Environmental
Blowing in the wind: How hidden flower features are crucial for bees
by Staff Writers
Cambridge UK (SPX)
 File image. |
As gardeners get busy filling tubs and borders with colourful bedding plants, scientists at the Universities of Cambridge and Bristol have discovered more about what makes flowers attractive to bees rather than humans. Published in the British Ecological Society’s journal Functional Ecology, their research reveals that Velcro-like cells on plant petals play a crucial role in helping bees grip flowers – especially when the wind gets up.
The study focuses on special cells found on the surface of petals, whose stunning structure is best seen under an electron microscope. According to lead author, Dr Beverley Glover: “Many of our common garden flowers have beautiful conical cells if you look closely – roses have rounded conical petal cells while petunias have really long cells, giving petunia flowers an almost velvety appearance, particularly visible in the dark-coloured varieties.”
Glover’s group previously discovered that when offered snapdragons with conical cells and a mutant variety without these cells, bees prefer the former because the conical cells help them grip the flower. “It’s a bit like Velcro, with the bee claws locking into the gaps between the cells,” she explains.
Compared with many garden flowers, however, snapdragons have very complicated flowers; bees have to land on a vertical face and pull open a heavy lip to reach the nectar so Glover was not surprised that grip helps. But she wanted to discover how conical cells help bees visiting much simpler flowers.
“Many of our garden flowers like petunias, roses and poppies are very simple saucers with nectar in the bottom, so we wanted to find out why having conical cells to provide grip would be useful for bees landing on these flowers. We hypothesised that maybe the grip helped when the flowers blow in the wind.”
Using two types of petunia, one with conical cells and a mutant line with flat cells, Glover let a group of bumblebees that had never seen petunias before forage in a large box containing both types of flower, and discovered they too preferred the conical-celled flowers.
They then devised a way of mimicking the way flowers move in the wind. “We used a lab shaking platform that we normally use to mix liquids, and put the flowers on that. As we increased the speed of shaking, mimicking increased wind speed, the bees increased their preference for the conical-celled flowers,” she says.
The results, Glover says, give ecologists a deeper insight into the extraordinarily subtle interaction between plant and pollinator. “Nobody knew what these cells were for, and now we have a good answer that works for pretty much all flowers,” she concludes. “It’s is too easy to look at flowers from a human perspective, but when you put yourself into the bee’s shoes you find hidden features of flowers can be crucial to foraging success.”
Katrina Alcorn, Heather Whitney and Beverley Glover (2012). ‘Flower movement increases pollinator preference for flowers with better grip’, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2012.02009.x is published in Functional Ecology on Tuesday 29 May 2012.
Related Links
University of Cambridge
Farming Today – Suppliers and Technology
Some butterfly species particularly vulnerable to climate change
by Staff Writers
Corvallis, OR (SPX)
 Southern Gatekeeper butterfly. |
A recent study of the impact of climate change on butterflies suggests that some species might adapt much better than others, with implications for the pollination and herbivory associated with these and other insect species.
The research, published in Ecological Entomology, examined changes in the life cycles of butterflies at different elevations of a mountain range in central Spain. They served as a model for some of the changes expected to come with warming temperatures, particularly in mountain landscapes.
The researchers found that butterfly species which already tend to emerge later in the year or fly higher in the mountains have evolved to deal with a shorter window of opportunity to reproduce, and as a result may fare worse in a warming climate, compared to those that emerge over a longer time period.
“Insects and plants are at the base of the food pyramid and are extremely important, but they often get less attention when we are studying the ecological impacts of climate change,” said Javier G. Illan, with the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University.
“We’re already expecting localized extinctions of about one third of butterfly species, so we need to understand how climate change will affect those that survive,” he said. “This research makes it clear that some will do a lot better than others.”
Butterflies may be particularly sensitive to a changing climate, Illan said, and make a good model to study the broader range of ecological effects linked to insects. Their flight dates are a relevant indicator of future responses to climate change.
