17 results found.
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 63: May-Jun 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A Magnetic Sense In Mice Orientation responses of mice displaced in a normal geomagnetic field (A & B) and a reversed field (C & D). Mean directions are indicated in the center (a -d ). "Abstract . We displaced white-footed mice ( Peromyscus leucopus ) 40 m away from their home areas and released them in a circular arena. Mice concentrated their exploratory and escape activity in the portion of the arena corresponding to home direction. In another group of mice, we reversed the horizontal com-ponent of the geomagnetic field surrounding them during displacement. These individuals concentrated their activity in areas of the circular arena opposite home direction. Mice were not likely using visual, chemical, or kinesthetic cues to establish home direction. Tissues of P. leucopus exhibit strong isothermal remanant magnetization and may contain biogenic ferromagnetic material. Our results suggest that white footed mice have a magnetic sense and use the geomagnetic field as a compass cue." (August, Peter V., et al; "Magnetic Orientation in a Small Mammal, Peromyscus Leucopus ," Journal of Mammalogy, 70:1 , 1989.) Reference. See BMT1 in Biological Anomalies: Mammals I for more on magnetic orientation and navigation. This book is described here . From Science Frontiers #63, MAY-JUN 1989 . 1989-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 22: Jul-Aug 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Conditioned responses that short-circuit the conscious brain Don't let the title of this item deter you; this is serious stuff. We all know about the placebo effect. A sick patient improves because he believes he is getting a helpful medicine, even though it is an inert substance. The reverse works, too, at least in experiments with mice. It seems that mice can be conditioned into believing that an ordinarily delectable substance (saccharin and water) gives them stomach pain, by simultaneously injecting them with a pain-producing chemical. Unexpectedly, this chemical also suppressed the immune system of the mice. The mice, of course, knew nothing about the effect on their immune system. Nevertheless, whenever they received saccharin after being conditioned, their immune system was suppressed even though the pain-producing chemical was not administered. While one can imagine the mice consciously associating saccharin and stomach pain, and their brains somehow sending signals that simulated pain, it seems inconceivable that the mice knew anything about their immune system. We have always assumed that the placebo effect (and its reverse) worked because of the subjects' logical association of cause and effect, but evidently there is something else going on here! (Wingerson, Lois; "Training the Mind To Heal," Discover, 3:80, May 1982.) Comment. This all opens a rather large Pandora's Box, because it implies that ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 24: Nov-Dec 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Mice Transmit Human Gene Sequences To Their Progeny Viruses habitually subvert the manufacturing facilities of host cells so that they turn out viruses instead of material useful to the host. Stewart and his col-leagues injected fertilized mouse eggs with human beta-globin gene sequences. One of the resulting adult mice carried the human gene sequence intact; one of the others carried at least part of the sequence. More significantly, the latter mouse transmitted the human gene sequence to its progeny in a Mendelian ratio. (Stewart, Timothy A., et al; "Human Beta-Globin Gene Sequences Injected into Mouse Eggs, Retained in Adults, and Transmitted to Progeny," Science, 217:1046, 1982.) Comment. Animal cells are therefore not too fastidious about what they manufacture and what is transmitted to progeny. The unanswered questions are: How far can this proxy replication and transmission of genes go; and, most important, can it occur in nature to a degree sufficient to contribute to the evolution of new species? From Science Frontiers #24, NOV-DEC 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 81: May-Jun 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects More Mouse Engineering Shortly after writing in SF#79 about the "Ancient Greek Pyramids" and the Saharan mice that construct small pyramids of pebbles to extract moisture from the air, we serendipitously ran across the following: " Australian Native Mice . The species P. chapmani builds low mounds of pebbles over its burrow systems, and P. hermannsburgensis may use these mounds after they are constructed. The pebbles are of a uniform size and cover a large area, often a meter in diameter. The pebbles are probably collected both by excavation and from the surface. Some local mammalogists believe these are used as dew traps. Since the air around the pebbles warms more rapidly as the sun rises than do the pebbles themselves, dew forms on the pebbles by condensation. As the areas in which these mounds are found are quite dry, except after a heavy rain, these dew traps solve the problem of water shortage. Local farmers use the many pebble mounds for mixing concrete. It is believed that the ancient people of the Mediterranean region used a dew trap method comparable to that of P. chapmani ." (Nowak, Ronald M.; "Australian Native Mice," Walker's Mammals of the World , Baltimore, 1991, p. 820.) Comment. Now we must decide between at least three possibilities. Since the Australian native mice and Saharan mice are many thousands of miles apart, we have: (1 ...
