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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 13, 2013 at 8:55am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 11, 2013 at 9:51am

Women Make Science More Creative
New research into how scientists look at art contradicts stereotypes and uncovers significant gender differences
Female scientists are more receptive of abstract artworks than their male counterparts, suggesting that they are likely to be open to a more ‘anarchic, creative and radical’ approach to science, according to new research released today.

‘How Scientists Look At Art’, a study conducted by University of Reading and commissioned by Bayer to mark its 150th anniversary, suggests that women may bring added creativity and a more challenging approach to science, adding weight to the ongoing, global drive to encourage more women to enter the profession

http://www.fortmilltimes.com/2013/12/10/3156905/women-make-science-...

http://pegasuscomps.com/bayer150art/

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 11, 2013 at 6:52am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 11, 2013 at 6:07am

Coldest place on earth is at 'soul crushing' -93.2°C
Nasa satellites have found the coldest place on earth. At a desolate and remote ice plateau in East Antarctica, temperatures hit a "soul-crushing" -93.2 degrees Celsius (-135 degrees Fahrenheit). This beat the previous record of -89.2 degrees Celsius measured at the Vostok Research Station in East Antarctica on July 21, 1983.

"I've never been in conditions that cold and I hope I never am," Ted Scambos, lead scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said. "I am told that every breath is painful and you have to be extremely careful not to freeze part of your throat or lungs when inhaling."

The measurements were made between 2003 and 2013 by the MODIS sensor on board Nasa's Aqua satellite and during the 2013 Southern Hemisphere winter by Landsat 8, a new satellite launched early this year by Nasa and the US Geological Survey.

Scientists were puzzled by the fact that these very low temperature spots were found in a 1,000-kilometer long swath on the highest section of the East Antarctic ice divide.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Coldest-place-on-ea...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 7, 2013 at 7:32am

According to IUCN counts, the countries with the highest numbers of species at risk of extinction are Ecuador (2,301), the U.S., Malaysia (1,226), Indonesia (1,206) and Mexico (1,074). India, China, Brazil, Tanzania and Australia round out the top ten; each of those nations has more than 900 species at risk of extinction on the IUCN Red List.
What do those numbers actually tell us? Both a lot and not much. Ecuador has the highest number of endangered species — not because the species there are more threatened but because the country made an intense effort over the last 15 years to evaluate its biodiversity. You can see the result of this work most notably in the assessment of Ecuador’s plants, which revealed that 1,843 of its native species are at risk.
The results of similar assessments are visible in other countries’ data. The U.S., for example, has the highest numbers of fishes (236) and mollusks (301) known to be at risk, as well as the highest number of recorded extinctions (257) on the IUCN Red List. Indonesia has largest number of mammals at risk (185), Brazil has the most birds (151), and Madagascar has the highest number of at-risk reptiles (136).

Of course numbers alone don’t tell the full story. Craig Hilton-Taylor, head of the IUCN Red List Unit, cautions that “you cannot use any of the country totals to show reliably which country has more threatened species than another” as they don’t reflect a country’s size, biodiversity levels, or other factors.
Meanwhile, an awful lot of species haven’t been assessed at all, or have only been assessed at national levels and not throughout their range, which may include several countries. Projects underway around the world will eventually help to fill that knowledge gap. “Brazil and South Africa are busy assessing all of their species,” Hilton-Taylor reports, “so those countries will suddenly have much higher numbers of threatened plants than all others because of the size of their respective floras.” Brazil is home to about 30,000 species and South African almost 20,000, so the Red List numbers will probably swell over the next few years.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/2013/12/05...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 7, 2013 at 7:01am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 6, 2013 at 10:02am

How mosquitoes are drawn to human skin and breath
Part 2
"Such compounds can play a significant role in the control of mosquito-borne diseases and open up very realistic possibilities of developing ways to use simple, natural, affordable and pleasant odors to prevent mosquitoes from finding humans," Ray said. "Odors that block this dual-receptor for CO2 and skin odor can be used as a way to mask us from mosquitoes. On the other hand, odors that can act as attractants can be used to lure mosquitoes away from us into traps. These potentially affordable 'mask' and 'pull' strategies could be used in a complementary manner, offering an ideal solution and much needed relief to people in Africa, Asia and South America -- indeed wherever mosquito-borne diseases are endemic. Further, these compounds could be developed into products that protect not just one individual at a time but larger areas, and need not have to be directly applied on the skin."

