Saturday 28 February 2015

Two new, super cute species of peacock spider discovered in Queensland

Spiders terrify most people, but two new species discovered in Queensland have many intrigued by their peculiar colours and shape. Meet the peacock spider, two new species of which have recently been documented as being discovered in Queensland. Maratus jactatu and maratus sceletus were found in the Wandul Range National Park, about 120km west of Toowoomba, by Madeline Girard, of the University of California, and a friend. The pair have nicknamed the intriguing arachnids "Sparklemuffin" and "Skeletorus", because let's face it, Latin is a bit stodgy when it comes to describing creatures as fab as these cute little fellas. Read more at http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/02/28/15/58/two-new-super-cute-species-of-peacock-spider-discovered-in-queensland#

Scientists find evidence of wheat in UK 8,000 years ago

Fragments of wheat DNA recovered from an ancient peat bog suggests the grain was traded or exchanged long before it was grown by the first British farmers. The research, published in Science, suggests there was a sophisticated network of cultural links across Europe. The grain was found at what is now a submerged cliff off the Isle of Wight. Farming of plants and animals first appeared in the Near East, with the technology spreading along two main routes into Europe. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote It now seems likely that the hunter-gather societies of Britain, far from being isolated were part of extensive social networks that traded or exchanged exotic foodstuffs across much of Europe” Prof Vincent Gaffney University of Bradford The accepted date of arrival on the British mainland is around 6,000 years ago, as ancient hunter gatherers began to grow crops such as wheat and barley. The DNA of the wheat - known as einkorn - was collected from sediment that was once a peat bog next to a river. Scientists think traders arrived in Britain with the wheat, perhaps via land bridges that connected the south east coast of Britain to the European mainland, where they encountered a less advanced hunter gatherer society. The wheat may have been made into flour to supplement the diet, but a search for pollen and other clues revealed no signs that the crop was grown in Britain until much later. Cultural connection Dr Robin Allaby of the University of Warwick, who led the research, said 8,000 years ago the people of mainland Britain were leading a hunter-gatherer existence, while at the same time farming was gradually spreading across Europe. "Common throught neolithic Southern Europe, einkorn is not found elsewhere in Britain until 2,000 years after the samples found at Bouldnor -READ MORE-

Killer frog disease: Chytrid fungus hits Madagasca

A devastating disease that has wiped out amphibians around the world has been discovered in Madagascar, scientists report. A survey has found that the chytrid fungus is present in numerous sites, although it is not clear whether it is infecting frogs yet. The island is home to 500 frog species, and researchers fear they could be at significant risk. The findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports. One of the authors, Goncalo Rosa, from the Zoological Society of London, said he was worried about the impact that the fungus could have. "It is heartbreaking, especially when you have an idea of what is happening elsewhere in other tropical areas - you see the frogs are gone," he told BBC News. "The same could happen to Madagascar as well.READ MORE-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-enMadagascan frogvironment-31645122

Prehistoric caiman's bite 'twice as strong' as T-Rex's

A prehistoric caiman that lived in the Amazon region about eight million years ago had a bite twice as powerful as that of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Brazilian scientists say. A team of Brazilian paleontologists calculated the strength of a bite by the Purussaurus brasiliensis, a reptile that lived in the Late Miocene period. They said it could exert a pressure up to 11.5 tonnes. That is 20 times the strength of a white shark's bite. Tito Aureliano, one of the co-authors of the study, said the animal's head was better structured for biting than that of the T-Rex. The Purussaurus's stout and robust skull with conical teeth were made for gripping large prey. The findings by the team drawn from a number of research and academic institutions were published in the online Plos One journal. Purussaurus brasiliensis could reach a length of more than 12.5m (41ft), longer than a London bus, and was an unrivalled predator in its wetland habitat, the researchers said.READ MORE-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-31644163An artist's impression of the Purussaurus brasiliensisw

