Early tetrapods probably evolved from Lobe-finned fishes able to use their muscular fins to take advantage of the predator-free and food-rich environment of the new wetland ecosystems.
#Belly Up to the Bamboo Buffet: Pandas vs. Horses This Behind the Scenes article was provided to Live Science in partnership with the National Science Foundation. 2014 is the year of Year of the Horse in China.
Horses have been beating pandas to the bamboo buffet. Michigan State university (MSU) panda habitat experts revealed the oft-hidden yet significant conservation conflict between pandas and horses in a recent article in the Journal for Nature Conservation.
Watch a panda bellying up to the bamboo buffet here. China invests billions to protect its panda habitat and conserve the 1600 remaining endangered supported by this habitat.
Panda in Wolong Nature Reserve eating lunch from CSIS at MSU on Vimeo. For years timber harvesting has been the panda's biggest threat.
But conservation programs limiting timber harvesting have chalked up wins in preserving panda habitat. Vanessa Hull a doctoral student at MSU's Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability (CSIS) has been living off and on for seven years in the Wolong Nature Reserve most recently tracking pandas that she has outfitted with GPS collars.
Over the years she started noticing that uninvited guests had apparently been serving themselves at the bamboo buffet
Because horses are prohibited from grazing in designated grazing areas to prevent them from competing for food with cattle some farmers have been letting horses graze unattended in forests.
Where unfortunately they would compete for food with pandas. Over time the popularity of this practice soared.
Constipation is caused by many factors such as poor diet dehydration lack of exercise jet lag or diet change while traveling pregnancy and certain medications.
Getting a good rest drinking more water exercising and eating a high-fiber diet of grains fruits
and vegetables should remedy constipation. If not a paucity of bowel movements could point to (or lead to) a serious medical condition.
Perhaps surprising passing gas from morning through the night is normal and healthy the natural byproduct of your gut bacteria digesting your food.
or drink dieter's tea with the hope of pooping out more of those calories.
That fiber comes in whole grains beans vegetable and vegetable skins seeds and nuts features of an Asian diet.
High-fiber foods pack fewer calories per pound compared to low-fiber foods such as meat and processed foods hallmarks of a Western diet.
Wanjek is the author of Food At work and Bad Medicine. His column Bad Medicine appears regularly on Live Science c
and modern changes in diet and lifestyle (for example overheated poorly ventilated homes). Some years are worse for hay fever sufferers than others.
and then develop food allergies when they start to eat solid foods then develop hay fever as school children then asthma in their teens.
Sometimes these diseases fade away as the person grows up but sometimes they persist Sometimes they also develop for the first time later in life.
*More people die every year from smoking than from murder AIDS suicide drugs car crashes and alcohol combined.
Wanjek is the author of Food At work and Bad Medicine. His column Bad Medicine appears regularly on Livescience c
and food allergies in the United states over the last 20 to 30 years people who don't have any allergies don't really worry about getting them he said.
Eating local honey helps relieve seasonal allergy symptoms. It's true that bees collect pollen from plants Costa said
and tentacles extended to filter-feed from the water below. The species dubbed Edwardsiella andrillae is the first-ever anemone known to live on ice.
#oesoil moisture is said nonexistent Michael Brewer one of the authors of the Drought Monitor and a scientist with the National Climatic Data center said in an email.
Pastureland that feeds livestock has been affected severely and the stock ponds that provide them with water have dried up.
and feed for livestock and a bit more water may be added to reservoirs that are significantly below normal.
of sea snake goes without a drink for months on end gradually dehydrating before refueling with freshwater
when you go too long between meals? Well it turns out there may be a scientific reason behind this phenomenon called feeling hangry (so hungry that you become angry.
If you must have bread choose breads with at least 3 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber.
3. Eat a magnesium-rich diet. There is a significant association between magnesium intake and type 2 diabetes risk according to a 2011 review in the journal Diabetes Care.
Try adding a spinach salad with avocado for a super boost of magnesium to your diet. 4. Consider grapefruit for breakfast.
when people consume a half of a fresh grapefruit before meals according to a 2006 study in the Journal of Medicinal Food.
One surprise was the discovery that starving rats in New york city had attacked the trees in urban parks for sustenance.
With the deep snow and the cold winter probably they didn't have access to the normal food supply
Sorry no rat Armageddon The population of Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) whose numbers are almost wholly dependent on humans for food may drop somewhat this year as a result of wintry blasts.
and get to the food then cold temperature might actually cause some mortality urban ecologist Steve Sullivan of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museumin Chicago told Fox news Chicago.
