| Indonesian volcano spews new burst of ash By BINSAR BAKKARA 2010-09-03T14:15:28ZTANAH KARO, Indonesia (AP) -- An Indonesian volcano that was quiet for four centuries shot a new, powerful burst of hot ash more than 10,000 feet (three kilometers) in the air Friday, sending frightened residents fleeing to safety for the second time this week.... hosted.ap.org |
Mystery bird: sedge warbler, Acrocephalus schoenobaenus | GrrlScientist Another mystery bird species demystified, this time, a migratory Old World species that will be familiar to my readers in the European UnionSedge Warbler, Acrocephalus schoenobaenus, photographed on mainland Orkney, Orkney Islands, Scotland, UK. Image: Dave Rintoul, 28 July 2008. [larger view].Question: Females of this Mystery Bird species choose their mates based primarily on one feature, so this creates a selection pressure that strongly influences the evolution of this particular trait. What trait is this? [Extra smug points for those of you who can identify this bird's sex!]Answer: The Sedge Warbler, Acrocephalus schoenobaenus, is a medium-sized migratory Old World songbird that breeds in wetlands throughout Europe and western and central Asia. The females select their mates based on the quality of the territory they possess, and particularly on the quality of the male's song. Interestingly, male Sedge Warblers cease singing shortly after a pair bond has formed, suggesting that this species' song functions solely for attracting a mate rather than serving the dual purpose of keeping other males away from the singer's territory. The male's song, which is often delivered during a parachuting flight display, is described as "loud [with] long sequences of not very varied excited notes now and then relieved by rapid cascades of trills and whistles and occasional interwoven mimicry (e. g. of Coot, Wood Sandpiper, Yellow Wagtail)." [emphasis theirs; p. 290, Collins Bird Guide, by Killian Mullarney, Lars Svensson, Dan Zetterstrom & Peter J. Grant (1999), HarperCollins Publishers, London; ISBN: 002197286; the second edition (2010) is now available] Other sources note that the male's song is a random composition of phrases, so that it is never the same. It is interesting to point out that, even though this species is usually socially monogamous, male Sedge Warblers with the widest song repertoire mate with the largest number of females. This serves to drive the evolution of ever-larger song repertoires in this species. If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you'd like to share with a large and appreciate audience, feel free to email them to me for consideration.GrrlScientistguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Animal activists accused of liberating 5,000 mink in Ireland Farm owner in Donegal accuses radicals of cutting open cages and fences to free predatory, carnivorous mammalsThe roads and rivers of north-west Ireland are suddenly lined with mink. Managers at Anderson's Mink Farm in Ardara, Donegal, said today that animal right activists cut and opened many of their cages and fences over the weekend, freeing an estimated 5,000 animals into the wilds. About 28,000 stayed behind.More than 100 have already been recaptured by hunters using cage traps, while several hundred others have been killed by traffic. Drivers have reported seeing groups of the farm-reared animals standing, dazzled by headlights, in the middle of busy roads.One of the farm's directors, Connie Anderson, blamed animal rights activists for invading the farm in the early hours of Sunday. "These people are animal liberation terrorists and had no thought for the mink or for the damage that will be done to other wildlife in the area," Anderson said.Agricultural authorities warned that the surviving minks could destroy local populations of salmon, rabbits and fowl. Animal rights activists in Ireland have denied responsibility – but are praising whoever did it."We have nothing to do with it," said Bernie Wright, spokeswoman for Ireland's Alliance for Animal Rights. "However, I commend whoever risked their freedom to do this as these animals have a horrendous life."IrelandAnimalsAnimal welfareAnimal behaviourBiologyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Love really is like a drug Love (or maybe lust) not only blocks pain, it also seems to stimulate the same parts of the brain as cocaineIntense spells of passion are as effective at blocking pain as cocaine and other illicit drugs, a team of neuroscientists say. Tests on 15 American students who admitted to being in the passionate early stages of a relationship showed that feelings for their partner reduced intense pain by 12% and moderate pain by 45%.In the study, researchers at Stanford University showed eight women and seven men photographs of their partners while delivering mild doses of pain to their palms with a hot probe. At the same time, the students had their brains scanned by a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine. At the end of each test, the students were asked to rate how much pain they felt.Feelings of love, triggered by a photo of their partner, acted as a powerful painkiller. Brain scans revealed that these feelings caused more activity in parts of the brain that are also triggered by morphine and cocaine. Looking at an image of an attractive friend rather than their partner had only a mild analgesic effect.The study went on to investigate whether distracting the students also reduced pain by giving them simple mental tasks, such as naming sports that do not involve a ball.The brain scans showed that while both love and distraction reduce pain, they appear to act on different pathways in the brain.Jarred Younger, who led the study published in Plos One, said: "With the distraction test, the brain pathways leading to pain relief were mostly cognitive. The reduction of pain was associated with higher, cortical parts of the brain."Love-induced analgesia is much more associated with the reward centres. It appears to involve more primitive aspects of the brain, activating deep structures that may block pain at a spinal level: similar to how opioid analgesics work."He added, "One of the key sites for love-induced analgesia is the nucleus accumbens, a key reward addiction centre for opioids, cocaine and other drugs of abuse. The region tells the brain that you really need to keep doing this."Younger's team recruited students in the first nine months of a relationship, when feelings of passion are at their most intense."We intentionally focused on this early phase of passionate love. We specifically were not looking for longer-lasting, more mature phases of the relationship. We wanted subjects who were feeling euphoric, energetic, obsessively thinking about their beloved, craving their presence," Sean Mackey, a co-author on the paper, said."When passionate love is described like this, it in some ways sounds like an addiction. We thought, maybe this does involve similar brain systems as those involved in addictions."NeuroscienceDrugsMedical researchPsychologyIan Sampleguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Fuel Lines of Tumors Are New Target Approaches include depriving tumor cells of energy and boosting their energy to enable cell suicide. feeds.nytimes.com |