Wednesday 25 February 2015

Gerbils replace rats' as main cause of Black Death

GerbilBlack rats may not have been to blame for numerous outbreaks of the bubonic plague across Europe, a study suggests. Scientists believe repeat epidemics of the Black Death, which arrived in Europe in the mid-14th Century, instead trace back to gerbils from Asia. Prof Nils Christian Stenseth, from the University of Oslo, said: "If we're right, we'll have to rewrite that part of history." The study is in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The Black Death, which originated in Asia, arrived in Europe in 1347 and caused one of the deadliest outbreaks in human history. Over the next 400 years, epidemics broke out again and again, killing millions of people. It had been thought that black rats were responsible for allowing the plague to establish in Europe, with new outbreaks occurring when fleas jumped from infected rodents to humans. Rat reservoir However, Prof Stenseth and his colleagues do not think a rat reservoir was to blame. They compared tree-ring records from Europe with 7,711 historical plague outbreaks to see if the weather conditions would have been optimum for a rat-driven outbreak. He said: "For this, you would need warm summers, with not too much precipitation. Dry but not too dry. "And we have looked at the broad spectrum of climatic indices, and there is no relationship between the appearance of plague and the weather."READ MORE-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31588671black rat

Saturday 21 February 2015

Killer mosquito invasion reaches the UK as bugs travel to Britain from Europe

Deadly mosquitoes are threatening the UK with a swarm of bugs travelling over from Europe, experts have warned. Species such as the Asian tiger mosquito can spread dengue fever and chikungunya - a virus causing a fever of up to 40 degrees followed by joint pain that can last for years. The bugs have already caused problems in Italy, France and southern Europe, but now have arrived in Kent. The latest invasive mosquito to hit our shores is the culex modestus, which can spread the West Nile virus, a disease that causes serious flu-like symptoms that last several days. In some serious cases, it can cause swelling of the brain and spinal cord. Experts from Public Health England have been monitoring several locations in Kent, including service stations, ferry ports and the Eurotunnel terminal, hoping to spot the invasive insects before they spread. Dr Jolyon Medlock, programme leader with Public Health England's Medical Entomology team, said: "One of the things we are looking at is the incursion of invasive mosquitoes which act as vectors for diseases such as dengue fever and-READ MORE-http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/killer-mosquito-invasion-reaches-uk-4276901Asian Tiger Mosquito

CAVEMAN TEETH DIFFERENT FROM CAVEWOMANS?

Research  study of fossilized  neanderthal incisors and canine teeth showed tell-tale grooves different between males and females.It is known that as hunter gatherers used their teeth as a third hand which could mean the man and females did different jobs.Its possible males fixed tools and woman mended clothes.

Modern life is wearing out ROBINS: Blue light in neon signs is preventing birds from sleeping

Their cheery song brightens many a winter's day. But robins are in danger of wearing themselves out by singing too much. Robins are singing all night – as well as during the day, British-based researchers say. Davide Dominoni, of Glasgow University said that light from street lamps, takeaway signs and homes is disrupting the birds' biological clocks, leading to them being wide awake when they should be asleep Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2956933/Modern-life-wearing-ROBINS-Blue-light-neon-signs-preventing-birds-sleeping.html#ixzz3SOU5To7l Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMaUp all night: It's thought robins sing as much as ever during the day – raising the question of when they sleepil on Facebook

The world's new strongest natural material: Limpet teeth Step aside, spider silk: the strongest material in the world can be found inside the mouths of rock-dwelling marine gastropods.

If you've ever been to the ocean, you've seen limpets: conical shells that seem glued to rocks and piers, almost impossible to pry loose. This is because they have a strong, muscular foot that can adhere to irregularities in the rock's surface. Combined with an adhesive mucus, this keeps the limpet from being washed away, and keeps moisture sealed inside its shell during low tide. RELATED ARTICLES Dress to kill in this synthetic spider silk outfit Spider silk spun into superior violin strings While clinging to the rock, the limpet uses a sort of "tongue" called a radula to feed. This is a long, chitinous ribbon, embedded with rows tiny sharp "teeth" that allow the limpet to scrape algae from the rock. And, according to new research, these teeth are the strongest natural material on Earth. "Nature is a wonderful source of inspiration for structures that have excellent mechanical properties. All the things we observe around us, such as trees, the shells of sea creatures and the limpet teeth studied in this work, have evolved to be effective at what they do," said study -READ MORE-http://www.cnet.com/news/the-worlds-new-strongest-material-limpet-chompers/

Hello, Neanderthal! Yes, This Means You.