Eating foods that aggravate allergies. When some people with pollen allergies eat certain fresh fruits
The allergic cross-reaction occurs shortly after the offending food is eaten. It happens because the immune system recognizes a similarity between proteins in some pollens and those in fruits vegetables nuts and spices.
For example a person with a birch pollen allergy may develop oral allergy symptoms after eating an apple carrot peach almond or hazelnut.
Sometimes peeling cooking or avoiding the food altogether during allergy season may prevent symptoms Bassett said.
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#Bumble Inn: New england Gets New'Hotel'for Pollinators An unusual hotel in New england is generating a lot of buzz in scientific circles.
Bees which play a critical role in the health of food crops and natural ecosystems have experienced rapid declines in population and diversity over the past several years research from NHAES shows.
Bee boxes wildflowers and unmowed pastures are but a few ways to improve healthy pollinator communities.
Ibex are related to antelopes buffalo bison cattle goats and sheep. Ibex are typically about 1 to 5. 5 feet (30 to 170 centimeters) from their hooves to withers the highest part of the shoulders at the base of the neck.
Grazing accounts for a significant part of their eating habits. The low nutritional value of their diet means the ibex must spend much of the day eating.
Ibex make their homes on cliffs that would be dangerous for predators. The Walia ibex can live at altitudes as high as 8200 to 14800 feet (2500 to 4500 m) in the cliffs of the Ethiopian highlands according to the BBC.
For example Alpine ibex climb up the side of the Cingino Dam in the Italian Alps to lick salt and lichens from the stones.
They provided humans with meat to eat and hide to use as clothing. About 8000 to 10000 years ago in Southwest asia and the Middle east humans began domesticating wild goats according to the San diego Zoo.
#To Capture the Milky way, Capture the Landscape Mike Taylor is accomplished an landscape astrophotographer and an instructor for night photography and postprocessing.
While one of my cameras shot time-lapse footage of the Milky way moving across the sky behind the tree
I set up another camera to capture a 16-image panorama that features the full Milky way arc and covers 240 degrees of view from north (left) to south (right).
I purposely exposed each frame for the Milky way and the stars while I was out in the field.
#Three Foods That Help Prevent Slippery Roads This article was provided by Accuweather. com. Government agencies in the United states spend $2. 3 billion every year to battle winter weather conditions according to a study sponsored by the New york state Department of transportation.
Unconventional sources of salt brines such as beet juice potato and cheese byproducts are decreasing costs lowering environmental impacts
Rock salt Versus Salt Brines: What's Best for Road Safety? Is Winter Driving Safer With Four-Wheel All-Wheel Drive Vehicles?
Winter Weather Center Beet juice As an agricultural byproduct created through the sugar beet process beet juice brine is a useful tool for many highway departments.
and salt pre-wetting agent made from processed sugar beet molasses. When combined with the traditional deicing agent of salt the thick red beet juice freezes at a lower temperature than just a pure salt brine so it can be used in below-zero temperatures.
It also provides additional adhesive powers for the brine which allows the roadway to retain more even after rainfall.
Cheese Brines are being created from cheese in a predictable place-Wisconsin. The state already famous for its cheese is implementing the use of salty cheese by-products to treat their roadways.
Although it was used first in the state of Washington Wisconsin was a logical testing ground for this new brine.
The brine is simply a salt bath used in the final manufacturing process. The cheese brine was a waste product that the dairy had to pay $25000 annually to have treated off site said Steve Warndahl a highway commissioner in Polk County Wis.
The cheese brine can be used in temperatures as low as minus 21 degrees which is much lower than solid rock salt
which is ineffective at minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit. This works well for us and at cost savings to our taxpayers Warndahl said.
Potatoes In Tennessee a brine solution containing potato juice commercially named Magic Salt is helping keep roadways open
and clear during winter. A byproduct of the distillation of vodka it was discovered in Hungary that the mixture did not freeze in low temperatures.
Jerry Hatcher maintenance director for the Tennessee Department of transportation (TDOT) said That's when someone realized it could be used as a deicing agent.
The potato juice is mixed with a traditional salt brine at varying ratios depending on the temperatures and weather conditions.
Although temperatures in Tennessee do not reach this threshold the potato juice is also effective in temperatures well below zero.
The potato juice is more environmentally friendly than rock salt. Hatcher said Agricultural brines are friendly to the environment
Experimenting with solutions beyond traditional rock salt and even salt brines will prove to have a tremendous impact on road safety environmental concerns and cost savings.
and nutrients from a culture medium underneath it delivering water and nutrients to the plants on top
and nutrients to pass through. And because there's no soil there's a lot less need to spray for pests.