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... . Modern life forms that metabolize primordial rather than atmospheric carbon dioxide, with its cosmic-ray produced carbon-14, will appear extremely old when carbon-dated. For example, M. Grachev et al carbon-dated flatworms and a sponge collected from a bacterial mat near a thermal vent 420-meters deep in Lake Baikal. The apparent ages of these living organisms ranged from 6860 to 10,200 years. (Grachev, M., et al; "Extant Fauna of Ancient Carbon," Nature, 374:123, 1995) Even animals eating these apparently ancient life forms may take up their carbon-13 and, in effect, be drained of carbon-14. They would appear to age rapidly. Such false aging has actually been induced in the laboratory with mice fed on brewer's yeast grown in natural gas. These mice, living in cages at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California, were carbon-dated as being 13,000 years old, and were expected to attain a ripe old age of 35,000 in a few months. (All this was part of a cancer-research project.) Of course, most carbon-dating in archeology is not endangered by the primordial-carbon problem. But, as K. Turteltaub, "father" of the Lazarus mice, commented: "We've joked about sprinkling them [the mice] around archeological sites just to confuse everyone." (Weisman, Jonathan; "Of Lazarus Mice and Carbon-14," Tri-Valley Herald , July 12, 1993 ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 24: Nov-Dec 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects BIOLOGICAL REGENERATION: TWO ANOMALIES Anomaly 1. Contrary to the popular belief that mammals do not regenerate lost digits like the "lower" vertebrates, not only do mice regrow the tips of their foretoes, but young humans can regrow cosmetically perfect fingertips. However, the amputation cannot be too far back, and herein lies the second anomaly. Anomaly 2. Foretoe regeneration in mice is astoundingly sensitive to the site of amputation. Move the site only 0.2 0.3 millimeters farther back and no regrowth will occur. No one understands why such a tiny change in distance completely changes the body's response. (Borgens, Richard B.; "Mice Regrow the Tips of Their Foretoes," Science, 217:747, 1982.) From Science Frontiers #24, NOV-DEC 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 113: Sep-Oct 1997 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Who's In Charge Down There?A microscopic ecosystem thrives in your intestines. This menagerie of tiny organisms boasts more than 400 species of bacteria. Not all of these bacteria are content to wait around until we eat something that they like. Molecular biologist P. Falk and colleagues discovered that some of the bacteria inhabiting the intestines of mice send chemical directives to the mouse's intestinal cells, causing them to synthesize those sugars the bacteria require. Since the bacteria that make a living in the intestines of mice are very similar to those in humans, the same phenomenon is probably occurring in your innards as you read this. (Anonymous; "Bac Talk," Discover, 18:23. February 1997.) Comments. There doesn't seem to be much you can do about your presumptuous intestinal bacteria. Maalox won't dissuade them. Even though we are infected with bossy bacteria and bend to the commands of "selfish genes", we still imagine we possess free will! From Science Frontiers #113, SEP-OCT 1997 . 1997-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 82: Jul-Aug 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects For some, sex = death It has long been known that the males of some species of marsupial mice mate in their first year and then die off completely, leaving the perpetuation of their species to their male progeny. Females of these species usually survive to breed a second and even third year. The poor males, however, succumb due to "elevated levels of free corticosteroids in the blood and associated disease such as hemorrhagic ulceration of the gastric mucosa, anemia, and parasite infestation." In short, they seem programmed to die after mating, like the male octopus. And one wonders why evolution has wrought this mass die-off. In their studies of marsupial mice, C.R . Dickman and R.W . Braithwaite have extended the phenomenon to two new genera: Dasyurus and Parantechinus . They have also found that the phenomenon is a bit more complex. First, in P . apicalis, the male die-off occurs in some populations and not others. In D. hallucatus , the die-off may occur in the same population in some years and not others. Furthermore, the females of this species may on occasion all die off, too -- but after giving birth, of course. (Dickman, C.R ., and Braithwaite, R.W .; "Postmating Mortality of Males in the Dasyurid Marsupials, Dasyurus and Parantechinus ," Journal of Mammalogy , 73: ...
