Frog-In-Bucket-Of-Milk Folklore Leads to Potential New Antibiotics

An ancient Russian way to keep milk from going sour was to put a frog in the bucket of milk. This little trick has scientist trying to figure out why it was able to be effective. Amphibians have an antimicrobial substance called peptides that are throughout their skin. This substance is a first line defense to fight against bacteria and other microorganisms that would in the frog environment. A prior study reveals that the skin of a Russian Brown frog contains 21 different substances carrying antibiotic and potentially could have other medical properties.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121212130858.htm

New Dinosaur: First Freshwater Mosasaur Discovered

A discovery in Hungary provides us with knowledge of the first freshwater mosasaur. The species lived about 84 million years ago and belongs to the mosasaur family. The largest of this species was able to grow 20 feet in length. They were known as a gigantic fin having marine lizard. Researchers have discovered multiple fossils revealing juveniles and adults to have unusual shaped heads, tails, and fins from other species in the same family.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121219173914.htm

Muscle-Loss Study Sheds New Light On Ways to Prevent Muscle Loss, Obesity and Diabetes

                A study from Nanyang Technological University has lead researchers to a new ways to prevent obesity, help aging ones, and to fight against health problems. A protein called myostatin that controls muscle cell growth is the reason for muscle loss and other negative effects to the body. When high levels of myostatin is attached a muscle cell it creates a heavy loss of mitochondria. Mitochondria are responsible for energy production which keeps cells alive. With this extreme loss, the muscle cell goes to waste since there is a lack of energy. A small loss of mitochondria is needed to regenerate new cells but when a person has a chronic disease or is bed-ridden, high levels of myostatin are in the body that causes muscle loss. If we block myostatin from binding with cells, there will be no more loss of muscle. This will be great for people with chronic disease since they don’t eat well and lose muscle from that. Also, this would help obesity because people that are bed-ridden can follow this procedure and lose weight and not muscle from not moving all day.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121219082803.htm                         

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=myo+x&hl=en&tbo=d&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbnid=WDmSYjvdOWTJ4M:&imgrefurl=http://www.muscleandstrength.com/store/myo-x.html&docid=U6Yt6pQQT2ykMM&imgurl=http://www.muscleandstrength.com/store/media/wysiwyg/Products/M/MYO-X_Chart.jpg&w=497&h=405&ei=0XLTUMGdMIqG0QG00IDACA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=223&vpy=121&dur=273&hovh=203&hovw=249&tx=123&ty=74&sig=103478875304250643719&page=1&tbnh=136&tbnw=167&start=0&ndsp=31&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0,i:93

The Diamond Planet

Out there in space, is a planet orbiting a distant star. Scientists say that about one third of this planet, larger than earth, could be made of diamonds. The planet is called 55 Cancri e and it is about forty light years away. The planet passes across the face of the star during each orbit and during each pass, the planet blocks a fraction of the starlight streaming toward earth. Analyses from the light from the parent star suggest that its composition, as well as the planets, is carbon-rich and oxygen-poor. Instead of accumulating water, it probably accumulated other light materials, such as carbon and silicon.

The core of 55 Cancri e might be made of iron, just like the Earth's; but the outer layers could be a mixture of carbon, silicates, and silicon carbide. The the very high pressure inside the planet, and maybe on the surface, much of the carbon could be diamond. In fact, diamond could account for up to one-third of the planet's weight.

http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/2012/11/a-diamond-planet/

Black Piranha

The black piranha can be found all over the Amazon Basin. It is also the most widely spread piranha in South America. Suprisingly, the black piranha and the extinct, giant piranha (megapiranha) have the most powerful bites of all carnivorous fish. The piranha's specialized jaw morphology allows them to attack and bite chunks out of larger prey. The piranha has a relatively small size, but its aggressive nature and accessible population make it a worthy predator. Diet studies indicate that piranhas will attack and bite chunks of bony fins and flesh from prey many times larger than themselves.
The black piranha is able to bite with a force more than 30 times greater than its weight. The bight is achieved by the large muscle mass of the black piranha's jaw and the efficient transmission of its large contractile forces through a highly modified jaw-closing lever.
The bite force of the extinct, giant piranha, was reconstructed and discovered to be stronger than other extinct mega-redators, including the whale-eating shark.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121220160727.htm
http://www.aquascapeonline.com/aquatic-live-stock-fresh-water-fish-piranhas-genus-serrasalmus-black-piranha-guyana/

