#Most Interesting Science News articles of the Week From a melted road at Yellowstone to growling seahorses a medieval case of downs syndrome to Nikola Tesla's birthday here are some of the coolest stories in Science this week.
Earth's Magnetic field Is Weakening 10 Times Faster Now Why seahorses growl: Warning growls are for more than the likes of dogs and bears.
The tiny seahorse growls in response to stress as well. Full Story: Whoa! Seahorses Don't Neigh They Growl Celebrating Tesla's birthday:
The eccentric Nikola Tesla would have been 158-years-old this week. How better to celebrate than to debate Tesla versus Edison?
Full Story: Nikola Tesla vs. Thomas Edison: Who Was the Better Inventor? A strawberry cervix?!
However many of the small furry mammals that burrowed underground survived. They had been living in the shadows of the dinosaurs all along
Eventually the mammalian lineage evolved into primates then apes then hominids and finally the Homo lineage that produced human beings.
By about 5 million years ago certain apes in Africa had mastered the art of upright walking these were the hominids.
Smartphones tablets and chimps On the other side of the world the Jane Goodall Institute an ape-conservation organization founded by renowned chimpanzee researcher Jane Goodall is leading a similar effort.
Video Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees The monitors look for signs of human activity that could endanger wildlife
The villagers also document the presence of more than 20 species with a focus on chimpanzees for instance
Then through Google earth Engine and Google maps Engine the institute's researchers can visualize the multiple layers of data to model the suitability of chimpanzee habitat
and to predict the potential distribution of chimpanzees. Whereas traditional maps are limited to two dimensions Google earth's 3d high-resolution imagery makes it easier for the villagers to recognize the topography
Through this data-collection process the JGI has identified previously unknown threats to chimpanzees. Even in the first few weeks of a forest villager getting his smartphone he reported this trap designed to capture a live primate we think either a baboon
or a chimp and this trap had never been recorded before in Tanzania Pintea said. In the future Pintea hopes to use imagery of the region gathered over the years to track changes in the forests over time.
Eyes on the Forest Other endangered species like the tiger are threatened also by poaching and habitat destruction.
According to the World Wildlife Fund human activities have led to a 93 percent reduction in tigers'historic range.
WWF estimates that 97 percent of the world's tigers have been lost over the past century
and as few as 3200 remain in the wild. In 2011 cameras set up by WWF
and the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry captured images of 12 tigers in Sumatra in an area that was set for deforestation.
Concerned about the potential destruction of this tiger habitat WWF used Google earth to illustrate the effects of deforestation on the Bukit Tigapuluh region a critical tiger habitat.
ranges of animals such as the tiger elephant rhino and orangutan; and floral diversity according to a statement from Eyes on the Forest.
and if it overlaps with known tiger habitat. In addition the Google mapping project has helped WWF build public support to stop irresponsible logging companies that contribute to Sumatra's deforestation said Craig Kirkpatrick WWF's managing director for Borneo and Sumatra.
Although the long time between satellite images makes it difficult to actively search for threats to tigers he said Google technology has been helpful in illustrating the pace of deforestation in the region and its effects on tiger and elephant habitat.
and then gradually the forests will come back and with them tiger populations. Elephant tracks Despite many efforts to curb elephant poaching including a 1989 agreement among CITES (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora) members to ban ivory trading demand in Asia continues to fuel the illegal ivory trade.
since the 1980s when an estimated 100000 African elephants were killed each year by poachers these massive mammals face additional threats posed by human activities such as commercial logging
Save the Elephants a Kenya-based organization dedicated to elephant protection and research is using Google technologies to help protect elephants from some of these dangers.
The group uses GPS collars to track elephants in Africa providing the organization with live detailed information about the animals'location and movements.
Save the Elephants then uses Google earth to visualize all of the data: By leveraging the application's satellite imagery researchers can zoom in on certain regions to follow the elephants in real time.
We've been using Google earth as a very easy way to find out what our elephants are up to
and where they are going Save the Elephants founder Iain Douglas-Hamilton said in a video hosted on Google's Outreach page.
It links in perfectly to our remote tracking system so the information is a continuous stream of the elephants'whereabouts.
The real-time updates and alerts are delivered via Save the Elephants'ios and Android apps to researchers in the field or via Google earth to be viewed in more detail on a computer.
