Aidryane's blog

Northern hunters, scientists and people with vivid imaginations have discussed the possibility for years.But Roger Kuptana, a guide from Canada’s Sachs Harbor was the first to suspect it had actually happened when he proposed that a strange-looking bear shot last month by an American sports hunter might be half polar bear, half grizzly.Officials seized the creature after noticing its white fur was scattered with brown patches and that it had the long claws and humped back of a grizzly.  Read More »

A recently discovered type of African monkey is different enough from others that it needs to be listed in a separate genus, scientists have decided.The monkey, which lives in Tanzania, was first described last year. At that time it was listed in the genus Lophocebus, which includes the mangabey.After further study, researchers now say the monkey — known as kipunji — is more closely related to some types of baboon than to mangabeys, though it is anatomically different from baboons, and thus should have its own genus.A research team led by Tim R. B. Davenport of the Wildlife Conservation Society suggests in Science Express, the rapid-publication Web site for the journal Science, that kipunji should be placed in the newly created genus Rungwecebus.It is the first new genus for an African primate in 83 years. The name refers to Mount Rungwe, where this type of monkey was first seen.Several kipunji have been observed, and one was studied at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago after it was killed in a farmer’s trap. The animal was about 15 inches (40 centimeters) long and weighed about 9 pounds (4 kilograms).It has light to medium gray-brown fur, with white toward the end of the tail and off-white fur on the belly.The researchers said kipunji is threatened by habitat fragmentation and hunting.Genus and species are scientific descriptive terms used to classify plants and animals. For example, people are Homo sapiens — genus Homo, species sapiens.The most general classification is kingdom, followed by phylum, class, order, family, genus, species and subspecies.

Studies have shown that a person's chances of committing a crime go up if a parent or sibling had previously done so. And a 1999 U.S. Department of Justice survey found that 46 percent of jail inmates had at least one close relative who had been incarcerated.Britain has adopted a policy where almost any run-in with the law, even minor ones, will allow police to collect DNA. In the United States, the rules vary depending on the state.  Read More »

In 1988, 20-year-old Lynette White was fatally stabbed in South Wales. The murder went unsolved for 15 years, until a fresh DNA sweep of her apartment in 2000 turned up spots of blood on a skirting board that had been missed the first time around. British police ran the results through a national DNA database of known criminals, but didn't turn up anyone with an exact match. They did, however, notice someone whose DNA profile was close: a 14-year-old boy who was not even alive when White was murdered but who had gotten into trouble with the cops.DNA testing of the boy's family eventually led police to Jeffrey Gafoor, the boy's paternal uncle, whose DNA exactly matched that of the blood sample. When questioned, Gafoor admitted to murdering White.The case was a dramatic example of "kinship analysis," which could become more common as the practice of collecting DNA for crimes increases and the technique becomes more systemized and efficient, researchers said Thursday.But widespread use of the technique raises issues about civil liberties violations, they caution.

The World Wildlife Fund has launched a campaign to see if fishermen can attach magnets to their hooks to avoid accidentally capturing sharks, which are reportedly able to detect — and presumably avoid — magnetic fields.The idea is part of the WWF's ongoing campaign to promote selective fishing, in which fishermen avoid catching species they're not after. While such animals are frequently thrown back into the sea, they usually die of the injuries they receive in the process."The WWF is constantly looking for practical solutions to allow intelligent fishing, by being more selective about the species sought," said Moises Mug, who heads up the group's fisheries programs for Latin America.Researcher Michael Herrmann, a partner in a New Jersey company called SharkDefense, proposed the idea as part of a contest for selective fishing ideas.Studies suggest that some species of sharks not only detect, but are repelled by, magnetic fields, the organization said in a press statement.  Read More »

These devices are marketed to reduce pollen and particulates in room air. One variety, though, can generate ozone levels in a room that exceed high-smog days in Los Angeles.Lead researcher Sergey Nizkorodov, a chemistry professor at the University of California at Irvine, noted that all “ionic” air purifiers emit some ozone. However, only purifiers based on ozonolysis appeared to result in the high ozone levels noted in his study. Unfortunately, not all manufacturers and retailers clearly distinguish between these two varieties of air purifiers. (LiveScience regrets any confusion resulting from an earlier version of this article that itself did not make this difference clear.)Air purifiers are popular in urban areas. They are touted as getting rid of dust, pollen and other airborne particles.Ionic air purifiers, one type of these devices, are said to work by charging airborne particles and then attracting them to metal electrodes. They emit small amounts of ozone as a byproduct of this ionization process. The other machines, which employ ozonolysis, emit more ozone. In a small and poorly ventilated room, the ozone adds to existing ozone and creates potentially unhealthy concentrations."People operating air purifiers indoors are more prone to being exposed to ozone levels in excess of public health standards," Nizkorodov said.The research, funded in part by the National Science Foundation, was announced today and is detailed in the Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.Ozone high in the atmosphere protects Earth from damaging ultraviolet radiation. Down here, it is the main component in smog. Ozone can damage the lungs and cause shortness of breath and throat irritation, and it can also exacerbate asthma, scientists say. Nizkorodov and colleagues tested various air purifiers in homes, offices and cars. In many cases, according to a statement, ozone levels inside climbed above 90 parts per billion, exceeding California's basic safety threshold. In some cases, ozone soared higher than 350 parts per billion, which if measured outside would trigger a Stage 2 Smog Alert, an event that hasn't occurred in the Southern California coastal air basin since 1988.

South Korean prosecutors indicted disgraced cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk Friday on charges of fraud, embezzlement and bioethics violations in a scandal over faked stem cell research that shook the scientific community.Five members of Hwang’s research team were indicted on lesser charges, prosecution official Lee In-kyu said in a nationally televised news conference.Hwang was hailed worldwide as a stem cell pioneer and treated as a national hero until investigations late last year showed that he had fabricated key data, which had given hope for breakthrough treatments to such diseases such as Alzheimer’s.Hwang was charged fraud for accepting $2 million in private donations based on the outcome of the falsified research and for allegedly embezzling nearly $900,000 in private and government research funds, Lee said.  Read More »

The Saint Louis Art Museum will keep a 3,200-year-old mummy mask unless it gets more proof that it belongs to Egypt.The museum won’t meet a May 15 deadline set by Egyptian antiquities authorities to return the mask, Museum Director Brent Benjamin said Friday. He noted that the Supreme Council of Antiquities never officially gave the museum a deadline.Zahi Hawass, Secretary General for the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt, said that the mummy mask was probably stolen before it was obtained by the art museum in 1998.“Nothing that we have seen to this date supports his claim,” Benjamin said.Hawass gave the museum some documentation, including a register that recorded the burial mask of Ka Nefer Nefer being sent to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt, in 1959.Hawass has been critical of the museum for not returning the mask and has threatened to turn the dispute over to authorities.  Read More »