RISE OF FEMALE WEAPONRY DRIVEN BY POOP FIGHTS

That's right I said,"Poop" Females of the species Onthophagus sagittarius who had heftier horns won control of more available dung and thus laid more eggs. Researchers have often wondered the origins of females and horns in animals. Males have horns to compete for females. But females have remained a mystery in some species. Many females, especially in bovines have small horns to ward off enemies. While others have been speculated to be a genetic spill over from the males. But in case of this dung beetle, the horns are different then the males in placement and size. That's because they are for a different purpose. In lab tests, female beetles with larger horn were able to wrangle larger plots of "poop" to lay eggs. So from a evolution standpoint, the smaller horned beetles cannot produce as many eggs and in turn have less of a chance for survival.

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/56846/title/Rise_of_female_weaponry_driven_by_poop_fights

fish recognizing faces through UV

Fish can tell the difference between different species. What's ironic about this is that fish are colorblind. They have UV vision this could be a good thing but scientists are saying that this can be a bad thing because scientists feel that the reason fish can see is because of the bright backrounds.

http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2010/02/25/fish_can_recognize_a_face_based_on_uv_pattern_alone.html

Fish can recognize a face based on UV pattern alone

Scientists have known for a while that some animals have UV visions. But, not scientists are taking this known fact one step further and are saying that some fish have UV vision which allows them to tell different species apart. Almost as if they can see the other "faces" swimming by them. UV vision is normally used to detect any bright lights around an animal.
Researches did an experiment with two different aggressive fish, they allowed them to have UV vision, but at other times they took the UV vision away. The two fish always attacked the same fish when they have their UV vision enabled. But, when researches took the fishes' UV vision away, they attacked the other fish equally, they did not keep attacking the same fish as before.
UV vision is needed for fish in order for them to tell all the different species apart.

Move Your Body, Power Your Cellphone

A new form of sustainable energy has been harvested. Michael C. McAlpine of Princeton and colleagues have developed a promising approach for converting body movements into electricity. Certain crystals called, Piezoelectric crystals produce an electric current and when bent and have many uses. The crystals are first made in a series of narrow ribbons, on a rigid substrate of magnesium oxide. Then, after the substrate is etched away from the crystals, they are transfer-printed on a flexible biocompatible polymer, called PDMS. Dr. McAlpine said his team had started building prototypes, in which tiny wires are deposited on the crystals so that the electricity can be harvested. The crystals are also covered with another layer of PDMS to protect them, and to safeguard the body since the crystals contain lead. When put next to the body, these little gadgets can power electrical devises such as cell phones or a music player. The eventual goal would be to make a flexible power generator that could be implanted in the chest or elsewhere.
I think that this is a little bit creepy. Is it really necessary to be plugged in to an electrical outlet everywhere we go? Are we really that culturally attached to machines that we need to make them physically attached to our bodies? Link

Redwoods Threatened by Climate Change

No other tree is as revered and iconic as the monumental redwood. They are nature's cathedrals, towering around 300 feet tall, adorned in rust-colored bark and bearing the majesty of 2,500 years. Loss of fog may be causing the harm to the Redwood forest, According to a study by James A. Johnstone and Todd E. Dawson of the University of California at Berkley. Frequent summer fog along the coast from Monterey to the Oregon border helps nurture the coast. The redwoods' ability to draw water from fog is crucial in maintaining the wet climate that they and so many other species, some endangered, thrive in.To obtain a historical record of coastal fog, the researchers looked at data on ceiling heights recorded hourly at several airports from 1951 to 2008 and found that fog frequency in summers has declined by about one-third. Due to a lot of loss of water through transpiration, Red woods rely on the high humidity in fog to slow, stop or even reverse the process and to conserve water during the drier summer months. This is just another example of the devastating losses caused by climate change. We need to appreciate and conserve our countries natural beauty and grandeur while we still have it.

Link

Fish and UV Radiation

A new study reveals that fish can determine other species solely based on the UV patterns on their faces. Scientists have known for a long time that some species of animals can see in UV but it is now being understood that two species of damselfish have keener UV vision. It is also being suggested that they use this as a way to communicate. Damselfish seem to be able to break some "rules" of UV vision. Normally UV scatters easily in air and water and most animals don't have many UV cones or photoreceptors. Scientists discovered this by putting two two intruders in the same tank, the damselfish only attacked one, but when UV vision was removed the preference disappeared.