Scientific American

Hard to Beat Feet for Fostering Fungus

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:30:08 EST

Do fungi have a foot fetish? When researchers mapped the fungal species living on the surface of the human body, they found the skin on the feet harbors the most diverse fungal community. The work is in the journal Nature . [Keisha Findley et al, Topographic diversity of fungal and bacterial communities in human skin ]

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Genomics Reveals Great Famine Culprit

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:09:08 EST

The potato famine in Ireland killed a million people and led to mass emigration. The potatoes were destroyed by late blight, caused by the water mold Phytophthora infestans . And we now know exactly which strain of the water mold did the dirty work.

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Good Gut Bacteria May Keep Bad at Bay

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:59:08 EST

Most E. coli bacteria are harmless. It’s the rare, pathogenic strains that can cause bloody diarrhea, kidney disease, or death. But many of us may already be carrying the antidote--a healthy colony of gut bacteria. Because a study finds that when bad E. coli get in, beneficial microbes appear to keep them at bay. In mice, at least.

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Invasive Ladybug Thanks Its Parasite for Competitive Advantage

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:28:08 EST

Ladybugs love to snack on aphids and other pests. So people began importing an Asian species called the harlequin ladybird as natural pest control. But in their new environments, the harlequins wiped out native ladybugs. And they have their parasites to thank. That’s according to research in the journal Science . [Andreas Vilcinskas et al., Invasive Harlequin Ladybird Carries Biological Weapons Against Native Competitors ]

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Isolated Reservoir Holds Ancient Water

Wed, 15 May 2013 23:59:08 EST

Bottled water companies often brag about the purity of their drinks. Just imagine if they found a water source that's been cut off from the outside world for well over a billion years.

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Speed Dating Study Yields Conversation Keys

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:13:08 EST

Speed dating is a popular way to find love. But how can you make a good impression in just a few minutes?

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Riding Technique Affects Horse Force

Mon, 13 May 2013 21:14:08 EST

It’s tough to have a job where the boss is always riding you. That’s literally the case with a horse. Now a study finds that stress experienced by the equine spine can vary drastically with the style and skill of the rider. The findings are trotted out in the Journal of Experimental Biology. [Patricia de Cocq et al., Modelling biomechanical requirements of a rider for different horse-riding techniques at trot ]

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Ice Cores Reveal Green Arctic

Fri, 10 May 2013 19:14:08 EST

The Arctic wasn't always covered in ice. Samples of sediment layers beneath a frozen lake show this region used to be a lot warmer--and may thaw out again in the future. The work is in the journal Science . [Julie Brigham-Grette et al., Pliocene Warmth, Polar Amplification, and Stepped Pleistocene Cooling Recorded in NE Arctic Russia ]

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Elephants Better Beat the Heat--or Else

Tue, 07 May 2013 19:37:08 EST

When summer hits, I dread jogging outside. But a study finds that elephants can be in true danger in the heat.

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Science Tackles Twitter Talents

Mon, 06 May 2013 20:28:08 EST

Justin Bieber has nearly 39 million followers on Twitter--eight million more than the president . But for those of us who aren't as #blessed as Bieber, researchers have come up with a few tips to racking up more followers--based on an analysis of over 500 active tweeters and their half million tweets, over a 15-month period.

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Video Game Play Sharpens Elderly Minds

Fri, 03 May 2013 16:03:08 EST

Wanna help grandma keep her mind sharp? Consider throwing out her crossword puzzles and giving her a joystick. Because a study finds that elderly people who played a video game for at least 10 hours gained three years of protection from cognitive decline. Gamers also became quicker at processing information. The research is in the journal PLoS ONE. [Fredric D. Wolinsky et al., A Randomized Controlled Trial of Cognitive Training Using a Visual Speed of Processing Intervention in Middle Aged and Older Adults ]

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Gap Grows between Wanting and Working

Thu, 02 May 2013 15:50:08 EST

It’s a common complaint, perhaps leveled by every generation about the ones that follow: kids nowadays are too materialistic, with their inflated sense of entitlement, and now flat screens and cell phones. Well, turns out this gripe might finally be true. Because today’s adolescents seem to want more in the way of worldly goods than did teens 30 years ago, and they don’t really want to work for it.

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Voices Considered Attractive Send Body Cues

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:00:08 EST

What makes someone sound sexy? To get a scientific viewpoint, researchers gauged volunteers' responses to different voices. The conclusion: voices considered attractive send messages about body size. The work is in the journal PLoS ONE . [Yi Xu et al., Human Vocal Attractiveness as Signaled by Body Size Projection ]

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Smartphone App System Locates Snipers

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 23:59:08 EST

When the first shots were fired at JFK's motorcade, police couldn't immediately locate the gunman based on sound alone. Today, the technology exists for them to it with their smartphones, less than a second after the first shot.

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Whales Teach One Another Hunting Skill

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:22:08 EST

Chimps show other chimps how to use tools. My roommate showed me some tricks to make better scrambled eggs. Group members teaching each other is called cultural transmission. And a study finds that cultural transmission is behind the spread of a hunting technique among humpback whales off New England. The research is in the journal Science. [Jenny Allen et al., Network-Based Diffusion Analysis Reveals Cultural Transmission of Lobtail Feeding in Humpback Whales ]

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Human Hearts Bleed for Abused Robots

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:17:08 EST

Can your heart bleed for a robot? In two experiments, people reacted to videos where a human appeared to either torture or coddle one of three subjects: another human wearing green, a small green robot, or an inanimate green box. And viewers had a definite emotional response to the treatment of the robot. The work will be presented at the International Communication Association's annual conference.

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Poker Players' Arms Give Away Their Hands

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 21:43:08 EST

A good “poker face” can hide the quality of your cards. But your arms might still be giving away your hands. That’s the finding of a study to come out in the journal Psychological Science. [Michael L. Slepian et al., Quality of Professional Players’ Poker Hands is Perceived Accurately from Arm Motions, link to come]

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Grasshoppers Adjust Calls in Traffic Din

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:52:08 EST

If you’ve ever tried to flirt it up at a party or a club or maybe a construction site, you know it can be tough making yourself heard above the din. One solution is to go home and text your love interest. But a more immediate one is to shout. And that’s pretty much the approach male grasshoppers take when the roar of traffic threatens to drown out their mating calls. The results appear in the British Ecological Society journal Functional Ecology . [Ulrike Lampe et al., Staying tuned: grasshoppers from noisy roadside habitats produce courtship signals with elevated frequency components ]

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Bitter Taste May Battle Asthma

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 22:05:08 EST

People with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other breathing disorders need fast relief when their airways tighten up. Unfortunately, the most commonly used medication has obnoxious side effects. But scientists recently discovered that a bitter taste can be a more effective treatment--and now they know why. The work is published in PLoS Biology . [Cheng-Hai Zhang et al., The Cellular and Molecular Basis of Bitter Tastant-Induced Bronchodilation ]

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Fly Cells Divide by the Clock

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 23:10:08 EST

Day and night existed long before the first primitive cells came into being. And that light/dark cycle left its mark on nearly every living thing. Microbes, plants, insects, mammals--we all experience circadian rhythms, due to molecular clocks in our cells. But that internal timer affects more than just bedtime. The body's cells may actually divide by the clock too--in fruit flies, at least.

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