#Cenozoic era: Facts About Climate, Animals & Plants The Cenozoic era which began about 65 million years ago
and continues into the present is documented the third era in the history of Earth. The current locations of the continents and their modern-day inhabitants including humans can be traced to this period.
#Champagne Toasts: How Climate Affects the Quality of Bubbly As partiers around the world cheer to the New Year this evening many will enjoy a crisp burst of fizz to the nose before gulping down a tart glass of bubbly.
 Though not likely on the forefront of their brains these drinkers have climatological factors to thank for the tastiness of their drink.
 The quality of sparkling wine including France's famed champagne Spain's cava or Italy's prosecco depends on numerous factors ranging from soil type to bottling practices.
But climate and weather patterns are amongst the most influential of these factors driving the difference between a sub-par
and high-class bottle of bubbly. 6 Unexpected Effects of Climate Change Precipitationâ Grapes destined to become sparkling wine are picked before they are fully ripe
while still small and tart and containing less sugar than standard non-sparkling wine grapes. The moment the grapes reach their perfect balance of tartness
 Wine grapes generally thrive in relatively dry environments with just enough rain to keep roots moist and photosynthesis in action.
which as with drought and excess heat limits sugar production and can produce a tart fruit.
 Generally wine grapes benefit from relatively warm stable weather. As climate patterns become more erratic
in addition northerly regions that have not traditionally been able to produce the delicate grapes destined for bubbly such as southern regions of England may become more suited for this industry.
because the dead trees turned a bright ginger color. The trees were bulldozed eventually and buried in trenches.
8 Foods for Healthy Teeth Regular brushing and flossing help keep teeth healthy by getting rid of sugars
and food particles that team up with bacteria to form plaque. Plaque produces acid that damages tooth enamel causes cavities and sets the stage for periodontal or gum disease.
Now a growing body of research is finding that certain foods may be good for teeth too.
Just as so-called functional foods may keep your heart healthy for instance others may promote oral health according to Christine D. Wu a pediatric dentistry researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Here are eight teeth-friendly foods that show promise. Tea: Â Compounds called polyphenols found in black
and green teas slow the growth of bacteria associated with cavities and gum disease. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago found that people who rinsed their mouths with black tea for one minute 10 times a day had less plaque buildup on their teeth than people who rinsed their mouths with water.
What's more the size and stickness of their plaque was reduced. Tea undermines the ability of some bacteria to clump together with other bacteria the researchers said. 5 Surprising Ways to Banish Bad Breath In a 2010 study published in the Journal of Dental Research Wu
and her colleagues wrote that tea especially black tea fights halitosis or bad breath. Polyphenols suppress the genes of bacteria that control the production of smelly compounds in the mouth Wu said.
Cheese: Research published in the journal General Dentistry earlier this year reported that 12-to 15-year-olds who ate cheddar cheese had lower acid levels in their mouths than thoseâ who ate sugar-free yogurt
or drank a glass of milk. After eating the foods the adolescents and teens rinsed their mouths with water.
The acid or ph levels in their mouths were measured then 10 20 and 30 minutes after rinsing.
Those who drank milk or ate yogurt showed no change in their ph levels but the cheese eaters had a rapid drop at each measurement interval.
 Cheese may neutralize the plaque acid said Wu who was involved not in the cheese study.
What's more chewing increases saliva production. Like a river saliva washes out some of the bacteria in the mouth she said.
Raisins: Naturally sweet raisins don't contain sucrose or table sugar. Sugar helps bacteria stick to the tooth surface letting them produce plaque Wu said.
Raisins are also a source of phytochemicals which may kill cavity-causing plaque bacteria. Some compounds in raisins also affect the growth of bacteria associated with gum disease Wu has found.
Crunchy foods: It takes serious chewing to break down foods such as carrots apples and cucumbers. But all that crunching isn't in vain.
Chewing may disturb dental plaque and serve as a cleansing mechanism Wu said. Â So instead of remaining in your mouth
and settling on teeth bacteria get cleared away. Vitamin-rich foods: Foods containing calcium such as cheese almonds
and leafy greens and foods high in phosphorous such as meat eggs and fish can help keep tooth enamel strong and healthy according to the American Dental Association.
