The International Institute for Species Exploration have announced their top 10 species, newly discovered to science in 2008. Focusing on the weird and wonderful, the yearly announcement is aimed to draw attention in a fun way to biodiversity, taxonomy, and the importance of museums and botanical gardens.This years entries include a seahorse the size of a pea (not pictured), a stick insect that measures almost 60 centimeters in length, the world's smallest snake at around 10cm and, strangest of all, a bacteria that lives in hairspray.
The full list can be found here.
Calling all Left handers – we have suffered for too long
Humans are the only animal believed to have a preference with which hand they perform tasks and new research reported by New Scientist shows this has been the case for sometime. A study by Spanish researchers of the remains of Homo heidelbergensis, an ancestor of Neanderthals has shown that a preference for right handedness existed during their lifetime, more than half a million years ago.
The team looked for diagonal markings on the incisor teeth in the remains of 19 individuals found in cave in northern Spain in order to work out the number of south paws amongst the group. Teeth were used as a ‘third hand’ by our ancestors to grip on to meat and vegetation when cutting down on it with stone tools. This action produces diagonal marks on teeth which change in angle depending on whether you grip the tool in your left or right hand.
Genius or a little bit dodgy? Depends on your knowledge of the subject area and your level of cynicism I guess but their results across the group showed 15 righties, no lefties and 4 not sure could be either’s.
Temperamental sun erupts without notice
Astronomers have shown the Suns unpredictable nature by capturing a random explosion of material from its outer atmosphere. This coronal mass ejection, reported on phenomenica.com dispels the idea that the always Sun gives us some idea (a signature of activity) prior to the release of these bubbles of plasma.
The easier it is to see ejection forming, the larger it will be. This is thought to be related to the depth at which they develop. The largest form near the sun’s surface, causing a disruption which can be seen from Earth and acts as an early warning system. A good job too, as if directed at Earth, these larger ejections have the power to knock out power grids.
This latest ejection formed higher up in the suns atmosphere, caused little disturbance to the surface and therefore left sun gazers back on Earth none the wiser as it developed. Of lower energy than their deeper forming cousins, these would have little impact on power lines if fired at our little planet, however research has shown they can affect migratory paths of stupid animals.
For those wondering what a coronal mass ejection looks like, dont look at the sun directly you twit, look at this instead
Mars ancient past – much like Wales in November
Computer modelling of the red planets ancient climate has shown for the first time the possibility for both cold and wet conditions to have existed. Previously much scientific bickering has focused on whether our rusty coloured neighbour was too cold to allow surface liquid water to exist.The latest research by a team from Madrid and reported in the Independent online has shown dissolved mineral impurities within the Martian H20 would have kept it in its liquids state well below its ‘normal’ freezing point allowing it to exist in its wettest form on the surface of our solar neighbour.
Bitten by a dragon – not a nice way to go
Indonesia’s Komodo Dragon injects venom with its serrated teeth bite which slowly weakens their prey allowing them to stagger off before collapsing due to excessive blood loss. The Komodo then simply wanders up and gets its feed.
New research, conducted by the University of Melbourne and reported on the CNN website, has dispelled the old, equally disgusting theory that rather than venom, the Komdos utilised a mouth full of bacteria ridden pieces of meat stuck between their teeth to infect their victims as they bit them.
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Now we can link Global Warning to flu pandemics too
A team of researchers believe they have found where some of those pesky flu virus’s hide when their not causing scaremongering headlines in the Daily Express. A report in Wired suggests that flu can lie dormant in frozen lakes and then re-emerge once the ice melts. By this time the immunity, developed by the human population may become inactive, putting them at risk again.Influenza strains have been recorded in lakes in Alaska and Siberia and the latest research shows that they can exist in this preserved state for decades before remerging unharmed when the ice melts
The big question is how did the virus get into the ice in the first place and whether emerging strains, released from the melting ice, could be passed back to human populations.
Dr Rogers from Ohio University has put forward migrating birds as a candidate for this transportation, proposing that migrating waterfowl could regularly deliver influenza viruses to Arctic glaciers and lakes, where it becomes frozen in ice. When the ice melts, birds pick the virus up and transport it back south where it can infect humans.
Life is tough – Our ancestors may have survived early solar system mosh pit
There has been a new twist in race to answer the fundamental question – When did life on Earth start? Research from the University of Colorado, reported on the inthenew.co.uk website has shown that the chain of evolution which eventually led to me writing this and you reading it may go back further than we originally thought
It had been widely believed that a period of intense asteroid bombardment around 3.9 billion years ago melted Earth’s entire crust, killing any life present. However, new modelling has shown that only part of the crust would have turned to bubbling magma and that subsurface microbes may well have survived.
Whilst the earliest fossil evidence of these microbes only dates back to 3.6 billion years ago, scientists are now speculating that the evolution of life which eventually formed you and me, may have originated as far back as 4.4 billion years ago with the formation of the first oceans.
Booze Files - Scientists get animals drunk and find a gene which may effect how well we handle our licker
A gene which helps the body to fight certain cancers may also determine how sensitive we are to the effects of alcohol. Researchers from the University of California tested the effects of existing cancer drug treatments on flies, mice and rats and monitored their tolerance to alcohol.
They found that the use of these drugs, which support the happy hour gene to fight cancer, also increased the subject’s sensitivity to the effects of alcohol resulting in them consuming less. Subjects with mutant forms of the gene grew increasingly tolerant to alcohols effects.
The findings, reported in the Telegraph online, could lead to developments in treating alcoholism. Research has shown that people more sensitive to the effects of alcohol are less likely to develop an addiction. Looking for and deactivating the mutant form of the gene could reduce the chance of addiction by reducing the tolerance of heavy drinkers.
Video of the Week - Pub Creationism – “show us a transitional form already or get the frick out!”
In relation to the latest fossil find, Ida, which has shed new light on the evolutionary history of our species, I thought it only fair to represent the views of our church going friends.
