Capsule Camera

This article is about a new version of the endoscope. The endoscope is ordinarily a small camera or a set of fiber optics attached to some flexible tubing. A new version has been designed to be wireless. "According to Dr. Gabor Kosa of TAU's School of Mechanical Engineering, the project is inspired by an endoscopic capsule designed for use in the small intestine. But unlike the existing capsule, which travels at random and snaps pictures every half second to give doctors an overall view of the intestines, the new "wireless" capsules will use the magnetic field of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine and electronic signals manipulated by those operating the capsule to forge a more precise and deliberate path." This is much safer then the usaul method that often needs the use of sedatives and always has a risk for injury although this device is new it seems like a prosperous idea. This article was found at:http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2011/12/15/a_fantastic_voyage_through_the_body_with_precision_control.html

Big Question For 2012: Will We Talk to the Animals?

This year this has been an understanding in non-human animal vocalizations. scientist recently discovered that dolphins talk like humans in terms of the physical process. the thought that dolphins simply just whistled but when they were studied it showed that that sounds are prodeuced by tissue vibrations which are just like volcal cords to humans. the cymascope was invented so that they could hear that detailed structures within sounds.The CymaScope provides our first glimpse into what the dolphins might be 'seeing' with their sounds." To me this seems simply amazing since i would love to be able to talk to animals. I hope that sometime soon we are able to understand what animals are thinking.

Lungfish evidence to "evolution"

This article was about the African Lungfish. This creature with thin arms and an eel like body would seem to be an example of the evolutionary track. This creature uses its arms to do walking like movements. The recent study done at the University of Chicago revealed that the African lungfish can use its thin pelvic limbs to not only lift its body off the bottom surface but also propel itself forward. Both abilities were previously thought to originate in early tetrapods, the limbed original land-dwellers. Lungfish also demonstrated both "bounding" motions, where both limbs moved at once, and "walking," marked by alternating limbs. Coupled with the ability of the lungfish to fully rotate the limb and place each subsequent footfall in front of the joint, the motion suggests that similar creatures would have been capable of producing some of the fossil tracks credited to tetrapods. This article was found at:http://esciencenews.com/articles/2011/12/12/a.small.step.lungfish.a.big.step.evolution.walking

208 Species Discovered

This article talks about the numerous amount of new species found in the Asia's Mekong region in one year. This enormous region spread throughout China, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia. In just a years time 208 species have been discovered. Ranging from monkeys to lizards to frogs a wide variety of new animals have been discovered.I think the shear amount of discoveries is simply amazing. It really goes to show that we aren't even done exploring the land let alone the entire planet. Hopefully scientist are able to continue to go to the remote places of the world in search of more species that have yet to been discovered.

The Reindeer Need Our Help

This article talks about the decline of reindeer populations in recent decades. "Bring Back the Wild is a campaign started by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Earth Rangers to help save these animals.While the WCS is a well known organization the Earth Rangers are not. They work with kids and families to help protect nature while teaching kids some valuable lessons about it.Money will be raised to help protect the reindeer, also known as woodland caribou, in the Ontario region known as the "Ring of Fire".I think it's importnat to help protect the wildlife for various reasons and considering it's almost Christmas it's only fitting we help the reindeer out.

Hurrican forecasters cannot predict hurricanes

Lastest news is that hurricane forecasters cannot predict the hurricanes anymore. After 30 years two climatologists are abandoing their long range forecasting efforts. This was due to the fact the past couple hurricanes have not been what the news predicted. The hurricanes were not as severe as they should have been. Weather can not always be predicted and theirs enough chaos in the weather that could take months of research to predict what would happen. In 2010 the duo predicted over 200 days of tropical storms and we only recieved half of the days. Technology is getting better, but will the predictions ever be accurate?

Caffeine can result in better sport performance

Studies have shown in the past caffeine can help a players ability in a game. Mayur Ranchordas, a senior lecturer and performance nutritionist at Sheffield Hallam University, conducting an experiment using players and giving them caffeine and carbohydrates mixed together. The research he gathered showed the players skill got better as they drank the drink. The tested agility, dribbling, heading and kicking accuracy. The test were surppose to be like playing a full football game. After all the testing the researched showed that its probally better mixing the two instead of just drinking carbohydrates.

