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• 40-year-old chorus frog tissues vital to Louisiana hybrid zone study
• Proteins team up to turn on T cells
• Real reason turtles have shells: Burrowing tool
• New images of a calcium-shuttling molecule that has been linked to aggressive cancer
• Reopening avenues for attacking ALS
• Ptarmigan in Colorado have varied reproduction, not likely linked to warming trends
• Sex in the city: Peregrine falcons in Chicago don't cheat
• A 'bridge' of carbon between nerve tissues
• Friendly competition and a financial incentive increases team exercise
• New study of toddlers sheds light on value of Facetime video chat as meaningful interaction
• How are beaches restored?
• Infants prefer toys typed to their gender, says study
• Earth's early atmosphere: Rock salt holds the key to a paradigm shift
• New protocol enables analysis of metabolic products from fixed tissues
• World's greatest concentration of unique mammal species is on Philippine island

40-year-old chorus frog tissues vital to Louisiana hybrid zone study Posted: 17 Jul 2016 06:00 AM PDT Researchers are shedding light on how often and where species hybridize through time, thanks to the rediscovery of 40-year-old tissue samples preserved at the LSU Museum of Natural Science. In a recent study, they show that two species of chorus frogs now form hybrids across a much wider area of Louisiana and Mississippi than they did just 30-40 years earlier. A widening area of hybridization has important implications for the future of these species and suggests that recent alterations to their environment have affected their fitness or dispersal ability.

Proteins team up to turn on T cells Posted: 15 Jul 2016 03:19 PM PDT Scientists are learning how cells make the decision to become T cells.

Real reason turtles have shells: Burrowing tool Posted: 15 Jul 2016 02:13 PM PDT Scientists have discovered the real reason turtles have shells. While many thought turtle shells were for protection, new findings show that the shells were actually for digging underground to escape the harsh South African environment where these early proto turtles lived.

New images of a calcium-shuttling molecule that has been linked to aggressive cancer Posted: 15 Jul 2016 02:13 PM PDT Scientists have captured new images of a calcium-shuttling molecule that has been linked to aggressive cancers. The three-dimensional structure could help researchers develop novel therapies and diagnostic tools for diseases that are caused by a malfunction in calcium adsorption.

Reopening avenues for attacking ALS Posted: 15 Jul 2016 02:13 PM PDT Researchers have found evidence that bone marrow transplantation may one day be beneficial to a subset of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.The data suggests the most common genetic mutation associated with ALS plays an important role in not only the nervous system, but also the blood and immune systems.

Ptarmigan in Colorado have varied reproduction, not likely linked to warming trends Posted: 15 Jul 2016 02:13 PM PDT Ptarmigan, which live in cold ecosystems, are not strongly affected by fluctuations in seasonal weather at two populations studied in Colorado, report scientists.

Sex in the city: Peregrine falcons in Chicago don't cheat Posted: 15 Jul 2016 02:13 PM PDT Peregrine falcons living in urban environments in the American Midwest remain faithful to their mates, despite the denser populations in cities that would afford them more opportunities to 'cheat,' a new study reveals.

A 'bridge' of carbon between nerve tissues Posted: 15 Jul 2016 02:12 PM PDT A study that a new material made of carbon nanotubes supports the growth of nerve fibers, bridging segregated neural explants and providing a functional re-connection. The study also observed biocompatibility in vivo of the material, demonstrating that implanting it into the brain of small rodents does not cause large scars or a marked immune response. The study demonstrates that the material could be evaluated for prosthetic nervous system applications.

Friendly competition and a financial incentive increases team exercise Posted: 15 Jul 2016 10:01 AM PDT Would having your exercise performance compared to that of your peers motivate you do more? A new study suggests that it might. And adding a financial incentive would only sweeten the deal even more. Comparing performance to average peers (the 50th percentile), and offering financial incentives was the most effective method for increasing physical activity among teams of employees.

New study of toddlers sheds light on value of Facetime video chat as meaningful interaction Posted: 15 Jul 2016 08:50 AM PDT Working parents and grandparents who FaceTime with their toddlers can take heart from a new study that sheds new light that on young children and how they engage in—and learn from—screen-time interactions.

How are beaches restored? Posted: 15 Jul 2016 08:48 AM PDT Erosion and human activities challenge beach ecosystems, say researchers. A new article explains how damage to the coastline can be corrected.

Infants prefer toys typed to their gender, says study Posted: 15 Jul 2016 08:47 AM PDT Children as young as 9 months-old prefer to play with toys specific to their own gender, according to a new study. The research suggests the possibility that boys and girls follow different developmental trajectories with respect to selection of gender-typed toys and that there is both a biological and a developmental-environmental components to the sex differences seen in object preferences.

Earth's early atmosphere: Rock salt holds the key to a paradigm shift Posted: 15 Jul 2016 08:35 AM PDT Scientists have made a scientific breakthrough by measuring the oxygen content of Earth's ancient atmosphere. They discovered that gases trapped by halite (rock salt) during crystallization may contain atmospheric gases, among them oxygen.

New protocol enables analysis of metabolic products from fixed tissues Posted: 15 Jul 2016 08:29 AM PDT Scientists have developed a new mass spectrometry imaging method which, for the first time, makes it possible to analyze hundreds of metabolites in fixed tissue samples. Their findings explain the new access to metabolic information, which will offer previously unexploited potential for tissue-based research and molecular diagnostics.

World's greatest concentration of unique mammal species is on Philippine island Posted: 14 Jul 2016 04:34 PM PDT Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines, is home to the world's greatest concentration of unique mammal species -- 93 percent of the land mammals there are found nowhere else. A new paper announces that 52 of the island's 56 non-flying mammals live nowhere else in the world. Of these 56 species, 28 were discovered during the course of the 15-year project. The study provides insight into how island evolution works, and could inform future conservation efforts.

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