“What Does DNA Want?”
The innocent question from a small child that caused the biological necker cube to flip for Meredith and Robert Root-Bernsteina, researchers at Oxford University and Michigan State University, whose ground-breaking paper appears in the Journal of Theoretical Biology today.
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What is the minimum amount of time it takes to fossilise something? (asked by Nick)
Fossils are defined as the remains or traces of organisms that died more than 10,000 years ago, therefore, by definition the minimum time it takes to make a fossil is 10,000 years. But, that is just an arbitrary line in the sand – it means very little in terms of the fossilisation process.
One of the biggest concerns, as the climate and environment around us changes, is the continuing decline of pollinators. In the UK, insect pollinators are estimated to be worth £430 million each year for their role in pollinating our crops. Research published last December provides strong evidence that temperature rises associated with climate change are negatively impacting on the relationships between plants and their pollinators.
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Alternative medicine: a phrase that is heavy with connotations, emotions and frankly, a great deal of confusion. Whichever side of the debate you find yourself on, the opinions are usually strong, stubbornly held, and generally backed up with too few facts for any kind of meaningful discussion. It is for these reasons that I usually try to avoid the topic entirely. But avoiding the issue gets us nowhere. So lets do it properly, if we’re going to do it at all. Over the last year I have read no less than 144 scientific papers on seven different so-called “alternative medicines”, in search of the truth behind the hype. From acupuncture to homeopathy, from reiki to hypnotism, I’ve searched high and low to find out what really works, what doesn’t work, what is helpful and what is potentially harmful. This series will explain what I’ve found in a fair and scientific way. It is not meant to offend anybody, merely to arm us all with the facts, so that we can make our own informed decisions.
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Most birds make nests, and spend their time foraging to feed and care for their chicks. Cuckoos, on the other hand, don’t waste their time with any of that, they simply lay their eggs in another bird’s nest and let them do all the heavy lifting. This might sound like the easy option, but in fact cuckoos have made a whole lot more work for themselves trying to evade and deceive their neighbours. When cuckoos succeed in their trickery, their unsuspecting host suffers, producing fewer young that year and wasting time and energy. So, evolution has pitted host birds against cuckoos, with each side developing increasingly sophisticated techniques to try and get their own way. Host birds mob potential attackers, while cuckoos use mimicry to avoid detection, and threaten defectors with serious consequences.
Cuckoos are famous for taking advantage of their unsuspecting neighbours; laying eggs in their nest and leaving their unwitting host to raise the chicks. The world cuckold, used to refer to the husband of an adulterous wife, originates from the cuckoo bird. There are over 50 species of parasitic cuckoo in the family Cuculidae; some are generalists who will lay their eggs in any available nest, others specialise in one or a few ‘host’ species, but all are engaged in an evolutionary battle with the species they parasitise – an arms race, if you will. Species parasitised by cuckoos are at a disadvantage – in the best case they are merely wasting resources raising an unrelated chick, in the worst case the chick will hatch early and push out the other eggs in the nest, meaning that the unlucky bird in question loses an entire clutch. In each generation, therefore, natural selection will favour host birds that are able to avoid parasitism. The birds might evolve to be more discerning, for example, identifying the appearance of cuckoo eggs and removing them, or selecting nest sites that are more difficult for the cuckoos to access. Equally, in each generation the cuckoos that are most successful in deceiving and parasitising their neighbours will produce more offspring and their traits will be favoured by natural selection. Cuckoos might evolve eggs that more closely resemble those of their host, or very rapid egg incubation to ensure their chick hatches first. Ultimately, neither species wins, with evolution demanding increasingly sophisticated tactics for successful parasitism in cuckoos, and traits to thwart parasitism in the host species.
Cats are one of the most common domesticated animal on Earth, with an estimated 400 million worldwide. And yet they lack many characteristics that tended to make animals good for domestication. They are solitary hunters, making them relatively poor at responding to and valuing social hierarchies. So how exactly did early humans domesticate our feline friends? Recent research suggests stroking and treats may have been key to winning them over.
One of the best things about this time of year is that faint possibility that it might snow. The promise of snowmen and snowball fights, of time of work and school, of that cheer that only snow can bring, is almost enough to get us through the long, dark, bleak winter. They say no two snowflakes are alike, and although some pesky scientists have proved that incorrect, the intricate crystalline structure of snowflakes is truly beautiful. Snow is also hugely important for wildlife and people, and plays an important part in keeping our climate stable. To say Merry Christmas from Curious Meerkat this year, here’s a look at the science of snow – from its formation to its recreational uses and its role in the healthy functioning of Planet Earth.
Snow is simply a form of frozen rain, or precipitation, which occurs when cloud temperature is at or below freezing. Snow crystals tend to form in heavy, moisture-rich clouds, containing dust particles. Ice crystals form around these dust particles, called ice nuclei as the water vapour in the cloud slowly condenses. Snowflakes can be formed from multiple crystals that have melted slightly and fused together, or through new water vapour condensing onto existing crystals. As ice crystals grow inside the cloud, they get heavier and heavier until eventually their weight causes them to fall from the cloud. If the air temperature at the ground is low enough (below about 2°C), these crystals will remain frozen all the way and land on the ground as snow. Often, snow flakes that form in the clouds will have melted by the time they reach Earth, and all we see is the rain that results.
In recent years, developments in brain computer interface technology have been turning science fiction into science fact. Some unbelievable achievements have been made, including giving locked-in syndrome suffers a means to communicate, allowing amputees to feel their prosthetic limbs and restoring sight to the blind. And in 2013, Harvard researchers made a rat’s tail wiggle with only the power of their minds! The brain computer interface is revolutionising medicine, technology and even gaming. But some of the current research may make people feel a little uneasy….
The brain computer interface (BCI) is a system that allows a computer to read human brain activity and interpret the signal, as well as inputting new signals back into the brain. Essentially, the BCI allows computers to read your mind. Well, sort of. The Brain-computer interface has had an incredible impact on the quality of life for suffers of paralysis, Amyotrophic lateral schlerosis (ALS), myopathy, spino-cerebellar ataxia (SCA), cerebal palsy, and is even now being adapted to help autistic children train their minds and improve concentration. BCI can allow patients with limited mobility to control motorised wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs, and communicate with the world. It has also been used to identify signs of life in patients with no means to communicate. More recently, it has been applied to a far wider range of uses, including video games and fashion.
Human activities are altering landscapes, dividing habitats and changing ecosystems. We rarely hear of any good coming from this, mostly because there isn’t. However, recent research has revealed an interesting evolutionary consequence of road construction for a small fish in the Bahamas. Over just 50 years of evolution, females in fragmented populations have exercised their preference to produce males that are better equipped to please them and more considerate of their feelings.
Humans are constantly modifying our landscape to make it more connected. We build roads, tunnels and bridges, we design boats and planes, all in an attempt to maximise our ability to move around. At the same time, these human structures are dividing ecological landscapes – our roads create barriers that keep many species from crossing and can have a significant impact on ecosystems. This is known as habitat fragmentation and it is one of the biggest concerns for biodiversity. Habitat fragmentation can split groups and isolate small, vulnerable or unviable populations. This can be a huge problem, reducing genetic diversity and leading to local or even global species extinction.
Deep in the forests of the Himalayas, the World’s largest bee is making honey that’ll knock your socks off. So precious is this honey that locals in China and Nepal risk their lives to harvest and sell it to wealthy asian men and curious tourists. But what is all the fuss about ‘mad honey’ and what makes it so special?
This post is available for early view by patrons. It becomes public at 5:22pm on Monday May 20th, 2024.