Restricted use of chimps in government research

Cnn news post a recent article about the Institute of Medicine committee, stating that chimps should be limited to be used in research studies. Chimps genetics are closer to humans then any other species, and thats why chimps are so valuable to our research. The research is done by scientists, doctors, veterinarians and other experts to come up with the best results and to make sure the chimps are not beeing harmed. IOM recommends that chimps should only be used if a human can not fullfill the needs for the research. Since technology has changed so much, chimps should no longer be needed to conduct the research. IOM is not saying chimps shouldnt be used at all because the hepatitis C vaccines are tested with chimps. About 3.2 americans are infected with hepatitis, and every year 17,000 new infections occur. These statistics can be lower with the help of chimps. Its just a question weather chimps should still be used for futer medical discoveries, or is their a better way.

Gladstone scientists identify human proteins that may fuel HIV/AIDS transmission

The article I read shows the research scientists did to narrow down the protein that transmitts HIV/AIDS. Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have discovered new protein fragments in semen that enhance the ability of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, to infect new cells; a discovery that one day could help kill the global spread of this deadly illness. Earlier, scientists in Germany discovered that HIV transmission is linked to the presence of an amyloid fibril in semen. Warner C. Greene, MD, PhD, found a second type of fibril that also has the ability to spread the disease. This finding may help slow down or in the future stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Tireless research reveals secrets of the 'sleep hormone'

This article may be the answer for anyone out there suffering from insomnia! A team from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) and McGill University has made a discovery by revealing the work of melatonin, also known as the "sleep hormone." The research, which was worked on with the help of scientists in Italy, shows the role played by the melatonin receptor in the brain that promotes deep sleep. This discovery led the researchers to develop a new drug called UCM765 which will activates this receptor. The results may be the development of new and promising treatments for insomnia, which is a sleep disorder millions of people suffer from.

Neuroscientists Boost Memory in Mice Using Genetics and a New Memory-Enhancing Drug

When the activity of a molecule that is normally elevated during viral infections is inhibited in the brain, mice learn and remember better. The authors of the article discovered that mice lacking PKR in the brain have a kind of "super memory". PKR is a double-stranded RNA-activated protein kinase molecule. It was originally described as a sensor of viral infections, but its function in the brain was totally unknown. Mice that lacked PKR learned a task in which the mice would use visual cues for finding a hidden platform in a circular pool, after only one training session. As opposed to normal mice had to repeat the task multiple times over many days in order to remember the platform's location. They say that, " This molecule could hold the key to not only how we can keep our memories longer, but also how we can create new ones."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/11120812576.htm

Why Does the Same Mutation Kill One Person But Not Another?

This article talks about how the vast majority of genetic disorders have different effects in different people. It says how one individual carrying certain mutations can develop a disease, whereas another one with the same mutation may not. Why is this? There are many tests and studies that give many different explanations to this question. This article says that the new studies tell us that even if we completelu understand all of the genes important for a particular human disease, we may never be able to predict what will happen to each person from their genome sequence alone. Rather, to develop personalized and predictive medicine it will also be necessary to consider the varying extent to which genes are turned on or off in each person.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/11207152310.htm

Mood, Anxiety Disorders, and Opioids

This article talks about the study of people with mood and anxiety disorders and their experience with recreational opioids. The study also concluded that people with these mood and anxiety disorders were more likely to use opioids recreational to alleviate their symptoms. Identifying and treating these symptoms early will decrease the need to self-medicate. In conclusions the studies have found the link between mood and anxiety disorders and using opioid recreationally. So detecting these disorders early can prevent use of opioids.

HIV and Semen

This Article talks about how scientists have discovered a new protein fragment in semen that gives the HIV virus an advantage. Although scientists were already aware of the fragment amyloid fibril, the discovery of this new fibril helps the efforts in slowing the spread of HIV. Some women use microbicides in prevention of being infected by the HIV virus. These have been failing lately due to it not blocking the virus from interacting to the natural infection-enhancement components of semen. Studies that have been done have shown the way of the positively charged fibril attracting the HIV virus to semen. By removing these fibrils and other charged components we would eliminate the ability of HIV infecting our white blood cells. The hope of this discovery is to hopefully improve microbicides as well as eliminate the virus.

