Abstract Engravings Show Modern Behavior Emerged Earlier Than Previously Thought
People were able to think abstractly, and accordingly behave as modern humans much earlier than previously thought, according to a paper appearing in this week's issue of Science. Christopher Henshilwood, adjunct professor at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, and the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town and his team found abstract representations of two pieces of ochre, two and three inches long. The objects, dated to at least 70,000 years ago, were recovered from the Middle Stone Age layers at Blombos Cave, a site on the southern Cape shore of the Indian Ocean 180 miles east of Cape Town, South Africa. Henshilwood's work at the cave is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
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Scientists Use Seals as "Underwater Eyes"
By employing one underwater species to "spy" on two others through novel use of technology, Antarctic researchers have gained new insights into two little-known fish species. The team expanded their knowledge base by equipping Weddell seals to follow the fish and record their behavior. The fieldwork by an eight-member team at McMurdo Station in Antarctica provides a rare glimpse into the habits of two very important Southern Ocean species, the Antarctic silverfish and the Antarctic toothfish, which is prized by commercial fishing fleets.
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Pondering a Climate Conundrum in Antarctica
Antarctica overall has cooled measurably during the last 35 years - despite a global average increase in air temperature of 0.06 degrees Celsius during the 20th century - making it unique among the Earth's continental landmasses, according to a paper published today in the online version of Nature. Researchers with the National Science Foundation (NSF) Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) site in Antarctica's Dry Valleys -- a perpetually snow-free, mountainous area adjacent to McMurdo Sound -- argue in the paper that long-term data from weather stations across the continent, coupled with a separate set of measurements from the Dry Valleys, confirm each other and corroborate the continental cooling trend.
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Recycled Proteins May Lead to Cellular Drug Delivery System
A team of researchers at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg has uncovered a new function of the Golgi apparatus, a subcellular structure that prepares proteins for export from the cell. The discovery may have implications for medication delivery and pharmaceutical development. Researchers were surprised to learn that the Golgi is constantly being assembled and disassembled. The disassembled Golgi proteins are then reused within the cell. This fundamental discovery could open possibilities for attaching drugs to Golgi proteins and using the disassembly process to deliver precise amounts of medications to specific locations within a cell. More... (posted January 22, 2002)