We're carrying around a lot more genes from our caveman cousin than we ever knew RECOMMENDED FOR YOU Watch Ariana Grande's 'One Last Time' Video Watch Ariana Grande's 'One Last Time' Video Read What Jon Stewart Had to Say About His First 'Daily Show' Episode Read What Jon Stewart Had to Say About His First 'Daily Show… 'The Imitation Game' Director Explains Why the Movie Didn't Stick to History 'The Imitation Game' Director Explains Why the Movie Didn't… Sponsored Links by Their lives were nasty, brutish and short—and so were they, as it turns out. But our close evolutionary cousins the Neanderthals had plenty of admirable qualities, too. They were tidy and organized, for example. They ate their vegetables. They knew how to dress for any occasion. MORE Neanderthals May Have Used Tools, Making Them Smarter Than We Thought Newly Discovered Fanged-Frog Gives Birth to Live Tadpoles Fair Sentence? Man Hit With 162-Year Prison Term Gets Appeal NBC News Vegas-Bound Plane Diverts After Mid-Flight Emergency NBC News New Killer Virus Found in Kansas NBC News It’s just as well to accentuate the positive, because once scientists sequenced the Neanderthal genome, it turned out that there is a little bit of the caveman in all of us—from 1-3 percent of the average person, says University of Washington geneticist Joshua Akey, is made up of genes we got from our cruder cousins. And yes, that means your many-greats grandmother or grandfather mated with a Neanderthal before the species went extinct some 30,000 years ago. POPULAR AMONG SUBSCRIBERS Interstellar, Where No Movie Has Gone Before Subscribe The Last Men of Steel Review: Interstellar’s Wonder of Worlds Beyond Thanks to a new analysis by Akey and several colleagues just published in Science, however, and a parallel study published at the same time in Nature, it’s now clear that the Neanderthals are more deeply a part of us than anyone thought. “We all have a small percentage,” says Akey. “But my one percent may be different from your one percent.” When you add up all those one percents, say the scientists, a collective 20 percent of the Neanderthal genome has survived, sprinkled across the entire human species. And in fact, says Akey, “there’s probably more.” (MORE: How Life Began. New Clues From New Worlds) Both teams came to their conclusions through the magic of statistics. In the research presented in Science, the investigators selected the genomes of 600 modern humans from Europe and East Asia—limiting themselves to those continents since the -interbreeding with Neanderthals happened only after modern humans migrated out of Africa. Then -they laid the sequences side by side, looking for two types of telltale genes. The first would be ones that have lots of different variants—genes like those that code for height or weight, for example, as opposed to those that code for number of fingers and toes. Since Neanderthals were an older lineage than we are, their genes would have had more time to differentiate into multiple varieties. Second, the researchers were looking for unusually long genetic sequences. The mixing of modern humans and Neanderthal probably happened somewhere between 50,000 and 80,000 years ago. “That’s not so long ago,” says Akey. That means that the Neanderthal genes we did pick up would not have had much time to break apart and disperse—to get genetically digested, in a sense—across our species-READ MORE-http://time.com/2837/neanderthal-genes-in-you/

-- There's another color of seadragon out there: deep ruby red. Scientists had previously believed there were only two seadragon species, and thus just two color variations -- the orange hues of the leafy seadragon (Phycodurus eques) and the purple-accented yellows of the weedy seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus). Recently, while analyzing tissue samples taken from seadragon specimens collected in southern Australia in 2007, scientists noticed something askew. Researchers with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, identified a genetic anomaly. When they looked at the seadragon whose DNA sequence didn't quite match up with the rest, they saw the fish's genetic uniqueness was matched by its distinctive red

