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Bloody Red Shrimp and Blood-sucking Bed Bugs

• Finally the Great Lakes may have an invasive species that will prove beneficial to fish. The invader, commonly called “the bloody red shrimp” (Hemimysis anomala) is native to the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Three species of fish that feed on this shrimp are yellow perch, alewives, and another invasive, the round goby. Although the goby is a nuisance fish, the alewife is a food fish for trout and salmon, and perch are food fish for humans. (Science Daily, Mar. 22, 2011)

• Insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas, has been in the news recently. Insulin, which is released into the bloodstream, plays a major role in regulating levels of blood glucose (sugar), the body’s main energy source. Past studies showed that certain regions of the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s Disease had an insufficient supply of glucose for normal function. When such patients drank a glucose-rich shake, their mental state improved. However, as a result of giving the person lots of glucose, more insulin was released which had negative effects on the blood glucose balance. Researchers then discovered that when insulin was sprayed into the nasal passages of Alzheimer’s patients, their memory and thinking skills were enhanced. This approach bypasses the blood stream and delivers insulin directly to the brain via smell (olfactory) neurons. It’s hoped that nasal delivery therapy using insulin may benefit some people with Alzheimer’s Disease. (Brain in the News, Nov./Dec., 2011; Archives of Neurology, Sept. 12, 2011)

• Bed bugs are back, and New York City seems to be at the epicenter of the bedbug epidemic. Stay in a five-star hotel in the Big Apple and you might wake up in the morning with itchy skin welts and blood-spotted sheets. America’s hotel industry is concerned, for the tiny blood-sucking insects can spread, and they have become resistant to insecticides. They infest the seams and skirts of human bedding and are hard to find, even by professionals. But there’s good news, thanks to knowing that they find their way back to hiding places by following the scent of their own feces. European researchers collected and analyzed the chemicals given off by bedbug feces and tested each odor molecule individually to determine which one elicited the greatest response by bedbugs tested in the lab. Now the scientists are about to market a new trap baited with the favored scent molecule. Essentially the trap consists of a tiny baited box with a sticky floor – so bedbugs go in, but don’t come out. If the scientists’ bedbug motel works, they will likely get rich and become the darlings of the lodging industry. (The Economist, Jan. 14, 2012)

• One of the least-known but most important archeological sites in the Midwest lies slightly northeast of St. Louis. There, a vast Native American city named “Cahokia” existed in all its glory about 1,000 years ago. It is considered to have had the largest concentration of Native American people and monumental architecture north of Mexico. Excavated remains suggest that over 75,000 people once lived in this broad floodplain area along the Mississippi. It was characterized by numerous large earthen mounds, many of which were bulldozed over the years. A 90-foot tall ceremonial mound remains, which is the largest in the area. Archeologists believe that at one time the mound was topped with a large, temple-like building. Climb the steps to the top of this mound and you can see the city of St. Louis in the distance. The Cahokian culture was sophisticated and highly advanced, and a museum at the now-protected site is full of thousands of their artifacts. Cahokian culture was not limited to the St. Louis site. It extended all the way to Trempealeau, Wis. (Science, Dec. 23, 2011)