The research was done by Illan’s group in the Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid. It examined 32 butterfly species for five years at various elevations in a Mediterranean mountain range, and the delays in flight dates that occurred as a result of elevation change.
Related Links
Oregon State University
Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com
A ‘B12 shot’ for marine algae
by Staff Writers
Woods Hole MA (SPX)
 Via photosynthesis, marine algae draw huge amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from the air, incorporating carbon into their bodies. The algae provide food that sets the food chain in motion. When they die or are eaten, some of the carbon ends up sinking to the ocean depths, where it cannot re-enter the atmosphere. |
Scientists have revealed a key cog in the biochemical machinery that allows marine algae at the base of the oceanic food chain to thrive. They have discovered a previously unknown protein in algae that grabs an essential but scarce nutrient out of seawater, vitamin B12.
Many algae, as well as land-dwelling animals, including humans, require B12, but they cannot make it and must either acquire it from the environment or eat food that contains B12. Only certain single-celled bacteria and archaea have the ability to synthesize B12, which is also known as cobalamin.
Studying algal cultures and seawater samples from the Southern Ocean off Antarctica, a team of researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the J. Craig Venter Institute found a protein they described as “the B12 claw.”
Stationed at the algae’s cell walls, the protein appears to operate by binding B12 in the ocean and helping to bring it into the cell. When B12 supplies are scarce, algae compensate by producing more of the protein, officially known as cobalamin acquisition protein 1, or CBA1. The team reported their findings May 31 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Discovery of CBA1 illuminates a small but vital piece of the fundamental metabolic machinery that allows the growth of marine algae, which have critical impacts on the marine food web and on Earth’s climate.
Via photosynthesis, marine algae draw huge amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from the air, incorporating carbon into their bodies. The algae provide food that sets the food chain in motion. When they die or are eaten, some of the carbon ends up sinking to the ocean depths, where it cannot re-enter the atmosphere.
The discovery also opens the door for industrial or therapeutic applications. Since CBA1 is essential for marine algae growth, it could provide clues to how to promote growth of algae used to manufacture biofuels. Learning to manipulate the B12 biochemical pathways of beneficial or detrimental microbes could eventually lead to antibiotic or antifungal medicines.
To discover CBA1, Erin Bertrand, a graduate student in the MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography, and her advisor, WHOI biogeochemist Mak Saito used an approach now common in biomedical research but only recently applied to marine science: proteomics, the study of the proteins organisms make to function in their environment and respond to changing conditions.
Among thousands of other proteins present in the algae, they identified the novel CBA1 protein when it increased in abundance when the algae were starved of vitamin B12. They then worked with colleagues at the Venter Institute to demonstrate CBA1’s function and its presence in the oceans.
Bertrand, the study’s lead author, earned a Ph.D. from the MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography in September 2011 and is now a postdoctoral scientist at the Venter Institute. In addition to Saito, co-authors of the papers are Andrew Allen, Christopher Dupont, Trina Norden-Krichmar, Jing Bai and Ruben Valas of the Venter Institute. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s Marine Microbial Initiative program.
Related Links
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Water News – Science, Technology and Politics
**********************************************************************************************************
Cyber Space
Report: Dozens Arrested After Riot at Foxconn Factory
Dozens of workers at a Foxconn plant in Chengdu, China were arrested this week after a clash with security staff, according to a report.
Taiwan-based Want China Times (WCT) reported that the clash broke out Monday night at a male dormitory for Foxconn workers. Security guards had attempted to stop a thief, when several employees with grudges against the officers forced them away.
The situation rapidly escalated, and up to 1,000 workers eventually joined in, WCT reported. Workers threw trash bins, chairs, pots, bottles, and even fireworks from the upper floors of the building, destroying public facilitates.
The riot ended after two hours, after dorm administrators reported the case to local police and hundreds of officers arrived at the scene to suppress the violence. Dozens were arrested.
In a statement to PCMag.com late Wednesday, Foxconn Technology Group said the incident actually occurred an an off-campus residence.