 There's another color of seadragon out there: deep ruby red. Scientists had previously believed there were only two seadragon species, and thus just two color variations -- the orange hues of the leafy seadragon (Phycodurus eques) and the purple-accented yellows of the weedy seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus). Recently, while analyzing tissue samples taken from seadragon specimens collected in southern Australia in 2007, scientists noticed something askew. Researchers with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, identified a genetic anomaly. When they looked at the seadragon whose DNA sequence didn't quite match up with the rest, they saw the fish's genetic uniqueness was matched by its distinctive red Read more: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2015/02/19/New-species-of-seadragon-is-a-deep-ruby-red/7861424381256/#ixzz3SO1zYkxE-ALSO SEE VIDEO ON THIS LINK

Kenya: New Bee Species Found in Turkana

A new species of bee has been discovered in Turkana County. The discovery was made by Dr Dino J. Martins, a Kenyan scientist, naturalist and explorer. The bee was found in the South Turkwel region at the Turkana Basin Institute, which was established by Dr Richard Leakey. The bee has been given the scientific name Samba Turkana, in honour of the region, its peoples and biodiversity, Dr Martins said. Dr Martins found the bee while sampling bees that pollinate legumes in the region. The scientist, who studies the links between biodiversity and human life and livelihoods, is arguably East Africa's leading entomologist. He is also head of the insect committee at Nature Kenya and academic field director of Turkana Basin Institute at Stony Brook University. Dr Martins and Prof Laurence Packer of York University have formally described the bee in the scientific journal ZooTaxa. "Turkana is one of earth's unexplored hotspots of bee diversity. Bees are more diverse in hot, dry areas as they do well in these conditions," Nature Kenya -READ MORE-http://allafrica.com/stories/201502200635.html

Penguins lost ability to taste fish

Penguins can taste only sour and salty food, scientists have discovered. A genetic study suggests the flightless birds lost three of the five basic tastes long ago in evolution. Taste is critical for survival in most animals, but may not matter in the penguin, which swallows fish whole, say researchers in China and the US. Many other birds are unable to taste sweet things, but they do have receptors for detecting bitter and umami (or meaty) flavours. The discovery was made when researchers decoding penguin genomes found some of the taste genes were missing. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote Their behaviour of swallowing food whole, and their tongue structure and function, suggest that penguins need no taste perception” Prof Jianzhi Zhang University of Michigan A closer look at the DNA of penguins revealed that all species lack functioning genes for the receptors of sweet, umami, and bitter tastes.READ MORE-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31490623A colony of king penguins

Evolution 'favours bigger sea creatures'

The animals in the ocean have been getting bigger, on average, since the Cambrian period - and not by chance. That is the finding of a huge new survey of marine life past and present, published in the journal Science. It describes a pattern of increasing body size that cannot be explained by random "drift", but suggests bigger animals generally fare better at sea. In the past 542 million years, the average size of a marine animal has gone up by a factor of 150. It appears that the explosion of different life forms near the start of that time window eventually skewed decisively towards bulkier animals. Measured by volume, today's tiniest sea critter is less than 10 times smaller than its Cambrian counterpart; both are minuscule, sub-millimetre crustaceans. But at the other end of the scale, the mighty blue whale is more than 100,000 times the size of the largest animal the Cambrian could offer: a trilobite less than half a metre long.READ MORE-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31533744fin whales exhaling

Forgotten fossil found to be new species of ichthyosaur

Palaeontologist Dean Lomax explains how what had been believed to be a plaster cast turned out to be a new species of ancient marine reptile Continue reading the main story Related Stories New species of marine reptile found 7ft marine reptile fossil beach find A fossil stored in a Doncaster museum for 30 years and thought to be a plaster copy has turned out to be a new species of ancient reptile. A young palaeontologist working with the University of Manchester found the fossil in 2008, in the collections of Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery. He realised it was the 189-million-year-old remains of an ichthyosaur - an extinct marine reptile. Further study confirmed it to be a previously unknown species. The finding has now been published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Dean Lomax, the 25-year-old palaeontologist who studied the specimen, said it was so well preserved he could determine the contents of its stomach. "We could see tiny hook-shaped features that were actually the hooks from the tentacles of squid," he said. "So we know what its last meal was." Mr Lomax worked with Prof Judy Massare, from the State University of New York, comparing the specimen's fossilised bones with those of-READ MORE-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31521719Artists impression of ichthyosaur

