Futurity.org » University of Colorado at Boulder

Microbes in gut grab more fat from food

Tom Hughes-UNC — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 17:51:58 +0000

UNC-CHAPEL HILL (US) — Some gut microbes help the body absorb more dietary fat, which means their host takes in more calories from the same amount of food.

“This study is the first to demonstrate that microbes can promote the absorption of dietary fats in the intestine and their subsequent metabolism in the body,” says senior study author John Rawls, associate professor in the department of cell and molecular physiology at University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

Brain images predict how smart you are

Gerry Everding-WUSTL — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 14:10:46 +0000

WASHINGTON U. – ST. LOUIS (US) — When it comes to intelligence, what factors distinguish the brains of the exceptionally smart from those of average humans?

As science has long suspected, overall brain size matters somewhat, accounting for about 6.7 percent of individual variation in intelligence. More recent research has pinpointed the brain’s lateral prefrontal cortex, a region just behind the temple, as a critical hub for high-level mental processing, with activity levels there predicting another five percent of variation in individual intelligence.

Now, new research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests that another 10 percent of individual differences in intelligence can be explained by the strength of neural pathways connecting the left lateral prefrontal cortex to the rest of the brain.

Invasive flower sets off chain reaction

Diana Lutz-WUSTL — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 19:06:24 +0000

WASHINGTON U. – ST. LOUIS (US) — The chain of interactions triggered by the invasive plant purple loosestrife alters the zooplankton diversity in artificial ponds—and confirms a central tenet of ecology.

The interactions described in the study cross traditional ecosystem boundaries—the effects connect aquatic to terrestrial systems via the dragonflies that exploit, at different times in their lives, the resources of both the water and the land.

“It’s easy to say that everything is connected in some way, but how much these connections matter is something that we don’t always know,” says Kevin G. Smith, an adjunct professor of biology at Washington University in St. Louis and associate director of the Tyson Research Center, the university’s 2,000-acre field station.

Pre-human chowed down like a chimp

Keith Randall-Texas A&M — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 21:05:10 +0000

TEXAS A&M (US) — One of humans’ early relatives ate leaves, bark, fruit, and nuts, which scientists say indicate it lived in a more wooded environment than previously thought.

The researchers, including Texas A&M University anthropologist Darryl de Ruiter, report the surprising findings in the current issue of Nature.

de Ruiter says the new findings are in contrast to previously documented diets of other hominin species and suggests that Australopithecus sediba had a different living environment than other hominins in the region.

Poor in US live 5 years less than rich

David Ruth-Rice — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 16:27:54 +0000

RICE / U. COLORADO BOULDER (US) — The US trails many of the world’s countries when it comes to life expectancy, most notably with its poorest citizens, who live about five years less than those who are more affluent.

Researchers used time-series analysis to evaluate historical data on US mortality from the Human Mortality Database and reviewed data from 1930 through 2000 to identify trends in mortality over time and forecast life expectancy to the year 2055. The findings will be published in an upcoming issue of Social Science Quarterly.

Clobbered Mars has more than 635,000 craters

Jim Scott CU-Boulder — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 15:41:13 +0000

U. COLORADO BOULDER (US) — Researchers recently finished counting and cataloging more than 635,000 violent impact craters on Mars.

The craters are roughly a kilometer or more in diameter, according to the University of Colorado Boulder research team involved in the project.

‘Extreme’ microbes found in high-altitude volcanoes

Jim Scott CU-Boulder — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 21:17:42 +0000

U. COLORADO-BOULDER (US) — Researchers hunting for organisms that exist in extreme environments on Earth have found some living in volcanoes in South America.

The team used new DNA soil analysis to identify a handful of bacteria, fungi, and other rudimentary organisms called archaea—which seem to have a different way of converting energy than their cousins elsewhere in the world.

Wisps of gas may fuel ‘extremophile’ bugs

Jim Scott CU-Boulder — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 12:40:21 +0000

U. COLORADO-BOULDER (US) — Researchers have discovered some hardy microbes that are eking out a living on volcanoes in South America, a Martian-like landscape that is one of the most inhospitable places on Earth.

A new DNA analysis of the rocky soils’ extreme conditions has revealed a handful of bacteria, fungi, and other rudimentary organisms called archaea, which seem to have a different way of converting energy than their cousins elsewhere in the world.

Want fewer frogs with extra legs? Add parasites

Jim Scott CU-Boulder — Mon, 21 May 2012 21:12:04 +0000

U. COLORADO-BOULDER (US) — Harmful parasites, including one that causes malformed limbs in frogs, are less successful at infecting amphibians when there is a rich diversity of parasites, a new study finds.

Charting the relationships between parasites and amphibians is important since few studies have examined the influence of parasite diversity on disease, and the fact that amphibians are declining faster than any group of animals on the planet due to human activities like habitat loss, pollution, and emerging diseases, says Pieter Johnson, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado.

‘Map of Life’ tracks animals around the globe

Jim Scott CU-Boulder — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:04:45 +0000

U. COLORADO/YALE (US) — The “Map of Life” online database aims to show the distribution of all living plants and animals on the planet, and is now available to the public.

The demonstration version allows users to map the known global distribution of almost 25,000 species of terrestrial vertebrate animals, including mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and North American freshwater fish.