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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 12, 2015 at 8:22am

Power of pupils is in their shape
Vertical and horizontal pupils provide visual advantages for predators and prey respectively, researchers say
Visual fuzziness might actually help some animals catch prey. Out-of-focus areas created by vertically elongated pupils help predators triangulate the distance to objects, scientists proposed on August 7 in Science Advances. Prey animals may gain different visual advantages from pupil shapes that provide panoramic views.

Cats, foxes and many other predators that ambush prey have vertical pupils. Through these narrow slits, vertical objects appear sharp over great distances, the scientists report. Horizontal shapes are clear over a more limited distance, quickly going out of focus as an object moves farther away. This rapidly blurring vision should make it easy to detect even subtle changes in distance, the researchers say. That makes blur a good estimate of distance, says study author Martin Banks, a vision scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. A stalking predator might rely upon an object’s fuzziness to judge its location.

The benefits of this mix of visual cues make good sense.
Many herbivores, like horses and deer, have horizontal, rectangular pupils, rather than vertical slits. The authors don’t think these pupils help with depth perception. But rectangular pupils probably have their own advantages, the authors report, including better panoramic vision and shielding of potentially blinding overhead light. These benefits could help grazing prey spot – and flee from – an approaching slit-eyed hunter.

These visual benefits could explain why predators and prey evolved their pupil shapes.
But vision scientist Ronald Kröger of Lund University in Sweden warns against assuming that an animal’s habits caused the evolution of a certain pupil shape. Counterexamples exist of predators without slit pupils and herbivores with them, he says. Additionally, many predators and prey animals, including most birds – which were excluded from the study’s analysis – have circular pupils.

But evolution is complex, and the new hypotheses about the advantages of pupil shape only address one aspect of the evolution of vision, Banks says. “There are multiple forces that push the eye to evolve in multiple ways.”

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 12, 2015 at 6:48am

MIT physicists have created a superfluid gas, the so-called Bose-Einstein condensate, for the first time in an extremely high magnetic field. The magnetic field is a synthetic magnetic field, generated using laser beams, and is 100 times stronger than that of the world’s strongest magnets. Within this magnetic field, the researchers could keep a gas superfluid for a tenth of a second — just long enough for the team to observe it. The researchers report their results this week in the journal Nature Physics.
A superfluid is a phase of matter that only certain liquids or gases can assume, if they are cooled to extremely low temperatures. At temperatures approaching absolute zero, atoms cease their individual, energetic trajectories, and start to move collectively as one wave.

Superfluids are thought to flow endlessly, without losing energy, similar to electrons in a superconductor. Observing the behavior of superfluids therefore may help scientists improve the quality of superconducting magnets and sensors, and develop energy-efficient methods for transporting electricity.

But superfluids are temperamental, and can disappear in a flash if atoms cannot be kept cold or confined. The MIT team combined several techniques in generating ultracold temperatures, to create and maintain a superfluid gas long enough to observe it at ultrahigh synthetic magnetic fields.
Observation of Bose–Einstein condensation in a strong synthetic magnetic field
http://www.nature.com/nphys/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nphys3421.html

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 11, 2015 at 7:30am

Light in the universe is fading according to scientists

An international team of astronomers studying 200,000 galaxies has measured the energy generated within a large portion of space more precisely than ever before, discovering that it's only half what it was 2 billion years ago and fading - the Universe is slowly dying. Researchers from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) in Western Australia used seven of the world's most powerful telescopes to observe galaxies at 21 different wavelengths from the far ultraviolet to the far infrared.

Initial observations were conducted using the Anglo-Australian Telescope in New South Wales and supporting observations were made by two orbiting space telescopes operated by NASA and another belonging to the European Space Agency.

All energy in the Universe was created in the Big Bang with some portion locked up as mass. Stars shine by converting this mass into energy as described by Einstein's famous equation E=MC2.

"While most of the energy sloshing around was created in the aftermath of the Big Bang, additional energy is constantly being released by stars as they fuse elements like hydrogen and helium together".

"This newly released energy is either absorbed by dust as it travels through the host galaxy, or escapes into intergalactic space and travels until it hits something such as another star, planet, or very occasionally a telescope mirror." The Universe is fated to decline from here on in, like an old age that lasts forever.

Source: International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 10, 2015 at 6:21am

There could be a genetic reason for why you either love or hate some smells
When it comes to food, there are few items so divisive as coriander - or cilantro, as it's called in North and Central America. Some people love its fresh flavour, while others swear it tastes like soap. And it turns out a genetic variant that affects how we process aromas might at least partially explain the difference in opinion.