With knowledge of the elephants'routes the organization can better protect the animals from poachers
and other dangers and help take action if a threat is detected Douglas-Hamilton said. 12 Strangest Sights on Google earth
When an elephant stops moving we can then send a Google earth file indicating the place where the elephant is stopped he said.
Then the Kenyan Wildlife Service can send out a patrol to go out and investigate. We're at a crucial stage now where we can act
#Gluten-Free Diet Reduces Risk of Type 1 Diabetes in Mice Exposure to a gluten-free diet prenatally
or very early in life in the womb or through a mother's milk may reduce the risk of type 1 diabetes at least in mice a new study suggests.
In the study researchers used a type of mouse that is prone to developing type 1 diabetes.
Mouse mothers were fed either a gluten-free diet or a regular diet during pregnancy and the time when they were nursing.
When the mouse pups were four weeks old the researchers transitioned them to a regular diet.
About 50 percent of the mouse pups whose mothers were fed a regular diet developed type 1 diabetes
whether the findings apply to humans as intriguing findings in mice don't always translate very well into recommendations for people said Dr. Victoria Hsiao an assistant professor of endocrinology
if the mice pups in the study that didn't develop type 1 diabetes by the time they were 30 weeks old would end up developing type 1 diabetes later in life;
To follow up on the mouse study a future study could look at information already collected from women who happened to followed a gluten-free diet in pregnancy
#Last Terrifying Moments of Baby Mammoths Revealed The frightening last moments of two baby mammoths that died thousands of years ago are now being revealed thanks to CT scanning.
The 1-and 2-month-old woolly mammoth calves which were discovered in different portions of Siberia choked on mud after falling into water more than 40000 years ago new research suggests.
See Images of the Baby Woolly mammoths Frozen beasts Woolly mammoths close relatives of modern-day elephants arose about 5. 1 million years ago in Africa
The 1-month-old calf mummy named Lyuba was discovered in 2007 by a reindeer herder on the banks of a frozen river on the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia.
Scavengers possibly Arctic foxes and ravens devoured Khroma's heart and lungs as well as parts of the trunk and skull between the time she was discovered in 2008
Stunning Mammoths Unearthed Lyuba (which means love in Russian) was plump and healthy at death.
The baby mammoth was likely crossing a frozen lake with her mother when she crashed through the ice
For instance Khroma's brain was smaller than a newborn elephant's brain suggesting mammoths may have had a shorter gestational period than modern elephants Fisher said.
100 Most Threatened Species Poachers have been illegally killing African elephants for years bringing them to the brink of extinction Assemblyman Robert K. Sweeney chair of the committee said in a statement.
but elephant populations are still at risk as poachers continue to strip them of their ivory tusks to sell in domestic and lucrative black markets.
WCS estimates that 96 elephants are killed each day by poachers in Africa which is roughly one elephant death every 15 minutes.
These illicit killings have contributed to a 76 percent decline in elephant populations since 2002 according to WCS officials.
The New york seizure is evidence of a disturbing fact: There is a direct link between the illegal ivory trade in New york state
and the slaughter of elephants in Africa John Calvelli executive vice president for public affairs at the WCS said in a statement.
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#EU States Urged to Destroy Their Illegal Ivory To help combat elephant poaching the United states crushed its stockpile of illegal ivory for the first time last year.
and domestic sales of ivory to help fight the killing of rhinos elephants and other animals for profit.
which estimates that 35000 elephants were killed by poachers in Africa last year a rate equivalent to 96 elephants killed each day.
In order to protect elephants on the ground we must take steps to cut off the market for these products.
#Dive hole appropriations#by curious seals are more like total coups d'Ã tat once one squeezes its 1000-pound body up the blue hole and bobs
heaps of neon-pink sea stars glow-in-the-dark jellies floating spookily by yellow sea spiders breathing through holes in their bodies amphipods toothfish and yes hundreds of swirling seals.
and insects along with some very primitive mammals and some of the earliest flowering plants he said.
and mammals Chiappe said. The fossil revealed Changyuraptor had extraordinarily long tail feathers. The tail is really the crown jewel of the specimen Chiappe said.
A couple of the stars of the constellation Cassiopeia would serve as rough pointer stars to the great messier object and the comet and scanning with my binoculars
and all kinds of animals mountain lions bears and the like roam the darkness of our neighborhood.
