Apple?s (AAPL) recent decision to hire one of the leading engineers behind the Segway has some people speculating that the company is planning something big in the realm of robotics. John Morrell was set to become the director of Yale?s Center for Engineering Innovation & Design, however he promptly left the prestigious university when offered a position with Apple last year. Morrell is an expert on the interaction between humans and machines so it?s more likely than not that Apple wants his help working on a major robotics project.
[More from BGR: Anonymous threatens cyberwar on North Korea, steals 15,000 passwords]
?Since Apple discloses very little about upcoming projects, it?s anyone?s guess what Morrell is actually working on,? Ashlee Vance of Business Week explained. ?My roboticist friends think he must be working on something pretty fantastic to have quit the Yale post. My great hope is that he is indeed building a robot that transforms health care, or crafting the first mind-bending consumer 3D printer, or devising something far more spectacular.?
[More from BGR: Apple said to be giving iOS 7 a major UI overhaul]
Morrell?s hiring at Apple has reunited him with other members of the Segway team, such as former CTO Doug Field. Vance admits, however, that it?s possible Morrell may have ?become just another member of a giant consumer electronics company.? Most of his former colleagues are said to be working on Apple?s flagship devices and not some sort of Segway offshoot, while Morrell is believed to be working in the Mac software group.
With its share price plummeting in recent months and more than $130 billion in cash, Vance suggests that it may be time for Apple to begin investing more in research and development, especially with ?all-stars? such as Morrell on staff.
?A new TV could be a big win. So could a wristwatch. And since Apple is so darn secretive, it may once again surprise us all. It?s certainly possible that Apple has some top-secret skunkworks cooking up amazing things,? Vance concluded. ?It would be a shame if a company with hundreds of all-stars, such as Morrell, isn?t working on something more daring than the next gadget. Apple has so much cash on hand and imagination at the ready that it ought to be able to think up a truly bold idea worth its effort.?
NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Jason Clarke and Omar Sy will star in "Candy Store," an action thriller which "Traffic" scribe Stephen Gaghan co-wrote and will direct, Good Universe and Lionsgate announced on Thursday.
Gaghan's tale weaves together several different storylines all set in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. Clarke, who just starred in "Zero Dark Thirty," will play a former secret agent who realizes a criminal syndicate he once battled has set up shop in his neighborhood. Clarke's character partners with a local cop to investigate.
Sy, who starred in French sensation "The Intouchables," will play a pimp involved in an intricate plot to harm Manhattan.
Good Universe, a finance, production and sales company founded by Mandate Pictures founders Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane, just partnered with Lionsgate on the film. Good Universe will handle international sales and start discussions at the Cannes Film Festival.
Liosngate will distribute the film in North America.
Gaghan will produce the film along with Allison Shearmur while Drake, Kahane, Nicole Brown, Allyn Stewart and Kipp Nelson will executive produce.
Effectiveness of a spray that greatly improves dry mouth sensation caused by anti-depressantsPublic release date: 3-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Gerardo Gomez Moreno ggomez@ugr.es 34-958-249-025 University of Granada
Patients with dry mouth often have difficulty chewing, swallowing or even talking and their numbers have increased in recent years, due to a rise in taking medication, above all anti-depressants
Researchers from the universities of Granada and Murcia have confirmed the effectiveness of a spray containing 1% malic acid, which greatly improves xerostomy, or dry mouth, caused by anti-depressant drugs. This product, combined with xylitol and fluorides, in a spray format, stimulates saliva production in patients with this illness, thus improving their quality of life.
Xerostomy is a dry-mouth sensation that patients have, often caused by reduced salivary secretion or biochemical changes in the saliva itself. Patients with xerostomy often find difficulty in chewing, swallowing or even talking. It is a subjective sensation, whilst hyposalivation refers to an actual reduction in salivary flow, meaning that it is objective and, therefore, quantifiable.
As the main author of this study, University of Granada lecturer, Gerardo Gomez Moreno, explains, one of the main causes of dry mouth is the consumption of different medications. "There are over 500 drugs, belonging to 42 pharmacological groups, which can provoke xerostomy as a side effect. Those that are most related are anti-depressants, the prescription of which has increased over recent years, thus leading to a higher number of patients with xerostomy from taking anti-depressive drugs, above all in 45-50 year olds".