For countries like the UAE which imports 90 percent of its food this technology could be crucial for fighting food scarcity and conserving water.
If you think gelato is just the Italian equivalent of ice cream think again. The frozen treat contains less fat
and less air and is served at a higher temperature than conventional ice cream lending it a more intense concentrated flavor.
which differentiates the Italian dessert from its French counterpart sorbet which is made never with dairy.
The American version of sorbet sherbet is also water -and fruit-based but may contain up to 2-percent butterfat giving it a slightly more gelato-like creaminess.
While this beloved treat has an Italian name (gelato means ice cold or frozen in Italian it actually hails from the other side of the Mediterranean.
Eventually small amounts of cream and sugar were added to the mix as well creating a recipe that more closely resembles today's gelato.
and in 1565 the Florentine cook Bernardo Buontalenti brought the dessert into the mainstream when he served Catherine de'Medici the Italian noblewoman and eventual queen of France her very first cup of gelato.
Today gelato is served up with pride in Italian ice cream parlors (gelaterie) throughout the country as well as abroad.
#What Is a Vegan? A vegan is someone who abstains from eating and using animal products.
The primary motivation behind veganism is to reduce harm to all living creatures. It is compassion in action according to the American Vegan Society.
But what do vegans eat? In terms of diet vegans differ from vegetarians in that they not only don't eat meat
but also don't consume anything derived from animals including eggs dairy honey and marshmallows which contain gelatin a protein obtained from animal byproducts.
Vegans also stay away from food items that were processed using animal products. For example vegans often avoid white sugar
because some refineries use bone char (incinerated animal bones) as a filter to whiten cane sugar.
In addition to maintaining a plant-based diet vegans abstain from purchasing or wearing various clothing items made with leather wool fur or silk.
Upholstery bedding and other household items using these materials are avoided also. Vegans are usually careful about not using various products including soaps cosmetics toiletries
and cleaning solutions that were tested on animals or have related animal ingredients such as lard beeswax and lanolin (a waxy substance in sheep's wool).
People who follow the vegan diet but do not abstain from using animal products are sometimes known as dietary vegans or strict vegetarians.
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#Vegetarian Diets Lower Blood pressure Best Scientists are reporting results today that might boil the blood of some people on the Atkin's and other low-carb diets:
Vegetarian diets rank as superior in reducing the risk of high blood pressure or hypertension and subsequent heart damage the study found.
The research by scientists in Japan and the United states was a meta-analysis of 39 high-quality previously conducted hypertension studies from 18 countries with a total of more than 21000 participants.
The researchers found that people who avoid meat had consistently lower and healthier blood pressure levels.
The results appear today (Feb 24) in the journal JAMA Internal medicine. Hypertension is a leading risk factor for stroke heart disease kidney disease and shortened life expectancy.
The condition affects one in three U s. adults according to the CDC. Vegetarian diets were associated on average with a 6. 9-point drop in systolic blood pressure
and a 4. 7-point drop in diastolic pressure. Blood pressure is measured as systolic or when heart muscle is contracting over diastolic
when heart is resting between beats). 10 Amazing Facts About Your Heart The full analysis led by Dr. Yoko Yokoyama of the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center in Osaka Japan found that meat eaters with hypertension could gain the most by switching
to a diet with greater emphasis on fresh vegetables beans and whole grains. For some study participants plant-based diets lowered blood pressure better than did prescription hypertension medicine and without the medication's side effects.
Just a 5-point drop in systolic blood pressure applied on average across the United states would lead to a 9-percent drop in heart disease
and a 14-percent drop in stroke said Dr. Neal Barnard a co-author on the study and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
The results are in accord with the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet which the USDA recommends for all Americans to lower the risk of many chronic diseases including obesity and diabetes.
The DASH diet is not vegetarian but does emphasize a diet rich in vegetables and limited meat particularly red meats and luncheon meats.
Hypertension has long been associated with diets high in sodium (salt) and saturated fat and with obesity inactivity alcohol consumption and smoking.
Scientists theorize that plant-based diets are naturally lower in saturated fat and sodium and high in potassium
which can counter the effects of too much dietary sodium. One shortfall of the analysis the researchers said was that it could not distinguish among the types of vegetarian diets from strict vegan with no animal products to liberal vegetarian diets that allow eggs and dairy and the different diets'respective effects on blood pressure.
A study published last June in JAMA which looked at 73000 people found vegetarians had a lower risk of dying over a six-year period compared to meat eaters but the benefits among vegetarians varied.