Acidic foods and beverages may cause tiny lesions on tooth enamel Wu said. Calcium and phosphate help redeposit minerals back into those lesions.
Calcium is also good for bones including your jaw. Sugarless gum: Pop a stick in your mouth after eating.
Chewing boosts saliva secretion clearing away some bacteria Wu said. The keyword here is sugarless.
Bacteria rely on sucrose to produce plaque Wu said. Milk: In a study published in the Journal of the American Dental Association in July Wu
and her team found that drinking a glass of milk after downing dry sugar-sweetened Fruit Loops lowered levels of acid in the mouth more than drinking water
or apple juice did. Milk neutralizes some of the acid produced by plaque bacteria Wu said.
Adding milk to cereal doesn't have the same benefit however. The milk becomes syrupy and sweet
which is bad for teeth Wu added. Drinking a glass of milk after eating a sweet dessert like chocolate cake may protect teeth too.
If milk isn't handy nibble on some post-dessert cheese. Cranberries: Cranberries contain polyphenols
(just as tea does) which may keep plaque from sticking to teeth thus lowering the risk of cavities according to a study published in the journal Caries Research.
A caveat: Because the fruit is so tart many cranberry products have added sugar which may affect any potential benefits for teeth Wu said.
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#Chewing gum Doesn't Lead to Weight Loss, Study Suggests Contrary to popular diet advice chewing gum may not help people eat less
or lose weight new research suggests. In fact the study published in the April issue of the journal Eating Behaviors suggests that chewing gum may lead people to eat chips cookies and candy instead of fruits and veggies.
That's because menthol the chemical responsible for the minty-fresh flavor of some types of gum makes fruits
and veggies taste funny. The chemical change is the same reason why when you brush your teeth
and then drink orange juice it tastes bad said study co-author Christine Swoboda a doctoral candidate in nutrition at Ohio State university.
Weight-loss aid? Chewing gum can aid test performanceâ and xylitol-sweetened gum may reduce ear infections in children.
And because it may evoke thoughts of food and get digestive juices flowing some people hypothesized that chewing gum could make people hungrier.
But scientists have hypothesized also the opposite that the act of chewing could make people feel more full
and in turn eat less. To test that claim the gum manufacturer Wrigley even offers grants for scientific research on the subject.
The 7 Biggest Diet Myths Debunked But despite claims to the contrary only a few studies have looked at
whether chewing gum aids weight loss and these have found conflicting results Swoboda said. We were interested in seeing'Does this really help with weight loss?'
'Swoboda told Livescience. Bad taste To find out Swoboda and colleague Jennifer Temple of the University at Buffalo asked 44 volunteers to play a slotmachine-style game in exchange for food.
Some of the participants played for mandarin oranges or grapes while others played for potato chips or M&ms.
Prior to playing the game half of the participants chewed either Juicy Fruit gum or Wrigley's Spearmint gum.
Those who chewed the minty gum were significantly less likely to play as long for the fruit suggesting they were motivated less to get them when chewing gum.
The fruity gum showed a smaller effect that wasn't statistically significant. In a second experiment the researchers asked participants to keep a food journal recording
what they ate. Some of the time the participants were asked to chew a mint green-tea gum before every meal
and snack for a week while other times they simply had to record their food intake.
When chewing gum participants ate fewer meals. But that didn't translate into fewer calories: Instead people were actually getting fewer nutrients in their diet and about the same amount of calories.
It could be that the menthol in mint which interacts with nutrients in fruits and veggies to create a bitter flavor was turning people off to the healthy foods Swoboda said.
People ate less fruits and vegetables because in their head they thought'I have to chew gum before every meal do
I really want a snack of grapefruit?''she said. Whereas they were like 'I'm so hungry
I'm going to eat this double cheeseburger and it will taste the same.''Long-term effect?
The findings are interesting but they don't reveal how gum might change people's eating habits in the long run said Brett Carter a food behavior researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle who was involved not in the study.
In addition using food diaries is a notoriously inaccurate measure of calories Carter added. As you can imagine people aren't very good at keeping track of exactly how they eat Carter told Livescience.
