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POPSTop EU Court Breaks GM Crop Secrecy Monsanto cannot expect Europe to turn a blind eye to the way it has behaved elsewhere in the world. The fact that the EU commission has been fighting monsantos corner shows how right the Irish are to refuse the Lisbon Treaty..
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POPSIs Intelligence Sexy? <<<Many traits in many species have evolved through sexual selection specifically to function as fitness indicators that reveal good genes and good health. Sexually selected fitness indicators typically show (1) higher coefficients of phenotypic and genetic variation than survival traits, (2) at least moderate genetic heritabilities and (3) positive correlations with many aspects of an animal's general condition, including body size, body symmetry, parasite resistance, longevity and freedom from deleterious mutations. These diagnostic criteria also appear to describe human intelligence (the g factor).>>> (from abstract). So then, is there some sort of mirror neuron circuitry in the brain that excites a cortical g spot?
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POPSA New Strain of Flu Many Times More Lethal Than H1N1? It is typically behaving like a hemorrhagic fever in the lungs turning them into ‘mush’ and killing the patient. Some reports from the Ukraine are indicating that figures may will be over 1000 deaths, but the numbers are not being released by the government until confirmations are made. Moreover, the virus could have the potential to recombine with those being vaccinated to create a plague that could potentially kill more than 1 million people globally per month. I don't know what to think. .:confused:
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POPSWant To Build Muscle or Lose Weight? A common reason for people to start on a gym regimen is to lose weight. In case this happens to be your intended goal then you need to take an all together different approach to working out in a gym
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POPSNew quantum algorithm helpes solving big problems. “Large-scale linear systems of equations exist in many fields, such as weather prediction, engineering, and computer vision”, says Harrow. “Quantum computers could supply serious improvements for these and many other problems. For example, a trillion-variable problem would take a classical computer at least a hundred trillion steps to solve, but using the new algorithm, a quantum computer could solve the problem in just a few hundred steps”. The solution could also be applied to other complex processes such as image and video processing, genetic analyses and even Internet traffic control. Sounds pretty good to me!
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POPSBioHacking: The Plot for the Next Real-life Blockbuster Thriller? Solitary citizens are toiling over test-tubes, sacrificing their time and money to create brand new lifeforms - but this isn't a science fiction movie, it's a hobby. "DIY Biochemistry" sees private citizens converting their dining rooms into DNA labs. It's only a pity that Michael Crichton has passed on, because we've got the plot of his next book right here.
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POPSStone Age Humans Crossed Sahara in the Rain Wet spells While about 40 per cent of hydrocarbons in today's dust come from water-dependent plants, this rose to 60 per cent, first between 120,000 and 110,000 ago and again from 50,000 to 45,000 years ago. So the region seemed to be in the grip of unusually wet spells at the time. That may have been enough to allow sub-Saharan Stone Age Homo sapiens to migrate north: the first fossils of modern humans outside Africa date from 93,000 year ago in Israel. And both genetic analysis and archaeology show that humans didn't spread extensively beyond Africa until 50,000 years ago, suggesting a second migration at the time of the second wet spell. Fossil record Ian Tattersall of the American Museum of Natural History in New York is impressed by the findings. "They tie in approximately with the information we have from the fossil record."
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POPSGreat Whites Hang Out in 'Shark Cafe' It had long been assumed shark species at the top of the ocean food chain that roam the high seas looking for food and mates did so almost randomly. But using satellite tagging, acoustic monitoring of shark "hot spots" and genetic samples, a research team led by Professor Barbara Block of Stanford University found to their surprise that the eastern Pacific's great whites are real homebodies. Over an eight year period, nearly 100 sharks were electronically tagged, and even more had tissue samples taken by scientists working from a ship. Sticking to a schedule They found that the sharks consistently migrate along the same paths and stick to a schedule. Between August and December, the great whites, which can grow up to six metres and weigh three tonnes, stalk waters off the coast of central and northern California, feasting on seals and sea lions. Their preferred hunting grounds in this area are known as the "red triangle", notes the study.
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POPSGreat White Sharks Have Their Own Cafe
"Over an eight year period, nearly 100 sharks were electronically tagged, and even more had tissue samples taken by scientists working from a ship. Not only do the sharks consistently migrate along the same paths, they stick to a schedule too. Between August and December, the Great Whites -- which can grow up to six metres (20 feet) and three tonnes -- stalk waters off the coast of central and northern California, feasting on seals and sea lions. Their preferred hunting grounds in this area are known as the "red triangle", notes the study, published in the British journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Starting in January, they head for the deep blue around Hawaii some 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) to the west, where they are found in largest numbers between April and July. But some -- especially males -- loiter at a halfway point known as the "White Shark Cafe", with females coming and going for what scientists presume is a bit of shark intimacy. The new findi
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POPSStudy Finds Humans Still Evolving, and Quickly Human evolution has been increasing at a stunning rate since our ancestors began spreading through Europe, Asia and Africa, quickening to 100 times historical levels after agriculture became widespread, according to a study published today.
