Cultural Images Affect Second Language Usage: Scientific American Podcast. Ordinarily, you’d call a pistachio a pistachio. But if you’re, for example, an immigrant from China and you’ve just seen a Ming vase, you might call a pistachio a “happy nut.” Because visual cues can affect language in people with multiple cultural experiences. That’s according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [Shu Zhang et al, Heritage-culture images disrupt immigrants’ second-language processing through triggering first-language interference] Researchers performed various tests with students who had come to the U.S. from China. In one, the students heard a recorded conversation, in English, about campus life.
The students then spoke about their own lives. In another test, when the students were exposed to Chinese icons, they were more likely to translate from Chinese into English literally. This phenomenon demonstrates that immigrants struggling with a new language can face unusual and unanticipated challenges. —Cynthia Graber. Liposuctioned Fat Reveals Valuable Stem Cells: Scientific American Podcast. Stem cells are prized for their ability to give rise to a variety of specialized cell types, including heart, liver, nerve and bone. Unfortunately, it’s the stem cells from embryos that have shown the biggest potential, for generating both a range of tissues and a ton of controversy. Now, researchers have discovered a new type of stem cell, present in adults, that appears to have similar potential to its embryonic kin. Best of all, it comes from a source a lot of us would be happy to give away: body fat. That’s according to a study in the journal PLoS ONE.
These fat-based stem cells were discovered by accident. They can apparently withstand all sorts of harsh conditions, like nutrient or oxygen deprivation and attack by digestive enzymes. More studies are needed to explore these cells’ potential. —Karen Hopkin [The above text is a transcript of this podcast.] Moves Trump Speed For Cheetahs: Scientific American Podcast. Cheetahs reign as the fastest land mammals, capable of sprinting at speeds reaching about 65 miles an hour. But when hunting in the wild, the big cats rarely reach top speed. Instead they rely on rapid acceleration and agility to catch their prey. That’s according to a study in the journal Nature. [A. M. Wilson et al., Locomotion dynamics of hunting in wild cheetahs] Most previous research examined cheetahs running in a straight line or in a controlled habitat.
On these runs, the cheetahs on average topped out at only about half their maximum speed. —Sophie Bushwick [The above text is a transcript of this podcast.] [Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group.] Altitude May Influence Language Sounds: Scientific American Podcast. The human voice is capable of forming a plethora of incredibly different sounds. So many, in fact, that each individual language contains only a subset of potential sound units, or phonemes.
What factors determine whether a phoneme enters common use, or is relegated to silence? It turns out, geography may play a role. One phoneme that occurs in only about 20 percent of the world's languages is the ejective consonant, such as p' or k'. Caleb Everett, an anthropologist at the University of Miami, decided to map where this sound occurs. Everett discovered that languages that included ejective consonants were generally spoken at a higher elevation than those that did not. Everett suggests that the sounds are more popular at altitude because lower air pressure may make it easier to produce the burst of air that is a key characteristic of ejective consonants. —Sophie Bushwick [The above text is a transcript of this podcast.] Help Scientists Stalk Cicadas: Scientific American Podcast. Why Did the Chicken Lose Its Penis?: Scientific American Podcast. Evolution :: 60-Second Science :: June 6, 2013 :: :: Email :: Print Only three percent of bird species have males with obvious organs of intromission, and now we know the genetics behind that situation.
Karen Hopkin reports. Most birds don’t have penises. Good, I have your attention. Only three percent of avian species have males with obvious organs of intromission. To get to the root of this penile puzzle , researchers compared the embryos of chickens and ducks. Bmp4 basically tells cells to commit suicide. Why this happens is still a mystery. —Karen Hopkin [The above text is a transcript of this podcast] Strong Habits Kick In Under Stress: Scientific American Podcast. Mind & Brain :: 60-Second Science :: June 5, 2013 :: :: Email :: Print Stress may not necessarily make you reach for that candy bar, as much as it influences you to fall back on your ingrained habits--which may be to go for the candy. Cynthia Graber reports. When we’re stressed out, self-control can flag. And so we might, say, reach for a candy bar instead of an apple. But California psychologists wondered: what if when we’re stressed we fall back on habits, whether good or bad.
The researchers conducted a battery of tests. The scientists found that when the subjects’ willpower was depleted, they fell back on habits. The finding could mean that if you habitually grab fruit for a snack, you’ll likely keep doing so, especially, when stressed. —Cynthia Graber [The above text is a transcript of this podcast] Help Hunt Distant Galaxies At Home: Scientific American Podcast. Space :: 60-Second Science :: June 4, 2013 :: :: Email :: Print You can help astronomers find faint and distant galaxies on your home computer by joining a search called "Space Warps". Karen Hopkin reports. It takes a village to raise a child. Well, the same is true for finding what are called “space warps.” Aside from being wicked cool, this light-bending ability means gravitational lenses act like space-based magnifying glasses, which gives scientists a zoomed-in view of even more distant galaxies.
