In mice, child neglect is a product of both nature and nurture, according to a new study.
Writing in the journal PLoS ONE on April 9, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison describe a strain of mice that exhibit unusually high rates of maternal neglect, with approximately one out of every five females failing to care for her offspring. By comparing the good mothers to their less attentive relatives, the group has found that negligent parenting seems to have both genetic and non-genetic influences, and may be linked to dysregulation of the brain signaling chemical dopamine.
Science & Technology
An explosion in our ability to detect planets in other solar systems has made astronomers increasingly confident that it's only a matter of time until we discover life on other planets. Astronomers just discovered methane on a planet 63 light years from Earth -- a sign that life just may exist. Here's what Carl B. Pilcher, director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute said following the discovery in this fascinating Washington Post article by Marc Kaufman.
There are a hundred billion stars in our galaxy and probably a hundred billion other galaxies with as many stars as ours, so it seems highly unlikely that there are not Earth-like planets orbiting some of them out there, waiting to be discovered.
Under the fertile slopes of mount Vesuvius lie the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii.
Here every summer scores of students come to experience what life is like working in one of the world's most famous archaeological sites.
The city of Pompeii was buried in a volcanic eruption in A.D. 79, killing thousands of people.
However, a 20-foot-deep (approx. seven metres) cocoon of volcanic ash kept the city virtually intact, providing precious information on domestic life in the ancient world.
Here every summer scores of students come to experience what life is like working in one of the world's most famous archaeological sites.
The city of Pompeii was buried in a volcanic eruption in A.D. 79, killing thousands of people.
However, a 20-foot-deep (approx. seven metres) cocoon of volcanic ash kept the city virtually intact, providing precious information on domestic life in the ancient world.
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| ©Unknown |
The leading method of finding planets orbiting distant stars spots mostly Jupiter-sized worlds. Technology limitations make it difficult to detect smaller planets. But that is about to change. A revolutionary laser technology being developed by scientists and engineers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), with colleagues at MIT, will enable scientists to spot Earth-sized worlds in Earth-like orbits.
"We are at the cusp of a new era in planet searches," said CfA astrophysicist Chih-Hao Li. "With this technology we are developing, astronomers will finally be able to find the first truly Earth-like worlds in terms of size and orbit."
"We are at the cusp of a new era in planet searches," said CfA astrophysicist Chih-Hao Li. "With this technology we are developing, astronomers will finally be able to find the first truly Earth-like worlds in terms of size and orbit."
People who want to avoid genetically engineered sugar this year should think twice about one of the alternatives. Sucralose, or Splenda, is reportedly pervasive in Norway and Sweden's wastewater, leaving some scientists worried about the sugar-like substance's effect on the environment.
A stream of debris across the sky is the result of intergalactic cannibalism, researchers from The Australian National University conclude, and it is the not the first time our galaxy has had one of its neighbours for breakfast.
The coordination center established after the earthquake in Adana was completed in 10 years. The center, which is worth $30 million, monitors 13,500 stations.
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| ©MMTO staff member Howard Lester |
| Sunlight colors the horizon behind the MMT Observatory on Mount Hopkins in Arizona in an undated image. Researchers who developed technology called an astro-comb for enhancing the search for Earthlike worlds plan to test their device at MMT in the summer of 2008. |
The scientific equivalent of a fine-toothed comb may soon sweep across the skies looking for Earthlike planets outside our solar system.
Dubbed the astro-comb, the technology improves on a highly successful planet-hunting technique called the radial velocity - or wobble - method, which looks for small shifts in the wavelengths of a star's light caused by the gravitational tug of an orbiting planet.
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| ©Bernhard Steinberger |
| An illustration shows what Earth's continents looked like 110 million to 100 million years ago and their rotation based on magnetic signatures in ancient rocks. A new study suggests that the motion represents a phenomenon called true polar wander, in which Earth's landmasses become imbalanced compared to its spin axis and then move rapidly to right themselves. |
A new study lends weight to the controversial theory that Earth became massively imbalanced in the distant past, sending its tectonic plates on a mad dash to even things out.
Bernhard Steinberger and Trond Torsvik, of the Geological Survey of Norway, analyzed rock samples dating back 320 million years to hunt for clues in Earth's magnetic field about the history of plate motions.
Sydney, Australia - Tools dating back at least 35,000 years have been unearthed in a rock shelter in Australia's remote northwest, making it one of the oldest archaeological finds in that part of the country, archaeologists said Monday.
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| ©AP Photo/Australian Cultural Heritage Management, Clive Taylor, HO |
| In this undated photo provided by Australian Cultural Heritage Management, a stone tool called a chert knife uncovered in an iron ore mine site is seen at Hope Downs, 950 kms (590 miles) north east of Perth, Australia. Archaeologists have unearthed a large number of stone tools dating back at least 35,000 years. |