Translating it to calories can lend itself to a lot of error. Follow Tia Ghose on Twitter@tiaghose. Â Followâ Livescience@livescience Facebookâ & Google+.
+Original article onâ Livescience. co
#Chimps Have a Sense of Fairness Humans aren't the only ones who cry no fair.
In a classic test of fairness called the ultimatum game apes will dole out an equitable share of their bananas
and when they don't their partners will complain a new study shows. The findings published today (Jan 14) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that humans
and chimpanzees may share an evolved sense of fairness common to many cooperative species said lead study author Darby Proctor a primatologist at Emory University.
Thousands of dead bloated pigs floating down the river that supplies Shanghai with its drinking water.
and area residents were forced to rely on fire trucks to deliver safe drinking water. More than half of China's surface water is polluted
so it cannot be treated to make it drinkable the Economist reports and one-quarter of it is so dangerous it can't even be used for industrial purposes.
About 1 million square miles (2. 6 million sq km) of China is now under desertification that's about one-quarter of the country s total land surface spread across 18 provinces according to IPS News agency.
Sharks are endangered worldwide largely because of shark finning the removal of dorsal fins from still-living sharks for the Chinese delicacy known as shark fin soup.
or even acknowledge the high rates of stomach liver kidney and colon cancer in certain areas usually adjacent to heavy industrial complexes the BBC reports.
All the fish died even chickens and ducks that drank from the river died. If you put your leg in the water you'll get rashes
While items like red meat liquor and automobiles were considered once forbidden luxuries more and more families are driving their car to a market to buy tenderloin beef 120-proof baijiu liquor and other consumer goods.
Binge drinking and alcohol-related hospitalizations have reached now epidemic proportions the Guardian reports and the Chinese who once enjoyed a relatively healthy diet
and low rates of cancer now dine on twice as much meat as Americans consuming one-quarter of the world's supply according to the Telegraph.
These consumer trends multiplied across a large and heavily populated country have a global reach that affects everything from sugar prices in Europe to climate change in Greenland:
Food Like other aspects of Chinese life cuisine is influenced heavily by geography and ethnic diversity.
Among the main styles of Chinese cooking are Cantonese which features stir-fried dishes and Sezchuan
which relies heavily on use of peanuts sesame paste and ginger and is known for its spiciness.
The Chinese word for rice is fan which also means meal and it is a staple of their diet as are bean sprouts cabbage and scallions.
Because they do not consume a lot of meat occasionally pork or chicken tofu is a main source of protein for the Chinese.
Tea is the beverage of choice. Arts Chinese art is influenced greatly by the country s rich spiritual and mystical history.
Many sculptures and paintings depict spiritual figures of Buddhism. Many musical instruments are integral to Chinese culture including the flute-like xun and the guqin
which is in the zither family. The country s musical history dates back to the beginning of its existence.
A diet rich in saturated fat being overweight and not having much or any physical activity are all things that exacerbate bad cholesterol levels that narrow
There are also some natural food and supplements that may help to lower cholesterol according to the Mayo Clinic including artichokes barley garlic oat bran beta-sitosterol blond psyllium (found in Metamucil) and sitostanol.
High-Cholesterol Prevention Strategies The best way to prevent high cholesterol is the same way to treat high cholesterol leading a healthy lifestyle.
By losing weight eating foods that are low in saturated fats eliminating trans fats eating whole grains fruits vegetables
and fish and drinking alcohol in moderation it's possible to keep cholesterol down according to the American Heart Assocation.
Roosters Really Do Know What Time It Is The rooster's morning cock-a-doodle-doo is driven by an internal clock finds new research suggesting the male chickens really know the time of day.
at night a dip in insulin causes humans to process food more slowly and even blind cave fish use a circadian clock to tell time.'
Sure enough the chickens crowed at daybreak regardless of the light conditions. The roosters also crowed at other times of day
and in response light and the crows of their fellow chickens but those behaviors were much stronger at daybreak.
and believe that chickens provide an excellent model. Follow Tia Ghose on Twitter@tiaghose. Â Followâ Livescience@livescience Facebookâ & Google+.