Saturday 14 February 2015

Petrogale wilkinsi: New Species of Rock-Wallaby Discovered in Australia

Rock-wallabies (genus Petrogale) are small to medium-sized marsupials, weighing from 1 to 12 kg. These animals are only found in mainland Australia and some offshore islands, being absent from Tasmania and New Guinea. They represent one of the largest groups of extant macropods (kangaroos, wallabies and their relatives) distributed across the country, where they inhabit complex rocky environments such as cliffs, gorges, outcrops and escarpments. In a new DNA study, Dr Potter and her colleagues found that two populations of a widespread and common species, the short-eared rock-wallaby (Petrogale brachyotis), – one from the Kimberley and western Northern Territory, the other from the northern and eastern Northern Territory – are genetically distinct species. The scientists said that members of the latter population are not only smaller (2.6 – 3.5 kg), but differ in coloration and markings being predominately dark grey/brown, with distinct head and side stripes, as well as brightly colored -READ MORE-http://www.sci-news.com/biology/science-petrogale-wilkinsi-wilkins-rock-wallaby-new-species-aAn adult male of the Wilkins’ rock-wallaby (Petrogale wilkinsi) photographed in Litchfield National Park, Australia. Image credit: Emily Miller.ustralia-02494.html

For everyone freaking out about the germs on the NYC subway study, here's what you really need to know

If you use public transit like a friend of mine, you stash tissues in your pocket (so you don't have to touch the "bacteria-laden" handrails) and keep hand sanitizer in your purse (to "de-germ" after the ride). So when I dragged her to an event on Wednesday only to hear Weill Cornell Medical College geneticist Chris Mason announce proudly that he and a team of subway-swabbing researchers had recently identified nearly 600 species of bacteria on the New York City subway (half of which, he admitted, come from a mysterious 'unidentified' source), I didn't have to so much as make eye contact with her to know she was Read more: http://uk.businessinsider.com/pathomap-is-bacterial-map-of-nyc-subway-2015-2?r=US#ixzz3RjFtqZ5P

Wednesday 11 February 2015

Dinos Got High, Oldest Grass Fungus Fossil Hints

Millions of years before LSD and rock and roll, dinosaurs munched on psychedelic fungus, a new study suggests. The hints that dinos got high come from the first amber fossil ever found of ergot, a grass parasite that can have poisonous and mind-altering effects on animals that nibble the dark fungi. Ergot provided the precursor to LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide). And people who eat ergot-contaminated rye (or other ergot-tainted grains) develop powerful muscle spasms and hallucinations. The phrase "St. Anthony's Fire" refers to both ergotism and the horrible burning feeling that ergot triggers by constricting blood vessels. Now, it turns out that ergot has plagued grass-eaters since dinosaurs stomped the Earth. The hunk of amber from Myanmar encases an exquisitely preserved ergot fungus, perched atop a grass spikelet that-read more-http://www.livescience.com/49759-oldest-fossils-grass-ergot-fungus.html?cmpid=514627_20150210_40274936&adbid=10152558310551761&adbpl