Sugar Pump in Plants Discovered

This article is about the recent study that discovered exactly how plants get the proper amount of sucrose. The plant doesn't have a muscle to pump the vitals through like the human heart so they use pump proteins to bring the sucrose around. The phloem is used to get the vital nutrientss around the plant and the pump proteins are what get the carbohydrates to the phloem. "With the participation of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, a research group at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Stanford, USA, has now succeeded in identifying this previously unknown sucrose transporter. Different proteins are involved here which belong to the recently identified protein family known as SWEET. The SWEETs arise in the cell membrane of the phloem parenchyma cells. They act as molecular pumps." This article was found at:http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2011/12/13/sugar_pump_in_plants_identified.html

Damaged Florida Keys Coral Reef Makes Recovery

 In this article we learn about the restoration of the Florida Keys coral reef. In 2002 a 36 foot boat ran aground in the Keys causing massive damage to the area. Hundreds of these grounding happen every year but this one manage to damage 376 square feet.

8 years later conservationist have manged to help nature rebuild itself. I think its really important to help protect these places. After all they are a key par of our ecosystem along the east coast. We as a people rely heavily on the ocean for food and fun and we should protect it from ourselves as we are it's biggest threat.

Mickey and Minnie Help Cure Cancer, Well Sort Of.

This article talks about the research done by the Mayo Clinic in Arizona and the University of Georgia. They have managed to make vaccine that dramatically reduces two forms of cancer in mice.Yes the Mickey and Minnie will no longer have to worry about the troubles of both breast and pancreatic cancer. Now how does this help us humans besides sparing some of our favorite Disney characters? Well here is a quote straight from the article, "have developed a vaccine that dramatically reduces tumors in a mouse model that mimics 90 percent of human breast and pancreatic cancer cases — including those that are resistant to common treatments." 

The smart men and women have manage to find a way to make the immune system recognize cancerous cells and fight them. In could still be many years until this work leads to a human version of the vaccine but its a big step in the right direction.

Genetic Markers Help Feds Enforce Seafood Regulations

Researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marlin Science are allowing them to be tested by the federal seafood agents to determine their ocean origin. They are testing the marlin to be sure they are not using Blue marlin that is sold in the United States for seafood is not from the Atlantic ocean. The Pacific or Indian ocean is legal to import and for sales. If you market the Atlantic Blue Marlin there are penalties, fines, and you could even loose your fishing permit.

Savanna Chimps Exhibit Human like sharing Behavior

Anthropologist state that chimps in the savanna have a human like behavior which is sharing. The chimps hare their food with other chimps and scholars believe that that is a human like behavior. Hey also share hunting tools, plants, honey, and soil besides meat with the other chimpanzees. Mostly it’s the females taking food from the male. It is made to believe that the males trade food for sex to increase their mating success and the females result in a intake in calories to overcome the energy cost and the possibility of any injury during hunting..

How Bacteria can Break down Hazardous Environmental Pollutants

Bacteria can break down phosphonic acids, persistent, and potentially hazardous environmental pollutants found in common medical products, detergents, and herbicides. Researchers are now understanding that bacteria can break down compounds that do not easily break down in the nature. They now can engineer specialized bacteria in the lab by examine how this reaction really works. There are more than 20,000 tons of phosphonic acid which is estimated to be released into the environment in the western hemisphere.

Bird Caught in Act of Becoming a New Species

The department of biology at Queens University and the Argentine Museum of Natural History state that the South American song bird differ in color and song but show little difference in their genetics, which down the road could mean that they could become a new specie. They studied nine different species and came up with that the male reproductive plumage and song to attract the females are different. Researchers are looking to find difference in the genes that may prove to be a new species and will let them see evolution.

Elephant Seal Travels 18,000 Miles!

A male elephant seal, named Jackson, was reported by a team of WCS conservationists that this youn g male traveled 18,000 miles from December 2010, to November 2011. He was tagged in December 2010 off the coast of Chile, and was given a transmitter that reports when swimming upon to the surface that indicates his locations. He swam 1000 miles north, 400 miles west, and 100 miles south. Elephant seals are indicators of ocean health, and provide informations baout the climate in the waters, to which they migrate and swim to other places. This elephant seal's swimming is equivalent of going to New York to Sydney Australia, and back!

