#'Tomato Pill'May Improve Blood vessel Function in Some Patients Taking a daily supplement of lycopene a compound found in tomatoes
and other foods may improve the function of blood vessels in people with cardiovascular disease according to a new study
but experts suggest that it is best to stick with eating real fruits and vegetables for now.
Researchers found that blood-vessel function improved by 53 percent in cardiovascular disease patients who had been taking a 7-milligram lycopene supplement daily for two months compared with their blood-vessel function before they began taking lycopene.
We've shown quite clearly that lycopene improves the function of blood vessels in cardiovascular disease patients Dr. Joseph Cheriyan a consultant clinical pharmacologist
and physician at Addenbrooke's Hospital and associate lecturer at the University of Cambridge said in a statement.
The importance of the crush is not its direct impact on the market price of ivory (zero) or the safety of wild elephants in Africa tomorrow (negligible;
This productivity was crucial for providing a consistent energy source for horses and livestock to support armies.
#Elephants Use Specific Alarm Calls to Warn of People, Bees African elephants belt out distinct alarm calls to specify which kind of threat is approaching in the wild be it humans or bees a new study shows.
As the largest land animals On earth elephants face relatively few predators in the wild but these threats include people who poach the animals for their ivory and swarms of angry bees
which can inflict painful stings around the eyes and trunks of elephants. A powerful swarm of bees could even kill a thin-skinned calf.
Researchers had discovered already that elephants produce a rumble like a gravelly baritone growl in response to the threat of bees.
What's more elephants will flee when they hear a recording of this rumble even
when there's no sign of bees around according to that 2010 study in PLOS ONE. Elephant Images:
The Biggest Beasts On land The same team of scientists wanted to figure out if elephants had special calls for other types of threats.
In the new study published in the journal PLOS ONE on Feb 26 they tested how elephants reacted to the voices of Samburu tribesmen in northern Kenya.
Compared with a white noise control both the sounds of tribesmen and the sounds of angry bees triggered uneasy and vigilant behavior in the elephants;
the animals started sniffing they lifted their heads up and scanned the landscape and they hightailed it out of the area.
The elephants also started shaking their heads but only in response to the noises of angry bees likely to knock any insects away from their face.
The suggestion of these threats also elicited vocal responses from the elephants known as rumbles. There were slight differences in the formant frequencies of the rumbles in response to bees
and tongue The authors say it's not clear to what extent the subtle differences in elephant alarm calls are the result of intentional sound manipulation or the simple byproducts of different distressed states.
However they write that the parallels between elephant vocal behavior and human linguistic abilities are suggestive.
#Hamster Facts: Diet, Habits & Types of Hamsters Hamsters are small rodents that are kept commonly as house pets.
They are distinguishable from other rodents due to their short tails stubby legs and small ears.
Hamsters have many different colors including black grey brown white yellow red or a mixture of several colors.
With 24 species of hamsters these animals come in a wide range of sizes. The European breed can grow as large as 13.4 inches (34 centimeters) long
and are some of the biggest varieties of hamsters. The dwarf hamster lives up to its name.
These tiny hamsters grow to around 2 to 4 inches (5. 5 to 10.5 cm) long.
The most common pet hamster the Syrian hamster also known as the teddy bear hamster or golden hamster usually grows to about 6 inches (15.24 cm) long.
The first hamsters were discovered in Syria though they also live in Greece Romania Belgium and northern China.
In the wild they like to live in warm dry areas like steppes sand dunes and the edges of deserts.
Hamsters were brought to the United states in 1936 from Syria according to the Louisiana Veterinary Medical Association.
They were some of the first domesticated hamsters. Hamsters are nocturnal according to the ASPCA which means they like sleeping during the day.
In the wild they dig burrows which are a series of tunnels to live and breed in.
Hamsters will also store food in their burrows. Living underground keeps wild hamsters cool in hot climates.
Some hamsters are very social while others are loners. For example the Syrian hamster doesn't like living near other hamsters.
They are very territorial and should never be put in a cage with other hamsters. It will bite the other hamster
and may even kill it. Dwarf hamsters on the other hand are social and like to have a friend nearby.
Wild hamsters will hibernate if the weather gets cold enough. Hamsters will wake up from their hibernation periodically to eat.
If there isn't enough food stored hamsters will wait to hibernate until their surplus is to their liking.