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POPSLife Expectancy of Cats
Diet plays an important role in increasing the average life expectancy of cats. The pet food offered to them and their lifestyle play a major part in increasing the chances of a longer life for your cat. If you overfeed your cat, you are lowering its chances of living a healthy, long and satisfying life. The genetic make up of each individual cat also help in increasing the life expectancy of cats. Cat breeds that are genetically prone to certain diseases are known to have a lower life span. The moggie or mouser and similar mixed breeds of cats have a mix genetic make up, that makes the average life expectancy of cats longer than the pure breed cats. When cats are kept indoors they tend to live through a ripe old age of over 15 years. They are less prone to accidents, poisoning, attacks from animals like other cats, dogs, etc. These cats do not succumb to infectious feline diseases, as they are less exposed to other cats. It has been seen that they can live to over 20 years Re
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POPSScientists Create New Life Form to Clean Up Water "We're kind of making a new machine," said Dan Tarjan, a senior majoring in biology at University of Virginia. The live machine is to be entered in The International Genetically Engineered Machine competition, which will be held Halloween weekend at MIT. The annual competition is built on the premise that life can be broken down into a warehouse of off-the-shelf, interchangeable parts and reassembled into creatures that have never existed. Over 100 teams will use synthetic biology (similar to genetic engineering) to show that DNA building blocks (BioBricks) don’t have to come from nature and can be designed and built from standardized parts that behave predictably. The hope is that these tiny factories will produce clean biofuels, powerful new medicines and environmental pollution sponges. Good luck to all contestants.
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POPSGenome-wide study of autism published in Nature "The biggest challenge to finding the genes that contribute to autism is having a large and well studied group of patients and their family members, both for primary discovery of genes and to test and verify the discovery candidates," said Aravinda Chakravarti, professor of medicine, pediatrics and molecular biology and genetics at the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at Johns Hopkins, and one of the study's senior authors. "This latest finding would not have been possible without these many research groups and consortia pooling together their patient resources. Of course, they would not have been possible without the genomic scanning technologies either."
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POPS2 species of salt water fish, genus Groupers critically endangered (CR) Pacific goliath grouper or quinquefasciatus (Epinephelus quinquefasciatus )* Atlantic goliath grouper or itajara (Epinephelus itajara )** Both salt water fishes are two different species.*** The range of both is Latin America also. Both are listed as critically endangered (CR) by the IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature.****| |*Pacific goliath grouper - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This page was last modified on 27 May 2009 at 19:29. **Atlantic goliath grouper - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This page was last modified on 19 June 2009 at 19:49. ***The clipped source **** *and** above
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POPSDoes Your Cat Eat Strange Things? Genetic predisposition ---- wool sucking, is seen more frequently in Siamese and Birman cats. Environmental factors. Is the cat bored or seeking attention? Compulsive disorder. Once other possibilities are ruled out, some pet behavioralists start to look into the possibility of compulsive disorder. munching on live power cords can be hazardous to a cat’s health–but the other danger is that ingested materials can get stuck in your cat’s stomach or intestine, which can obstruct the passage of food and may cut off the blood supply to organs–either scenario can be fatal As well, many houseplants are toxic to cats; chewing or eating these plants can have mild symptoms as well as fatality. If your cat has a history of ingesting non-food items and becomes lethargic, vomits, or displays other concerning behavior, take them to your veterinarian immediately See the ASPCA’s full list of plants toxic to cats More at the site
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POPSBlessing/Curse of First People's Genetic Adaptation People who live in harsh environments for more than 500 years, adapt genetically and culturally to that climate. Modern ways and diets are attractive but produce disease because of disconnect between how their bodies were adapted to a non-modern lifestyle. The epidemic of diabetes among first nation children and young adults has been accelerating as traditional ways of living fade. This is not limited ot First Americans but this article illustrates the problem well and how difficult it is to deal with.
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POPS If You Donate A Kidney To Dad, You Won't Get Insurance Again. Mr. Waddington has polycystic kidney disease, or PKD, a genetic disorder that leads to kidney failure. First he lost one kidney, and then the other. A year ago, he was on dialysis and desperately needed a new kidney. Doctors explained that the best match — the one least likely to be rejected — would perhaps come from Travis or Michael, his two sons, then ages 29 and 27. Travis and Michael each had a 50 percent chance of inheriting PKD. And if pre-donation testing revealed that one of them had the disorder, that brother might never be able to get health insurance. As a result, their doctors had advised not getting tested. After all, new research suggests that lack of insurance increases a working-age person’s risk of dying in any given year by 40 percent. “At the time David needed a transplant, the people closest to him couldn’t even offer a lifesaving donation — for insurance reasons,” said Mr. Waddington’s wife, Susan.
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