Smallest Frogs Around

This article is about a group of frogs that were recently discovered in New Guinea. These frogs were unique from not just other frogs in the area but all around the world.These are the smallest of the tetrapods which are non-fish vertebrates. This set of frogs belong to the genus Paedophryne which are already extremely small.Paedophryne is a unique genus in that all species are minute. The four known species all inhabit small ranges in the mountains of southeastern New Guinea or adjacent, offshore islands But these certain frogs have smaller digits which give them a disadvantage when it comes to climbing. Another fault they have is during reproduction such a small female can only produce around two eggs and it is not known if they are laid at once or in stages. This article was found at:http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2011/12/12/worlds_smallest_frogs_discovered_in_new_guinea.html

Antartica and Carbon

This article is about new evidence that suggests that algae helped influence the size and density of the levels of ice sheets. The ice sheets of antartica were built up during times where carbon dioxide was absent in the area. The time each sheet was constructed is relevent to the climate of the world at the time. Global "warming" and "cooling" is influenced by the air among many things of the time. Carbon is a major factor that traps heat so i can be considered a greenhouse gas. A main focus of this story is on the ancient algae and alkenones which are tough organic compounds produced by certain types of algae. They studied that to find the carbon dioxide signature of the period. And with those levels comes the knowledge of what was in the air at the period. This article was found at:http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/2098-antarctic-ice-sheets-grew.html

Babies born with no eyes: Scientists identify genetic cause

The headline of this article really caught my eye, no pun intended. I have never heard of this type of birth defect before. The defect is called anophthalmia, it is a condition where a baby is born with one or neither of it's eyes. Scientists say a child's eyes will not develop fully in the womb if the child has alterations in both copies of its STRA6 gene which is responsible for transporting vitamin A into the cells. However, there is no clinical treatment for this birth defect other then to give the children prosthetic eyes. The new discovery means that scientists can now develop a genetic test for couples who may be carrying the altered gene and plan to have children.

Cannibalism Among Polar Bears

This article talks about some new photographs of cannibalistic polar bears.If they are unable to find any other source of food they will indeed target fellow polar bears.  Reports of this happening is nothing new but they have been increasing in recent years. Apparently this is not the only unusual source of food either. Much like their southern cousins they can be found feeding on human trash. Seagulls have also been targeted when food is scarce. Unfortunately this probably fuel for the fire for those that believe  global warming is completely man's fault.

Killer Bed-Bugs

This article is about something that plagued the industrialized world many years ago, bed bugs. Around the 1950's they would rarely be seen in a home. Today though studies show they are on the rise due to a built up resistance to pesticides. News results pointed that it could be blamed on certain pesticides being used in the tropics. The exposure to the chemicals that used to kill them made them stronger. It was the overusage of the pesticides in these tropical areas that is believed to be the reason why they are on the rise. Some theories point to the military in the area going to extreme measures to keep their soldiers safe. The threat is one that takes dedication because the bed bugs are nocturnal and can hide in a variety of places and the females lay up to 300 eggs at once so the numbers can get out of hands if you don't know you have a problem. This article was found at:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16010179

French Scientists and a Cool Experiment!

I read this article on PopSci's website and it cracked me up but also intrigued me right away! Here's the experiment in a nutsell: Scientists are going to see if the body heat from passengers waiting in a underground Metro station will be powerful enough to heat seventeen apartments. Not only will these heating systems be going off human body heat but from the heat of the trains! How cool is that? I guess they're trying to see if it's even possible! In this day and age, there are always tons of experiments involving ways to be more eco-friendly and to save money on things like heat and power. There is another article on PopSci about solar-powered houses which is also pretty cool! Follow this link if you're interested: http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-08/green-dream-geothermal-heating-system

Butterflies:72% of UK Species in Decline

This article gives an in-depth look at the the reason why these creatures are slowly dieing off. Butterfly Conservation and the Center For Ecology and Hydrology have discovered a huge decline in almost 3/4 of the butterfly species in the United Kingdom. Even the common species have seen a fall of about 25% of their populations. The reason for this is simple, we humans continue to expand or towns and cities which gives these creatures less room to live in. It's a sad fact of life, the dominate species always prevails. However all hope is not lost for the creatures. Groups like the ones I mentioned earlier are having some success in repopulating them to the UK.

Radioactvity in the Waters Off Coast of Japan Are Not a Direct Threat.

