Science Roundup: Life Sans Sun, Ant Navigation and More

Your Tax Dollars at Work: University of Portland professor Bret Tobalske was in France writing about hummingbirds when he got word that the US government is giving him $360,000 to continue research in how hummingbird's flight differs from other birds and insects.

Tobalske says his research has already disproved the myth that hummingbird flight mimics that of insects. Instead, he found they can hover and fly so well thanks to a downstroke of their wings that appears unique to their species.

And why is the government interested in Tobalske's research? Because, Tobalske says, the Feds told him that they want to build a  "robotic aircraft that can hover with the stability of a hummingbird."

Uh, yeah, 'cause building planes that have mechanisms that work like birds have worked out so well in the past.

Purple Tomatoes may be coming your way soon. Oregon State professors are working on a hybrid between the fruit you know and a South American species that contains the same phytochemical found in blueberries that is thought to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.

Hundreds of years ago, explorers discovered purple tomatoes in the wild, but the species never made it to the table because the fruit was small and some were poisonous, as all tomatoes once were thought to be.

Anti-Pygmalion: In tests, women who were told that men and women were equally capable of performing math scored better than women who were told that there are environmental reasons why females aren't very good at math (like teachers paying more attention to boys).

Women who are told that girls just aren't as good as boys when it comes to math did worse of all, getting only half as many questions right as those in the best group.

The study was about how stereotypes affect performance and did not explore if there is any basis for the stereotype.

Life Sans Sun: Several species of bacteria have been discovered 3 to 4 kilometers underground in a South African gold mine, the first known organisms to live totally independent of the sun. Living in water that has been trapped underground for 20 million years, the bacteria uses high-energy hydrogen gas created by radiation hitting the water molecules:

The bacteria exploit this hydrogen gas to turn sulphate (SO₄) molecules from the rock into hydrogen sulphide (H₂S). It is the energy-trapping equivalent of photosynthesis. The energy of radiation, which makes hydrogen gas energetic enough to form these bonds, replaces the energy of the Sun.

Woody Plastic: Scientists are extracting nonocrystals of cellulose from wood. Adding just one ounce of nonocrystals to a pound of plastic results in a plastic that is 3,000 times stronger and degrades easier in landfills. The work may lead to advances in ceramics and in biomedical applications such as artificial joints and disposable medical equipment.

Koreans Killing Cancer: South Korean scientists say they have genetically engineered virus that causes the common cold so that it quickly and effectively targets and kills cancer cells, leaving normal cells untouched. 

Following three rounds of injections, more than 90 percent of cancer cells in the brains, liver, lungs and womb of mice disappeared within 60 days, the team said.

Clinical tests will be carried out early next year and last 18 months, Yun said.

Not so fast, says Dr. Colleen Sweeny, a professor of Molecular Medicine and researcher at the UC Davis Cancer Center. She says the study may be flawed and, worse yet, the virus may actually promote the cancer's ability to metastasize in humans.

Ant Navigation: Now we know just how ants navigate. The first trip to a pile of nasty goodness, the ant follows a chemical trail laid down by a scout. But this is a slow way to travel, necessitating walking with antennae to the ground.

The ant takes note of landmarks (a remarkable feat, given their poor eyesight) and on subsequent trips the ant uses a combination of landmarks and memories of the whole landscape. And they use different landmarks depending on whether they are on their way to the food or are full and on their way back:

To show that ants use visual memory to navigate we trained ants to find food 10cm from a cylinder. We then doubled the size of the cylinder and the ants searched for the food at 20cm away where the retinal size of the landmark was the same

Technorati tags: Science and Technology, Hummingbirds, Wasting Taxpayer Dollars, Ants, Cancer, Medicine, Bacteria.

Blog post #6292 in category Science & Technology
posted 22 October 06