science NSF biology

A PHOTO

Why Does the Songbird SIng? Songbirds are often used as a model to study the overall basis of speech, and specifically the biological mechanisms of vocal learning. Researchers use the model to better understand how experience causes the brain to develop and change. However, little is known about how the brains of songbirds change as they learn a new song. In isolated communities of zebra finches, it is unknown how younger birds process sounds as they learn to imitate older tutors. Researchers have developed techniques to non-invasively detect changes in brain responses of zebra finches after exposure to song stimuli during periods of song learning and changes to their social environment.

Image credit: Beryl John, Zaid Kajani and Melvyn Mathew

science biology botany agriculture

A VIDEO

Projected population and economic growth will double the current demand for food by 2050. To meet projected food demands, robust and plentiful crops are needed. Researchers engaged in finding a way to strengthen plant resistance to various microbes, have discovered a plant hormone known to regulate growth also impacts plant immunity to microorganisms. The results suggest a strong interconnection between growth pathways and plant immunity. Read further… 

Above, top: Steroid signaling controls plant body size.

Middle: Plants bred with an increased steroid presence are vulnerable to gray mold fungus.

End: Local cell immune response to steroid signaling.

Image credit: Y. Belkhadir and Y. Jaillais

science Nanomaterials

A PHOTO

Nanohybrid functional materials combine molecular elements such as DNA with 3-D nanostructure scaffolds, offering novel approaches to health diagnostics, environmental monitoring and domestic security. Their challenge: They are invisible to the naked eye and difficult to detect with conventional sensors.

However, researchers have developed a technique that measures how polarized light refracts off of this new class of materials and compares it to how they respond in the presence of target chemicals.

Above: This highly ordered, 3-D nanostructure responds to light pulses. 

Image: Mathias Schubert, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

 

science biology

A PHOTO

As DNA sequencing tools improve, the next challenge lies in identifying how the genetic code, or genotype, of an organism translates into its physical characteristics, known as the phenotype. Through a comparison study of two species of Nasonia wasps, researchers at the University of Rochester have gained insight into how genetics influence the evolution of size and shape of living organisms.

The wasps are a good model for this type of study because they are closely related genetically, but possess distinctly different wing sizes. In one of the species, males have very small, flightless wings… Read more

Image: David Loehlin, University of Wisconsin, Madison

science engineering earthquakes

A PHOTO

Steeling buildings against seismic activity: Concentrically braced steel frames are a practical and economical structural system for seismic design of buildings, but their performance is more complex and less understood than most other structural systems. Current braced frames’ designs are complicated and sometimes difficult to execute. Few tests are available to evaluate the braced frame system as a whole. However, researchers at the University of Washington led a comprehensive series of experiments and performed nonlinear analyses on more than 40 large-scale braced frame systems. This work will provide the international earthquake engineering community with important technologies for understanding, evaluating and designing braced frames.

Here, you see testing of  a two-story braced frame at the National Center for Research in Earthquake Engineering in Taiwan.

Image credit: Charles W. Roeder, University of Washington

science ecology coral reefs biology

A PHOTO

A goby rests on coral that is in contact with green alga. Coral reefs are important marine habitats. Their diversity makes them resilient to changes, including the diversity of interactions between species. Understanding these interactions is critical for establishing ecosystem-based management of coral reef systems.

While exploring seaweed-coral interactions in the South Pacific, researchers discovered a unique relationship between the coral Acropora nasuta, the toxic macroalgae Chlorodesmis fastigiata, and two species of gobies, G. histrio and P. enchinocephalus. 

Read further … 

Image credit: Danielle Dixson

science Nanomaterials engineering

A VIDEO

Spinning Nanofibers Into Energy Efficient Cloth: The nanofiber project at the Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center has spun energy-scavenging nanofibers with electrogeneration properties. Read further …

Top photo: A fiber nanogenerator on a plastic substrate. For inset, see next image.

Bottom photo: Nanofibers can convert energy from mechanical stresses into electricity

Credit: Richard Muller, University of California Berkeley

science materials chemistry

A VIDEO

Magnetic Material Attracts Pollutants: Polluted water can contain a toxic and carcinogenic form of the heavy metal chromium. Researchers have demonstrated the extraordinary ability of a magnetic material to remove this metal from water through a process called adsorption. In this case, chromium molecules bind to the magnetic material, allowing researchers to quickly separate the heavy metal from the material after adsorption using a magnet.

This novel material is highly efficient at removing chromium from water in just a few minutes—significantly faster than the hours or even days needed by conventional activated carbon adsorbents. The removal process also satisfies U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requirement for the treatment of waste water containing low concentrations of chromium pollutants.

Top photo: A single particle with an iron core surrounded by a double shell structure (a). Composites dispersed in acid (b) and separation using a magnet (c).

Bottom photo: A single particle with an iron core surrounded by a double shell structure (a). Composites dispersed in acid (b) and separation using a magnet (c).

Credit: Zhanhu Guo, Lamar University

Read further…

science engineering biology

A PHOTO

Robotic Fish to the Rescue: In the Disney movie “Finding Nemo,” the eponymous character, a clown fish, urges a school of grouper caught in a net to swim down away from their captors thus breaking the net and saving his friend Dory. Now, a robotic fish developed by researchers at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University may soon lead schools of real fish away from dangers such as irrigation systems, oil spills or turbines by imitating the behavior of biological fish.

Here, a robotic fish designed to attract zebrafish floats in a tank.

Credit:Dynamical System Laboratory, Polytechnic Institute of New York University

science engineering electronics

A VIDEO

Dazzling, Energy-efficient Color Displays: Electronic displays, found in cell phones, laptops and tablets, are rapidly expanding into other applications. However, displays based on conventional liquid crystal display technology are energy hungry because they emit their own light. Suspension-based electrophoretic inks, which have become popular in electronic book readers, reflect light from their surroundings, making them more energy efficient. The challenge: these inks only produce black and white displays. To overcome this limitation, researchers a have demonstrated an energy-efficient concept for electronic inks.

Photos Eric Dufresne, Yale University and Eric Furst, University of Delaware

science biology

A VIDEO

How Do King Penguins Navigate in Extremely Crowded Environments?

Researchers have found that even at the age of 10 months, king penguin chicks have well-developed navigational abilities.

The findings shed light on an essential survival skill for king penguins.

Read more…

All images courtesy Anna Nesterova

science archaeology egyptian

A VIDEO

   1. An Egyptian funerary figurine. (Craig Smith)
   2. Remains of horse, pyramid at Tombos. (Stuart Smith)
   3. Egyptian amulets found in a Nubian tomb. (Craig Smith)

Multicultural Beginnings for One Set of Egyptian Rulers: Bioarchaeological evidence suggests the development of the Nubian Napatan rulers of Egypt’s 25th Dynasty (750-657 BCE) originated in the context of a biological and culturally blended community that emerged out of ancient Egypt’s colonial empire (1502-1070 BCE). Excavation and analysis of burial features and human skeletal remains in Nubia reveal the complex processes involved in the formation of political power, demonstrating the previously unexpected interweaving of varying cultural groups—including immigrant and local people—into a multiethnic community.

Learn more …

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