In this article American and Japanese scientist have worked together in discovering the radioactivity in the ocean around Japan is not a direct threat to humans or marine life. Radioactivity levels are high in some areas but have become diluted in others. After the devastating earthquake that struck Japan earlier this year many officials feared what the nuclear fallout would do to the area. Hearing that it is not a direct threat is very reassuring to Japan and the rest of the world.

Giant Neurons in Crabs Encode Complex Memories

In this study it was learned that the Chasmagnathus granulatus crab has a suprisingly complex memory which requires multiple brain regions. Neuroscientists at the University of Buenos Aires used cardboard cutouts of seagulls to test crabs’ memory skills. They found that the crabs could recognize the cardboard seagulls and figure out that they were nonthreatening. Implying that they are able to apply learned knowledge and retain that information. They still recognized the cutouts as nonthreatening even after a 24 hour period.The researchers tied the crabs’ behavior to lobula giant neurons, a type of brain cell found in crustaceans. And the other habits like remembering the environment and locations of threats or food come from other parts of their brain. One researcher even said if they could understand the memory of such basic animals then they could begin to understand that of a more complex being. This article was found at:http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=clever-crustaceans

Decision making in bee swarms mimics neurons in human brain

This article talks about a new study based upon the movements of bees. A professor of neurobiology and behavior reports with five colleagues from the United States and the United Kingdom on the inhibitory stop signals that the clusters of scout bees use to make decisions and determine decisions. This study is the first to tackle how bees act when on the hunt for resources and a location. I found this article interesting because there is always talk about the bee populations dissappearing. The full article can be found at:http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2011/12/08/decision_making_in_bee_swarms_mimic_neurons_in_human_brains_.html

Fetal Origins!

I went onto CNN.com and found this video to be exceptionally awesome! Now, I don't know about you folks, but I find the process of babies developing and learning to be really interesting. This scientist and researcher, Anne Murphy Paul, has written a book called "Origins" last year. This book is all about what those nine months is like for babies in the womb. To read a summary and review of the book, follow this link! If you have a moment, please watch the video because it is eye-opening! Anne Murphy Paul says that it is hard to gather research on pregnant women, but they go about it in creative ways. A researcher will observe women who have been through stressful situations such as a natural disaster or terrorist attacks and then compare their babies to women who had very low amounts of stress while pregnant. I have always found psychology and human studies to be really interesting and if you're like me you'll enjoy this video! To hear more from Annie Murphy Paul, follow this link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130884515

The Brown Argus Butterfly

This article talks about species having to adapt and change habitats due to climate change. This piece focuses on the Brown Argus butterfly in the UK. Although they are trying to adapt it becomes very hard because the farther north they go the less preferred habitat they find. The Brown Argus has been able to adapt and successfully has been able to expand north in the UK.  Using genetic techniques to detect evolutionary change, the researchers were able to show that the colonization of new sites further north by the Brown Argus has involved significant adaptation during or following colonization. This is one of the first studies to identify genetic evidence for evolutionary change associated with range shifts driven by recent climate change.

New Dinosaur Discovered!

A new species of a horned dinosaur was revealed after 95 years of the inital fossil was discovered. This was led by a staff team at Alf Museum. This new horned dino, called Spinops Stembergorum lived about 76 million years ago in Alberta, Canada. Spinops was a plant eater that weight about two tons when alive and was a smaller cousin to the dinosaur, Triceratops. Its long projected horn, at the nose, a bony neck frill, backward projectiing spikes, and foward hooks made this dino different from the other horned dinosaurs. The paleotologist marked that this discovery is important to the evolution and enviornment at the time. In 1916, parts of the skull were discovered by a father-son team. Once discovered they sent the skull pieces to the National History Museum in London, but which were denyed too scrappy for evidence of the dinosaur. The skull piece was booked on a shelf for decades until a team of collegues remarked that the dinosaur was known to be Spinops.

I found his to be interesting because dinosaurs are one of the earliest signs of life on this planet and its remarkable that after so many years that we still find new discoveries.

The Spider Mite

This article talks about how a group of international scientists were able to decipher the genome of the spider mite. The spider mite is also the first known genome of an arachnid. This helps bring new light to the evolution of arthropods and to help stop the destruction the spider mite causes. The spider mite feeds on crops and plant juices. The spider mite likes over 1100 different plant species including tomato, strawberry, peppers, cucumbers, and corn. They bite into the leaves of the plants and completely suck them dry. Spider mite bites are usually spotted because they leave a yellow spot behind. The tricky part about these spider mites is that they are not affected by many types of pesticides. They also produce silk which they then wrap around the plant or its leaves. Hopefully now that they were able to figure out the genome of the spider mite they can create a pesticide to stop them. We may be able to use their silk for material in the future as well.