Unusual Venomous Animals

When you go to the zoo, you see animals such as the rattle snake, Komodo dragon, and the hooded pitohuis. When you see a rattle snake you know its dangerous, the Komodo dragon you see its strength, and the hooded pitohuis appears to be a bird with a black and yellow-orange coat; but did you know all of these animals share a common bond? Each of them is poisonous.
The Komodo dragon is almost no surprise that it is poisonous. You may have seen its powerful bites and tremendous speed. Overall, the animal is dangerous. However, its most dangerous feature is what lies within its already powerful bite. The dragon has six poison glands on each side of its mouth. They don't have any grooved fangs, but instead they have sawlike teeth. When the prey pull away, the dragon pulls back. This allows venom to ooze into the wound.

The Komodo dragon may not come as a surprise, but the hooded pitohuis should. In 2009, John Dumbacher an ornithologist at California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, picked up the bird. When he did it made him sneeze and itch and his eyes began to water. A predator who eats the bird suffers a worse consequence. High levels of batrachotoxin are found in pitohui muscle, heart and liver. This is the same found in poison dart frogs. The toxin interrupts the normal function of a predators nerve cells, eventually causing the heart to stop beating.

http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/2012/03/cant-touch-this-unusual-venomous-creatures/

Protein Deficiency

The four macromolecules of life are carbohydrates, fatty acids, nucleotides, and proteins. Proteins are very essential to living organisms because they participate in almost every process within a cell. They are responsible for building and repairing body tissues, produce enzymes and hormones the body uses, and   regulates body processes like: water balancing, transporting nutrients, and making muscles contract. Proteins also play a large role in metabolism. During metabolism, ingested proteins are broken down into amino acids through digestion. The human body’s need for proteins sometimes goes unnoticed. Protein deficiency is a state of malnutrition, where the body does not acquire sufficient amounts of protein in order to produce energy. It occurs in third-world countries and in people that leave out meat in their diets. Protein deficiency’s commonality also stems from unbalanced meals because of the need to prepare meals quickly, rather than well balanced.

Vegetarians are prone to protein deficiency because of the absence of meat. Many vegetarians do not realize the extra work involved in acquiring the necessary materials the body needs to function. Preparation also acquires more time in a vegetarian lifestyle, so health suffers when vegetarians do not have time to cook. Vegetarians should look for nuts, beans, lentils, whole grains, soy, peas, peanuts, potatoes, and seeds as protein sources. Dairy products are also a good source of protein, if the lifestyle allows for them.

Protein deficiency can be diagnosed in vegetarians if the symptoms are seen, but there are also hidden symptoms. Vegetarians with unstable blood sugar, caused from sweet cravings, are susceptible to protein deficiency. Blood tests are the most conclusive for concerns related to blood sugar. Muscle and joint pain are also hidden symptoms. During the fall and winter, the body stores proteins and fats to insulate and rebuild the body for the cold weather, which are stored in the synovial fluid around the joints. If someone is protein deficient, this reserve of protein will be used up by the body, resulting in joints stiffening and muscles tightening. Noticeable symptoms for severe protein deficiency may be: thinning or loss of hair, skin rashes/dry skin, weak and tired, slow healing, skin ulcers, sleep issues, nausea, and fainting.

To treat protein deficiency, red meat can be prescribed as a medicine. Red meat is the most acidic of all meats and of all protein sources in general. The more acidic a substance, the deeper it penetrates the tissues and the better it is stored. Acidic foods are important for protein storage during the winter months. If eating meat is not an option, a high consumption of vegetable protein sources are suggested.

http://lifespa.com/2011/07/protein-deficiency-the-hidden-signs/

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-protein-deficiency.htm