Clinical trial using 70 patients
The University of Granada research was carried out in a double-blind randomized clinical trial on 70 patients diagnosed with anti-depressant-induced xerostomy, split into two (2) groups. The first group of 35 patients took a sialogogue mouth spray (1% malic acid), while the second group also consisting of 35 patients received a placebo. Both products were applied on demand over two (2) weeks. To check the xerostomy both before and after applying both the product and the placebo, the researchers used a specific questionnaire, called the Dry Mouth Questionnaire (DMQ).
Dr. Gomez Moreno points out that are various therapeutic possibilities for treating xerostomy (sialogogues, salivary substitutes, other general treatments), "although the effectiveness of many of them are controversial. For example, some studies have described citric and malic acid as salivary stimulants, even though, for years, their use was rejected due to the possible de-mineralizing effect on tooth enamel". However, recent research has shown that there is a reduction in the potential de-mineralizing effect of malic acid when used in the correct concentration and when combined with xylitol and fluorides.
###
The University of Granada researchers, who belong to the "Pharmacological Research Group into Dentistry CTS-654", backed by the Andalusian Regional Government, have published their results in the latest edition of the Official American Journal on Depression and Anxiety.
References:
The efficacy of a topical sialogogue spray containing 1% malic acid in patients with antidepressant-induced dry mouth: A double-blind, randomized clinical trial
Gomez-Moreno, G , Aguilar-Salvatierra, A., Guardia, J., Uribe-Marioni, A., Cabrera-Ayala, M., Delgado-Ruiz, R.A., Calvo-Guirado, J.L. Depression and Anxiety
Volume 30, Issue 2, February 2013, Pages 137-142
The full article can be consulted at: http://sl.ugr.es/03zw
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Effectiveness of a spray that greatly improves dry mouth sensation caused by anti-depressantsPublic release date: 3-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Gerardo Gomez Moreno ggomez@ugr.es 34-958-249-025 University of Granada
Patients with dry mouth often have difficulty chewing, swallowing or even talking and their numbers have increased in recent years, due to a rise in taking medication, above all anti-depressants
Researchers from the universities of Granada and Murcia have confirmed the effectiveness of a spray containing 1% malic acid, which greatly improves xerostomy, or dry mouth, caused by anti-depressant drugs. This product, combined with xylitol and fluorides, in a spray format, stimulates saliva production in patients with this illness, thus improving their quality of life.
Xerostomy is a dry-mouth sensation that patients have, often caused by reduced salivary secretion or biochemical changes in the saliva itself. Patients with xerostomy often find difficulty in chewing, swallowing or even talking. It is a subjective sensation, whilst hyposalivation refers to an actual reduction in salivary flow, meaning that it is objective and, therefore, quantifiable.
As the main author of this study, University of Granada lecturer, Gerardo Gomez Moreno, explains, one of the main causes of dry mouth is the consumption of different medications. "There are over 500 drugs, belonging to 42 pharmacological groups, which can provoke xerostomy as a side effect. Those that are most related are anti-depressants, the prescription of which has increased over recent years, thus leading to a higher number of patients with xerostomy from taking anti-depressive drugs, above all in 45-50 year olds".
Clinical trial using 70 patients
The University of Granada research was carried out in a double-blind randomized clinical trial on 70 patients diagnosed with anti-depressant-induced xerostomy, split into two (2) groups. The first group of 35 patients took a sialogogue mouth spray (1% malic acid), while the second group also consisting of 35 patients received a placebo. Both products were applied on demand over two (2) weeks. To check the xerostomy both before and after applying both the product and the placebo, the researchers used a specific questionnaire, called the Dry Mouth Questionnaire (DMQ).
Dr. Gomez Moreno points out that are various therapeutic possibilities for treating xerostomy (sialogogues, salivary substitutes, other general treatments), "although the effectiveness of many of them are controversial. For example, some studies have described citric and malic acid as salivary stimulants, even though, for years, their use was rejected due to the possible de-mineralizing effect on tooth enamel". However, recent research has shown that there is a reduction in the potential de-mineralizing effect of malic acid when used in the correct concentration and when combined with xylitol and fluorides.