Rare Leopard

A Rare Persian Leopard was found in central Afghanistan. The leopard was a top predator and we thought had disappeared from it's region. The findings show that rangelands can still surpport other species. Wildlife scientists are thrilled to discover the leopard has return amoung other animals they have found. The Wildlife Society is doing their best to make sure these animals are not being hunted, recently Afghanistan passed a law prohibitting hunting of snow leopards. The images did show though men walking around with guns, even when they are not surppose to.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45574494/ns/technology_and_science-science/

They call it Guppy Love

In the article “They call it guppy love” UCLA scientists discovered an evolution mystery. The male guppy has consistently changed color for over a half a million years but one thing always stayed constant an orange patch. It slightly changed being redder or more yellow at times but it was always consistent. These scientists discovered that it is because that’s what the female guppies
like. The males have evolved over and over again because that is what the ladies like. The orange patches are made up of two things, carotenoids, which are digested, and drosopterins which are produced. They discovered that the males with the middle color orange. Not to yellow and not to red. The females chose the males with intermediate amounts of drosopterins by a significant margin. Males with the right color orange typically produce more offspring because the
females are more attracted to them.

Polar Bears Can be Cannibals sometimes!?

After viewing the image that accompanies this news article, it sure makes me look at polar bears in a different light! This article that I read on the BBC website is all about how an environmental photojournalist witnessed a polar bear killing and eating another polar bear. Now, usually polar bears hunt and eat seals so this is very unusual behavior. But, Jenny Ross explained that when polar bears are put into a situation where there is none of their usual food to eat, they prey on their own kind. I think polar bears are pretty neat so here's a related link if you want to learn more about them : )
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Polar_bear

Earth Population 7 Billion

As of october 31, 2011 the U.N. Population Fund said their will be seven billion people sharing earth's resources. Unfortunately, the growth will be in Africa, India, and China where their are many people living in horrible conditions and in poverty. The growth is not nessecerily a bad thing, but more resources will need to be funded. The International Water Insitute say that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will live in places where major water shortages will occur. Water is a main key component of life and without it people would die. This is not a cause for an alarm, but in the future prices for food and daily esscentials will be rising. With having over 215 million women worldwide that dont have family planning, population will continue to grow.

Counting Cats: The endangered snow leopards of the Himalayas

In this article they talk about the endangered snow leopard. Most of the snow leopards live in high mountainous areas of central Asia. Originally they assumed that there was about 350-500 snow leopards left. After scientists did testing on their tracks, scrapes, and droppings they are starting to believe there is a lot less. Scientists recorded
seventy one samples of droppings or scat and after performing genetic analysison each sample they discovered that only nineteen were identified as snow leopard. Ten of which were successfully genotyped. This was the first team to
use genetics with the conservation of snow leopards.

Alien Planet

Scientist say, as of December 5, 2011 an alien planet could host new life. Discovery News posted an article online showing the new planet's region. Scientist have named the planetKepler-22b, has been found in the "habitable zone" , where water could exist. The planet is the smallest to be found past our orbit system, but could be 2.4 times the size of earth. Scientists are still doing research to figure out if this planet can withstain life. Kepler-22b is just one of ten planets that resembles earth. To think new life can consist on a new planet, is something I dont think any one can imagine, but to see that it could be a possibilty is showing how far our technology has grown.

http://news.discovery.com/space/alien-planet-found-in-habitable-zone-111205.html

Russian scientists to attempt clone of woolly mammoth

This article is about the cloning of a woolly mammoth. Russian and Japaneses scientists are claiming that a thigh bone, that they found in August, contains remarkably preserved bone marrow cells. This bone marrow will be the first step in the cloning. The scientists believe that the cloning will be complete in the next five years.

The team is planning to extract a nucleus from the bone marrow and insert it into an egg from an African elephant. Similar procedures has been done before. In 2009 it was reported that the recently extinct Pyrenean ibex was bought back to life briefly after using 10 year old DNA from the animal's skin. The animal died after cloning due to breathing problems.

