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Spot an Invasive Species? There’s an App for that.
Several Eastern and mid Western states are taking advantage of an Ohio University initiative to use cellphone cameras and a new cellphone application to keep track of invasive species. The computer application is called the Great Lakes Early Detection Network app and users are asked to photograph any Asian carp or longhorn beetles as well as any of the many species of water based invasive flora that they spot. The photos and location are uploaded, the invasive threat is categorized and officials are notified in the hope of stemming the spread of newly found invasive species.
More at Farmers’ Advance.
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This New Frog is No Kermit.
On the Amami islands of Southern Japan a new species of frog has been discovered. Called Babina subaspera, this frog packs some serious punch. It has a pseudo-thumb from which a sharp spike can be projected and used by the males of the new species for fighting other male frogs. The retractable nature of these sharp digital implements reminds researchers of wolverine-like retractable claws. Scientists believe that the spikes originally evolved as a way to embrace a mate.
More at Catholic Online.
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NOC the Talking Whale.
A beluga whale who was in captivity in the National Marine Mammal Foundation in San Diego, California apparently learned to imitate human voices for a few years before he reached sexual maturity. By lowering his natural sound frequency several octaves, NOC gave an impressive imitation of a human voice. A diver confirmed that NOC was the source of the human sounds when he heard the word “out” emanating from NOC while he was in the animal’s tank.
More at National Geographic.
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Silvery Fish Evade Predators with Non-polarized Light.
Fish commonly have a silvery appearance to their skin. In fact, what they have evolved is a way to avoid reflected polarized light that would make them visible to predators. Alternating layers of skin cells and two types of guanine crystals in their skin produce a visual effect that makes fish difficult for predators to see because the light reflected from their silvery skin is polarization-neutral.
More at New York Times.
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New Zealand Founders’ Mitochondrial DNA Sequenced.
Anthropologists believe that New Zealand was first colonized about 700 years ago by Polynesian explorers who boated to New Zealand from eastern Polynesian islands. Using the remains of long dead ancestors and applying relatively recent DNA analysis techniques, scientists have managed to sequence Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA, which is passed down from mother to offspring) in an effort to pinpoint the islands from which these early explorers sailed. So far, the surprising result is that there is more familial variability in the mtDNA of these founders than expected. This is puzzling because the present descendent population has less mtDNA variability than is being uncovered in the founders. One speculation is that early contact with European colonists introduced diseases that wiped out segments of a more varied original population.
More at Red Orbit.
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Science vs. Sniffer Dogs: Still No Contest.
An article in the New York Times Science section delves into new efforts to make a chemical detector that can outperform the best detectors available today: sniffer dogs. The new device being invented by Dr. Denis Spitzer utilizes undulating ‘microcantilevers” of silicon. The silicon molecules are vibrated and their rate of vibration is altered when they come into contact with molecules of TNT. However, even though apparatuses like that being created by Dr. Spitzer can detect TNT at concentrations of one part per trillion, dogs are more sensitive still. The new technology will, at best, be ancillary to sniffer dogs whose sensitivity and intelligence will not be surpassed in the near future.
More at New York Times.
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Chimpanzee Cultural Transmission Documented.
Trezia the chimpanzee invented a method of fishing for ants in an anthill by using a trimmed twig. She shared her inventiveness with her companions. She was then transferred to another chimp community in Tanzania’s Gombe National Park, some distance away. Now her new companions at the new site have learned her technique and are passing it on to other chimps. Of course, this is not the first instance of chimpanzee cultural dispersion. Other chimps have taught their peers to dismantle traps, crack nuts, and even separate rice from sand by tossing the mixture into water. Sadly, the article points out that as chimp communities in Africa shrink and become more isolated, the opportunities for chimp cultural transmission disappear as well.
More at Discovery.
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Dumping Iron to Restore Salmon.
In an effort to restore dwindling salmon populations in the north Pacific to their previous abundance, a company called Haida Salmon Restoration Corp. has embarked upon a project to salt the ocean with iron. The theory is that iron compounds are a nutrient for plankton, and that an abundance of plankton will spur the oceanic food chain that ultimately benefits salmon and, as a side benefit, also reduces carbon dioxide, which plankton absorb. But many scientific organizations are highly skeptical. Some argue that the real effects of dumping tons of iron into the ocean are largely unknown, and others that the real problem is not insufficient plankton, but rather temperature related disruptions affecting when plankton normally blooms. Others warn that artificially creating plankton blooms could also result in bacterial blooms, which will create vast amounts of carbon dioxide as well as other greenhouse gasses. In any event, the results of this commercial experiment are unlikely to be seen until 2014.
More at Scientific American.
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The First Primate Was Less Than Impressive.
Fossils of the first primates have been collected and dated back to about 65 million years ago. The newest addition to a limited fossil record that includes jaw bones and teeth is an ankle bone. Known in scientific circles as Purgatorius, the earliest primate ancestor was a tree climber no bigger than a mouse and with a body similar to a squirrel. An able climber, it fed on vegetation and the newly evolved flowering plants of the era. Its arboreal habitat provided both protection and a source of food.
More at National Geographic.
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Japanese Fishing Industry Hurt by Cesium Levels in Fish.
Last year’s nuclear disaster in Japan is still resonating with the fishing industry there. Some 40 percent of the fish caught near the epicenter of the meltdown, Fukushima, contain more Cesium than the government can allow for human consumption. The probable source of the Cesium contamination is the seabed floor, where it was deposited after being released from the breached reactors. Because only half of Cesium molecules decay every 30 years, the problem will be with the Japanese fishing industry for decades in the future.
More at New York Times.
The Dirt: This Week in Nature (October 20-26)
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