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... Temperature BMF11 Inheritance of the Effects of Rotation BMF12 Male Lactation BMF13 Asymmetry in the Function of Mammary Glands BMF14 Pressurized, Sealed Suckling Systems BMF15 The Ability of One Mammal to Control the Sexual Functions of Another BMF16 Correlation of Primate Menstruation with Lunar Phase BMF17 The Delayed-Birth Phenomenon BMF18 Polymorphic Sperm in Mammals BMF19 Pregnancy Rates Correlated with Lunar Phase BMF20 Maternal Impressions in Mammals BMF21 Weeping in Mammals BMF22 Sleeplessness in Mammals BMF23 Curious Types of Sleep BMF24 REM Sleep in Mammals BMF25 Big-Bang Reproduction (Semelparity) in Mammals BMF26 Unusual Deaths of Mammals BMF27 Longevity Increased by Radiation and Hunger Sperm Competition Ear Regeneration BMG GENETICS BMG1 Discordances between Phylogenies Established from Visible Traits and Biochemistry BMG2 Closely Related Mammals with Different Chromosome Numbers BMG3 Evolution Rates That Are Much Higher Than Predicted from Genetics BMG4 Unexplained Rapid Evolution in Inbred Mice BMG5 Species with Cells Containing "Alien" Mitochondria BMG6 Paternal Mitochondrial DNA can Be Inherited in Mammals BMG7 Functions of "Knocked-Out" Genes Not Completely Lost BMG8 Armadillo "Identical" Quadruplets Are Not Early Deaths of Clones Oliver Is a Chimp DNA in Food Enters Cells of the Eaters Rabbits Surprisingly Closely Related to Primates Guinea Pigs Are Not Rodents Mammals Coexisted with Dinosaurs Epigenetic Inheritance in Mice BMI INTERNAL SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES BMI1 Inheritance of Acquired Immunological Tolerance BMI2 Immunity to Rattlesnake Venom BMI3 Tropical Mammals with Thick Subcutaneous Fat BMI4 Curiosities of Mammalian Urogenital Systems BMI5 Reversal of Viscera BMI6 Fundamental Differences between Micro- and Megabat Neural Pathways BMI7 Evolution without Associated Increases in the Complexity of Vertebral Columns BMI8 Magnetite in Mammals Remarkable Dolphin Heat Exchangers Infant Marsupial Mice Breathe through Skin BMO ORGANS BMO1 High Complexity and Sophistication of ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 87: May-Jun 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Animals Attack Human Technological Infrastructure We are accustomed to termites feasting on our homes' timbers and mice gnawing in the walls, but in recent years many species have developed a taste for more sophisticated fare: Pine martens are chewing through the electical wiring of Swiss cars. Mammal repellents popular there. British dormice seem to enjoy the electrical fittings of Rolls Royces. The keas (mountain parrots) of New Zealand have an innate urge to strip out the rubber gaskets around car windows. Land crabs on Tahiti bite through the electrical cables of film crews. Rarely are they electrocuted. New Zealanders have to put metal collars on telephone poles to prevent bushy tailed possums from getting at the cables. Squirrels, rabbits, langurs, and others species are also on the attack in all countries. (Ager, Derek; "Unwary Animals and Vicious Volts," New Scientist, p. 47, January 9, 1993.) Comment. We mustn't forget that sperm whale that got tangled up in an undersea cable over a mile down! From Science Frontiers #87, MAY-JUN 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 24: Nov-Dec 1982 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Africa Not Man's Origin! Early Chinese Voyages to Australia The Calico Site Revisited Astronomy Mysterious "thing" in Orbit Around Saturn The Spin We're In Islands of Hope for Life Eternal A Hint of Extraterrestrial Oceans Biology Why Cancer? Mice Transmit Human Gene Sequences to Their Progeny Biological Regeneration: Two Anomalies Geology Seismic Ghost Slithers Under California Powerful Earth Current Enters North America From the Pacific The Polyna Mystery Geophysics Balls of Fire Enter Room Through Metal Screens Massive Freak Wave Psychology The Cinema of the Mind ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 63: May-Jun 1989 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Peruvian geoglyphs A NEW LOOK AT THE BAT CREEK INSCRIPTION Explaining the "artifact gaps" Astronomy A HEX ON SATURN The planets are unpredictable Comets and life Life currents in space Some editorial pedantry Biology Caterpillars that look like what they eat A MAGNETIC SENSE IN MICE Taking the radon cure Trees talk in w-waves The language of life Geology More confusion at the k-t boundary Where on earth is the crust? Physics Cold fusion and anomalies ...