Back in 2012, genetic testing company 23andMe surveyed the DNA of nearly 30,000 people of European background, who'd answered a survey about whether they loved or hated coriander. Out of the 11,851 participants who declared that they liked coriander and the 14,604 who insisted it tasted like soap, they found two genetic variants that were associated with the preferences, and the strongest variant was located within a cluster of known olfactory-receptor genes.
A genetic variant near olfactory receptor genes influences cilantro
preference
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1209.2096v1.pdf

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 10, 2015 at 5:39am

To 'Beat The Heat', caused by climate change, Fish in oceans Swim To Greater Depths
In this recent study, researchers tagged 60 redthroat emperor fish at Heron Island in the southern Great Barrier Reef. All the fish were equipped with transmitters that identified them individually and signaled their depth to an array of receivers around the island.

After monitoring the fish for up to a year, researchers found that fish were less likely to be found on the reef slope on warmer days; they think that many may escape to deeper water as a result of warmer temperatures.

The researchers also kept certain factors in mind, including temperature, air pressure, wind, rainfall and moon phases as reasons for the shift. Yet they discovered that the only significant correlation was due to temperature- the redthroat emperor were consistently monitored when water was less than 24 degrees Celsius.

Lead researcher Dr Leanne Currey noted how most studies examined the effect that ocean warming would have on fish biology and not how the animals would distribute themselves to compensate for higher temperatures.

"This is a commercially important fish and we are looking at a significant depth shift".

http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/28658/20150807/fish-and-...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 10, 2015 at 5:24am

Did you think CNG is safe? Then think again says CSIR chief.

Exhaust from CNG vehicles contains nano carbon particles, needs to be studied seriously: CSIR chief

The natural gas (CNG)-run buses are harmful for humans as they emit 'nano carbon' particles which can cause cancer, according to a study conducted by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Though the study was conducted on a very limited sample size in Delhi, CSIR took the findings seriously owing to the health hazard it poses to humans and alerted the Central government for further follow up, CSIR's Director General Dr M O Garg said on 7th Aug., 2015.

A study conducted by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) claims buses that run on compressed natural gas (CNG) emit 'nanocarbon' particles that can cause cancer. While the study was conducted on a limited sample size in Delhi, CSIR alerted the central government due to the severity of the threat it poses to the health of the residents.

The study was conducted along with a professor from Alberta University, who has developed a device to measure and analyze particles emitted by vehicles. This machine was installed on the exhaust of a natural gas-run DTC bus in Delhi.

The study can change the perception that natural gas is a clean fuel as it does not emit any visible smoke, which is in contrast to smoke emitted by diesel-run vehicles and perceived as harmful for humans.

He explained, "Natural gas is supposed to be a clean fuel when used in internal combustion engines, right? But, I don't think people realize that what you see (smoke) is perhaps better than what you don't see (no smoke from CNG vehicles). Can you imagine that we found nanocarbon particles coming out of from natural gas combustion. These particles are moving around in the atmosphere and going straight into your lungs through your nose. It then enters into your blood through membranes."

Dr Garg said these nanocarbon particles are carcinogenic, and the government has been alerted about its effects.

Warning : But this is not a published work. Just a speculation. And my instincts tell something is wrong here and it could be an erroneous  representation of facts - Krishna.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 8, 2015 at 8:44am

Top 10 Science Moments on The Daily Show [Video]
(Jon Stewart's)

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/jon-stewart-s-top-...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 8, 2015 at 8:30am

Scientists reveal their most embarrassing mistakes in the field
https://twitter.com/hashtag/fieldworkfail?vertical=default
Twitter hashtag #fieldworkfail.

Caused two fire accidents while using inflammable chemicals. Made all my colleagues run away #fieldworkfail

#FieldWorkFail proves science is a horrifyingly messy process

Being a scientist isn't always such a glamorous job. This new hasht...

The best thing on Twitter right now: #fieldworkfail recounts brilliant stories of science gone wrong.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 7, 2015 at 6:45am

Here we eat lots of spices. And it seems that is good for living a long time!

Consumption of spicy foods and total and cause specific mortality: population based cohort study

http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h3942

Spicy food in the diet seems to contribute to longevity, a study of thousands of people in a Chinese registry finds.

Men who ate spicy food at least once a week were 10 percent less likely to die during the seven-year study period than were those with a more bland diet. Women had a mortality decrease of 12 to 22 percent during the study period with regular spicy food consumption, and eating it three or more times a week was associated with the biggest decrease.

These observational data don’t establish that spicy foods reduces mortality. But the findings suggest that men who ate spicy food three or more times a week had fewer fatal respiratory diseases.  For women, the strongest associations were seen in respiratory and cardiac diseases and infections.

The scientists speculate that capsaicin, the active ingredient in chili peppers, might underlie the benefits.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 30, 2015 at 9:26am

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