Currently, CO2 is the primary lure in mosquito traps. Generating CO2 requires burning fuel, evaporating dry ice, releasing compressed gas or fermentation of sugar -- all of which is expensive, cumbersome, and impractical for use in developing countries. Compounds identified in this study, like cyclopentanone, offer a safe, affordable and convenient alternative that can finally work with surveillance and control traps.
Source: University of California - Riverside

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 6, 2013 at 10:01am

How mosquitoes are drawn to human skin and breath
Part 1
Female mosquitoes, which can transmit deadly diseases like malaria, dengue fever, West Nile virus and filariasis, are attracted to us by smelling the carbon dioxide we exhale, being capable of tracking us down even from a distance. But once they get close to us, they often steer away toward exposed areas such as ankles and feet, being drawn there by skin odors. Why does the mosquito change its track and fly towards skin? How does it detect our skin? What are the odors from skin that it detects? And can we block the mosquito skin odor sensors and reduce attractiveness?

Recent research done by scientists at the University of California, Riverside can now help address these questions. They report on Dec. 5 in the journal Cell that the very receptors in the mosquito's maxillary palp that detect carbon dioxide are ones that detect skin odors as well, thus explaining why mosquitoes are attracted to skin odor -- smelly socks, worn clothes, bedding -- even in the absence of CO2.
"It was a real surprise when we found that the mosquito's CO2 receptor neuron, designated cpA, is an extremely sensitive detector of several skin odorants as well, and is, in fact, far more sensitive to some of these odor molecules as compared to CO2," said Anandasankar Ray, an associate professor in the Department of Entomology and the project's principal investigator. "For many years we had primarily focused on the complex antennae of mosquitoes for our search for human-skin odor receptors, and ignored the simpler maxillary palp organs."
Until now, which mosquito olfactory neurons were required for attraction to skin odor remained a mystery. The new finding -- that the CO2-sensitive olfactory neuron is also a sensitive detector of human skin -- is critical not only for understanding the basis of the mosquito's host attraction and host preference, but also because it identifies this dual receptor of CO2 and skin-odorants as a key target that could be useful to disrupt host-seeking behavior and thus aid in the control of disease transmission.
To test whether cpA activation by human odor is important for attraction, the researchers devised a novel chemical-based strategy to shut down the activity of cpA in Aedes aegypti, the dengue-spreading mosquito. They then tested the mosquito's behavior on human foot odor -- specifically, on a dish of foot odor-laden beads placed in an experimental wind tunnel -- and found the mosquito's attraction to the odor was greatly reduced.
Next, using a chemical computational method they developed, the researchers screened nearly half a million compounds and identified thousands of predicted ligands. They then short-listed 138 compounds based on desirable characteristics such as smell, safety, cost and whether these occurred naturally. Several compounds either inhibited or activated cpA neurons of which nearly 85 percent were already approved for use as flavor, fragrance or cosmetic agents. Better still, several were pleasant-smelling, such as minty, raspberry, chocolate, etc., increasing their value for practical use in mosquito control.
The researchers then zeroed in on two compounds: ethyl pyruvate, a fruity-scented cpA inhibitor approved as a flavor agent in food; and cyclopentanone, a minty-smelling cpA activator approved as a flavor and fragrance agent. By inhibiting the cpA neuron, ethyl pyruvate was found in their experiments to substantially reduce the mosquito's attraction towards a human arm. By activating the cpA neuron, cyclopentanone served as a powerful lure, like CO2, attracting mosquitoes to a trap.
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2013/12/05/how.mosquitoes.are.draw...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 6, 2013 at 9:57am

Study shows how water dissolves stone, molecule by molecule
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2013/12/05/study.shows.how.water.d...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 6, 2013 at 7:09am

The Replication Myth: Shedding Light on One of Science’s Dirty Little Secrets
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2013/12/04/the-repli...

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