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September 26, 2015
First Self-Injectable Contraceptive Now Available In The U.K.
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The contraception (not pictured) lasts for around 13 weeks. Dmitry Lobanov/Shutterstock
The first self-injectable contraceptive in the U.K. has been granted a license, meaning women will be able to administer the drug to themselves at home. Produced by drug manufacturing giant Pfizer, the single-dose reversible contraceptive, which goes under the name Sayana Press, will mean women no longer need repeat trips to their GP surgery or sexual health clinic.
Scientists Have Reconstructed The Hearing Abilities Of Our Ancestors
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The hearing of ancient hominins may have been more sensitive to higher frequencies. Tim Evanson/Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0
Working out how ancient species lived is often difficult, especially when trying to figure out how they sensed things. This is because most sensory organs, like the eyes and tongue, are made of soft tissue that don’t preserve well, forcing scientists to make assumptions from limited data. Yet there is one sense – hearing – that can be studied because it is based, in part, on skeletal structures, albeit very tiny ones.
Regional Variations In Microbes Influence A Wine’s Flavor
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Igor Normann/Shutterstock
“Ooh yes, I’m getting a whiff of geranium, a hint of licorice and notes of sweaty socks.” Mm, okay. Even if you don’t manage to pick up half of the flavors supposedly present in a wine, we know that wines look, smell and taste different. Sure, there are different grape varieties, and people adopt different winemaking techniques to make their plonk unique. But even when you have vines that are virtually genetically identical, if you grow them in two distinct regions, the resulting wine will be different.
September 25, 2015
Ancient Human Ancestors Heard Differently
Imagine the evolutionary advantage of being able to hear a predator rustling in the tall grass nearby—or in the ability to hear a comrade making a (make a titch sound, like calling a horse) sound to warn you about that predator. Now a study finds that early human species may have had sharper hearing in certain frequencies than we enjoy. The finding is in the journal Science Advances. [Rolf Quam et al, Early hominin auditory capacities]
“We’ve been able to reconstruct an aspect of sensory perception in a fossil human ancestor known as Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus from South Africa.”
Binghamton University anthropologist Rolf Quam.
“Both of these fossil forms lived about two million years ago and represent early human ancestors. We took CT scans of the skulls. We created virtual reconstructions on the computer of the internal structures of the ear that will predict how an organism hears based on these measurements of its ear.”
And the reconstructed physiology reveals that those early hominins likely heard differently than both modern chimps and modern humans.
Specifically, the hominins were probably more sensitive to frequencies associated with sounds like t, k, f, and s.
“We’re not arguing they had language, but we think our results do have implications for how they communicated. And the finding is that this hearing pattern would have been beneficial if you were engaging in short-range vocal communication in an open environment.”
The estimation of the hearing abilities of the hominins complements previous research suggesting that these species spent more time in open environments such as the savannah—where a hasty, short-range consonant from a comrade might convey important information—than they spent in dense rainforests, where sound travels farther. Could be that (make a few consonant sounds) were survival tools that also paved the way for the evolution of full-fledged human language. Even if we can’t hear those sounds quite as well as those ancient hominins did.
—Cynthia Graber
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast]
Quam audio provided by Casey Staff
Fossil Friday!
I both love and loathe this week’s fossil. I love it because every time I look at it, I think of what Jessica (the MCZ’s invertebrate collections guru) said: It looks like it’s wearing adorable little boxing gloves. But I loathe it because… well. These things are terrifying.
I'm gonna knock you out! ... because I'm scary. (Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University)
Who wants to get into the ring and venture a guess?
Until Monday!
Pope Says Science Can Solve ‘Serious Problems Besetting Mankind’
In his speech this morning to the U.N. General Assembly, Pope Francis called on world leaders to pay more attention to the condition of humankind and to the environment, which he considers inseparable. So much so, he said, that “Any harm done to the environment, therefore, is harm done to humanity.”
The Pope noted that humans are violating a fundamental “right of the environment,” and he said science offers solutions. He also implored the world to end human trafficking, stop the drug trade and reduce the likelihood of nuclear war.
The Pope did not say that rising population is a problem, indicating instead—during his U.N. speech as well as one to Congress yesterday—that abuse of power, wanton consumption of natural resources and disregard for the poor are the bigger threats to human existence on earth.
Here are portions of what the Pope said about the environment as well as science, which embellished quite a bit on the transcript released before his address.
Today’s world presents us with many false rights, and…broad sectors which are victims of power badly exercised: for example, the natural environment and the vast ranks of the excluded. These sectors are closely interconnected and made increasingly fragile by dominant political and economic relationships. That is why their rights must be forcefully affirmed, by working to protect the environment and by putting an end to exclusion.