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... catchers. They had learned that piles of porous rocks could, in desert climes, capture and condense surprisingly large quantities of water. Take, for example, the 13 pyramids of loose limestone rocks that the Greeks constructed some 2500 years ago at Theodosia in the Crimea: "The pyramids averaged nearly 40 feet high and were placed on hills around the city. As wind moved air through the heaps of stone, the day's cycle of rising and falling temperatures caused moisture to condense, run down, and feed a network of clay pipes. "One archaeologist calculated a water flow of 14,400 gallons per pyramid per day, based on the size of the clay pipes leading from each device." Weren't the ancient Greeks clever? But perhaps they had observed how some mice in the Sahara pile small heaps of rocks in front of their burrows and lick the condensed moisture off in the morning. Possibly we should have classified this item under "Biology"! (Dietrich, Bill; "Water from Stones: Greeks Found a Way," Arizona Republic , p. AA1, December 22, 1991. Cr. T.W . Colvin.) From Science Frontiers #80, MAR-APR 1992 . 1992-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... , radioactive dating, and paleontology all point to the relatively recent emergence and biological colonization of the Galapagos. These islands are no older than 3-4 million years. The unique terrestrial life forms had to develop in less time than this. (Hickman, Carole S., and Lipps, Jere H.; "Geologic Youth of Galapagos Confirmed by Marine Stratigraphy and Paleontology," Science, 227:1578, 1985.) Comments. Several remarks seem appropriate here: (1 ) The varied fauna and flora of the Galapagos did not evolve independently; viz., the bills of the Darwin finches are tailored to specific food sources (plants). Many species changed rapidly and in concert. (2 ) A recent Science article (228: 1187, 1985) notes that inbred mice often evolve different morphological characteristics very quickly. This observation probably applies to the initial Galapagos populations, which must have been small and inbred. (3 ) Harking back to the item on the Guadeloupe skeleton, the Galapagos display similar strata of limestone, beach rock, etc. Until now, the limestones had been dated from the Miocene to the Pleistocene, but according to Hickman and Lipps they must be much younger than Miocene. The Guadeloupe dates may also be in error. Caveat emptor. From Science Frontiers #40, JUL-AUG 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 32: Mar-Apr 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Subtle Is The Virus "Without causing noticeable structural damage, a virus administered to laboratory mice has been found to dis rupt hormone production in a particular type of pituitary cell. This novel observation -- that viruses are able to injure their hosts in ways not previously suspected -- may trigger a far-reaching search for viruses as causes of many unexplained human diseases." Some of the other types of diseases mentioned as possible consequences of virus infection are those involving the faulty manufacture of insulin, neurotransmitters, hormones, and immune system regulators. (Miller, J.A .; "Subtle is the Virus: Cells Stay Intact," Science News, 125: 70, 1984.) Comment. This item dwells on the negative aspects of vial infections. Indeed, we automatically assume every infection by any virus or bacterium to be bad for the organism. This may not be so. Now that we have discovered that viruses can cause bodily changes without damaging the cells of the infected organism, we should ask whether favorable physical changes might not be caused by viruses, but not recognized as such. Going a few steps further: Is intelligence a disease? Could evolution be accelerated or directed through the mediation of viruses? See below for more on this. From Science Frontiers #32, MAR-APR 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 124: Jul-Aug 1999 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Hand-reading More Useful Than Palm-reading After learning that mutations in a single gene in mice affected not only the development of their digits but also their ovaries and testes, J. Manning and his colleagues decided to see if there is a link between human hand shape and fertility. There is! Men with hands that are not precise mirror images of each other tend to produce fewer sperm. Manning asserts, "The more asymmetry, the fewer sperm." Easier to test yourself are the relative lengths of your ring and index fingers. Men tend to have ring fingers that are longer than their index fingers. The greater this difference in males, the higher their levels of testosterone, a hormone associated with fertility. In women, the same fingers are usually about equal in length. However, in contrast to males, larger index fingers are correlated with the increased presence of fertility hormones, such as estrogen and lutenizing hormones. (Motluk, Alison; "Fertility Index," New Scientist, p. 10, August 22, 1998.) A virile male's hand? From Science Frontiers #124, JUL-AUG 1999 . 1999-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... ") may have registered photons at some stage in our evolution, but it is now useless or adapted to other purposes. The arthropods, however, still find photoreceptors useful. Crayfish have them on their abdomens, where they initiate an escape response when illuminated. Additionally, the blind shrimp that collect around the glowing deep-sea vents have photoreceptors perched on their backs, presumably to guide them to their prey located around the luminous vents. Recently, the Japanese yellow swallowtail butterflies were discovered to sport photoreceptors on their genitalia. These I are used during mating to confirm the position of the female's ovipositor.(Arikawa, Kentaro; "Hindsight of Butterflies," BioScience, 51:219, 2001.) Barn-Owl auditory neurons multiple signals. Barn Owls can locate rustling mice in the dark with high precision. They discern their prey by sound rather than light. To achieve the high accuracy needed to home in on small rodents in the black of night, their ears are slightly offset so that they can draw a bead by using microsecond time-of-arrival differences in the sounds coming from the target. To increase the owl's passive sonar, their auditory neurons multiply the signals instead of adding them as do other neurons. In effect, they create an "auditory map" of their surroundings. On their high-precision auditory maps, a rustling mouse would be highlighted. So far, though, biologists have not learned how neurons can multiply signals. The asymmetrical design of the Barn Owl's ears is essential for pinpointing its prey in ...
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