An international team of scientists launched the project in May and they’ll be hosting a live Google hangout June 5th at 5pm U.S. eastern time to call people to the hunt. If you miss the webcast, go to spacewarps.org to take part and learn how to spot the telltale signs of gravitational lensing in telescopic surveys. —Karen Hopkin [The above text is a transcript of this podcast] French Wine Had Italian Origins: Scientific American Podcast. Whale Baleen Bends and Weaves to Snag Food: Scientific American Podcast. More Science :: 60-Second Science :: May 31, 2013 :: Email :: Print Baleen in a flowtank showed that it naturally twines together when water rushes through to create a net that efficiently strains food. Marissa Fessenden reports. Baleen allows the non-toothed whales to strain seawater for their fish and crustacean prey. Alexander Werth of Hampden-Sydney College in Virgina avoided a Jonah-like journey and still managed to analyze how baleen works. Two kinds of whales sport baleen.
For the tests, Werth submerged racks of humpback and bowhead baleen in a flow tank. If you’re going to be a massive carnivore without teeth, evolution has to be especially creative. —Marissa Fessenden [The above text is a transcript of this podcast] Fake Colon Spills Bacterial Secrets: Scientific American Podcast. More Science :: 60-Second Science :: May 30, 2013 :: Email :: Print Researchers created an artificial colon to help track bacterial behavior from inside humans thru their egress to the environment, and found they stick together better than in culture.
Sophie Bushwick reports. When bacteria, like some strains of E. coli ,enter the water supply they can threaten public health. To prevent such outbreaks, it’s useful to know how these microbes behave in their natural environments, rather than just in a petri dish. And one such environment is inside the human body. In places without access to large sewage systems, bacteria-laden human waste passes into septic tanks. There it’s broken down before moving on into the groundwater. Did the counterfeit colon increase our E. coli comprehension? —Sophie Bushwick [The above text is a transcript of this podcast] Anorexics Move As Though Larger: Scientific American Podcast. Mind & Brain :: 60-Second Science :: May 29, 2013 :: :: Email :: Print When asked to walk through doorways of various widths, anorexics started to edge through to avoid contact when the openings were still easily passable. Sophie Bushwick reports.
People with anorexia see themselves as heavier than they actually are. But does this distorted self-image inform unconscious behavior? Scientists are opening doors to find out. Literally. Body image and doorways are linked, because the ability to navigate your environment depends on a sense of how the body exists in space. To test this kind of body perception in anorexic patients, researchers recruited 39 women, 19 with anorexia and 20 without the condition.
The researchers say that body image distortion thus affects not just perception, but action—which could have implications for treatments. —Sophie Bushwick [The above text is a transcript of this podcast] Vitamin C Kills TB Cells: Scientific American Podcast. More Science :: 60-Second Science :: May 28, 2013 :: :: Email :: Print Researchers were surprised to discover that vitamic C was fatal to tuberculosis bacteria in culture. Steve Mirsky reports. How does a Venus flytrap know when to snap shut? Can it actually feel an insect’s tiny, spindly legs? And how do cherry blossoms know when to bloom? Can they... Read More » “We’ve discovered that vitamin C kills Mycobacterium tuberculosis cells.” Jacobs was studying whether the TB drug isoniazid was being inactivated by the presence of a particular amino acid, cysteine, which in chemical terms acts as a reducing agent, by donating electrons. “So we added this with the isoniazid expecting that we’d get resistance.
Free radicals are highly reactive chemical entities that can damage cells. “And it was the free radicals that were killing the TB. “We’ve only been able to demonstrate this in a test tube, and we don’t know if it will work in humans. —Steve Mirsky. Early Land Animals Lacked Good Bites: Scientific American Podcast. Evolution :: 60-Second Science :: May 24, 2013 :: Email :: Print Tens of millions of years passed between the emergence of land animals and the evolution of an efficient apparatus for munching on the available fare. Karen Hopkin reports. What had the legs of a ‘gator and the jaws of a fish? Why, the earliest land animals . Because a new study shows that animals evolved weight-bearing limbs long before they had the chompers to really take advantage of a terrestrial diet. The research is in the journal Integrative and Comparative Biology .
Scientists had suspected that the first four-legged creatures to haul their carcasses out of the ocean didn’t belly up to the salad bar straight away. Now, researchers have carefully examined the fossilized faces of 89 beasties that lived on land and sea some 300 to 400 million years ago. Why the lag? —Karen Hopkin [The above text is a transcript of this podcast] Hard To Beat Feet For Fostering Fungus: Scientific American Podcast. More Science :: 60-Second Science :: May 22, 2013 :: :: Email :: Print The skin of the feet host a more diverse fungal community than other parts of the surface of the body tested in a recent study. Sophie Bushwick reports.
