Science News Digest 17th May 2010
In the science news this week, we take a look at the new appointments affecting science in the cabinet, research into the most efficient shapes for packing, the pitfalls of having a toy boy, Jupiter goes down a belt size and finally.....kingdom wars- plants and animals go head to head for food!
Yes minister!
In a shock move by the new coalition government it is David Willetts not Adam Afriyie, the shadow spokesman for science, who has been given the title of minister of state for universities and science.
In their election campaign the Conservatives promised to provide a 'stable investment climate' for the research sector, but didn't go as far as the Labour promise of 'ring fencing' the science budget.
However, the news of David Willett's appointment has generally been well received among the science community according to the BBC.
Although he is not a scientist by trade, he is familiar with the issues faced by the community and has been given the nickname 'two brains' due to his impressive intellect.
He will report to Vince Cable, the new Secretary of State and head of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. With a budget planned to be unveiled inside two months and a pre election pledge by the Conservatives to reduce the budget deficit by £6bn in the next financial year, it seems David will have his hands full protecting the funding for UK science.
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Toy boy troubles
Unless a woman marries a man the same age as her, she is more likely to die younger according to a study reported in the Guardian this week.
While the lifespan of men benefit either way by having a partner, women live the longest if their partner is of equal age, less if her partner is older, less still if her partner is younger and least if she is single.
The study carried out by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rokstock, Germany looked at the medical records of two million Danish couples.
Previous logic for these results came from the assumption that healthy individuals had more options to choose a younger partner and would already have a longer life expectancy and that the younger spouse would give them better care in old age and keep them more psychologically active.
However, in this study these assumptions only hold for men with a younger spouse, not women.
Another explanation that does tally more with the results of this study lays in the friendships each gender forms over their lives.
Women tend to have more friends in later life to keep them active, whereas men don't, so the partnership is a lot more beneficial for men.
Furthermore, older women with a younger man tend to experience more stress and therefore die sooner. Elizabeth Taylor must be a medical marvel.
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The shape of things to come
The ancient Egyptians would be pleased with the news in New Scientist this week, after their beloved pyramid was crowned the most efficient shape to fit into containers randomly.
Researchers from New York University filled containers with tetrahedral game dice and shook them randomly to see how much space was left unoccupied in the container. Using an MRI scan, they found that some 76% of the container was filled by the shape, making it more efficient than spheres or ellipses.
Furthermore, the tetrahedrons are locked into place by their neighbours, making them difficult to nudge out of place. This could have implications in the production of new tough materials. Creating a powder with tetrahedral shaped molecules could help us get one step further to the holy grail of unbreakable ceramic dinnerware.
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What tore a strip off Jupiter!?
Astronomers knew something was happening a few months ago when the stripe known as the Southern Equatorial Belt started just before Jupiter disappeared behind the sun for three months.
Now that it has returned to visibility from Earth, the familiar red stripe has completely disappeared.
However, according to the Daily Mail, this is not a new phenomenon and in fact, every 15 years the planet either gains or loses one of it's stripes. Composed of sulphur and phosphorus clouds, the gases are blown into a belt by the 350mph winds on Jupiter.
While scientists are baffled at the cause of the disappearance, they say the most likely explanation is linked to storm activity that preceded the change.
When the belt is due to reappear a brilliant white spot will form in the southern hemisphere and start spewing out brown blobs that will eventually be stretched out by the winds to form a new stripe.
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And finally.....
Food Fight!
For some species having to share food resources with other similar species is enough of a hassle, but new research has uncovered that the competition is a great deal more complicated for some than we thought.
Not just having to compete with organisms from the same kingdom, in the bogs of southern Florida researchers have discovered plants competing with animals for food.
Wolf Spiders and Sundews both feed on insects, creating an overlap that resulted in competition for resources.
To test how fierce the competition was, the team of ecologists from the University of Southern Florida recreated the habitat of both species in a lab and placed them in it. They then introduced a limited food supply of crickets to see what impact this would have. In the group where both Wolf Spiders and Sundews were present the Sundews lost out, producing fewer leaves and seeds than a control group containing only the plants and the crickets.
