutrient-poor foods with scores falling below 10 the powerhouse criterion.
Still that doesn't mean people shouldn't include these foods in their diets to increase their overall intake of fruits and vegetables.
whether a food belongs to a particular group such as cruciferous vegetables or carotenoids she said. I think the message is to encourage consumption of all of the foods on the powerhouse list which by definition are good sources of the qualifying nutrients Di Noia said.
Researchers Rank the Top Fruits and Vegetables for Health Among fruits and vegetables leafy greens rank as the top powerhouse foods according to a new ranking of produce items based on their nutrient content.
Watercress Named Top'Powerhouse'Veggie To be called a powerhouse a 100-calorie serving of the food had to provide at least 10 percent on average of the daily recommended intake of 17 important nutrients.
Watercress: 100.00 Chinese cabbage: 91.99 Chard: 89.27 Beet greens: 87.08 Spinach: 86.43 Chicory: 73.36 Leaf lettuce: 70.73 Parsley:
65.59 Romaine lettuce: 63.48 Collard greens: 62.49 Turnip greens: 62.12 Mustard greens: 61.39 Endive: 60.44 Chive: 54.80 Kale: 49.07 Dandelion greens:
46.34 Red pepper: 41.26 Arugula: 37.65 Broccoli: 34.89 Pumpkin: 33.82 Brussels spouts: 32.23 Scallions: 27.35 Kohirabi:
25.92 Cauliflower: 25.13 Cabbage: 24.51 Carrot: 22.60 Tomato: 20.37 Lemon: 18.72 Iceberg lettuce: 18.28 Strawberry: 17.59 Radish:
16.91 Winter squash (all varities: 13.89 Orange: 12.91 Lime: 12.23 Grapefruit (pink and red: 11.64 Rutabaga:
11.58 Turnip: 11.43 Blackberry: 11.39 Leek: 10.69 Sweet potato: 10.51 Grapefruit (white: 10.4 4
#California Tule Fog Becoming Increasingly Rare (Photo) At first glance this image might seem to show Central California covered in snow.
But that white stuff isn't the makings of a winter wonderland. It's thick dense fog known as tule fog.
Tule fog season in California is traditionally between November and March when rains bring moisture to the state's Central Valley.
The term tule comes from the plant of the same name (Schoenoplectus acutus) which dominates marshes in the region.
But tule fog may not be the defining feature of Central Valley winters for much longer.
A new study published May 16 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters found that the number of winter fog events declined by 46 percent over the past 32 winters.
Fish Rain & Fire Whirlwinds: The World's Weirdest Weather Vanishing fog The conditions varied year by year depending on the level of moisture study leader Dennis Baldocchi a biometeorologist at the University of California Berkeley said in a statement.
Generally when conditions are too dry or too wet we get less fog Baldocchi said.
If we're in a drought there isn't enough moisture to condense in the air. During wet years we need the rain to stop
so that the fog can form. This image of tule fog was taken Jan 17 2011 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASA's Terra satellite according to NASA's Earth Observatory
which released the image on June 5. Fog and fruit The decline of tule fog has pros
and cons. Dense fog frequently causes traffic accidents in the Central Valley some on a very large scale.
In 2007 for example dense fog on California's Highway 99 near Fresno caused an 108-car pileup that killed two people.
Fewer days of fog means less risk of deadly accidents. But tule fog is also crucial to the Central Valley's fruit and nut crop
which represent about 95 percent of U s. production of foods such as cherries almonds peaches and apricots according to UC Berkeley.
Fruit and nut trees need a winter chill period to become dormant and tule fog helps contribute to that chill.
As fogs decline so have winter chills Baldocchi and his colleagues reported. The number of winter days with temperatures between 32 degrees and 45 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees to 7 degrees Celsius) in the Central Valley have dropped by several hundred in the past 60 years.
For fruit trees the fog and temperatures are related Baldocchi said. A shroud of fog shields the trees from sunlight keeping their buds cooler.
As a result farmers may need to cultivate more heat-hardy trees or move orchards to cooler spots.
California's current drought is unlikely to help matters as it is starving the state of the moisture needed to form tule fog.
California's final full snowpack survey of the winter on May 1 found that the moisture stored in the state's snow is at 18 percent of normal.
A more limited automated survey conducted on May 30 suggests that snowpack was at only 3 percent of normal on that date.
As of May 30 most of California's major reservoirs were at 50 percent capacity or lower according to the state's weekly drought report.
or fruits and vegetables can also be labeled gluten-free under the new rule. This standard'gluten-free'definition eliminates uncertainty about how food producers label their products Felicia Billingslea director of FDA's Division of Food Labeling
Whoever wins the race will be aided by advanced light aviation engineering according to Mike Mangold an American aerobatics pilot who won the Red Bull Air Race World Championship twice
And we're doing this within a compact arena that's less than a mile 1. 6 km across Mangold told Live Science.
The engine and propeller or power plant is the same on every plane Mangold said. An airplane's engine sets certain limits on how fast a pilot can go
But besides the plane's engine and weight the pilots and the engineers and mechanics who work for them are free to experiment with their planes'designs Mangold said.
Of the three planes flying in this year's race Mangold said that one the Zivko Edge is easier to customize than the others.
whereas the Breitling MXS-R is a molded carbon-fiber airplane Mangold said. It has no metal tubing on it so it's very difficult to make major changes to it.
To identify gene families specific to C. canephora the researchers used comparative genomics software on proteins from a variety of plants that are genetically related to the species including tomato and grape.
and the DARPA Grand Challenge (autonomous systems) have hung all a carrot in front of the world's innovators.
#Tomato-Rich Diet May Lower Kidney Cancer Risk Women who eat more tomatoes or other lycopene-containing fruits
and vegetables may have a lower risk of developing kidney cancer a new study suggests. Lycopene is an antioxidant that gives tomatoes watermelon grapefruit
and papaya their reddish color and some studies have suggested it may reduce the risk of a number of cancers including lung and stomach cancer.
The amount of lycopene in the diet of the women who consumed lycopene at the highest level in the study would be equal to eating four tomatoes daily said study researcher Dr. Won Jin Ho a medical
However it's likely that the women received lycopene not just from tomatoes but also from tomato sauces and other fruits that contain lycopene Ho said.
The arthropod mushroom body is a higher-order processing center that is thought to be involved in learning
and soybeans in the late 1990s their adoption level has reached as high as 70 to 90 percent.
and found that fewer than 1 percent of the coupons found were for fruits or vegetables.
A whopping 25 percent were processed for snack foods candies and desserts and about 12 percent were for beverages
and veggies don't expect to save big from couponing. But that doesn't mean you can't save. 6 Easy Ways to Eat More Fruits
and Vegetables Here are my top tips for saving money on fresh produce. 1. Shop at farmers'markets.
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