###
The University of Granada researchers, who belong to the "Pharmacological Research Group into Dentistry CTS-654", backed by the Andalusian Regional Government, have published their results in the latest edition of the Official American Journal on Depression and Anxiety.
References:
The efficacy of a topical sialogogue spray containing 1% malic acid in patients with antidepressant-induced dry mouth: A double-blind, randomized clinical trial
Gomez-Moreno, G , Aguilar-Salvatierra, A., Guardia, J., Uribe-Marioni, A., Cabrera-Ayala, M., Delgado-Ruiz, R.A., Calvo-Guirado, J.L. Depression and Anxiety
Volume 30, Issue 2, February 2013, Pages 137-142
The full article can be consulted at: http://sl.ugr.es/03zw
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
President Barack Obama speaks about the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative, Tuesday, April 2, 2013, in the East Room at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama speaks about the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative, Tuesday, April 2, 2013, in the East Room at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama listens as National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis S. Collins speaks about the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative, Tuesday, April 2, 2013, in the East Room at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama leaves the stage in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013, after he spoke about the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama announces the BRIAN, Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies proposal, Tuesday, April 2, 2013, East Room of the White House in Washington. The president is asking Congress to spend $100 million next year to start a new project to map the human brain in hopes of eventually finding cures for diseases like Alzheimer's. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama on Tuesday proposed an effort to map the brain's activity in unprecedented detail, as a step toward finding better ways to treat such conditions as Alzheimer's, autism, stroke and traumatic brain injuries.
He asked Congress to spend $100 million next year to start a project that will explore details of the brain, which contains 100 billion cells and trillions of connections.
That's a relatively small investment for the federal government ? less than a fifth of what NASA spends every year just to study the sun ? but it's too early to determine how Congress will react.
Obama said the so-called BRAIN Initiative could create jobs, and told scientists gathered in the White House's East Room that the research has the potential to improve the lives of billions of people worldwide.
"As humans we can identify galaxies light-years away," Obama said. "We can study particles smaller than an atom, but we still haven't unlocked the mystery of the three pounds of matter that sits between our ears."
Scientists unconnected to the project praised the idea.
BRAIN stands for Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies. The idea, which Obama first proposed in his State of the Union address, would require the development of new technology that can record the electrical activity of individual cells and complex neural circuits in the brain "at the speed of thought," the White House said.
Obama wants the initial $100 million investment to support research at the National Institutes of Health, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Science Foundation. He also wants private companies, universities and philanthropists to partner with the federal agencies in support of the research. And he wants a study of the ethical, legal and societal implications of the research.
The goals of the work are unclear at this point. A working group at NIH, co-chaired by Cornelia "Cori" Bargmann of The Rockefeller University and William Newsome of Stanford University, would work on defining the goals and develop a multi-year plan to achieve them that included cost estimates.
The $100 million request is "a pretty good start for getting this project off the ground," Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health told reporters in a conference call. While the ultimate goal applies to the human brain, some work will be done in simpler systems of the brains of animals like worms, flies and mice, he said.
Collins said new understandings about how the brain works may also provide leads for developing better computers.
Brain scientists unconnected with the project were enthusiastic.
"This is spectacular," said David Fitzpatrick, scientific director and CEO of the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience in Jupiter, Fla., which focuses on studying neural circuits and structures.
While current brain-scanning technologies can reveal the average activity of large populations of brain cells, the new project is aimed at tracking activity down to the individual cell and the tiny details of cell connections, he said. It's "an entirely different scale," he said, and one that can pay off someday in treatments for a long list of neurological and psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia, Parkinson's, depression, epilepsy and autism.
"Ultimately, you can't fix it if you don't know how it works," he said. "We need this fundamental understanding of neuronal circuits, their structure, their function and their development in order to make progress on these disorders."
"This investment in fundamental brain science is going to pay off immensely in the future," Fitzpatrick said.
Richard Frackowiak, a co-director of Europe's Human Brain Project, which is funded by the European Commission, said he was delighted by the announcement.
"From our point of view as scientists we can only applaud and say we will collaborate as much as possible," he said. "The opportunities for a massive worldwide collaborative effort to solve the problem of neurodegeneration and psychiatric disease will ... really become absolutely feasible," he said. "We need that."
