Study unravels why certain fishes went extinct 65 million years ago

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Large size and a fast bite spelled doom for bony fishes during the last mass extinction 65 million years ago, according to a new study to be published March 31, 2009, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Today, those same features characterize large predatory bony fishes, such as tuna and billfishes, that are currently in decline and at risk of extinction themselves, said Matt Friedman, author of the study and a graduate student in evolutionary biology at the University of Chicago.

Climate change aims need to be better integrated

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Helsinki/Leipzig. Specific measures to tackle climate change, such as emissions trading, will only be successful if they are coherently supported by other government policies addressing economic and social issues, says a report published today by the Partnership for European Environmental Research (PEER). PEER membership is formed from seven of the biggest European environmental research institutes.

Team IDs genesis of mass migrations

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--For the first time, MIT engineers and colleagues have observed the initiation of a mass gathering and subsequent migration of hundreds of millions of animals — in this case, fish.

The work, conducted using a novel imaging technique, "provides information essential to the conservation of marine ecosystems that vast oceanic fish shoals inhabit," the team writes in the March 27 issue of Science.

New MRI signaling method could picture disease metabolism in action

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DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University chemists are using modified magnetic resonance imaging to see molecular changes inside people's bodies that could signal health problems such as cancer.

Their new method, reported in the March 27 issue of the research journal Science, makes more of the body's chemistry visible by MRI, said Warren Warren, James B. Duke Professor of chemistry at Duke.

Do Americans have an identity crisis when it comes to race and ethnicity?

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Say goodbye to Italian-Americans and German-Americans and say hello to Vietnamese-Americans, Salvadoran-Americans and a bunch of other hyphenated Americans.

The way people identify themselves in the United States is changing, and the way the federal census classifies them by race or ethnicity isn't painting a clear portrait of America, according to new research.

Public transit users 3 times more likely to meet fitness guidelines: UBC research

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A new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia suggests taking public transit may help you keep fit.

The study, published in the Journal of Public Health Policy, finds that people who take public transit are three times more likely than those who don't to meet the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada's suggested daily minimum of physical activity.

Clarke clarifies pattern recognition theory

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Recent commentary has suggested that the extent to which anomaly theories have become ingrained in the minds of academics and popular commentators alike has led to certain common assumptions and misconceptions about Clarke's pattern recognition theory of humour.

URI scientists reveal mechanism that regulates cancer-causing gene

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KINGSTON, R.I. – March 26, 2009 – Two University of Rhode Island scientists have revealed how a cancer causing protein is regulated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) -- a type of stress signal. Their findings provide new insight into how this protein normally behaves in human cells and may help in the design of drugs targeting specific cancers.

University of Minnesota expert on smart grids and smart grid security speaks on Capitol Hill today

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Massoud Amin, University of Minnesota professor of electrical and computer engineering, will speak to members of the U.S. Congressional Research and Development Caucus during a briefing on the U.S. power grid and energy in the nation's capitol today, Thursday, March 26.

Vindictiveness doesn't pay

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Vindictiveness doesn't pay. This has been demonstrated by a current study at Bonn and Maastricht Universities. According to this study, a person inclined to deal with inequity on a tit-for-tat basis tends to experience more unemployment than other people. Vindictive people also have less friends and are less satisfied with their lives. The study appears in the current edition of the Economic Journal.