Read more in ScienceNOW.
Yes minister!
In a shock move by the new coalition government it is David Willetts not Adam Afriyie, the shadow spokesman for science, who has been given the title of minister of state for universities and science.
In their election campaign the Conservatives promised to provide a 'stable investment climate' for the research sector, but didn't go as far as the Labour promise of 'ring fencing' the science budget.
However, the news of David Willett's appointment has generally been well received among the science community according to the BBC.
Although he is not a scientist by trade, he is familiar with the issues faced by the community and has been given the nickname 'two brains' due to his impressive intellect.
He will report to Vince Cable, the new Secretary of State and head of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. With a budget planned to be unveiled inside two months and a pre election pledge by the Conservatives to reduce the budget deficit by £6bn in the next financial year, it seems David will have his hands full protecting the funding for UK science.
-------------------------------------
Toy boy troubles
Unless a woman marries a man the same age as her, she is more likely to die younger according to a study reported in the Guardian this week.
While the lifespan of men benefit either way by having a partner, women live the longest if their partner is of equal age, less if her partner is older, less still if her partner is younger and least if she is single.
The study carried out by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rokstock, Germany looked at the medical records of two million Danish couples.
Previous logic for these results came from the assumption that healthy individuals had more options to choose a younger partner and would already have a longer life expectancy and that the younger spouse would give them better care in old age and keep them more psychologically active.
However, in this study these assumptions only hold for men with a younger spouse, not women.
Another explanation that does tally more with the results of this study lays in the friendships each gender forms over their lives.
Women tend to have more friends in later life to keep them active, whereas men don't, so the partnership is a lot more beneficial for men.
Furthermore, older women with a younger man tend to experience more stress and therefore die sooner. Elizabeth Taylor must be a medical marvel.
------------------------------------
The shape of things to come
The ancient Egyptians would be pleased with the news in New Scientist this week, after their beloved pyramid was crowned the most efficient shape to fit into containers randomly.
Researchers from New York University filled containers with tetrahedral game dice and shook them randomly to see how much space was left unoccupied in the container. Using an MRI scan, they found that some 76% of the container was filled by the shape, making it more efficient than spheres or ellipses.
Furthermore, the tetrahedrons are locked into place by their neighbours, making them difficult to nudge out of place. This could have implications in the production of new tough materials. Creating a powder with tetrahedral shaped molecules could help us get one step further to the holy grail of unbreakable ceramic dinnerware.
------------------------------------
What tore a strip off Jupiter!?
Astronomers knew something was happening a few months ago when the stripe known as the Southern Equatorial Belt started just before Jupiter disappeared behind the sun for three months.
Now that it has returned to visibility from Earth, the familiar red stripe has completely disappeared.
However, according to the Daily Mail, this is not a new phenomenon and in fact, every 15 years the planet either gains or loses one of it's stripes. Composed of sulphur and phosphorus clouds, the gases are blown into a belt by the 350mph winds on Jupiter.
While scientists are baffled at the cause of the disappearance, they say the most likely explanation is linked to storm activity that preceded the change.
When the belt is due to reappear a brilliant white spot will form in the southern hemisphere and start spewing out brown blobs that will eventually be stretched out by the winds to form a new stripe.
-----------------------------------
And finally.....
Food Fight!
For some species having to share food resources with other similar species is enough of a hassle, but new research has uncovered that the competition is a great deal more complicated for some than we thought.
Not just having to compete with organisms from the same kingdom, in the bogs of southern Florida researchers have discovered plants competing with animals for food.
Wolf Spiders and Sundews both feed on insects, creating an overlap that resulted in competition for resources.
To test how fierce the competition was, the team of ecologists from the University of Southern Florida recreated the habitat of both species in a lab and placed them in it. They then introduced a limited food supply of crickets to see what impact this would have. In the group where both Wolf Spiders and Sundews were present the Sundews lost out, producing fewer leaves and seeds than a control group containing only the plants and the crickets.
Read more in ScienceNOW.
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