“We were informed by local law enforcement authorities that late Monday night, several employees of our facility in Chengdu had a disagreement with the owner of a restaurant located in that city,” Foxconn said. “We were also informed that the employees subsequently returned to their off-campus residence, owned and managed by third-party companies, at which time a number of other residents also became involved in the disagreement and local police were called to the scene to restore order. Foxconn is cooperating with local law enforcement authorities on their investigation into this incident.”
Foxconn, the world’s largest electronic contract manufacturer, employs up to 120,000 people at its plant in Chengdu, located in southwestern China. The factory mainly produces liquid crystal displays for electronic products such as Apple’s iPhone.
Foxconn has repeatedly come under fire for harsh working conditions. Late last month, a watchdog group released a study that criticized Foxconn for limited freedoms, inhumane treatment, and unsafe working conditions, among other things. An earlier Apple-commissioned report from the Fair Labor Association found abuses at Foxconn facilities, but said that the firm had agreed to make changes.
ABC’s Nightline also gained access to a Foxconn factory recently, and did not uncover any particularly shocking conditions, while This American Life was forced to retract a controversial episode about Apple factories in China that featured storyteller Mike Daisey. An explosion at the Chengdu factory last year killed two workers and injured 16 others.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated Thursday at 8:40 AM ET to include a statement from Foxconn Technology Group.
For more from Angela, follow her on Twitter @amoscaritolo.
**********************************************************************************************************
Survival / Sustainability
Convert your Lawn by Sheet Mulching
Uploaded by stopwasteorg on Dec 17, 2010
An informative slide show with Kat Weiss showing us step by step how to convert your lawn the Bay-Friendly way by using sheet mulching techniques.
Building the Sheet Mulch Garden – pt 1 of 2.wmv
Uploaded by KittyCapPro on Jan 6, 2011
The Sheet Mulch Garden can be built on almost any surface. It requires no soil. It is constructed of materials such as lawn clippings, yard waste, and shredded tree trimmings. Part 1 outlines the process.
Building the Sheet Mulch Garden – pt 2 of 2b.wmv
Uploaded by KittyCapPro on Jan 6, 2011
The Sheet Mulch Garden can be built on almost any surface. It requires no soil. It is constructed of materials such as lawn clippings, yard waste, and shredded tree trimmings. Part 2 reviews the process with some additional information on community gardens..
***********************************************************************************************************
Whistle Blowers
US government withholding evidence in Bradley Manning case?
Published on Jun 6, 2012 by RTAmerica
On Wednesday, Army Private First Class Bradley Manning officially started pre-trial hearings after being held in captivity for more than two years. Manning is being charged for allegedly having a roll in the largest government leak in US history, and if convicted of one of the 22 crimes, aiding the enemy, Manning could end up with a life sentence behind bars. The US government is withholding thousands of documents relating to Manning’s case and Kevin Gosztola, blogger for Dissenter.FireDogLake.com, joins us to discuss if a fair trial for the suspected Wikileaks contributor is possible.
Senior DOJ Officials Knew About & Approved Fast And Furious Gun Running Operation
***********************************************************************************************************
Articles of Interest
Californians stock up ahead of foie gras ban
Published on Jun 6, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish
As a state-wide ban on foie gras looms closer in California, chefs and consumers alike are trying to get as much of the French delicacy as they can, including attending foie gras festivals and last dinners.
The ban on its sale, which takes effect on July 1, comes as a result of a controversy over the way it is harvested from ducks and geese.
Foie gras, which means “fatty liver” in French, is produced by force feeding corn to the animals with a tube-like device in order to enlarge their livers.
Al Jazeera’s Bhanu Bhatnagar reports
Where Is The Outrage? US government to deploy thousands of drones over US cities
TownHall.com
For the past few weeks, I have been writing in this column about the government’s use of drones and challenging their constitutionality on Fox News Channel where I work. I once asked on air what Thomas Jefferson would have done if — had drones existed at the time — King George III had sent drones to peer inside the bedroom windows of Monticello. I suspect that Jefferson and his household would have trained their muskets on the drones and taken them down. I offer this historical anachronism as a hypothetical only, not as one who is urging the use of violence against the government.