Those with the lowest risk of death were the pesco-vegetarians (who eat fish) followed by vegans (who eat no meat
or any other animal products) followed by lacto-ovo-vegetarians who eat milk and eggs. The researchers of the new analysis said they hope further studies could clarify
which types of vegetarian diets are best for lowering blood pressure. Nevertheless Barnard a well-known proponent of the vegan diet said that any movement toward a plant-centric diet would bring health benefits.
Follow Christopher Wanjek@wanjekfor daily tweets on health and science with a humorous edge. Wanjek is the author of Food At work and Bad Medicine.
His column Bad Medicine appears regularly on Live Science e
#'Microbial Pompeii'Found on Teeth of 1, 000-Year-Old Skeletons A microbial Pompeii has been found on the teeth of 1000-year-old human skeletons.
Just as volcanic ash entombed the citizens of the ancient Roman city dental plaque preserved bacteria and food particles on the skeletons'teeth.
Researchers analyzed dental plaque from skeletons in a medieval cemetery in Germany and found that the mouths of these aged humans were home to many of the same bacterial invaders that cause gum disease in the mouths of modern humans.
One thing that is clear about the population we studied is that they didn't brush their teeth very often
The discovery of these bacteria also revealed clues to the dental hygiene and diets of these centuries-old humans according to the study detailed today (Feb 24) in the journal Nature Genetics. 5 Surprising Ways to Banish Bad
(or microbiome) and bits of food on the teeth of humans long after they die. The sticky bacteria on teeth trapped particles of food and other debris and over time the calcium phosphate in saliva the same mineral found in bones
and teeth caused the plaque to calcify into tartar. We knew that calculus preserved microscopic particles of food
and other debris but the level of preservation of biomolecules is remarkable a microbiome entombed
and recovered some of the first evidence of food molecules from ancient dental plaque. The DNA in food found in the plaque matched pigs sheep bread wheat and vegetables such as cabbage.
The researchers also found starch granules that matched cereals and the pea bean family Amazingly it's much the same thing you would find at a German restaurant today Warinner said.
The skeletons had many years 'or decades'worth of plaque built up on their teeth and many of them showed signs of gum disease and tooth decay.
While a few individuals had surprisingly healthy teeth most of the older adults had lost most or all of their teeth due to wearing decay or dental disease.
Gum disease is caused most often by the species Porphyromonas gingivalis Tannerella forsythiatreponema denticola and Filifactor alocis and these microbes were all present on the teeth of the skeletons with dental disease.
Gum diseases are caused usually by infections or inflammation of the gums and surrounding bone. About 47 percent of adults ages 30 or older in the United states have some form of gum disease according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nonhuman primates and other wild animals rarely get dental diseases Warinner said which raises the question What is it about humans that allows these pathogens to grow?
Scientists speculate that modern human diets and lifestyles may be to blame but Warinner's team plans to analyze more ancient populations from other time periods to find out.
I guard your property a vineyard near the village Panoouei from the present day until vintage and transport so that there be no negligence and on the condition that
#Improve the Food, Not Just the Food Label (Op-Ed) The nutrition labels on food may soon get a makeover as the Food
and Drug Administration announced plans in February to revise what information appears on the labels.
Nutritionists and consumer advocates have voiced their desires for improvements such as a more prominent display of the number of calories or the inclusion of the level of added sugars.
Yet lost in all this discussion about how to improve labels is the fact that food sold today is so unhealthy that it requires a label.
Therefore what's really needed is an improvement to the quality of the food not just the food labels.
If you walk around the perimeter of most grocery markets (or shop at a farmers'market) you will see the foods that don't have labels
or don't need really them. We call these whole foods. For example with fruits and vegetables what you see is
what you get. 9 Snack foods: Healthy or Not? In broccoli the only ingredient is broccoli.
unless it is sold in the center of the grocery market in a can (where ingredients usually include salt sugar
and various preservatives) or in a bag frozen (where ingredients often include the aforementioned sugar
and preservatives and some gooey cheese to entice the kids). And then there are milk and eggs.
No one expects to find labeling on these natural products because nothing is added. Yogurt shouldn't require a label
And for fish poultry beef and pork minimal labeling is needed. Anyone unaware that generous daily servings of fatty beef and pork are unhealthy has been living in a cave.
Bread used to be made of wheat water salt and yeast. When you buy real bread you'll notice there is no nutrition label.
What comes in bags with twist ties isn't bread but rather a wheat-based product.
We should face the facts and understand that many foods sold in boxes or bags and produced in a factory by the food industry are unhealthy.
