Exoplanets

Extra-solar planets or exoplanets are planets that orbit stars other than our Sun. Even though science fiction has explored their existence for decades, the first one was only identified in the 1990's. The first one's discovered are large gas planets like Jupiter.

Exoplanets are difficult to detect, so astronomers have to get information in indirect ways. A common technique for looking for them now is to observe what kind of wobble the planets cause their star to have. Just as the Sun's gravity keeps Earth in orbit, the Earth's gravity is pulling not quite as hard on the Sun.

This study found (for the first time) planets within the region of other stars that would allow for temperatures at which water could exist. The densities of the exoplanets was also determined.

Click here to read research abstract.

Abiotic Sugar

Sugar powers life. Our cells use sugar to create ATP. ATP is what we use as energy.

This study describes possible mechanisms for sugars to form in an abiotic (or pre-life) Earth.

How do we know something is alive? As humans we have an understanding of what it means to be alive and we recognize it when we see it. However we are unable to describe or define it in precise terms. What is your understanding of life? How do you know something is alive?

Click here to read research abstract.

Alligator Lungs

A new understanding of how alligators breathe informs what we think about dinosaur physiology. It has been know for some time now that birds have a unique unidirectional method of breathing. They inhale through their mouths or nostrils like us, but what happens next is different. Our lungs expand and contract with a single opening the way a balloon inflates or deflates. Birds lungs once they take in air move it through unidirectional tubes. There is no reversing of air flow.

It has been assumed that birds developed this trait in response to the aerobic demands of flying. The recent study of alligator lungs indicates that the trait probably appeared in an earlier ancestor from which both birds and alligators evolved. That indicates that dinosaurs likely had unidirectional lungs, since it is thought they also developed from the same predecessor as birds and alligators. Lungs are soft tissue, so they are not well preserved in the fossil record. Scientists would not previously had evidence about unidirectional lungs for dinosaurs.

Click here to read original abstract about alligator lungs.

Dry Ice Rivers On Mars

Erosion and shifting large boulders have been observed occurring on Mars. The patterns indicate there are seasonal rivers in the areas where this is happening, but there is no direct observation of flowing water. By watching these areas over time and using data about temperature scientists think there are crusts of dry ice forming. These crusts grow so large and heavy as to shift the soil beneath it. This causes the patterns that look like river beds.

Click here to read a summary of the article.

Exporting Crazy

Ethan Watters in his book Crazy Like Us asserts that the United States is exporting ideas about mental health, and in the process is redefining people in other cultures as ill.
Basically he's saying the US is forcing its culture on other countries and is motivated by drug companies that make a big profit off of new markets. Watters says that physicians are treating patients with an American paradigm when it doesn't fit. A lot of mental illness apparently is defined by social norms, so a doctor needs to be culturally aware of the patient's background.
What do you think? Have you read the book?
Click here to find Crazy Like Us on Amazon.

Parasitic Wasps Decoded

We are all familiar with wasps and fear their painful sting. Bugs have more to fear from the sting of a wasp than we do. Parasitic wasps lay their eggs in other insects bodies. The eggs hatch, and the larva feed on the host insect eating it from the inside out. Often the unfortunate bug that has the babies wasps inside die. After feeding the young wasps mature to adulthood, break through the exoskeleton of the host, fly off, mate and continue the cycle.

Agriculturalists have found parasitic wasps useful in getting certain pests out of their fields. Wasps that lay their eggs in other insects generally target certain species, so it is important to understand the relationship to best utilize wasps as pest control.

Scientists with the Nasonia Genome Working Group have decoded the DNA of three species of parasitic wasps in the genus Nasonia. These species are closely related. That means the DNA can be used to understand evolutionary differences between the wasps and how the differences came about. This information will be useful to Agronomists trying to make better use of parasitic wasps as well as geneticists trying to understand the mechanisms that factor into evolution.

Click here to read the research abstract.

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