Big horned rhinoceros beetles are healthiest - BBC News

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. We also use cookies to ensure we show you advertising that is relevant to you. If you continue without changing your settings, we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the BBC website. However, if you would like to, you can change your cookie settings at any time. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.<br />http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/18955652

Lab-Made Jellyfish Hints at Heart Fix - Wall Street Journal

The robot, named "Medusoid," was placed in salty fluid that can conduct electrical currents. When the engineers oscillated the voltage in the fluid, the muscle-coated membrane began to contract in a synchronized manner. (By contrast, a real jellyfish obtains nutrients by feeding on plankton, eggs, larvae, small fish and other jellyfish, which then enables specialized tissue to electrically activate the muscular contraction.)The engineers used a silicone polymer to build a centimeter-long jellyfish consisting of a membrane with eight armlike appendages. They overlaid muscle cells, obtained from a rat heart, on this membrane in a particular pattern. "We coaxed them to self-organize so that they matched the [muscle] architecture of a jellyfish precisely," Dr. Parker said.<br />http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444097904577539081426736516.html

BP spill, cold water tied to dolphin deaths, study finds - msnbc.com

"Unfortunately, it was a 'perfect storm' that led to the dolphin deaths," study researcher Graham Worthy, a biologist at the University of Central Florida, said in a statement. "The oil spill and cold water of 2010 had already put significant stress on their food resources. … It appears the high volumes of cold freshwater coming from snowmelt water that pushed through Mobile Bay and Mississippi Sound in 2011 was the final blow." [Gulf Oil Spill: Animals at Risk] Just before the baby dolphins began washing ashore in January 2011, meltwater from an unusually heavy Mobile Bay watershed snowfall hit the Gulf. A comparison of dolphin stranding sites and water conditions revealed that the discovery of the carcasses followed temperature dips from meltwater by two to three weeks, indicating that the dolphins were stressed, died, washed ashore and were eventually found and recorded. <br />http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48261069/ns/us_news-environment/

In First, Software Emulates Lifespan of Entire Organism - New York Times

<br />http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/21/science/in-a-first-an-entire-organism-is-simulated-by-software.html

A hot, young spiral galaxy is the farthest yet seen - Ars Technica

The researchers used infrared data from the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide-Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and from the Keck OSIRIS spectrograph to characterize BX442's structure. They identified two distinct arms and a probable third arm using emission from stars and ionized hydrogen gas. Spiral arms in modern galaxies trace the presence of star formation and the hottest, youngest stars, which also seems to be the case with BX442. In fact, based on analysis with the Keck ultraviolet Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (LRIS), BX442 is hotter than comparable modern galaxies. The temperature is measured by the velocity of gas inside the galaxy, relative to the rotation rate of the galactic disk.Because of the transient nature of gravitational disturbances, the researchers pointed out that BX442's spiral arms may have been a temporary feature. If that was the case, it would also help explain why no other galaxies in the sample of 306 possessed spiral arms: they hadn't experienced a clo!
se passage within the time frame of the observation. However, it isn't possible to rule out selection effects entirely: BX442 is nearly face-on to Earth and very clear, but at the huge distances, not every galaxy is as beautifully defined.<br />http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/07/a-hot-young-spiral-galaxy-is-the-farthest-yet-seen/

NASA's Hubble continues to impress, spots earliest spiral galaxy - The Capitol Column

The galaxy, cataloged as BX442, lies 10.5 billion light-years away from Earth. This means that light from the galaxy comes from a time when the universe was much younger than it is now. Alice Shapley, a member of the team from UCLA, says, “Among the irregular and clumpy galaxies of the early Universe, this well-ordered spiral stuck out like a sore thumbâ€"a beautiful and amazing sore thumb.” The astronomers are still unsure how the spiral structure could have formed at such a young age, speculating that a nearby dwarf galaxy may be providing the gravitational tidal forces necessary to sweep out the larger galaxy’s spiral arms.Hubble continues to amaze astronomers by continuing to reveal stunning images of our Universe. According to NASA, Hubble is the first major optical telescope to be placed in space. Scientists have used Hubble to observe the most distant stars and galaxies as well as the planets in our solar system. &#8220;Our view of the universe and our place w!
ithin it has never been the same,&#8221; a description of Hubble reads. In April 1990, the Hubble telescope was launched into orbit aboard the shuttle Discovery.<br />http://www.capitolcolumn.com/news/nasas-hubble-continues-to-impress-spots-earliest-spiral-galaxy/

