Canadian bird flu case raises potential pandemic concerns

A teen in BC critically ill with H5N1 bird flu has raised concerns about a new pandemic, since it’s not clear how they acquired the virus. Researchers are closely monitoring the virus as it spreads, primarily among animals for changes that could indicate it spreading more easily in humans. Matthew Miller, the Canada Research Chair of Viral Pandemics from McMaster University, says the timing of this case is particularly concerning given the potential for influenza viruses to mix now that we’re heading into flu season and wild birds are migrating.

Sighted and blind people can learn to echolocate equally well

Echolocation — using sound reflections to sense surroundings — is best known among animals like bats and dolphins. But many blind people have also learned to echolocate, and a new study has shown that sighted people can learn to do it just as effectively as those without sight. Dr. Lore Thaler, a professor in psychology and director of the human echolocation lab at Durham University in England, and her team published their findings in the journal Cerebral Cortex.

An elephant’s shower shows sophisticated tool use

An elephant at the Berlin Zoo has learned to manipulate hoses to wash herself, and is fascinating researchers, including Humboldt University PhD student Lena Kaufmann, who is investigating tool use in non-human animals. In a recent study, published in the journal Current Biology, Kaufmann and colleagues gave Mary the elephant different hoses to test her abilities, and she quickly either adapted to use the hoses to meet her end goal, or got frustrated when the hoses didn’t work and bit the hose in anger. What’s also interesting is a companion pachyderm that has apparently learned to sabotage these showers by kinking the hose.

Pesticides used on farms attract bumblebee queens, not to their benefit

Researchers were surprised and disturbed to discover that in tests, young queen bumblebees hibernated in pesticide-contaminated soils. During her PhD studies at the University of Guelph, Dr. Sabrina Rondeau found that bumblebee (Bombus impatiens) queens seemed to prefer soil samples containing pesticides, even when presented with a pesticide free soil option. They’re not clear on why the bees would prefer soils with pesticides, but are concerned with the impact this might have on their reproduction and survival. The study is published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.

A writer speaks for the trees, and says we have much in common with them

There are about three trillion trees on our planet — about four hundred for each of us. And we literally couldn’t live without them. They take in millions of tons of carbon dioxide each year, and provide us with oxygen. Saving our forests is a big step toward saving our planet from the challenges from climate change. Dr. Daniel Lewis, an environmental historian at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California writes about just twelve of the the most exotic, important and interesting species we share the Earth with in his book The Twelve Trees: The Deep Roots of our Future.

Blood drinking bats can suck energy out of their protein-rich meals

Vampire bats are famous for exclusively drinking blood, but they’re also surprisingly good runners. And part of why that’s surprising is that blood contains very little carbohydrates or fat, which most other mammals rely on for fuel. So Kenneth Welch and Giulia Rossi at University of Toronto Scarborough ran bats on a specially-designed treadmill to find out more. They discovered that the bats can almost instantly convert the amino acids in their blood meals into usable energy. The research was published in the journal Biology Letters.

Canada’s most prestigious science prize goes to garbage science

Dr. Kerry Rowe of Queen’s University’s Civil Engineering Department has been awarded this year’s Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering for his critical work in designing landfills that have to contain our waste and pollutants for generations.

UK sugar rationing in the 1950s led to lower risks of illness late in life

Sugar was rationed in the UK from 1940 to 1953 due to the war and postwar austerity, and so was consumed at about the level nutritionists now recommend. Dr. Claire Boone from McGill University was part of a new study published in the journal Science which found that the limited sugar intake by people in the UK during pregnancy and the first couple of years of life resulted in significant decreases in diabetes and hypertension.

Reinventing the wheel to understand how the wheel was first invented

The invention of the wheel is a milestone in human technological evolution, but it’s not clear how it happened. A new study combines design science and computational mechanics to virtually re-invent the wheel and understand the developments that could have led to the creation of the first wheel-and-axle system. The research, led by Kai James from Georgia Institute of Technology, adds support to the theory that the wheel was likely first invented by Neolithic copper miners in around 3900 BC. The research was published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

Can high tech fishing gear limit losses of endangered whales?

The endangered North Atlantic Right Whale has had a long and rocky road to recovery after the depredations of commercial whaling. One of the major threats to the species today is fishing line entanglements. In a documentary, producer Sonya Buyting explores how researchers, like Sean Brillant from the Canadian Wildlife Federation, and fishers, like Greg Beckerton in New Brunswick, are trialing high-tech ropeless fishing gear to save the whales while still preserving the fishers’ livelihoods.

There’s no time like this time for Standard Time

In most of Canada and the US, our clocks are “falling back” an hour as we switch to Standard time for the winter and as usual we’re hearing mutterings about abandoning the time change.. Chronobiologists like Malcolm von Schantz, who study our internal circadian rhythms, are saying that if we do ditch the practice, we should revert to standard time instead of having permanent daylight time, because morning light is very important to regulating our circadian rhythms, as is having darkness in the evening time. Von Schantz recently co-authored a letter with the British Sleep Society, published in the Journal of Sleep Research, calling for the UK government to end to the practice.

Sorry beavers and Polar bears – the unique Canadian animals are not what you think

Biologists have investigated which animals, by range and evolutionary history, are most unique in Canada as part of an attempt to get a more accurate picture of Canadian biodiversity. The research, led by Arne Mooers from Simon Fraser University, highlights animals such as the mudpuppy, the osprey, the virginia opossum, and the two-tailed frog. At the top of the list is the spiny softshell turtle, which branched away from its family tree 180 million years ago. The research was published in the journal The Canadian Field-Naturalist.

A corpse in a well makes a macabre myth real

A story recorded in a 12th century Norse saga of a violent attack on a castle has been validated with the discovery and identification of human remains. The story goes that the invaders dropped a dead man into the castle well in order to poison its water supply before departing. That man’s remains have now been found. Dr. Anna Petersén, an archeologist at the Norwegian Institute of Cultural Heritage Research, worked with a team to identify and date the remains of this 800 year old skeleton. Their study, published in the journal iScience, revealed he was between 30 - 40 years old, and had blonde hair and blue eyes.

A wide range of animals take a tipple

Indulgence in alcohol is seen as a largely human vice, but biologists have collected evidence that a much wider range of animals from insects to apes will seek out ethanol, often in fermented fruit, and will, on occasion, overindulge. Dr. Matthew Carrigan, an associate professor of biology at the College of Central Florida says that some birds that fly into windows have been found to have high levels of ethanol, and intoxicated fruit flies will make poor mating choices. The study was published in Trends in Ecology and Evolution.

Tapping into science for a greater appreciation of artistic masterpieces

Recent studies of two of the world’s most famous paintings by Dutch artists have provided surprising insights into the depths of their art.

A new analysis of the entire sky in Vincent van Gogh’s painting, The Starry Night, which includes 14 swirling eddies shows how the artist intuitively understood the nature of turbulence, an incredibly complex phenomenon of fluid dynamics. Francois Schmitt, an oceanographer and research director at France’s National Centre for Scientific Research and his team published their research in the journal Physics of Fluids.

To figure out what it was about Johannes Vermeer’s painting, Girl with the Pearl Earring, that viewers find so captivating, the Mauritshuis museum where the artwork hangs in The Hague commissioned a neuroscientific study. Andries van der Leij, the research director of Neurensics — a consumer neuroscience company — and lecturer at the University of Amsterdam, said they found that people’s eyes were automatically drawn to the girl’s eyes, mouth and pearl earring in a way that drew them in for an emotional experience.