Sunday 8 February 2015

Mountain Monsters’ Make Appearance in Ohio

Mountain Monsters is a weekly show that airs on Destination America, and follows the Appalachian Investigators of Mysterious Sightings (AIMS) as they defend their mountain community from mysterious monsters that have spawned countless sightings in the Appalachian wilderness for generations. AIMS was founded by John “Trapper” Tice, Jeff Headlee and Willy McQuillian. Longtime friends, the three discovered that they shared the same passion for the folklore of Appalachia, including tales of beasts that purportedly roam the Appalachian Mountain region. Any skepticism that they had soon dissipated as the three began having their own encounters with these creatures. Eventually, the three decided to pool their resources and the result was the formation of the AIMS group. The group later expanded to six members with the addition of Joe “Huckleberry” Lott, “Wild Bill” Neff and Jake “Buck” Lowe. As stated on their website, the mission of AIMS is to “investigate mysterious sightings of creatures and phenomena in the Appalachian Regions, as reported by individuals who are frequently scared that they will be laughed at and ridiculed for what they saw. Upon investigating these reports we will move to track, trap and capture these creatures. In the end we will either know that our witness actually saw a mysterious beast or that no beast exists. We want to help these people to have peace of mind and know that they are not alone in their mysterious encounters.” Each episode of “Mountain Monsters” displays the group’s ingenuity at tracking and trap-making. More information about Destination America’s “Mountain Monsters” can be found at http://www.destinationamerica.com/tv-shows/mountain-monsters/ Trapper and the whole AIMS team of “Mountain Monsters” will be available for autograph signingread more-http://www.pressreleaserocket.net/mountain-monsters-make-appearance-in-ohio/61161/

Saturday 7 February 2015

Mutant 20-inch super rats 'closing in' on Wiltshire town and can't be killed with poison, warn pest exterminators

A swarm of mutant rats that are immune to poison is 'closing in' on a Wiltshire town, pest exterminators have warned.
The rodents, which have been seen elsewhere in the UK over the past year, are twice as large as normal species and cannot be killed with traditional substances.
It comes after the discovery of one rodent at a food establishment measuring 20-inches, the largest on record for the town of Swindon. 
Scroll down for video 
This rat found in Swindon is the largest on record for the Wiltshire town. Pest exterminators have warned an influx of super rats may be on its way, with the rodents immune to traditional poisons
This rat found in Swindon is the largest on record for the Wiltshire town. Pest exterminators have warned an influx of super rats may be on its way, with the rodents immune to traditional poisons
'It's a growing problem, and at the moment there's no sign it'll go away,' said Justin Holloway who found the rat in Swindon, told MailOnline.
'Unless you can extinguish all of the genetic line the rise of super rats is on the horizon.'
At longer than 20-inches, it is the largest to have ever been found in Swindon. Though the rat was killed using traditional anti-coagulant poison, Mr Holloway warned others that are immune to the substance will become 'a greater problem.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2942740/Mutant-20-inch-super-rats-closing-Wiltshire-town-t-killed-poison-warn-pest-exterminators.html#ixzz3R4xoZHnL
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Rare warty pigs are lost when male eats his entire family at Bristol zoo

A zoo lost some of its most endangered animals when a male warty pig ate his entire family and a rare monkey was eaten for lunch by hungry otters. The incidents happened at Bristol Zoo in December and were shortly followed by further tragedy when three rainbow lorikeets escaped. The zoo, which prides itself on its conservation measures, said the deaths had distressed keepers. The most gruesome incident came after Manilla, a female Visayan warty pig was joined by her partner Elvis last year. Staff said they hoped he would "take a shine" to her and they would "become proud parents". Related Articles Britain's most endangered species have declined by more than half since the 1970s, according to a new survey described as a Endangered species decline by 60 per cent in 40 years 24 Oct 2013 Emperor Penguins are now endangered, warn biologists 29 Jun 2014 Animal photos of the week 16 May 2014 New born Giraffe at Bristol zoo 19 Jun 2012 But when she unexpectedly gave birth to an extremely rare piglet, Elvis ate it before turning on his mate, who had to be put down due to her injuries. Two weeks later, an endangered golden lion tamarind monkey escaped and fell into a pond where it became trapped and was eaten by American otters. Just a week ago three rainbow lorikeets, usually found in Australia, escaped through a hole in their cage flew off. One -READ MORE-http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11392106/Rare-warty-pigs-are-lost-when-male-eats-his-entire-faElvis (right) the warty pig who has eaten an endangered litter of piglets and injured the mother Manilla (left) so badly she had to be put down.mily-at-Bristo