The Roslin Institute, famous for the cloning of Dolly the sheep, had some thoughts on the bringing back extinct animal to life. They believe that this is highly unlikely because of the use of the elephant as a surrogate mother. They suggested using a cow because it the best biological match but is too small compare to the woolly mammoth. They also doubt it because the scientists to successfully clone would need a whole cell. The Roslin Institute believe that the success rate for this experiment is 1-5%.

Low fat yougurt and pregnancy: A cause of allergies later in life?

Reading this article I have found out some strange, yet useful information for pregnant, or expecting mothers. A study was presented at European Respiratory Society's annual Congress in Amsterdam, that pregnant mothers who eat low fat yogurt are 1.6 times more likely to end up with a child who develops asthma or hay fever. They study was aimed to look at fatty acids in dairy products and to see if they would help prevent allergies in new born babies, however they had the opposite effect. Studies showed that milk intake did not have the same effect, the only dairy product that caused these allergens was the low fat yogurt. The scientists suggested that maybe it was not the yogurt, but the low fat components in the yogurt that were having this effect on the child. Scientists are also going to further their research to see if low fat foods have any other effects on our lifestyles.

North America's Biggest Dinosaur

The biggest North American dinosaur is called the Alamosaurs which is a long neck plant eater. At first researchers though that this long neck plant eater was 60 feet long and 30 tons. Except, another researcher found that the femur was not an adult femur and that it was still growing which means that the Alamosaurus was bigger than they thought. Its not easy for researchers to estimate the size of dinosaurs they have to overlap skeletal materials to indicate an estimated size. He Alamosaurus is in the league of Sauropods from South America, and the Argentinosaurus is included. The Argentinosaurus is the biggest dinosaur of all and weighs 70 tons. Now the United States is fighting for the Number one spot and the Alamosaurus is tone of the biggest dinosaurs and the biggest in North America .

Scientists rediscover rarest US bumblebee

In this article you will read about how scientists from the University of California, Riverside have recently stumbled across the rarest bumblebee species in the white mountains of New Mexico. The "Cockerell's Bumblebee" was last seen in 1956. This is pretty exciting being that there are only about 50 native species of native bumblee and most are on the verge of extinction. Using advanced tools and studies they will find out if they are in environmental danger of being extinct as well.

Human Body Rids itself of Damage When It Really Matters

The human body, when its time to reproduce and create a new life the body gets rid of damaged material. The researchers from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden state that all the cell look the same in the embryo after conception which is the start of cleansing themselves.The cells only divide a limited number of times when normally they are dividing infinitely. Protein levels in the c ells get high but than they go back down most of the way. That is made to believe that this is the way of breaking down damaged material. Researchers believed that in the past the cells that were involved in reproduction were kept isolated so it would be protected by damaged. The cells now go through a process that rejuvenates them and gets rid of the inherited damage. Their are types of protein that damage in the body with the increase of age. The necessary information is stored in the DNA and can keep the body sometimes from using it so it can keep repairing the body

Drop in Carbon Dioxide Levels Led to Polar Ice Sheet, Study Finds

Scientist at Yale and Purdue, state that a climate change can be caused by the change in carbon dioxide. For example, the drop in carbon dioxide made an ice sheet form over the Antarctic. Before the ice sheet can melt the greenhouse gases have to increase, how much is still unknown. Due to the ice sheet and change in climate many species became extinct over about 100,000 years. Before the drop in carbon dioxide all kinds of species inhabited the North and South Poles and Earth has subtropical climates and it was warm and wet. Since the ice sheet formed over the Antarctic the sea levels fell. Carbon dioxide had an importance from the past to the present. They do not know what caused the rise and fall in the carbon dioxide level, but they study ancient algae in the deep ocean sediments and crust.

Acquired Traits Can Be Inherited Via small RNA's

I found this article to be extremely interesting because of the research saying that there was evidence that an acquired trait could actually be inherited without any involvement of DNA. A theory was developed a while back by Jean Baptiste LarMarck. It was suggested in this theory that species wouldn't evolve until they have adapted to their environments and transmit and give these newly acquired traits to their offspring. An example that supports LarMarck's theory is during the famine mothers who were starving and gave birth during that time had children who were more susceptible to obesity and other metabolic disorders. It's really interesting to see how exactly it all works and how species can adapt the way they do and the acquired traits they do have they can pass down is amazing. To learn more about RNA click here.