First, it must be stated that a true “right of the environment” does exist, for two reasons. First, because we human beings are part of the environment. We live in communion with it, since the environment itself entails ethical limits which human activity must acknowledge and respect. Man, for all his remarkable gifts, which “are signs of a uniqueness which transcends the spheres of physics and biology” (Laudato Si’, 81), is at the same time a part of these spheres. He possesses a body shaped by physical, chemical and biological elements, and can only survive and develop if the ecological environment is favorable. Any harm done to the environment, therefore, is harm done to humanity.
Second, because every creature, particularly a living creature, has an intrinsic value, in its existence, its life, its beauty and its interdependence with other creatures. We Christians, together with the other monotheistic religions, believe that the universe is the fruit of a loving decision by the Creator, who permits man respectfully to use creation for the good of his fellow men and for the glory of the Creator; he is not authorized to abuse it, much less to destroy it. In all religions, the environment is a fundamental good (cf. ibid.).
The misuse and destruction of the environment are also accompanied by a relentless process of exclusion. In effect, a selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity leads both to the misuse of available natural resources and to the exclusion of the weak and disadvantaged…. Economic and social exclusion is a complete denial of human fraternity and a grave offense against human rights and the environment. The poorest are those who suffer most from such offenses…. They are part of today’s widespread and quietly growing “culture of waste”….
The adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the World Summit, which opens today, is an important sign of hope. I am similarly confident that the Paris Conference on Climatic Change will secure fundamental and effective agreements. Solemn commitments, however, are not enough, even though they are a necessary step toward solutions.… Our world demands of all government leaders a will which is effective, practical and constant, concrete steps and immediate measures for preserving and improving the natural environment and thus putting an end as quickly as possible to the phenomenon of social and economic exclusion….
The ecological crisis, and the large-scale destruction of biodiversity, can threaten the very existence of the human species. The baneful consequences of an irresponsible mismanagement of the global economy, guided only by ambition for wealth and power, must serve as a summons to a forthright reflection on man…. Creation is compromised “where we ourselves have the final word… The misuse of creation begins when we no longer recognize any instance above ourselves, when we see nothing else but ourselves.” (ID. Address to the Clergy of the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone, 6 August 2008, cited ibid.) Consequently, the defense of the environment and the fight against exclusion demand that we recognize a moral law written into human nature itself….
I began this speech recalling the visits of my predecessors. I would hope that my words will be taken above all as a continuation of the final words of the address of Pope Paul VI; although spoken almost exactly 50 years ago, they remain ever timely. “The hour has come when a pause, a moment of recollection, reflection, even of prayer, is absolutely needed so that we may think back over our common origin, our history, our common destiny. The appeal to the moral conscience of man has never been as necessary as it is today… For the danger comes neither from progress nor from science; if these are used well, they can help to solve a great number of the serious problems besetting mankind (Address to the United Nations Organization, 4 October 1965).” Among other things, human genius, well applied, will surely help to meet the grave challenges of ecological deterioration and of exclusion….
Source of the Pope’s quoted remarks: Time.com
Diesel Cars Found To Be Emitting Another Dangerous Pollutant
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A new study documents a "hidden" pollutant belched out by diesel cars. Kichigin/Shutterstock
It has not been a good week for diesel cars. First the shocking revelation about Volkswagen rigging the emissions tests for their diesel-powered vehicles in the United States, and suspicions that this might not be limited to the U.S., but is an industry-wide practice. Now, new research has revealed that diesel cars are belching out another little-known pollutant at dangerous levels.
Starving Cancer Cells Of Sugar Could Be The Key To Future Treatment
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Is sugar the answer for tackling cancer cells? Flickr/Wellcome Images, CC BY-ND
All the cells in our bodies are programmed to die. As they get older, our cells accumulate toxic molecules that make them sick. In response, they eventually break down and die, clearing the way for new, healthy cells to grow. This “programmed cell death” is a natural and essential part of our wellbeing. Every day, billions of cells die like this in order for the whole organism to continue functioning as it is supposed to.
Ten Years On, Invisibility Cloaks Are Close To Becoming A Manufacturable Reality
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A new invisibility cloak can hide objects using an ultrathin layer of nanoantennas that reflect off light. Are humans next? Courtesy of Xiang Zhang group, Berkeley Lab/UC Berkeley, CC BY
Invisibility has long been one of the marvels in science fiction and fantasy – and more recently in physics. But while physicists have figured out the concept for how to make invisibility cloaks, they are yet to build a practical device that can hide human-sized objects in the way that Harry Potter’s cloak can.
Publish Or Perish Culture Encourages Scientists To Cut Corners
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Syda Productions/Shutterstock
Last week there was another very public case of a journal article being retracted as a result of academic misconduct. This time it was in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), with the lead author – Dr Anna Ahimastos, working at Melbourne’s Baker IDI – reportedly admitting she fabricated data.
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