Hamsters like to eat seeds grains nuts cracked corn fruits and vegetables. Wild hamsters also eat insects frogs lizards and other small animals.
A captive hamster's diet should be at least 16 percent protein and 5 percent fat according to Canadian Federation of Humane Societies.
Hamsters'name comes from the German word hamstern #which means hoard.##This is a very apt way to describe how hamsters eat.
They have pouches in their cheeks that they stuff with food. Then they will carry their hoard back to their colony so they can eat it later.
Pet hamsters will often store food under their cage bedding. Male and female hamsters waste no time when mating with one another.
If you put two opposite gender hamsters into a cage together the female will become pregnant very quickly.
Their gestation period lasts 15 to 20 days. After the birth the litter is blind until they are two weeks old
and at 3 to 4 weeks the young are weaned. Females tend to have two to three litters per year.
Hamsters typically live one to two years but can live up to three years in captivity. Golden hamsters are considered vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural resources'Red List.
This breed is found in Syria where agriculture and human development are taking over the hamster's natural habitat.
Generally hamsters are ideal house pets because they are gentle and are easy to take care of.
They will bite when startled or scared though. They will also bite if they are awakened during their sleeping time.
Since they sleep during the day and humans are awake during the day this means that biting is more likely.
Hamsters have very poor eyesight. Their scent glands on their backs secrete an easily identifiable smell.
To find their way around they leave a trail of scent by rubbing their backs against objects.
When a hamster needs to find their way back home they will use this scent trail as a guide.
Hamster's teeth grow continually. Chewing on wood or twigs keeps their teeth short. Without something to chew on their teeth would grow so long they would injure the roof of the mouth and lips.
A mother hamster is very protective. If she fears that her babies are in danger she will put the babies in her mouth pouches
and carry them to safety o
#King penguins'Genes Explain Ancient Island-Hopping King penguins colonized a string of islands north of Antarctica about 15000 years ago after glaciers melted
and the climate warmed according to a new genetic study. The balmier weather gave the penguins two things they needed to thrive:
ice-free pockets of land on which to raise their chicks and food within swimming range for feeding those chicks the study found.
Later in the Triassic ichthyosaurs evolved into purely marine forms with dolphin-shaped bodies and long-toothed snouts.
The first mammals evolved near the end of the Triassic period from the nearly extinct Therapsids.
and early mammals should be drawn. Early mammals of the late Triassic and early Jurassic were very small rarely more than a few inches in length.
They were mainly herbivores or insectivores and therefore were not in direct competition with the Archosaurs or later dinosaurs.
Most such as the shrew-like Eozostrodon were egg layers although they clearly had suckled fur and their young.
They had three ear bones like modern mammals and a jaw with both mammalian and reptilian characteristics s
By using data from tree rings of Siberian pines researchers found an unusually warm and wet period between A d. 1211 and 1225 corresponding with Genghis khan's horse-driven invasion.
or more horses kept by every Mongol warrior. It must have created the ideal conditions for a charismatic leader to emerge out of the chaos develop an army
and deer the authors write in the March issue of the journal Antiquity. Mysterious wand After the skeletons and wand were buried someone seems to have dug up
Rodents would feed on the corn and corn snakes would come to eat the rodents. Corn snakes are closely related to rat snakes and sometimes known as red rat snakes.#
#Corn snakes are slender and range from 18 to 44 inches (45 to 112 centimeters) with the record at 72 inches (1. 8 meters).
and invade rodents nests looking for prey. Nevertheless these snakes are generally quiet and shy.
How Snakes Slither Up Trees Corn snakes enjoy a diet of rodents lizards frogs small birds bats and bird eggs.
Rodents are their favorites. Not being venomous these snakes don t just bite their prey to kill it they constrict it.
#Drunken Monkeys: Does Alcoholism Have an Evolutionary Basis? As the child of an alcoholic father Robert Dudley long wondered what caused the destructive allure of alcohol.
