Every weekday, Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, picks the raddest articles from the mainstream media so we don't have to. Open wide: Today's Science in the News is piping hot.
from the Guardian (UK): To mark Darwin's birthday, and 150 years since he unveiled his theory of natural selection, [The Guardian] brings you the definitive guide to On the Origin of Species. "Big enough to undermine creation but simple enough to be stated in a sentence, the theory of natural selection is a masterpiece," writes Richard Dawkins. "Sequence any gene and you will see that our version is more similar to that of other apes than to that of the rat, fish or fly. It's what Darwin would have predicted," says Laurence D Hurst.
Centenarians Not an Exclusive Group
from the Seattle Times: CHICAGO (Associated Press) - Living to 100 is easier than you might think. Surprising new research suggests that even people who develop heart disease or diabetes late in life have a decent shot at reaching the century mark. "It has been generally assumed that living to 100 years of age was limited to those who had not developed chronic illness," said Dr. William Hall, of the University of Rochester. Hall has a theory for how these people could live to that age. In an editorial in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine, where the study was published, he writes that it might be thanks to doctors who aggressively treat these older folks' health problems, rather than taking an "ageist" approach that assumes they wouldn't benefit.
Flying Reptiles Came in Miniature
from BBC News Online: A new fossil species of flying reptile with a wingspan of less than 30cm (1ft) has been discovered in China. The nearly complete articulated skeleton was unearthed in fossil beds from north-eastern China. The 120-million-year-old reptile had not reached adulthood when it died, but neither was it a hatchling. Study of the fossil suggests it is one of the smallest pterosaurs known, a team says in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The new species has been named Nemicolopterus crypticus, which means "hidden flying forest dweller." The researchers from Brazil and China say the toothless, sparrow-sized specimen contains several unique anatomical features that distinguish it from other pterosaurs (ancient flying reptiles).
After Rebound, King Penguins Face Warming Threat, Study Finds
from the Los Angeles Times (Registration Required): The king penguin, a species that rebounded from near-extinction over the last century, could be wiped out in coming decades due to global warming, researchers reported Monday. If the surface temperature of the Southern Ocean rises 0.47 degrees Fahrenheit -- an increase well below current forecasts of 0.72 degrees over the next 20 years -- declining food availability would lead to a population collapse, the scientists estimated. "We don't have to get several degrees of increase to get a big effect," said Yvon Le Maho, a physiologist at the French National Center for Scientific Research and lead author of the study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
5200 B.C. Is New Date for Farms in Egypt
from the New York Times (Registration Required): Long before the rule of pharaohs, Egyptians grew wheat and barley and raised pigs, goats, sheep and cattle. Spotty evidence had suggested that agriculture was practiced there more than 7,000 years ago, two millenniums earlier than the first royal dynasties. American and Dutch archaeologists reported last week the discovery at a desert oasis of what they say is the earliest known farming settlement in ancient Egypt. They said the animal bones, carbonized grains, hearths and pottery were roughly dated at 5200 B.C. Now, for the first time, the archaeologists said, early agriculture in Egypt can be studied in a village context, promising insights about the farmers and some answers to the questions of how, why and when Egyptians adopted farming.
The Differences in Gender -- Sealed With a Kiss
from the Washington Post (Registration Required): A kiss, it turns out, is definitely not always just a kiss. As Valentine's Day approaches, research has begun shedding light on that most basic of all human expressions of love -- the smooch -- which has received surprisingly little scientific scrutiny. "You'd think there would be a lot of research on kissing behavior. It's so common," said Susan M. Hughes, an assistant professor of psychology at Albright College in Pennsylvania, whose recent study is one of the first to probe snogging in depth. "But there isn't. It's really been ignored." In fact, much about love and attraction remains mysterious. "This is a seminal paper," said Helen Fisher, a Rutgers University anthropologist who studies love. "It's remarkable that we don't know more about these things. But love has not really been well studied until recently."
Finding May Solve Riddle of Fatigue in Muscles
from the New York Times (Registration Required): One of the great unanswered questions in physiology is why muscles get tired. The experience is universal, common to creatures that have muscles, but the answer has been elusive until now. Scientists at Columbia say they have not only come up with an answer, but have also devised, for mice, an experimental drug that can revive the animals and let them keep running long after they would normally flop down in exhaustion. For decades, muscle fatigue had been largely ignored or misunderstood. Leading physiology textbooks did not even try to offer a mechanism, said Dr. Andrew Marks, principal investigator of the new study. A popular theory, that muscles become tired because they release lactic acid, was discredited not long ago.
from the Chicago Tribune (Registration Required): HOUSTON (Associated Press) - With the Columbus lab now secured to the international space station, the 10 orbiting astronauts rolled up their sleeves for their next big job: getting the lab running. The shuttle and station crews planned to enter the science lab Tuesday and hook up all the power and data cables. They woke up Tuesday to pianist Jim Brickman's "Dream Come True," a dedication from astronaut Rex Walheim's family. "Doing a spacewalk certainly is a dream come true but the biggest dream come true is having a wonderful wife, Margie, and my two great little boys, Alex and Jeffrey," Walheim said.
Ancient Iron Ore Mine Discovered in Peruvian Andes
from National Geographic News: A 2,000-year-old mine has been discovered high in mountains in Peru. The find offers proof that an ancient people in the Andes mined hematite iron ore centuries before the Inca Empire, archaeologists say. The mine was used to tap a vein of hematite, or ochre - the first such mine found in South America that predates the arrival of Spanish conquistadors, experts note. The discovery, reported by a U.S. archaeologist, was made in southern Peru in the region once inhabited by the ancient Nasca (often spelled "Nazca") culture. The rare find adds to a slim body of evidence about New World mining practices, said Kevin J. Vaughn, an anthropologist at Purdue University who reported the find.
Just Desserts: Artificial Sweeteners Linked to Weight Gain
from Scientific American: You know those no-guilt diet drinks you chug by the gallon, and the fake sugar you dump in your coffee to stay trim? Bad news: a new study suggests that artificial sweeteners may actually make it harder to control your weight. Psychologists at Purdue University's Ingestive Behavior Research Center report that nine rats given yogurt sweetened with no-cal saccharin ended up eating more and gaining more weight and body fat than eight fellow rodents given yogurt containing plain old glucose (a simple sugar with about 15 calories per teaspoon, the same as table sugar). Study authors Susan Swithers and Terry Davidson speculate the reason is that the faux sweetener messes with the brain, fooling it into revving up the body's metabolism in anticipation of a never-to-come calorie load.Sign up for Sigma Xi's daily Science in the News e-mail to get these headlines delivered to your inbox.
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