#Cocoa Frog Among New Species Discovered in'Pristine'Ecosystem A chocolate-covered frog and one of the tiniest dung beetles ever found are among the new species discovered during a survey of
Among them was the cocoa frog a tree-climber of the genus Hypsiboas named for its chocolate-colored skin.
and recycle nutrients to promote plant growth. The expedition also turned up five other potentially new frog species many insects and one snake.
After a few hearty meals the yellow-beaked parrot headed back into the forest. An important ecosystem Southeastern Suriname is important above and beyond its role as a biodiversity hotspot the scientists found.
The mountainous region holds the headwaters of Suriname's largest rivers making it key for sustainable drinking water agriculture and energy production.
The draft predicts that the world will lose two percent of its food supply due to the changing climate
while food demand is expected to increase by 14 percent. And the nations that need to boost food production are the ones most likely to take a hit.
The IPCC cautions that the draft report is not final and is likely to change.
The fungus is attacking coffee berries throughout prime coffee-growing regions in Latin america and Africa as well.
and animals in the food chain absorb the carbon atoms explained study coauthor Thure Cerling a geochemist at the University of Utah.
and is made into plant sugars and starches Cerling said. And then an animal comes along
Patagonian pumas kill about 50 percent more animals than their North american counterparts and spend less time feeding on their hard-earned meals.
and only leaving after they're full (they typically get full before the meat runs out).
To make up for the relatively brief amount of time spent with kills in the grassland the big cats must kill more prey to get the same amount of meat said Elbroch who works for Panthera a conservation group dedicated to preserving big cats.
A lot of meat Female cougars weigh about 85 pounds (39 kilograms) while males average about 150 pounds (68 kg) Elbroch said.
On average they eat about 5 to 7 pounds (2 to 4 kg) of meat per day only about a quarter of
I believe this is the first study to quantify how much meat is lost and how much extra hunting pumas are forced to do at considerable risk to feed these'kleptoparasites'said Paul Beier a researcher at Northern Arizona University referring to the many animals that make a meal of the cougar's table scraps.
Beier wasn't involved in Elbroch's research. Up to 17 different animals depend upon cougar kills for food Elbroch said.
They are providing a lot of meat to their community they are truly a keystone species Elbroch said referring to a species that provides multiple irreplaceable services that keep an ecosystem productive.
Elbroch spent more than 1. 5 years in Patagonia conducting most of his work in the Chacabuco Valley in southern Chile near the border with Argentina.
if he could find what the cougar had been eating. His group recorded 266 different carcasses the large majority
Since 2007 The Coca-cola Company and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have worked together to help conserve freshwater resources around the world.
We have helped conserve seven of the world's most important freshwater basins improved water efficiency
and reduced carbon emissions within Coca-cola's manufacturing operations and advanced more-sustainable agriculture. Saving the Planet is Good Business (Op-Ed After six years the outcomes of our efforts are encouraging.
The Coca-cola system has improved its water efficiency by 20 percent and through on-the-ground conservation efforts the company has replenished more than half of the water it uses in its products annually.
And while Coca-cola and WWF have seen progress through the power of our work together we know there is more work yet to be done
>The first complete living model of the developing human brain has been created in a lab dish.</</p><p>Researchers grew human stem cells in an environment that encouraged them to form pea-size gobs of brain tissue
<a href=http://www. livescience. com/39247-mini-human brains-grown-in-dish. html target=blank>Mini Human'brains'Grown in a Dish</a p></p><p>An unusual painting
The finding and boa-eating-monkey video is noteworthy since reports of primates being eaten by predators are relatively rare according to the study published this month in the journal Primates.</
<a href=http://www. livescience. com/39172-boa-constrictor-eats-howler-monkey. html target=blank>Boa constrictor Seen Eating Howler monkey in a First</a p></p><p
but it turns out they do not live on meat alone scientists have discovered unexpectedly that these predators occasionally snack on fruit as well.</
></p><p>A cavern in Spain may have lured ancient carnivores to their deaths by offering the promise of food
He Used Common House Paint</a p><p></p><p>In a chilling case report doctors in Turkey have described what they claim to be a real-life vampire with multiple personalities and an addiction to drinking blood.</
</p><p>Caffeine occurs naturally in the nectar of coffee and citrus flowers. Bees that fed on caffeinated nectar were three times more likely to remember a flower's scent than bees fed sugar alone.
