http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Hammerhead sharks are some of the Ocean's most distinctive residents. 'Everyone wants to understand why they have this strange head shape,' says Michelle McComb from Florida Atlantic University. One possible reason is the shark's vision. 'Perhaps their visual field has been enhanced by their weird head shape,' says McComb, giving the sharks excellent stereovision and depth perception. However, according to McComb, there were two schools of thought on this theory. In 1942, G. Walls speculated that the sharks couldn't possibly have binocular vision because their eyes were stuck out on the sides of their heads. http://www.physorg.com/news178526505.html Biology Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:42:14 EST news178526505 Prized for their impressive antlers, red deer have been caught in the hunters' sights for generations. But a deer's antlers are much more than decorative. They are lethal weapons that stags crash together when duelling. John Currey, from The University of York, UK, has been intrigued by the mechanical properties of bone for over half a century and has become fascinated by the mechanical properties of antler through a long-standing collaboration with Tomas Landete-Castillejos at the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha. http://www.physorg.com/news178526297.html Biology Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:38:54 EST news178526297 Biologists at UC San Diego have discovered that honeybees can discriminate between food at different temperatures, an ability that may assist bees in locating the warm, sugar-rich nectar or high-protein pollen produced by many flowers. http://www.physorg.com/news177676732.html Biology Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:10:02 EST news177676732 Coral reefs support some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, yet they thrive in a marine desert. So how do reefs sustain their thriving populations? http://www.physorg.com/news177312219.html Biology Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:50:03 EST news177312219 (PhysOrg.com) -- Longer toes may give sprinters a leg up on other runners, according to a new study. http://www.physorg.com/news177258013.html Biology Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:20:49 EST news177258013 What is it about elite sprinters that gives them the edge over non-sprinters in the 100m dash? Stephen Piazza from the Pennsylvania State University publishes his discovery, in The Journal of Experimental Biology, that the length of an elite sprinter's heel (the distance from the back of the heel to the ankle) is 25 percent shorter in elite athletes than non-sprinters, allowing them to generate more force when sprinting for gold. http://www.physorg.com/news176098750.html Biology Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:21:36 EST news176098750 Barnacles are a big problem for boats. Adhering to the undersides of vessels, carpets of the crustaceans can increase fuel consumption by as much as 25%. Ship owners would love to know how to stop these hitchhikers gluing on, but before you can learn how to disrupt an adhesive, you have to understand the curing process. Curious about many aspects of the crustacean's lifestyle, Dan Rittschof from Duke University decided to find out how barnacle adhesive polymerizes. http://www.physorg.com/news174891043.html Chemistry Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:20:02 EST news174891043 (PhysOrg.com) -- Many insects have been known for decades to hold their breath when resting, but the reasons have not been well understood. A new study on cockroaches suggests the insects reduce their breathing to conserve moisture. http://www.physorg.com/news173000242.html Biology Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:40:01 EST news173000242 Researchers at INSERM (France) have engineered a chimeric protein that increases cell survival, migration and proliferation to improve stem cell engraftment. The results, which appear in the September 2009 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, show that TAT-Tpr-Met, a cell permeable form of the hepatocyte growth factor receptor can increase the number of hepatic stem cells integrated into the liver of the mouse. http://www.physorg.com/news170351034.html Medicine & Health Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:50:03 EST news170351034 Most lacertid lizards are content scurrying in and out of nooks and crannies in walls and between rocks. However, some have opted for an arboreal life style. Neon blue tailed tree lizards (Holaspis guentheri) leap from branch to branch as they scamper through trees in the African forest. http://www.physorg.com/news167026972.html Biology Fri, 17 Jul 2009 06:30:02 EST news167026972 While watching swimmers line up during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, former Olympic swimmer and NBC Sports commentator Rowdy Gaines quipped that swimmers keep getting bigger, with the shortest one in the current race towering over the average spectator. http://www.physorg.com/news167027175.html Medicine & Health Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:28:42 EST news167027175 (PhysOrg.com) -- Attractive males release fewer sperm per mating to maximise their chances of producing offspring across a range of females, according to a new paper on the evolution of ejaculation strategies. The findings by researchers at UCL (University College London) and the University of Oxford suggest that, paradoxically, matings with attractive males may be less fertile than those with unattractive ones. http://www.physorg.com/news166354811.html Biology Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:40:43 EST news166354811 Charles Darwin and his contemporaries postulated that food consumption in birds and mammals was limited by resource levels, that is, animals would eat as much as they could while food was plentiful and produce as many offspring as this would allow them to. However, recent research has shown that, even when food is abundant, energy intake reaches a limit, even in animals with high nutrient demands, such as lactating females. Scientists at the Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology in Vienna suggest that this is due to active control of maternal investment in offspring in order to maintain long-term reproductive fitness. http://www.physorg.com/news165643460.html Biology Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:04:45 EST news165643460 (PhysOrg.com) -- The seemingly effortless way dolphins and porpoises slice through the water and the unique capabilities of the supersonic Concorde airplane have more in common than one might think. http://www.physorg.com/news165592631.html Biology Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:57:44 EST news165592631 Plants grown under high CO2 and drought conditions show an increase in toxic compounds, a decrease in protein content and a decrease in yield. Dr. Ros Gleadow will present her findings at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on Monday, June 29, where she will discuss these results and the consequent requirement for new cultivars in order to sustain food production in a future