SCIENCE OBSERVER
In the News
Doubts Arise About a Rare Woodpecker
The ivory-billed woodpecker was considered extinct until it flapped
back onto the scene, blurrily, in a controversial videotape shot in
an Arkansas swamp in 2004. The bird's resurrection made national
news and became a symbolic victory for conservationists, with a
paper in Science and $10 million in federal money to
support its struggling resurgence. It's an inspiring story, but it
may be founded in error, some experts now say. David A. Sibley, the
nation's best-known birder, and three colleagues have published a
technical comment in Science saying that the videotaped
bird is, in fact, the common pileated woodpecker. A rebuttal from
lead author of the discovery paper, John Fitzpatrick of the Cornell
Lab of Ornithology, argues that Sibley's critique contains errors.
Sibley, D. A., et al. Comment on "Ivory-billed
Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) Persists in
Continental North America." Science 311:1555
(March 17, 2006)
Genetic Experiment Produces an Effective Vaccine Against an
African Killer
Deadlier even than Ebola, the Marburg virus killed more than 90
percent of those it infected last year in Angola—more than 300
people in all. But now medical researchers have created a vaccine
that has proven unusually effective in monkeys. The research team
removed one gene from a harmless vesicular stomatitis virus and
replaced it with a key gene from Marburg. Monkeys that were infected
with Marburg and then given the vaccine stayed healthy. Those denied
the vaccine died in 10 to 12 days.
Daddario-DiCaprio, K. M., et al. Postexposure
protection against Marburghaemorrhagic fever with recombinant
vesicular stomatitis virus vectors in non-human primates: an
efficacy assessment. The Lancet 367:1399-1404 (April
29, 2006)
Another Spot Turns Red
An enormous tempest has appeared on Jupiter, creating a smaller
version of the famous Great Red Spot, a storm large enough to
swallow three Earths that has raged for 300 years. The new storm,
known as "Red Spot Jr.," has been brewing since about
1915, but a surprising development took place last year—it
turned red, possibly because it was drawing material from deep in
Jupiter's atmosphere.
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2006/19/
Brains of the Brightest Kids Are Built Later
The brains of the smartest kids develop differently from those of
normal children. That's not a surprise. But whereas scientists had
expected to see differences in brain size or shape, a brain-mapping
study instead revealed divergence in the timing of brain growth. A
hallmark of genius, it turns out, is not early brain development;
instead, the period of peak wiring in the kids with the highest IQs
at age 11 or 12 seems to lag behind average children by about four
years—although it does last longer.
Shaw, P., et al. Intellectual ability and cortical
development in children and adolescents. Nature
440:676-679 (March 30, 2006)
A Long-Sought Fish Crawls to Light
Paleobiologists have long sought the "missing link"
between ancient fish and land animals. Now they think they've
discovered the perfect intermediary, a species dubbed Tiktaalik
roseae, which roamed Earth during the Late Devonian, 385
million to 359 million years ago. Scientists described fossil
specimens that show the beginnings of digits, wrists, elbows and
shoulders, as well as skulls, necks and ribs that prefigure those of
tetrapods like today's familiar four-legged land animals.
Shubin, N., et al. The pectoral fin of Tiktaalik
roseae and the origin of the tetrapod limb. Nature
440:764-771 (April 6, 2006)
Rivers Beneath Thick Ice Complicate Study of
Extremophiles
The discovery of a network of rivers far beneath the icy surface of
Antarctica calls into question the notion that microbial life forms
thought to be living in Antarctica's vast sub-glacial lakes must
have evolved in isolation for perhaps millions of years. That
feature of this uniquely harsh environment was an important
justification for drilling deep down into Lake Vostok to sample the
water for microbes. Now the rationale is less clear.
Wingham, D. J., et al. Rapid discharge connects
Antarctic subglacial lakes. Nature 440:1033-1036 (April
20, 2006)
Starlings Reveal Surprising Linguistic
Sophistication
Linguists had long believed that only humans can learn more
sophisticated types of grammar, for example by recognizing
"clauses" in longer utterances. In an experiment conducted
two years ago, a group of tamarin monkeys failed to do so, seemingly
validating linguist Noam Chomsky's theory that such grammar is
unique to humans. But in a new study, 9 of 11 starlings learned to
spot inserted phrases at least 90 percent of the time, identifying
the special utterances by pecking buttons in exchange for food.
Gentner, T. Q., et al. Recursive syntactic pattern
learning by songbirds. Nature 440:1204-1207 (April 27,
2006)
Studies Supporting Moderate Drinking May Have
Goofed
Many studies have shown that teetotalers have greater risk of
coronary heart disease than do moderate drinkers. But most of those
studies included as abstainers people who had been forced to quit
drinking, usually because of declining health or old age—a
subset that may have biased the results. This methodological flaw
was first noticed in 1988, but it mars even the latest research on
the subject. Of the 54 different studies that were recently
examined, only seven correctly considered former drinkers
differently from abstainers.
Fillmore, K. M., et al. Moderate alcohol use and
reduced mortality risk: Systematic error in prospective studies.
Addiction Research and Theory, preview article