Biologist gains insight into genetic evolution of birds
Lincoln NE (SPX) Dec 12, 2014 -
A University of Nebraska-Lincoln researcher has contributed to discoveries about bird evolution as part of a new study that sequenced the complete genomes of 45 avian species.
Published Dec. 11 in the journal Science, the study found that avian genomes - the complete archive of genetic material present in cells - have exhibited surprisingly slow rates of evolution when compared with their ...
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How birds get by without external ears
Munich, Germany (SPX) Dec 12, 2014 -
Unlike mammals, birds have no external ears. The outer ears of mammals play an important function in that they help the animal identify sounds coming from different elevations. But birds are also able to perceive whether the source of a sound is above them, below them, or at the same level.
Now a research team from Technische Universitat Munchen (TUM) has discovered how birds are able to l ...
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Genes tell story of birdsong and human speech
Durham NC (SPX) Dec 12, 2014 -
His office is filled with all sorts of bird books, but Duke neuroscientist Erich Jarvis didn't become an expert on the avian family tree because of any particular interest in our feathered friends. Rather, it was his fascination with how the human brain understands and reproduces speech that brought him to the birds.
"We've known for many years that the singing behavior of birds is similar ...
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Thousands without power as storm batters California
San Francisco (AFP) Dec 11, 2014 -
About 150,000 people were left without power Thursday as a powerful storm slammed into drought-stricken California, bringing snow, heavy rain and ferocious winds to the western US state.
Winds gusting up to 230 kilometers (140 miles) per hour and the biggest snowfalls for six years were reported, although it was expected to do little to compensate for a drought now in its third year.
The ...
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In Lebanon, a garden blooms on former 'trash mountain'
Sidon, Lebanon (AFP) Dec 11, 2014 -
Lebanon's southern city of Sidon is best known for its Crusader castle and ancient market, but a more modern landmark has marred its Mediterranean shoreline for decades - a towering "mountain" of trash.
In the summer, reeking fumes hung over the city, and fires broke out at the dump. Rubbish washed out to sea reaching Cyprus, 260 kilometres (160 miles) away in the Mediterranean, and was pus ...
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NASA's CATS: A Launch of Exceptional Teamwork
Washington DC (SPX) Dec 09, 2014 -
There aren't enough people on NASA's Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) team to field both sides of a football scrimmage, but there are enough to build and test the Earth-observing instrument, bound for the International Space Station on Dec. 16.
Consisting of 19 people, including three high school students, the CATS team designed and built a new cloud and aerosol measurement instrument ...
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Superbugs could kill 'more than cancer' by 2050
London (UPI) Dec 11, 2014 -
A new report commissioned by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron says antimicrobial resistant bacteria, or superbugs, will kill more people than cancer by 2050.
Deaths due to AMR currently number about 700,000 a year. By 2050, that number could rise to 10 million - more than the number of people killed by cancer each year.
The presence of AMRs could also deny doctors the possibili ...
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