Then while working in the Panamanian forest as a biologist Dudley saw monkeys eating ripe fruit
He named this concept the drunken monkey hypothesis. I thought it was too simple an idea not to have been thought of previously he told Live Science.
and biomechanics of flight at the University of California Berkeley has published a book The Drunken Monkey:
'and other animals'attraction to fruit and as a result alcohol. 10 Easy Paths to Self-destruction Introducing the drunken monkey The concept goes like this:
Fruit-eating animals everything from primates and other mammals to insects and reptiles began to use the scent of ethanol as a cue to find ripe fruit.
but found his drunken monkey hypothesis rather speculative and unsupported to say the least Miltontold Live Science in an email.
if anything the smell of ethanol is more likely to repulse fruit-eating primates than attract them.
and both humans and other primates avoid fruit in this state she writes. Dudley however points out that no one knows how much of the intoxicant fruit-eaters are consuming.
Unlike our primate relatives humans have no innate nutritional wisdom that tells us what to consume she said.
their circulatory system fluid (which would be blood in mammals. Scientists can' t say exactly why these ants do this ants have a social behavior of transferring fluids to each other
</p><p>Pacific gray whales migrate thousands of miles from cold plankton-rich Arctic waters to relatively nutrient-poor tropical lagoons off of the coast of Mexico where they give birth.
While the journey takes the gray whales away from a bountiful food supply the southern neighborhood is free of the dangerous orcas (they stick to colder waters) that otherwise hunt the newborn whales.
Like bears the mother whales go hungry for months while still needing to produce high-calorie milk for their babies.
if you are a monkey in the wild is about 2%per bone per year. If engineers worked to that standard they would soon be looking for another job.
The story no doubt distorting the original science was that this mite runs faster than a cheetah
when measured by body size even the humble cockroach beats the cheetah on that measure. But a simple biomechanical model applying the appropriate scaling laws would suggest that all animals should be able to run at the same absolute speed not the same relative speed.
#Big cats Eat Dogs in India, Leopard Poop Reveals Leopards that roam rural India have a surprising favorite food:
dogs. The big cats even seem to prefer eating domestic dogs in areas where cows goats and other farm animals are plentiful according to a new study.
To reconstruct leopard diets scientists had to take a close look at leopard poop. A team led by researchers with the Wildlife Conservation Society scooped up 85 leopard fecal samples as they scoured footpaths dried-up streams
and fields in a rural section of western Maharashtra (the same state where Mumbai is located).
Back in a lab the researchers looked for signs of claws hoofs and hair and other indigestible parts of unlucky prey in the scat.
See Photos of Leopards in Western Maharashtra The researchers found that domestic dogs were by far the most common prey making up 39 percent of the leopards'diet (in terms of biomass.
The remains of domestic cats were found in 15 percent of poop samples and accounted for 12 percent of the mass of leopards'meals.
By comparison livestock were a relatively small portion of the leopard diet. Domestic goats for example accounted for just 11 percent of the mass of the big cats'meals
even though they were seven times more abundant than dogs in the study area. All told 87 percent of the leopards'diet was made up of domestic animals including both livestock and pets;
this suggests the leopards though considered wild are completely dependent on human-related sources of food.
The small portion of the wild animals in the leopards'diet consisted of mostly rodents as well as civets monkeys mongooses and birds.
The study illustrates just how big of an impact people have on the lifestyle of leopards that live in human-dominated landscapes.
The largely agricultural study area around the town of Akole did not contain any natural patches of forest
and the nearest protected area was the Kalsubai Harishchandragad Wildlife Sanctuary 11 miles (18 kilometers) to the west.
The researchers speculated that domestic animals make easier prey because they lack anti-predatory behavior unlike their wild counterparts.
And free-roaming dogs might be particularly easy targets because they likely are not as heavily guarded as economically valuable livestock.
During the past two to three decades legal regulation of leopard hunting increased conservation awareness and the rising numbers of feral dogs as prey have led all to an increase in leopard numbers outside
In rural areas human-leopard conflict is more likely to be related to people's fears of leopards
and the sentimental value of pets like dogs Karanth and colleagues said. Their findings were published today (Sept. 11) in the journal Oryx.
if the smartwatch's display were made of Gorilla Glass the material developed by New york-based manufacturer Corning that has been used in the display screens for most of Apple's other devices.
Gorilla Glass isn't an inferior product however. The chemically infused glass is much more durable than normal glass
However compared with sapphire Gorilla Glass isn't all that durable Tuller said. Sapphire is more expensive to make than chemically treated glass
#Forest Elephant Numbers Decline More than 60 Percent in Decade About 65 percent of forest elephants were killed mostly for their ivory across Central africa in the last decade new research finds.
which described the catastrophic 62 percent decline of the region's forest elephants from 2002 to 2011.