First stomach acid breaks off a protein that comes attached to Vitamin b12. Then the intrinsic factor is attached to the Vitamin b12 molecule.
Industrial farm-animal production getting animals from farms to our plates is inherently inefficient. According to the Food and agriculture organization of the united nations global animal agriculture produces vast amounts of crops to feed billions of farm animals long before they are consumed themselves.
Protecting endangered elephants Rampant ivory poaching is placing elephant populations at risk and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) estimates that 96 elephants are killed each day by poachers in Africa.
These killings have contributed to a precipitous 76 percent decline in elephant populations since 2002 said Elizabeth Bennett vice president of species conservation at the WCS.
Furthermore funds from the sale of illegal ivory an estimated $10 billion industry have been used to fuel a range of other illicit activities including organized crime
In African nations where elephants are slaughtered for their ivory tusks the illegal ivory trade is exacerbated by a potent cocktail of poverty poor governance
Manongi said elephants which are being driven to the brink of extinction have become the latest conflict resource
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The problem with just looking at the number of hectares involved is that this simplistic measure reveals nothing about the true benefits of the offset how the project helps to conserve Madagascar s lemurs plants
Should we look at mammals birds reptiles or plants? What if the two sites have different biodiversity?
#Heart Cells Transformed Into'Biological Pacemaker'Electronic pacemakers can be lifesaving for people with abnormal
or slow heart rhythms but not everyone who needs a pacemaker is able to have implanted an electronic device in their heart.
Now in experiments in pigs researchers have come up with a new method for making a biological pacemaker that might one day serve as an alternative to electronic ones the researchers said.
Making this pacemaker involves injecting a gene into heart muscle cells which transforms these normal heart cells into special cells that can initiate a heartbeat.
7 Things to Know About Your Ticker This method could be useful for certain patients such as those who develop infections from electronic pacemakers
or fetuses with life-threatening heart disorders who cannot have an electronic pacemaker implanted the researchers said.
Babies still in the womb cannot have a pacemaker study researcher Dr. Eugenio Cingolani director of the Cardiogenetics-Familial Arrhythmia Clinic at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los angeles said in a statement.
The researchers previously showed that this method worked in rodents but pig hearts are similar to human hearts in their size
New biological pacemaker In healthy people a small region of the heart called the sinoatrial node fires the electrical impulses that determine heart rate.
Such patients may have electronic pacemakers put in to monitor the heart rhythm which sends electrical pulses to keep the heart beating normally.
The newly created node then takes over as a functional pacemaker bypassing the need for implanted electronics and hardware.
In addition the hearts of pigs with the biological pacemaker were able to speed up during exercise
and slow down during rest much better than the hearts of pigs without the biological pacemaker.
and provide an encouraging indication that a biological pacemaker might eventually be ready for human translation Dr. Nikhil Munshi
In addition it could be problematic if the virus ends up in multiple places in the heart and forms more than one biological pacemaker.
If multiple pacemaker foci were to form there would be the potential for'competition'between the foci
and the concern would be that competing pacemakers would be less efficient in setting a consistent heart rate Munshi told Live Science.
In 1931 American chemist Arthur Fox accidentally released a cloud of phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) powder into his laboratory.
Some of this cloud went into Fox s mouth and that of one of his colleagues.
while Fox tasted nothing. They tasted it again with the same result. Fox went on to get others to taste PTC.
and smell scientists such as Fox approaching you and asking you to taste this#.#In 1991 American psychologist Linda Bartoshuk conducted experiments using PROP.
About one in four of us is a supertaster one in four is a non-taster (such as Fox)
Just like Fox and co s different experiences of PTC our experiences of smell (and therefore our perceptions of flavour) vary.
Trap More Wolves (Op-Ed) Zack Strong is an NRDC wildlife advocate in Bozeman Mont.
and Wildlife Service's (FWS) proposed plan to remove Endangered Species Act protections from gray wolves in most of the lower-48 United states. This was the largest number of comments ever submitted on a federal
because removing federal protections from wolves means handing their management over to state governments and their wildlife agencies.
Unfortunately many states have demonstrated hostility toward wolf conservation such as with overly aggressive hunting and trapping seasons the designation of predator zones where wolves may be killed year-round without a permit and large appropriations of taxpayer dollars doled out to anti-wolf lobbyists.