The findings detailed today (March 7) in the journal Science show how plants can manipulate animals'memories to improve their odds of pollination.</
and are not cooperative study co-author Matthew Gervais an anthropologist at UCLA told Livescience. There's been debate about
</p><p>The Sunshine state already home to man-eating sinkholes invading Burmese pythons swarming sharks tropical storms
</p><p>Written in the Coptic language the ancient text tells of Pontius Pilate the judge who authorized Jesus'crucifixion having dinner with Jesus before his crucifixion
</p><p>The findings published Sunday (Mar 10) in the journal The Lancet suggest that atherosclerosis a form of heart disease wherein calcium deposits narrow the arteries may have been a universal disease in all human societies and not wholly a result of the modern diet.</
Eating avocados regularly may improve the quality of your diet and some key heath markers according to a new analysis. After crunching the data from the National Health
and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2001 to 2008 researchers found that eating avocados was associated with an overall better-quality diet;
Findings were published in the recent issue of Nutrition Journal. For the current analysis researchers examined the diet quality of 17567 adults ages 19 and older who participated in the NHANES survey.
NHANES interviewers gathered nutrition information based on 24-hour dietary recalls. The NHANES program of studies regularly assesses the health
and nutritional status of adults and children in the United states. Researchers calculated diet quality using the USDA's Healthy Eating Index
which indicates how closely diets follow the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The study reported that people who ate avocados had significantly higher intakes of fruits and vegetables in general and lower intakes of added sugars.
The avocado eaters also had higher intakes of total fat monounsaturated fat polyunsaturated fat dietary fiber Vitamin e magnesium potassium and Vitamin k along with a lower intake of carbohydrates.
Avocados are rich in monounsaturated fat which has been associated with a lower risk of heart disease. Previous research elsewhere has found an estimated 19 percent reduction in the risk of coronary disease
 Avocado eaters also fared well in the weight department. People who ate avocados weighed on average about 8 pounds less than non-avocado eaters.
The avocado group also had a lower BMI 26.7 versus 28.4 and their waists were about 2 inches narrower.
what's more the pool of avocado eaters was small. Still the results are intriguing.
These findings suggest a role for avocados in improving dietary quality and possibly reducing the risk of metabolic syndrome in the United states the researchers wrote.
Eating avocados may raise good cholesterol levels lower BMI and reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome.
More precise imagery could also allow farmers to target pesticides just to the plants that need them reducing how much ends up in the food supply Anderson said.
Drones could also be used by vineyards to make better wines by identifying patches of soil with richer moisture content.
Then the owners of vineyards could have greater control over the wines they produced by sorting grapes based on the soil in
With mice researchers were able to use thousands of eggs and conduct many experiments to work out these problems Lanza said.
But with primates eggs are a very precious resource and it is not easy to acquire them to conduct experiments Lanza said.
Biologist Allan Savory explained in a talk at the TED 2013 conference in Long beach Calif. last month that he was taught to hold livestock accountable for incurring such damage on the land
And in Africa where he was working to set up national parks in the 1950s Savory thought elephants were also to blame for the land's deterioration.
I will carry that to my grave Savory told the audience. One good thing did come out of it:
Turning course Savory now believes that the only option left to combat desertification is to use livestock bunched
while the periodic trampling ensured good cover of the soil Savory said. Savory has worked with communities to implement a holistic style of grazing that attempts to mimic this process.
It involves keeping cattle in dense herds and moving them frequently so that the land is overused not
The Savory Institute which he founded and its sister organization the Africa Center for Holistic Management are leading these efforts.
even if a person were intentionally drinking several glasses of cranberry juice daily to prevent or treat a urinary tract infection.
 It seems to have been most similar to the modern black pepper plant and is thought to be at least 122 million years old.
As diverse flower forms lured insects to pollinate them insects adapted to differing ways of gathering nectar
Confuciusornis (125 to 140 million years) was sized a crow bird with a modern beak but enormous claws at the tips of the wings.
With such a crisis in the photosynthetic communities a cascading crisis would have toppled the food/energy pyramids extant at the time.
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