Now field data from 2012 and 2013 show that the plight of elephants has gotten slightly worse.
At least a couple of hundred thousand forest elephants were lost between 2002-2013 to the tune of at least 60 a day
By the time you eat breakfast another elephant has been slaughtered to produce trinkets for the ivory market.##Elephant Images:
The Biggest Beasts On land Maisels and colleagues surveyed elephants at 80 sites throughout Cameroon the Central african republic the Republic of congo the Democratic Republic of congo and Gabon.
In their original study the researchers estimated that the population of African forest elephants was less than 10 percent of its potential size only about 100000 individuals were living in an area that historically could have harbored more 1 million.
What's more the elephants were spread across only a quarter of their potential range.
Nearly 60 percent of the remaining forest elephants can be found in the relatively small West african nation of Gabon according to WCS officials.
Meanwhile the Democratic Republic of congo a country nearly nine times larger than Gabon in area has a far smaller population of elephants.
The current number and distribution of elephants is compared mind-boggling when to what it should be study author Samantha Strindberg said in a statement.
About 95 percent of the forests of DRC are almost empty of elephants. Even in protected forest habitats these elephants are threatened seriously by poaching.
In their 2013 paper the scientists said illegal poaching must be stopped and the high demand for ivory must be stemmed
in order to save the forest elephants. Other elephant subspecies are threatened also by poaching for the ivory trade.
Several governments have been responding to conservationists'calls for action. The United states China Hong kong the Philippines and Gabon for example have destroyed
either or pledged to destroy their ivory stockpiles in largely symbolic moves to delegitimize ivory as a commercial product.
On Wednesday (Feb 12) the Obama administration announced that the United states will ban the domestic commercial trade of elephant ivory.
or hollandaise sauce packaged foods with broken seals or cans that are bulging or dented honey that hasn't been heat-treated soft cheeses alfalfa sprouts raw ground beef or fish.
while we're walking the dog in the park and sits down to get dirty idle in leaf piles
They made the journey in a minivan with a pet cat and 100000 bees. That was probably the most heroic event in our beekeeping saga to date says evolutionary biologist Nancy Moran a professor at the University of Texas at Austin who studies symbiosis particularly among multicellular hosts and microbes.
and other mammals because it is a long co-evolved and specialized bacterial community and because it impacts the health of the hosts she says.
This is where the system parallels that of humans and other mammals all of which are social at least to the extent of having extended maternal care.
Gut symbionts of mammals are specialized and transmitted via these social interactions. Microbial gut symbionts are essential for the life of most animal species
#Zoo-Raised Gorillas Prefer Forest Sounds Over Chopin (ISNS)--The sounds of a gently babbling stream
These natural sounds may also influence the behavior of gorillas raised in zoos that have seen never a rainforest.
Western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) exhibited fewer stress-related behaviors when a recording of rainforest sounds was played in their enclosure.
or regurgitating food in the three gorillas studied. Previous research on how music affects zoo-housed gorillas produced mixed results.
One study found adult gorillas were agitated more and aroused by rainforest sounds. Another paper found that the animals appeared more relaxed in response to music
whether classical or forest tunes than when no music was played to them. In this new study researchers Lindsey Robbins and Susan Margulis of Canisius College in Buffalo New york observed the effects of three kinds of music played to three adult gorillas.
A mix of compositions from classical composer Frã dã ric Chopin four songs from The english rock band Muse and a Sounds of the Rainforest#collection were played on hidden speakers housed in the gorillas enclosure
at the Buffalo Zoo. Each selection was played for two hours a day four times a week over a period of three weeks.
which are considered often signs of stress in captive gorillas. Koga the only adult male in the group plucked his hair approximately 8%of the time
Although to a smaller extent all three gorillas also vomited and re-ingested food less often when natural sounds were played to them.
#Though the researchers only observed three gorillas the study adds to a growing body of evidence that suggests enriching soundscapes can help the wellbeing of captive animals.#
#oecompared to 100 rats or 200 college students this is a small study#says Sheree Watson a primatologist at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg who was involved not in this work.
It s difficult to get large sample sizes when studying primate behavior. But it s a nicely done study.#
Researchers studying dogs housed in a kennel found the canines spent more time sleeping when they were played Beethoven and Bach compositions.