If states are allowed to take the reins now before wolves have had a chance to recover in places like the Pacific West southern Rockies
and northern New england wolves may never get the chance. Continuing the disturbing pattern of state aggression toward wolves Montana's Fish Wildlife
and Parks (FWP) Commission recently proposed several amendments to the state's wolf-management rules that would greatly expand the circumstances under
which landowners could legally kill wolves on their property. NRDC testified against and submitted a letter opposing many of the proposed changes
because they are unnecessary impossibly vague and would result in the trapping and killing of many non-threatening non-offending wolves and other animals For example one of the proposed amendments would allow landowners to kill any wolf anytime anywhere on their property without a permit
whenever the wolf constitutes a potential threat to humans or domestic animals. Yet the amendment does not define potential threat
or provide any clear examples of when a wolf is or is not acting potentially threatening.
This is a big problem because some landowners (as one sitting next to me loudly announced during a recent public hearing) consider all wolves on their property potential threats
despite for example the fact that wolves commonly travel near and among livestock while completely ignoring them.
And even if potential threat was defined clearly such a rule would be unnecessary. Montana law already allows a person to kill a wolf
if it is attacking killing or threatening to kill a person dog or livestock or to receive a 45-day kill permit for a wolf that has done already so.
Further the state pays ranchers the full market value of livestock losses when government investigators confirm
or even think it was probable that such animals were killed by a wolf. These measures already safeguard ranchers and their property;
allowing potentially threatening wolves to also be killed seems more a guise for further reducing the state's wolf population than providing needed assistance to landowners.
Another amendment would allow landowners with a kill permit to use foothold traps to kill wolves that have attacked livestock.
Such an amendment is unnecessary because kill permits already allow landowners to shoot these wolves.
Further foothold traps are non-selective and would be more likely to capture a non-threatening non-offending animal than a specific wolf.
In fact foothold traps are so indiscriminate and cause such prolonged pain and suffering that they have been banned in more than 80 countries
and banned or severely restricted in several U s. states. Allowing the use of foothold traps could also result in the capture
and killing of threatened and endangered species such as wolverines lynx and grizzly bears as well as black bears deer elk moose mountain lions eagles and yes landowners'own dogs and livestock the very animals
A third amendment would remove the requirement that FWP set quotas during the wolf hunting
and trappers killing unsustainable numbers of wolves entire packs wolves that primarily inhabit protected areas
and wolves that pose little or no threat to domestic animals (such as wolves that reside in wilderness areas
Given that this year FWP extended the season by two months increased the number of wolves one could kill from one to five and authorized the use of electronic calls (some
and sustaining healthy wolf populations have manufactured the species'newest threats. Both proposals should be dropped and conversations begun anew about new ways to conserve
As wolves. This Op-Ed was adapted from New Rules Would Allow Montana Landowners to Shoot Trap More Wolves on the NRDC blog Switchboard.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.
The crispy carcasses of muskrats alligators and snakehead fish populated the other carving boards and fried tarantulas were served on sticks.
and leaves they also eat locusts lizards snakes and rodents according to the San diego Zoo. They also eat sand
A solid kick can kill a lion. Ostrich feathers look shaggy because they hang loosely
#Chimps Are Naturally Violent, Study Suggests For years anthropologists have watched wild chimpanzees go ape and attack each other in coordinated assaults.
But until now scientists were unsure whether interactions with humans had brought on this violent behavior or if it was part of the apes'basic nature.
A new 54-year study suggests this coordinated aggression is innate to chimpanzees and is linked not to human interference.
Violence is a natural part of life for chimpanzees Michael Wilson the study's lead researcher
and an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis told Live Science in an email.
Lethal Aggression in Wild Chimpanzees As one of humanity's closest living relatives chimps can shed light on the evolution of people such as
Studies of chimpanzee violence have been especially influential in how people think about the origins of human warfare Wilson explained.
But observations of chimpanzees by legendary primatologist Jane Goodall and other researchers challenged the idea that warfare is a modern human development.
After all humans and chimpanzees are the only two species in the world known to attack each other in organized onslaughts.
Yet other scientists counter that human intrusions are to blame for the chimps'coordinated lethal aggression.