Incredible Spiral Galaxy Is 10.7 Billion Years Old - Mashable

Mashable is a leading source for news, information and resources for the Connected Generation. Mashable reports on the importance of digital innovation and how it empowers and inspires people around the world. Mashable’s 20 million unique visitors and 6 million social media followers have become one of the most engaged online news communities. Founded in 2005, Mashable is headquartered in New York City with an office in San Francisco.&#8220;We first thought this could just be an illusion, and that perhaps we were being led astray by the picture,&#8221; Shapley said. &#8220;What we found when we took this spectral image of this galaxy is that the spiral arms do belong to this galaxy; it wasn&#8217;t an illusion. It&#8217;s rotating and has spiral arms. Not only does it look like a rotating disk galaxy &#8212; it really is. We were blown away.&#8221;<br />http://mashable.com/2012/07/19/oldest-spiral-galaxy-in-universe/

Finding of galaxy puzzles astronomers - UPI.com

"As you go back in time to the early universe, galaxies look really strange, clumpy and irregular, not symmetric," study co-author Alice Shapley, a UCLA associate professor of physics and astronomy, said. "The vast majority of old galaxies look like train wrecks. Our first thought was, why is this one so different, and so beautiful?""The fact that this galaxy exists is astounding," lead study author David Law of the University of Toronto said. "Current wisdom holds that such 'grand-design' spiral galaxies simply didn't exist at such an early time in the history of the universe."<br />http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/07/18/Finding-of-galaxy-puzzles-astronomers/UPI-72921342666583/

Three-hour sex sessions exhaust squid - msnbc.com

That's especially true of the southern dumpling squid (Euprymna tasmanica), a round-bodied little cephalopod just 2.8 inches long. Dumpling squid live fast and die young, mating with multiple partners during their yea-rlong lives,. They make their time count, engaging in sexual encounters that can last up to three hours each. [ Under the Sea: Images of Cephalopod Cuties ] The researchers captured wild dumpling squid off the coast of southeast Australia, and placed them in tanks. Each squid was given an endurance test in a tank where flowing water acted as a squid treadmill, forcing the critter to swim or be plastered against the back of the tank. The length of time the squid swam until exhaustion marked their baseline endurance. <br />http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48218283/ns/technology_and_science-science/

Institutional Mission and University

University administration should generate a pool of creative ideas for faculty members. When designing an academic research project, professors know the general preferences of a university, but not necessarily specific policy of their own university.

http://higher-education.criticpen.com/article/institutional-mission-university-priorities-m4z9

NASA's free video game for Xbox Live: 'Mars Rover Landing' (+video) - Christian Science Monitor

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&quot;Families can get a taste of the daring that's involved in this, just landing this mission on the surface,&quot; Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, told reporters today. &quot;It's going to be very similar to the way the team actually is going to do that.&quot; [The Best (And Worst) Mars Landings in History]<br />http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0716/NASA-s-free-video-game-for-Xbox-Live-Mars-Rover-Landing-video

Soyuz rocket launches on mission to space station - USA TODAY

Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, center, U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams, right, and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, left, crew members of the Soyuz craft in Kazakhstan on Sunday.Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, center, U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams, right, and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, left, crew members of the Soyuz craft in Kazakhstan on Sunday.<br />http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/story/2012-07-14/soyuz-rocket-launches/56228098/1

University as a Country

The structure of a university is very similar to a country, and its management system too; a smaller society but utopia, due to its sophisticated community. Factors like national benefits, patriotism, and nostalgia are all (and must be) the case in a smaller scale. Even outsiders (usually in administrative roles) are expected to behave like loyal alumni, learn the school alma mater, and become interested in in the major sport teams, and other traditional functions of the university. This practical allegory is to utilize available models. The athletic success in Olympic is of political important (not just fun) for a country, it is the same for a university fame (for attracting students). The reasons and motivations of students for attending a university are like those of immigration. Thus, university leadership should empower its own country through united national strategies. This is the reason that today’s university essential needs to implement change. The ratio of people living in developed country to those living in developing countries from one to two (in 1995) is approaching one to four (in 2010)

http://higher-education.criticpen.com/article/university-as-a-country-m4zc