Hey everyone! Weeks are flying by... Anyone out there counting the days before Halloween?
Here at g4g, the days are never dull! We are always looking for some great news and things to do and to read. When I had the idea to make some blog posts about science news, I didn't know that things were so busy. I mean, I knew that in STEM, things are happening all the time but oh my! I wish I had the time to write about all the fantastic things that happened in the last few days.
This week we have the cuteness of otters and brain fingerprints. Curious? Keep on reading!
1 – Sea otter populations helping increase eelgrass genetic diversity
Everyone loves sea otters, right? They are cute, and they hug each other. I am sure I am not the only one who can spend hours watching them doing their thing. But they're not only cute, but they are also helping biodiversity! More precisely, eelgrass diversity.
A team of researchers from the US and Canada found out that eelgrass meadows' genetic diversity increases if the sea otters live there.
The sea otter's population has been through a lot. The western coast of North America was once filled with sea otters, but hunters drove them to almost extinction. It took a lot of effort from the environmentalists to increase their number.
Eelgrass meadows grow near the shore, and these meadows are home to many sea creatures, including clams, that serve as food for sea otters. Otter's love clams. So, they swim to the bottom, search for them using their whiskers, dig them up and eat them. But what researchers found out is that this digging on eelgrass is actually helping increase its genetic diversity. This is happening because the disturbances caused by the otters can make the eelgrass more resilient in this changing environment. The disruption stimulates the eelgrass to reproduce, resulting in increased diversity.
2- A new and improved microscopy technique
Microscopy is one of the most valuable tools that we have in STEM. Throughout the history of sciences, the techniques improved to make researchers' lives easier when observing structures and help them getting faster results.
And breaking news, the researchers at the Bio design Center for Applied Structural Discovery (CASD) and the ASU's School of Molecular Sciences just refined a technique known as cryogenic electron microscopy. This technique allows scientists to see the structure of proteins or nucleic acids. It is even possible to see how these structures move and change!
How? Samples that will be observed need to be frozen with cryogen techniques. The microscope then uses a beam of electrons to make thousands of 2D images, and a powerful computer puts all these images together to create a 3D image. This technique can help scientists to observe the protein structure (and particularly their changing tridimensional for) that they normally can't see in conventional modeling. Proteins are essential for the pharmaceutical industry, medicine, or biology.
3 – Dogs showed behavior that resembles ADHD and could help us study it
Since today is all about cuteness, let’s talk about our four-legged-loyal friends that we love so much: Our friends, the dogs.
Research from the University of Helsinky studied around 11,000 dogs and showed that breed, age, and gender of a dog and environmental factors or behavior problems are all connected to Hyperactive and Impulsive Behavior and Inattention (ADHD).
The study showed similarities between canine hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention, and human ADHD. Dogs already share a lot of traits with us, and the ADHD-like behavior which naturally occurs in canines, make dogs a good model for researching ADHD in humans. Like for humans the age and gender cof the subjects seemed to be relevant; the hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention behavior were common in young and male dogs.
The owners and environment also have an influence. Dogs that spent too much time alone are more hyperactive, impulsive, and inattentive. Dogs are social animals and can get stressed out when they spend too much time alone. The different behavior was also seen in different breeds, which can indicate a genetic factor for this behavior. ADHD is often associated with other mental disorders, like OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). In dogs, we can see that kind of behavior in things such as tail chasing, licking of surfaces and themselves, or staring at nothing.
4 – The "kisses" between prairie dogs
Okay, I plead guily… I think this is the cutest weekly science news I've ever seen! Prairie dogs are unique and intelligent creatures. They have social structures and a unique language of their own (and they even have dialects!).
A professor of conservation biology in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment has been studying these little guys for almost 20 years, and his findings are mesmerizing.
The researcher observed the behavior of these animals, and he particularly learned their speech patterns and observed that they do a lot of "greet kissing" (Pause to say a big "aaawwweee"). Their kissing means connection. Animals that kiss each other and don't fight are usually in the same group and territory. The more times the animals' kisses, the stronger the connection goes. This is a highly complex social networking; even though the prairie dogs don't work in a hierarchic system, not everyone is kissed equally. Studies like these have been used to help ecologists understand social networking among the species and communities and how they behave according to the environment around them.
Pretty impressive, right? Nature fascinates me and makes me wonder what the scientists will find out next!
Thanks for reading and see you next week!