As populations in Africa grow people are infringing on chimpanzee habitats. Loggers cut down forests; farmers clear land for crops
and hunters kill chimps for food. People have argued that these increasing human impacts could also be putting more pressure on chimpanzee populations leading to more chimpanzee violence Wilson said.
He and his colleagues collaborated with researchers who are studying chimpanzees and bonobos another ape that shares a common ancestor with humans.
In all the scientists collected data on 18 chimpanzee groups and four bonobo groups living in Africa.
The chimpanzees exhibited 152 killings including 58 that the scientists observed 41 that were inferred and 53 suspected killings in 15 communities the researchers said.
The bonobos had suspected one killing the researchers said. The different acts of violence did not depend on human impacts Wilson said.
Instead attacks were more common at sites with many males and high population densities. Also chimpanzees in East Africa killed more frequently than did chimps in West Africa the study found.
Unsurprisingly the bonobos showed little violence. We didn't find any definite cases of killing by bonobos though there was one case of a male bonobo who was attacked severely by members of his own group
and never seen again Wilson said. Into the woods Many of the researchers including Dave Morgan a research fellow with the Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study
and Conservation of Apes at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago have followed the chimpanzees in the study for years.
When Morgan first arrived in 1999 the chimpanzees were not afraid of humans suggesting that this was the animals'first encounter with people he said.
Chimpanzees can live in groups made up of as many as 150 individuals but group size varies Wilson said.
Some study sites had about 55 chimpanzees living together he said. Grooming Gallery: Chimps Get Social This is a very important study
because it compiles evidence from many sites over many years and shows that the occurrence of lethal aggression in chimpanzees is not related to the level of human disturbance Joan Silk a professor in the school of Human Evolution
and Social Change at Arizona State university who was involved not in the study told Live Science in an email.
Because chimps and bonobos do not have the same levels of coordinated lethal aggression it's impossible to say how the common ancestor acted Silk said.
But we can learn something about circumstances that may favor the evolution of this type of aggression such as opportunities to encounter members of neighboring groups
Wilson and his colleagues followed the chimps and noted the apes'daily activities such as mating feeding grooming resting and fighting.
During the 14 years it spent following the apes Wilson's team saw two killings one
when a neighboring community killed an infant and another when a male chimpanzee consumed an infant.
But chimps an endangered species are not always warlike he said. Overall aggression makes up a small percentage of their daily lives Wilson said adding that our behavior affects them
but it's not affecting them as people have suggested in the past resulting in aggression. The study was published today (Sept. 17) in the journal Nature.
#Wild Chimps Prefer a Firm Bed Chimpanzees are quite choosy when it comes to their sleeping arrangements
and new research suggests the apes prefer a firm bed made from stiff resilient wood.
Like humans chimpanzees depend on a good night's sleep to function well the next day but chimps don't tuck themselves into the same bed each night.
Instead the primates build a new nest each evening from scratch. High up in the forest canopy the animals interlace strong stems
and foliage into a basketweave creating a thick springy mattress that sinks in the middle. Scientists have known that chimpanzees build these sleeping platforms
since Jane Goodall famously studied the apes in Tanzania's Gombe Stream National park in the 1960s.
There seem to be several advantages to snoozing high off the forest floor. In 2011 one intrepid Cambridge researcher who slept in wild chimpanzee nests for six nights reported that the nests kept her warm and relatively free of bug bites;
they also eased her worries about the hyenas she heard calling in the night. Sleep Soundly:
Images of Primate Nests And now another group of researchers has looked at whether chimpanzees are picky about the type of wood they use for their nests.
Anthropologists David Samson of the University of Nevada Las vegas and Kevin Hunt of Indiana University in Bloomington examined 1844 chimpanzee nests in western Uganda's Toro-Semliki Wildlife Reserve.
They found that 73.6 percent of the nests were built with the plant species Cynometra alexandri
despite the fact that this tree was hardly the most common species in the area representing just 9. 6 percent of the local arboreal population.
Those same qualities seem to attract sleepy chimpanzees the researchers wrote in their report published April 16 in the journal PLOS ONE.
but also had the greatest bending strength of the seven trees most commonly used by the apes.
In a study published last year in the journal Primates Samson and Hunt found that mosquitos were less likely to congregate around C. alexandri
The results suggest that chimpanzees might consider several physical traits of trees when choosing their bedding including stiffness strength
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