Researchers have found that smelling something reminiscent of an open space can relieve anxiety among people shopping in a crowded store, and vice versa. 197 students were invited to a mock shopping space that was either crowded or arranged in a mostly empty, minimalist design. The subjects shopping in a crowded space reported that smells […]
Category: Paper of Interest
Do Roads Reduce Painted Turtle Populations?
A new study shows that high traffic roads in Eastern Ontario have no significant effect on the relative abundance of painted turtles. Researchers compared turtle populations from around 20 ponds, half of which were close to a freeway and the other half of which were as far as possible from any major roads. They found that […]
Does counting tracks to estimate animal populations actually work?
A new computer analysis shows that animal tracks can provide an accurate estimate of animal populations in a given area. Biologists often use animal tracks for relative estimates – e.g. more over here than over there – but because tracks can twist and turn, they shy away from using them to get an absolute number of […]
Scientists reveal how leukemias resist drugs
Scientists have determined how some leukemia cells resist treatment by current cancer drugs, opening the door to new ways of treating such cancers. The team examined drug-resistant cancer cells in the lab and found that they had higher levels of a family of enzymes called UGT1A as well as another enzyme called GLI1.Together, these enzymes […]
Plants – what’s eating them?
A new analysis of over 1000 plant species shows that on average, only about 5.3 percent of their leaves are eaten by insects and vertebrate grazers – less than a third of previous estimates. This means that most of the energy captured by photosynthesis doesn’t go ‘up’ the food chain, but instead is passed on […]
New method to detect xenon in athletes’ blood
Researchers have developed a new method that can detect xenon in blood samples from athletes up to 24 hours after the effect of the drug has worn off. During the Winter Olympics in Sochi, rumours spread that some Russian athletes inhaled the noble gas xenon, which studies have shown can stimulate the production of erythropoietin […]
Ancient Canadian rocks shed light on first continents
A new analysis of some very old rocks from the Northwest Territories sheds light on how the very first continents formed. Rocks that make up the continental crust are less dense than those in oceanic crust, and today formed mainly in subduction zones, where oceanic crust and water get forced downward under overlapping tectonic plates. […]
Temperature influences gender of parasitic wasp
Extreme climatic events could influence the sex ratio of a parasite that controls pests such as the European corn borer, a new study shows. The parasitic wasp Trichogramma euproctidis lays its eggs inside the eggs of moths, preventing the moth egg from hatching into a caterpillar. The study showed that fewer females were born at […]
Calves are ‘pessimistic’ after separation from their mother
Dairy calves exhibited ‘pessimistic’ behaviour after they were separated from their mother, a new study shows. Thirteen Holstein calves were raised with their dams and trained to discriminate between white (reward) and red (punishment) colours displayed on a computer monitor. They were then tested using an ambiguous colour (between white and red): 72% of calves […]
New method to detect bogus ‘male enhancement’ drugs
A new technique can successfully distinguish between 82 different compounds used in both real and bogus ‘male enhancement’ pills in less than 10 minutes. Compounds – both natural and synthetic – that are chemically similar to the active ingredients in erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra and Cialis are often mixed into pills and sold as […]
Biofilm-busting protein could lead to new antimicrobials
Researchers have discovered that a synthetic protein is capable of breaking up the slimy films that harmful bacteria use to stick themselves to human tissues. The protein molecule is called “1018” and is modelled after proteins produced by the human immune system. A new study shows the molecule prevented biofilm growth in E. Coli, Salmonella and […]
Sticklebacks are blind to each other’s armour
Different-looking sticklebacks from Kennedy Lake on Vancouver island interbreed despite evolutionary pressure not to, according to a new study. Genetic studies showed that fish with one parent that had lots of body armour and another parent with minimal body armour had a lower chance of surviving to adulthood than fish whose parents were both of […]
Honey bee eavesdropping could assess conservation efforts
The famous ‘waggle dance’ that bees use to tell each other about the best foraging grounds could be used to measure the success of conservation programs, according to new research. Scientists ‘eavesdropped’ on 5,484 bee dances in a mixed urban-rural area and found that the best forage was located in a particular nearby nature reserve, […]
How baby fiddler crabs catch a wave
A new study shows how some species of fiddler crabs can compensate for changing temperatures when timing their courtship. Fiddler crabs sync up the hatching of their young with bimonthly higher tides in order to ensure they have the best chance of escaping predators. But at some times of year, cold temperatures can slow embryo […]
Does spite pay off?
New research suggests our desire for fairness come not from altruism, but from a need to prevent local competitors from gaining an advantage. Researchers used a variation of the classic ultimatum game, in which one player decides how to split a pot of money, and the other decides whether to accept it; a rejection means […]
Tree swallows in Quebec in decline
A new study shows that tree swallows between Montreal and Sherbrooke became fewer (-19% population decline) and smaller (-8% weight loss) from 2005-2011, especially the females. Insect-eating birds are in decline all across northeastern North America, and pesticide use is a suspected culprit, but the authors did not find a link between weight loss and […]