Penicillium nalgiovense, -Penicillium olsonii. NEW FUNGAL SPECIES FOUND IN SALAMI DELIGHTFULLY NAMED 'PENICILLIUM SALAMII'

To find a new species of mold, look no further than inside your sandwich. A team of food scientists from across Europe have discovered a new kind of fungus growing on salami, which they’ve aptly named Penicillium salamii. The researchers made the find after setting out to catalogue all of the fungi located on cured meats at a meat packing plant in Italy. The survey was part of a government initiative to increase food safety, the study says. Generally, salami uses Penicillium nalgiovense--a white, edible mold--in the meat curing process. When the salami is cased, spiced, and ready to go, meat producers introduce the mold to seal in flavors and keep other potentially dangerous molds out. Using DNA sequencing, the team identified two fungi living on the cured meats they analyzed: Penicillium nalgiovense, the typical mold, and another mold that seemed to be related to Penicillium olsonii. But it wasn’t exactly the same. Olsonii can grow on cured meats naturally, but when the researchers looked at the fungi found on the Italian meats at a molecular level, they noticed -READ MORE-http://www.popsci.com/scientists-discover-new-fungal-species-salami

Have we found a new species of human? Unidentified fossils may belong to primitive ancestor that lived 120,000 years ago

A mysterious ancient creature, resembling both a Neanderthal and a modern human, has been unearthed in China. Fossils dating back 60,000 and 120,000 years have revealed an unknown species that doesn't seem to fit with any known hominin ancestor. Scientists claim one explanation for the remarkable find may be that the fossils were the result of interbreeding between two known species. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2937076/Have-new-species-human-Strange-fossils-belong-unusual-creature-lived-120-000-years-ago.html#ixzz3R4VpwOnC Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMA mysterious ancient creature, resembling both a Neanderthal and a modern human, has been unearthed in China.  The fossils, discovered in a cave in the Xujiayao site in 1976, are made up of skull fragments. Pictured are three of the teeth shown at different anglesail on Facebook

are-there-any-homosexual-animals

During the winter mating season, competition is fierce for access to female Japanese macaques. But it's not for the reason you might think. Males don't just have to compete with other males for access to females: they have to compete with females too. That's because in some populations, homosexual behaviour among females is not only common, it's the norm. One female will mount another, then stimulate her genitals by rubbing them against the other female. Some hold onto each other with their limbs using a "double foot clasp mount", while others sit on top of their mates in a sort of jockey-style position, says Paul Vasey of the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, who has been studying these macaques for over 20 years. To our eyes these encounters look startlingly intimate. The females stare into each other's eyes while mating, which macaques hardly ever do outside of sexual contexts. The- READ MORE-http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150206-are-there-any-homosexual-animals

Biggest rodent 'fought with teeth' like tusks

Scientists say the largest ever rodent probably used its huge front teeth like tusks, defending itself and digging with them instead of just biting food. The bull-sized cousin to the guinea pig died out around two million years ago. Based on a CT scan of its skull and subsequent computer simulations, its bite was as strong as a tiger - but its front teeth were built to withstand forces nearly three times larger. This suggests that its 30cm incisors were much more than eating implements. Researchers from York in the UK and Montevideo in Uruguay published the work in the Journal of Anatomy. Only a single fossilised skull has been found belonging to this 1,000kg South American rodent, known as Josephoartigasia monesi. Unearthed in Uruguay in 2007, the animal lived in the Pliocene period - a warm era when large mammals were relatively abundant, including the first mammoths. It remains the largest rodent ever discovered. To study the mechanics of the skull, the team performed a CT scan of the skull and used it to reconstruct a computer model - including its missing lower jaw, which they copied from a related species. They then tested this model using "finite element analysis", a technique from engineering which calculates stresses and strains in complex -READ MORE-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/scJosephoartigasia monesi (artist's impression)ience-environment-31111843