Henry
Animal Planet
Biologists Determine Genetic Blueprint Of Social Amoeba
MAJOR ADVANCE MADE ON DNA STRUCTURE
Henry
**An international team that includes biologists at UCSD has determined the complete genetic blueprint of Dictyostelium discoideum, a simple social amoeba long used by researchers as a model genetic system, much like fruit flies and laboratory mice, to gain a better understanding of human diseases.
MAJOR ADVANCE MADE ON DNA STRUCTURE
**Oregon State University researchers have made significant new advances in determining the structure of all possible DNA sequences - a discovery that in one sense takes up where Watson and Crick left off after outlining in 1953 the double-helical structure of this biological blueprint for life.
Henry
Utah Dinosaur Bones Reveal Missing Link in Evolution of Diet
Scientists have discovered a mass graveyard of bird-like feathered dinosaurs in Utah. The previously unknown species provides clues about how vicious meat-eaters related to Velociraptor ultimately evolved into plant-munching vegetarians.
Via AnimalPlanet.com...
(All times ET/PT.)
The special repeats on the same night at midnight and 4am, then at 5pm on Saturday 5/21.The Force is with Animal Planet!
The premiere of ANIMAL ICONS: STAR WARS CREATURES, on Wednesday, May 18, from 9-10 p.m. ET, gives viewers a glimpse into the stories behind the unique and quirky creatures that define these epic films. From Ewoks to Wookiees to Boga, Star Wars movies have given us some of the world's most memorable fantasy creatures -- aliens so vivid, they almost seem real.
Where did the idea for Jabba the Hutt originate? Did you know the character of Chewbacca was inspired by film creator George Lucas' family dog? ANIMAL ICONS: STAR WARS CREATURES unveils how these fantasy creatures were derived from actual animals found on Earth. Airing the eve of the premiere of the sixth and final film, STAR WARS: EPISODE III - Revenge of the Sith, the special features interviews with the actors, animators and creature designers, including George Lucas and stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher. The program explores how Lucas transferred his breakthrough vision from script to the big screen and reveals the real-life origins of Lucas’ Star Wars menagerie.
Star Wars fans will recognize the distinctive voice of narrator Anthony Daniels, who portrays C-3PO. The only actor to star in all six Star Wars films, Daniels leads viewers through the stories of the films' creatures as shown in wall-to-wall footage from previous films. Audiences are also treated to footage from the highly anticipated Revenge of the Sith.
(All times ET/PT.)
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."-- Eleanor Roosevelt
Scientists Discover Odd-Ball Rodent Is it a squirrel? A rat? A Guinea pig? Try none of the above.
Henry
(But to the important question - does it taste like chicken?)A team of scientists working in Southeast Asia have discovered a long-whiskered rodent with stubby legs and a tail covered in dense hair. But don’t call it a squirrel. Or a rat. Because it’s actually more like a guinea pig or chinchilla. But not quite. In fact the new species, found in Laos by scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and other groups, is so unique it represents an entire new family of wildlife.
Henry
Stegosaur plates and spikes for looks only, researchers say
The bizarre plates and spikes that lined the backbones of the long-extinct stegosaurs were probably extreme examples of the often elaborate and colorful displays developed by animals to recognize fellow members of their species, according to an international team of paleontologists.
Same fold in viral shells point to common ancestry
Social Amoeba Sheds Light On Communication In Human Brain
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**New findings in research led by Purdue University biologists provide further evidence that the protein envelope protecting DNA in viruses evolved billions of years ago from a common ancestor and uses the same basic protein "fold" to construct the critical outer shell.
Social Amoeba Sheds Light On Communication In Human Brain
(Social amoeba? I ain't gonna socialize with those things!Biologists at UCSD have discovered that the popular sedative Valium has similar effects on the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum as it does in humans.
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FIRST EVER FOSSIL OF SLEEPING DINOSAUR FOUND IN CHINA 
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(The first fossil of a sleeping non-avian dinosaur has been described by a pair of American Museum of Natural History paleontologists. The small bird-like dinosaur is preserved in a remarkable life-like pose, with its head tucked between its forearm and trunk with its tail encircling its body. The pose matches the typical sleeping or resting posture found in living birds and thereby supports the already established evolutionary connection between extinct dinosaurs and modern birds (which are living dinosaurs) and the occurrence of bird-like features in early dinosaurian evolution. It also supports the hypothesis that non-avian dinosaurs, like the modern birds that evolved after them, were warm-blooded.
)New Computing Cluster To Help Scientists Reconstruct The Tree Of Life
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Researchers Discover Underwater Volcano
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Henry
(Sounds like an interesting project!)A new supercomputing cluster designed for the phylogenetic research community has been installed at the San Diego Supercomputer Center. The Cluster, a 16 node, 8-way Fusion A8 by Western Scientific, features a total of 128 Opteron processors each with 4 GB memory, for a total of 0.5 TB memory. The cluster was purchased with a grant from the National Science Foundation in support of the CyberInfrastructure for Phylogenetic Research project, a collaboration of biologists, computer scientists, statisticians and mathematicians at 19 institutions whose goal is to understand the evolutionary relationships between all living organisms.
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Researchers Discover Underwater Volcano
(If you knew sushi like [somebody not me] knew sushi... )A team of scientists, led by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, has discovered an active underwater volcano near the Samoan Island chain. During a research cruise to study the Samoan hot spot, scientists uncovered a submarine volcano growing in the summit crater of another larger underwater volcano, Vailulu'u. Researchers explored the unique biological community surrounding the eruption site, and were amazed to find an "Eel City," a community of hundreds of slithering eels.
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Henry
Vampires Beware: Scripps Research Scientists Describe the Molecular Basis of Raw Garlic's Pungency
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Scientists journey to southern Africa to unravel the secret world of elephant communication
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(Vampires be where?)Cooked or raw, garlic has been a favorite ingredient of cooks for thousands of years, but almost any cook will tell you there's a major difference: raw garlic is much more pungent than cooked.
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Scientists journey to southern Africa to unravel the secret world of elephant communication
It's a cloudless July afternoon in Etosha National Park in northern Namibia, and ecologist Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell is scanning the horizon for elephants.
[...] nearly two decades ago with the stunning revelation that elephants communicate over long distances using low-pitched sounds that are barely audible to humans.
(Pack your trunks!)Her insights generated international media attention after the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami disaster in Asia, following reports that trained elephants in Thailand had become agitated and fled to higher ground before the devastating wave struck, thus saving their own lives and those of the tourists riding on their backs.
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Uhhhhraw garlic is much more pungent than cooked.
I cudda told 'em that. Wonder how much it was worth to know this. 
Elephants communicate......Oh really? Haven't they ever read HORTON HEARS A WHO......
Not to mention that new POOH character. 
lswoteccl 2:13
"A Government big enough to give you every thing you want, is big enough to take away every thing you have."
......Thomas Jefferson......