Do fungi have a foot fetish? When researchers mapped the fungal species living on the surface of the human body, they found the skin on the feet harbors the most diverse fungal community. The work is in the journal Nature . [Keisha Findley et al, Topographic diversity of fungal and bacterial communities in human skin ] Our skins play host to a huge variety of microbes, but previous studies focused on bacteria. In most of these locations, a single genus of fungi called Malassezia dominated.
Fungal diversity did not correspond with bacterial diversity. —Sophie Bushwick [The above text is a transcript of this podcast] Scientific American is part of the Nature Publishing Group. Genomics Reveals Great Famine Culprit: Scientific American Podcast. More Science :: 60-Second Science :: May 21, 2013 :: Email :: Print Genome analysis of stored potato leaf samples identified exactly what strain of blight ravaged potatoes in the Irish Famine. Sophie Bushwick reports. The Potato Famine in Ireland killed a million people and led to mass emigration.
The potatoes were destroyed by late blight, caused by the water mold Phytophthora infestans . Researchers analyzed dried potato leaves, well over a century old, from Ireland, as well as Europe and North America. Their conclusion: a strain called HERB-1 was responsible for the Irish Great Famine. A strain called US-1 had previously been thought to be the culprit. Similar work with other preserved plant specimens could help trace the evolutionary history of other pathogens. —Sophie Bushwick [The above text is a transcript of this podcast] Good Gut Bacteria May Keep Bad at Bay: Scientific American Podcast. Invasive Ladybug Thanks Its Parasite For Competitive Advantage: Scientific American Podcast. More Science :: 60-Second Science :: May 17, 2013 :: Email :: Print Harlequin ladybirds carry a parasite that does not kill them--but does kill other ladybug species that attempt to eat the harlequin progeny. Sophie Bushwick reports.
Ladybugs love to snack on aphids and other pests. So people began importing an Asian species called the harlequin ladybird as natural pest control. But in their new environments, the harlequins wiped out native ladybugs. And they have their parasites to thank. That’s according to research in the journal Science . A parasite called microsporidia lies dormant in the circulatory systems of harlequin ladybirds. Harlequin ladybirds’ immune systems, on the other hand, have learned to deal with microsporidia—which lets the insects use them as biological weapons. The discovery demonstrates an important role of immunity in evolutionary selection.
—Sophie Bushwick [The above text is a transcript of this podcast] Isolated Reservoir Holds Ancient Water: Scientific American Podcast. Speed Dating Study Yields Conversation Keys: Scientific American Podcast. Riding Technique Affects Horse Force: Scientific American Podcast. Ice Cores Reveal Green Arctic: Scientific American Podcast. Elephants Better Beat The Heat Or Else: Scientific American Podcast. Science Tackles Twitter Talents: Scientific American Podcast. Video Game Play Sharpens Elderly Minds: Scientific American Podcast. Gap Grows Between Wanting And Working: Scientific American Podcast. Voices Considered Attractive Send Body Cues: Scientific American Podcast. Smartphone App System Locates Snipers: Scientific American Podcast. Whales Teach Each Other Hunting Skill: Scientific American Podcast. Poker Players' Arms Give Away Their Hands: Scientific American Podcast. Grasshoppers Adjust Calls In Traffic Din: Scientific American Podcast. Bitter Taste May Battle Asthma: Scientific American Podcast.
Fly Cells Divide By The Clock: Scientific American Podcast. New Music Tickles or Bores Brain Region: Scientific American Podcast. Ecotourism Can Be Animals' Pet Peeve: Scientific American Podcast. Twitter Reveals Language Geographical Distribution: Scientific American Podcast. Bed Bugs Bollixed by Bean: Scientific American Podcast. Warming Planet Means Bumpier Flights: Scientific American Podcast. Fat-Fed Fidos Foil Fiends First: Scientific American Podcast. Biological Disciplines Meet To Break, Then Maybe Fix, Bread: Scientific American Podcast.
The Price Is Right But Confusing: Scientific American Podcast. Mysterious Desert 'Fairy Circles' Caused By Termites: Scientific American Podcast. Physicists Model Mosh Moves: Scientific American Podcast. Gum Chewing May Improve Concentration: Scientific American Podcast. Internal Clocks Tell Roosters It's Crow Time: Scientific American Podcast. Thinkers Talk About Nothing: Scientific American Podcast. Caimin In, the Water's Fine: Scientific American Podcast. Winter Cholesterol Rise May Boost Heart Risk: Scientific American Podcast. Workplace Injuries May Rise Right after Daylight Saving Time: Scientific American Podcast. Birds Need Tune To Stay Current: Scientific American Podcast. New Moms May Need New Shoes: Scientific American Podcast. Astronaut Talks About Being In Untethered Hot Spot: Scientific American Podcast. Human Skin Depigmented More Than Once: Scientific American Podcast. Warmer Waters Make Weaker Mussels: Scientific American Podcast.
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