environment. http://www.physorg.com/news165489315.html Biology Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:15:37 EST news165489315 Research at the Universities of Plymouth and Exeter has shown that fish kept alone or in small groups are more aggressive and exhibit fewer natural behaviors such as shoaling. Dr Katherine Sloman will discuss the findings and their implications for welfare guidelines for aquarium fish at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on Monday June 29. http://www.physorg.com/news165488244.html Biology Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:10:03 EST news165488244 Burrowing frogs can survive buried for several years without food or water. Scientists have discovered that the metabolism of their cells changes radically during the dormancy period allowing the frogs to maximize the use of their limited energy resources. This discovery could prove to have important applications in the long term for treating energy-related disorders such as obesity. The results will be presented at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on Monday, June 29. http://www.physorg.com/news165475339.html Biology Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:30:01 EST news165475339 With rising ozone levels scientists have found that high ozone conditions cause a 30 percent decrease in yield and an increase in the concentration of a group of compounds with toxic effects to livestock, but anticarcinogenic effects for humans, within oilseed rape plants. Maarten de Bock will present his findings at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on Monday, June 29. http://www.physorg.com/news165474218.html Biology Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:10:01 EST news165474218 Between the 1932 and 2008 Olympic Games, world record times of the men's 100m sprint improved by 0.6 seconds. Scientists at the Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology in Austria have shown that an equivalent improvement can be achieved in mice by feeding them a diet high in a certain type of polyunsaturated fatty acid. Dr. Christopher Turbill will present the research at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on Monday, June 29. http://www.physorg.com/news165474068.html Biology Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:01:59 EST news165474068 We can only marvel at the way that dolphins, whales and porpoises scythe through water. Their finlike flippers seem perfectly adapted for maximum aquatic agility. However, no one had ever analysed how the animals' flippers interact with water; the hydrodynamic lift that they generate, the drag that they experience or their hydrodynamic efficiency. Laurens Howle and Paul Weber from Duke University teamed up with Mark Murray from the United States Naval Academy and Frank Fish from West Chester University, to find out more about the hydrodynamics of whale and dolphin flippers. http://www.physorg.com/news165215285.html Biology Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:33:08 EST news165215285 (PhysOrg.com) -- Fingerprints do not help primates grip, as previously thought, scientists have discovered. They actually reduce the friction needed to hold onto flat surfaces. Now Dr Roland Ennos and his team at The University of Manchester are trying to find out: why do we have them? http://www.physorg.com/news162822562.html Biology Fri, 29 May 2009 13:33:32 EST news162822562 Researchers at Iowa State University have found that increased expression of a form of cytochrome P-450 (CYP4B1) is a key marker of inhibition of colitis in mice by caffeic acid, an anti-inflammatory antioxidant compound widely distributed in foods. http://www.physorg.com/news162553970.html Medicine & Health Tue, 26 May 2009 10:53:31 EST news162553970 Dolphins have a clever trick for overcoming sleep deprivation. Sam Ridgway from the US Navy Marine Mammal Program explains that they are able to send half of their brains to sleep while the other half remains conscious. What is more, the mammals seem to be able to remain continually vigilant for sounds for days on end. http://www.physorg.com/news160384772.html Biology Fri, 01 May 2009 08:19:57 EST news160384772 Dengue fever is a terrible viral disease blighting many of the world's tropical regions. Carried by mosquitoes, such as Aedes aegypti, 40% of the world's population is believed to be at risk from the infection. What is more, previous exposure to other strains of the fever does not confer protection. In fact, subsequent infections are significantly worse, and can result in fatal dengue haemorrhagic fever. http://www.physorg.com/news160383165.html Biology Fri, 01 May 2009 07:53:39 EST news160383165 Researchers at The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania have discovered that the efficacy of the Opioid Growth Factor (OGF, [Met5]-enkephalin), a clinically important antitumor agent, is dependent on nucleocytoplasmic translocation and reliant on the integrity of nuclear localization signals in the OGF receptor (OGFr). http://www.physorg.com/news159706269.html Medicine & Health Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:51:37 EST news159706269 Can a grape-enriched diet prevent the downhill sequence of heart failure after years of high blood pressure? http://www.physorg.com/news159644910.html Medicine & Health Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:49:01 EST news159644910 For almost 20 years, pharmacological companies have known that certain compounds that activate two specific CNS receptors, causing them to release the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, are effective in treating the cognitive and motor problems related to both schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease (AD). http://www.physorg.com/news159452703.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:25:32 EST news159452703 Men and women who chewed Extra(R) sugar-free gum three times hourly in the afternoon chose and consumed less snacks and specifically, less sweet snacks than they did when they did not chew gum. They still reached for a variety of snacks provided but the decrease in overall snack intake was significant at 40 calories and sweet snack intake specifically was significantly lowered by 60 calories. http://www.physorg.com/news159372266.html Medicine & Health Sun, 19 Apr 2009 15:04:59 EST news159372266 In earlier studies, researchers at Louisiana State University had found that estrogen - or more precisely, having ovaries - made adult rats exposed for the first time to THC, the primary ingredient in marijuana and hashish, less sensitive to THC's negative effects on tests of learning and memory. http://www.physorg.com/news159372150.html Medicine & Health Sun, 19 Apr 2009 15:03:01 EST news159372150 Finally some promising news about pancreatic cancer, one of the most fatal cancers, due to the difficulties of early detection and the lack of effective therapies: Johns Hopkins University pathologist Akhilesh Pandey has identified an epidermal growth factor receptor aberrantly active in approximately a third of the 250 human pancreatic cancers studied. http://www.physorg.com/news159370670.html Biology Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:38:20 EST news159370670