Month: November 2016

Fish Fight Club Reveals Brains of Winners and Losers Biology Zoology 

Zebrafish Fight Club Winners and Losers

Science Connected,

Much like in Fight Club, “Where Is My Mind?” is a fitting theme song for zebrafish: after 24 hours they cannot remember if they won or lost. By Amanda Alvarez The two opponents circle each other, showing off their scaly might and impressive stripes. Suddenly one darts forward, biting the other near the dorsal fin—and the fish fight is in full swing. The biting and dodging can go on for up to 20 minutes, but this is not a fight to the death. Zebrafish fight to maintain a social hierarchy,…

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Paleontology 

Oviraptors in the Wild

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By Kate Stone Oviraptorosaurs are an odd-looking group of feathered, bird-like theropod dinosaurs. They tend to have short skulls and small, toothless mouths. Now, an international team of paleontologists is reporting on a new oviraptorosaur discovery from Ganzhou, Tongtianlong limosus. The fossil is a remarkably well-preserved specimen. The animal seems to have died with its limbs splayed to the sides and its head raised. Tongtianlong is a bit different from other species. It has a unique dome-like skull. Oviraptors were mysterious and misunderstood for a long time, but they have…

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Old Bonobos Need Reading Glasses Zoology 

Old Bonobos Need Reading Glasses

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By Maarten Rikken A study released in Current Biology has found that bonobos’ eyesight becomes significantly reduced when they reach around 40 years of age. We talk to the study’s lead author, Heungjin Ryu, to find out why his discovery is a sign that we have even more in common with our primate relatives than we previously thought. ResearchGate: How would you sum up your main findings? Heungjin Ryu: We found that wild bonobos began to show symptoms of long-sightedness at around 40 years of age. We were surprised that the…

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NASA Astronauts Return from Space Station Astronomy and Astrophysics 

NASA Astronauts Return from Space Station

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NASA astronaut and Expedition 49 crew member Kate Rubins, who became the first person to sequence DNA in space, returned to Earth on Saturday, October 29, after a successful mission aboard the International Space Station. Rubins and her crewmates, Anatoly Ivanishin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, touched down in their Soyuz MS-01 at 11:58 p.m. EDT (9:58 a.m. October 30, Kazakhstan time) southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan. Rubins, who has a degree in molecular biology, contributed to…

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The Brainy Life of Bees Biology Zoology 

The Brainy Life of Bees

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By Jonathan Trinastic @jptrinastic The thought of worker bees buzzing about their colonies in service of the queen may not suggest a rich mental life at first. However, two experiments run by separate teams at Queen Mary University of London reveal a surprising potential for bumblebees to learn novel tasks as well as experience mental states similar to human optimism. The findings suggest that bees can transfer learned skills across generations—one of the primary requirements for primitive culture. I’m just pulling your string Crows, apes, and dolphins get plenty of…

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