Snippets From Science

• Melting water from the Himalayan glaciers and those from the adjacent Tibetan plateau drain into Asia’s rivers, which sustain around 1.5 billion people. Studies have shown that these glaciers are shrinking. Soot from burning fossil fuels in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa appears to be contributing to this glacial melt. A thick haze, loaded with soot, often covers the Himalayan glacial surface, even at altitudes up to 16,000 feet. Researchers at the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate in Bologna, Italy estimate that the effect of soot deposition could increase melting by 12 to 34 percent, since soot particles absorb the sun’s heat energy. Another study examined deep core samples from the ice of five Himalayan glaciers. The cores showed high levels of soot deposition during the 1950s, but levels dropped during the 1970s when many European countries began enforcing clean air regulations. (The Economist, Nov. 20, 2010; Third Pole Environment Workshop in Kathmandu, Oct. 7, 2010)

• By 1995, only a few dozen panthers remained in Florida, and their inbreeding resulted in a number of genetic defects, including heart problems and low fertility rates. Eight female panthers (same species as the Florida panthers) were imported from Texas, and today the population in Florida has tripled and the number of genetic defects has diminished. (Smithsonian Magazine, Dec. 2010)

• Are we smarter than chimps because our brains are larger? If this logic holds, then elephants, whales, and dolphins should be even smarter. Rather than size, it may be that human intelligence depends on the way our neurons (nerve cells) are packed in the brain and the number of interconnections between these neurons. Scientists at the University of California, San Diego examined the arrangement of neurons in slices from various parts of the human brain and compared their results to the arrangement in slices from the same regions in brains of monkeys and apes. They discovered that neurons in the prefrontal cortex of the human brain (which contributes to abstract thinking and higher intelligence in general) have considerably more space between them than in apes and monkeys. In other areas of the brains, the spacing was similar. The researchers hypothesized that neuron spacing in the prefrontal cortex of humans provides for many more interconnections between neurons, which may be one key to intelligence. (Science, Nov. 26, 2010)

• Mantis shrimp are crustaceans that are distantly related to crayfish and lobsters. They get their name from the way they hold their forelegs – similar to those of the praying mantis. These creatures grow to 10 inches or so in length and walk or swim over the ocean bottom, feeding on other shrimp, snails, crabs, and clams. What’s fascinating about mantis shrimp is that their claws are modified to deliver a vicious stab that easily punctures or crushes the hard exoskeleton of their prey. Researchers at UC Berkeley used a $60,000 highspeed video camera to capture and analyze the strike of the mantis shrimp at 5,000 frames/second. They found that these stabs are delivered at lightning speed with almost as much force as a .22 rifle bullet. (Google “mantis shrimp attacks”; http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004)

• Birth by C-section or antibiotic treatment can result in a change in the mix of bacteria in the gut and lungs of newborn children, which may increase their risk of asthma. Also, children on farms are less prone to asthma and allergies. These findings suggest that our relatively germ-free lifestyle can disrupt development of the immune system of children. (Science, Nov. 2010)