Earlier studies on primates suggested similar influences. Music was correlated with reduced aggression in lab-dwelling chimpanzees decreased abnormal behaviors in rhesus macaques and a lower heart rate in baboons.
However few studies so far have found conclusive differences in the effects of different music genres on nonhuman primates.
Though we often play music to enrich our own homes and workplaces auditory stimuli are used not often in zoos.
A 2010 survey of 60 zoos in 13 countries found that nearly 75%of respondents had used never music to enrich the habitats of captive mammals.#
Some species of freshwater turtles such as snapping turtles also eat small mammals frogs snakes fish and even other smaller turtles according to Connecticut's Department of energy and Environmental Protection.
and son 28 years ago after a hiking trip near Utah's Bears Ears Buttes.
#New york's Power to Fight Illegal Ivory (Op-Ed) John Calvelli is executive vice president of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and director of the society's 96 Elephants campaign.
As we celebrate World Elephant Day (Aug 12) the Empire state is poised to help shape the future of one of Earth's most magnificent but endangered species:
African elephants. As Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the new law today New york currently the largest ivory market in the United states banned commercial sales and purchases of ivory and rhino horn.
The United states is the world's second-largest market for ivory behind China and much of it flows through New york. The new laws will assist federal efforts to shut down the ivory
and rhino-horn trades and with recently passed legislation in New jersey help close one of the nation's largest ports to this illegal wildlife trade.
The situation surrounding the illegal killing of elephants and ivory trafficking is dire. An estimated 35000 elephants were poached in Africa in 2012
and probably more last year that's 96 elephants killed every day for their ivory tusks
which are in high demand in Asia and beyond. Research by WCS and multiple partners found a staggering 65-percent decline in the population of African forest elephants between 2002 and 2013.
In a bipartisan acknowledgement of the urgent need to stop this decline state leaders from both sides of the political aisle including New york state Sens.
The momentum is clearly building for this commonsense strategy in the fight against illegal trafficking and elephant poaching.
Members of 96 Elephants a coalition of 160 groups committed to saving elephants are now working on similar efforts in California Illinois Vermont Florida and Hawaii.
Today on World Elephant Day 96 Elephants members delivered more than 96000 letters to their governors asking them to support an ivory ban in their state.
By banning ivory sales and purchases New york sent a message that the long-term survival of elephants is more important than ivory statues
A 2012 study published in the journal Ancient Science of Life suggested rats with diabetes that were fed Gomutra Ark had significantly lower blood glucose levels than rats in a control group did.
And a 2013 study in the International Brazilian Journal of Urology claimed that distilled cow urine might help to prevent the development of kidney stones in rats.
Owl Monkeys Are Caring Fathers, Too This Behind the Scenes article was provided to Live Science in partnership with the National Science Foundation.
If there were a competition for best father#in the animal kingdom owl monkeys might very well win.
Because father owl monkeys provide most of the care needed by their young; they carry their young almost all the time even when chased by predators.
By contrast caregiving from owl monkey mothers to their young is limited almost exclusively to nursing.
Wright s insights on owl monkeys are largely based on her many years of researching them in the rainforests of South america.
A renowned primate researcher and conservationist Wright is the 2014 winner of the Indianapolis Prize
My Quest to Understand the Monkeys of the Night (Lantern Books: 2013). ) Wild for Monogamy Wright said that are owl monkeys are devoted not only fathers
but are also truly monogamous another rarity in the wild. An owl monkey is faithful to its mate until its mate dies.
The unflagging fidelity of owl monkeys has been verified by DNA fingerprinting similar to the type of DNA fingerprinting used in the courts to prove human paternity.
and staunchly faithful mates owl monkeys have another extraordinary trait: They are nocturnal even though they were once daytime creatures as indicated by certain characteristics of their eyes said Wright.
Wright s field research suggests several potential reasons why owl monkeys may have joined the night life.
For one thing Wright observed families of owl monkeys snuggle and sleep together in protected tangles of vines
Wright speculates that owl monkeys which are relatively small monkeys hide and sleep during the day
and snatch even large monkeys that dangle and jump through the tall forest canopy during the day.
Also by only searching for tree fruits during the night owl monkeys avoid competing with larger monkeys that spend their days hunting for the same foods.
So by time sharing#the canopy with larger monkeys in a day/night cycle owl monkeys increase their potential for collecting food while reducing their risk from predators.
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