Nevertheless, what Jeffersonians are among us today? When drones take pictures of us on our private property and in our homes, and the government uses the photos as it wishes, what will we do about it? Jefferson understood that when the government assaults our privacy and dignity, it is the moral equivalent of violence against us. The folks who hear about this, who either laugh or groan, cannot find it humorous or boring that their every move will be monitored and photographed by the government.
Don’t believe me that this is coming? The photos that the drones will take may be retained and used or even distributed to others in the government so long as the “recipient is reasonably perceived to have a specific, lawful governmental function” in requiring them. And for the first time since the Civil War, the federal government will deploy military personnel inside the United States and publicly acknowledge that it is deploying them “to collect information about U.S. persons.”
It gets worse. If the military personnel see something of interest from a drone, they may apply to a military judge or “military commander” for permission to conduct a physical search of the private property that intrigues them. And, any “incidentally acquired information” can be retained or turned over to local law enforcement. What’s next? Prosecutions before military tribunals in the U.S.?
The quoted phrases above are extracted from a now-public 30-page memorandum issued by President Obama’s Secretary of the Air Force on April 23, 2012. The purpose of the memorandum is stated as “balancing … obtaining intelligence information … and protecting individual rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution…” Note the primacy of intelligence gathering over freedom protection, and note the peculiar use of the word “balancing.”
Chicago cops Taser 8-month pregnant woman for parking violation
AFP Photo / Cengiz Yar Jr.
The superintendent of the Chicago Police Department says that the reason one of his officers used a Taser stun gun on a woman days away from giving birth because “you can’t always tell whether somebody is pregnant.”
At eight-months pregnant, Tiffany Rent says she would think officers would have been aware of her condition before they assaulted and arrested her on Wednesday morning outside a South Side drug store.
“I was standing at the squad car close enough for him to see that I was pregnant,” Rent tells the Chicago Tribune.
The department says nothing was wrong with the ways officers acted, though. According to the police report, Rent “attempted to take off” after being ticketed for parking her car in a space reserved for handicap persons outside of a Chicago Walgreens when she was subjected to an electric pulse from a Taser gun. The maximum fine for using a handicap parking space without authorization in Chicago is $350.
Moments earlier, Rent tore up the citation and said, “I ain’t giving you (expletive),” according to the official report. That, apparently, was enough for cops to use force.
Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy says he believes that it isn’t always possible to determine if a suspect is or isn’t pregnant so in the end it’s matter of upholding the law.
“Well, first of all, you can’t always tell whether somebody is pregnant. So, you want to use it where you are overcoming assault or preventing escape. That’s what it boils down to,” Supt. McCarthy tells the Tribune.
To do as much, Rent was shocked by the Taser, then dragged out of her car, forced to the ground and handcuffed — in front of two of her young children and her boyfriend. Joseph Hobbs, the father of the child, suffered a dislocated elbow and was also arrested by police for trying to intervene. Sharita Rent, Tiffany’s sister, tells the Tribune that some officers on the scene reportedly made “nasty, cruel comments” and suggested to the expectant parents that they “call Jesse Jackson.”
“How could you be that cruel to a human being? A pregnant human being?” asks the sister.
Later Wednesday, a nursing supervisor at the Roseland Community Hospital ran tests on Rent and said her unborn child appeared to be in good health, but the expectant mother still has concerns — she has lost two children during pregnancy before.
“That policy has been in effect for quite some time,” McCarthy adds. “Whether or not the policy has been adhered to is going to be examined separately from the investigation into the use of force. So we’ll keep you posted on that, and we’ll see how it plays out.”
The latest incident follows an episode earlier this year in Dekalb County, Georgia where Officer Jerad Wheeler was accused of kicking a woman nine months pregnant, prompting her to receive emergency surgery.
************************************************************************************************************
[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes ‘FAIR USE’ of any such copyrighted material.]
Family Survival Protocol - Microcosm News 