The new food labels should delineate the degree to which these products are unhealthy (how much fat sugar and salt what
I call the unholy trinity) not how healthy (how much Vitamin a etc.).In short it can be hard to trust the food industry.
Some of the so-called healthy foods it creates instant oatmeal energy bars multigrain breads are essentially candy
and can give people a false sense of security about their health. Its voluntary labeling schemes also have been a joke.
One recent failure has been the Smart Choices Program in which foods got a big green check mark of approval on the front of their packaging for containing healthful elements.
This seemed very easy to follow. But if you look at the foods that got the check mark you might find chocolate ice pops which earned a check by virtue of being low fat and sugary breakfast cereals
because they are fortified with vitamins. Indeed the program's sponsors Kraft Unilever and other big players benefited from having most of their products getting that Check in 2009 they voluntarily halted the program that they voluntarily started after the FDA issued a statement saying it was analyzing the misleading food labels.
Another labeling scheme which is still active is the Whole Grain stamp from the industry-sponsored Whole Grains Council.
because it is made from oats a whole grain regardless of the fact that it is reportedly magically delicious from copious marshmallows (second ingredient) containing sugar corn starch
and corn syrup followed by more sugar (third ingredient) more corn syrup (fifth ingredient) and more corn starch (sixth ingredient).
General mills which manufactures Lucky Charms is a sponsor of the Whole Grains Council. A better labeling scheme would state things such as Caution:
The healthy elements of this product such as its low fat or sugar content do not make this product healthy.
Better foods exist; you'd be wise to forgo anything that needs a label. Because in the end the amount of Vitamin a in Lucky Charms however prominently displayed
Wanjek is the author of Food At work and Bad Medicine. His column Bad Medicine appears regularly on Live Science c
Whey protein is a popular diet supplement among people of all ages. Baby formulas include it as do nutrition shakes for the elderly.
Weight-loss supplements contain whey powder as an appetite suppressor yet young men buy whey protein powder by the gallon in hopes of building muscle mass.
when milk is turned to cheese. The protein in whey is one of the two main proteins in milk the other is called a protein casein.
When an acidic substance such as vinegar is mixed into milk these two proteins will separate--the casein proteins glob together to form solids called curds leaving the whey as a liquid.
Whey protein may show up in your favorite baked goods or ice cream as a way to replace the consistency of fat without the actual fat.
Like all proteins whey protein is made of building blocks called amino acids. Protein in the body is used primarily for muscle growth
When people digest food they break down the proteins into amino acids and then use those amino acids to build new proteins.
There are nine essential amino acids that humans must get from food to survive and thrive. In addition to BCAAS whey protein also contains all the essential amino acids.
Whey protein supplements can certainly provide high-quality protein in the diet. But most health organizations including the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention recommend getting your protein from food and not supplements if given the choice.
Meat poultry fish legumes tofu eggs nuts seeds and milk are all good sources of the essential amino acids people need.
In one study researchers at the Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Connecticut divided 63 men and women into groups receiving a soy supplement a whey supplement or a carbohydrate supplement.
Over the course of a nine-month training regimen researchers found that those taking whey protein gained several more kilograms of muscle mass than people taking the other supplements according to the 2013 article published in the Journal of the American
College of Nutrition. But the timing of taking whey protein supplements can change how effective they are.
A 2009 joint statement by the American Dietetic Association (ADA) Dietitians of Canada (DC) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) noted that eating protein during exercise did little to improve athletic performance.
Eating whey protein right after exercise could be especially useful because whey protein has a high level of leucine an easily absorbed amino acid according to Joslin Diabetes Center.
A study of 14 people with type 2 diabetes found that combining whey protein with a high-sugar meal increased people's insulin production
and quelled the expected blood sugar spike following the meal. The study was published i 2005 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Are whey protein supplements safe? The safety of whey protein supplements depends largely on the dose.
Some research shows high-protein diets are correlated with more fractures but other research has found people with high-protein diets have increased bone density according to the Harvard School of Public health.
Athletes can safely eat more protein than people who are not physically active. In fact an athlete who does not get enough protein will sustain some muscle damage
This translates to about 50 to 65 grams of protein a day or roughly 4 ounces of meat and 1 cup of cottage cheese.
or even up to 2. 0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight a day according to various statements by the American Dietetic Association the American College of Sports Medicine and the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
One 2010 experiment by Consumer Reports tested 15 protein drinks purchased online or from stores in the New york metro area.
Overall the International Society of Sports Nutrition considered a short-term regimen of whey protein supplements safe for most healthy adults.
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