Ocean acidification, which occurs as CO2 is absorbed by the world's oceans, is a source of concern for marine scientists worldwide. Studies on coral, mollusks, and other ocean denizens are helping to paint a picture of what the future might entail for specific species, should carbon emissions continue to increase.
In a new study published in Global Change Biology, University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science researchers Sean Bignami, Su Sponaugle, and Robert Cowen are the first to study the effects of acidification on the larvae of cobia (Rachycentron canandum). Cobia are large tropical fish that spawn in pelagic waters, highly mobile as they mature, and a popular species among recreational anglers.
The team reared cobia in tanks with different levels of CO2 saturation looking for effects on growth, development, otolith (ear stone) formation, swimming ability, and activity level during the vulnerable larval stage of these fish. They found that cobia showed remarkable resistance to end-of-century acidification scenarios in terms of growth, development, and activity. However, more extreme acidification scenarios caused reduced larval size and a 2-3 day delay in their development. The study also reports a significant increase in otolith size at the most mild acidification conditions reported to date.
"The larval period is a critical stage in the marine fish lifecycle and the ability of cobia larvae to withstand 'business-as-usual' scenarios of ocean acidification provides an optimistic outlook for this species. However, research on this topic is still limited and if our findings on otolith formation are any indicator, then these fish are not entirely resistant to acidification," said Bignami, a Marine Biology and Fisheries PhD candidate at UM.
The study is the first to report impacts of ocean acidification on a large, pelagic tropical fish species. "We need additional studies on study how fish, especially those that are ecologically and economically important, react to these environmental changes if we want to find ways to potentially mitigate the effects," Bignami added.
Cobia larvae used in this study were produced from broodstock raised at the UM Experimental Hatchery.
###
University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science: http://www.rsmas.miami.edu
Thanks to University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science for this article.
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As the U.S. deploys a Navy missile destroyer in case of a launch by North Korea, the country's leader Kim Jong Un has abolished an armistice with South Korea and is now saying he will re-open a nuclear bomb facility that was closed in 2007. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
By Ian Johnston and Jim Miklaszewski, NBC News
Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has warned that the United States should be ?very concerned? by the level of ?provocation and bellicosity? emanating from North Korea, as the rogue communist state announced it was going to restart all its nuclear facilities.
Panetta told CNBC in an interview that the U.S., Japan and South Korea had to be ?very firm in sending them a message that we are going to do everything necessary to defend our security and defend our troops.? He said there was a danger of a "miscalculation" that escalated.
The North continued to make threats Tuesday, and said it would rebuild and restart nuclear facilities, including a reactor that can make one bomb's worth of plutonium a year.
Panetta said the amount of hostility emanating from Pyongyang was alarming.
?I think we've got to be very concerned about ... the level of provocation that North Korea is engaged in. They are in the process of testing ICBMs [Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles]. They've also been testing nuclear weapons,? he said.
NBC's Jim Maceda reports on U.S. Navy movements of destroyers into the Pacific amid threats from North Korea.
?The kind of provocation and bellicosity they're showing now with their rhetoric raises a lot of concern,? he added. ?It just means the United States and our allies Japan and South Korea have to be very firm in sending them a message that we are going to do everything necessary to defend our security and defend our troops.?
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took time out of an official visit to Andorra on Tuesday to say that the North Korean crisis had "already gone too far" and that he was "deeply troubled" by it.
"Nuclear threats are not a game," Ban said, adding that "things must begin to calm down" or they "could lead down a path that nobody should want to follow."
He closed his remarks by offering to facilitate peace talks, but how the North would react was not immediately clear. Ban was South Korea's foreign affairs minister before election to his UN post.
'Be very prepared' Panetta noted that over the last 50 or 60 years the North had gone through cycles of ?provocation? and ?accommodation.?
?A lot of this is aimed more probably on the internal situation in North Korea, aimed at improving the new leader's credibility, his credentials as a leader,? he said.
?But at the same time since they have capabilities and [are] developing those capabilities, I don't think we can take anything for granted. The U.S., South Korea and our other partners in that region have to be very prepared in the event that something could happen here. I think the greater likelihood is miscalculation and if they do something that escalates quickly that's the greater danger,? he added.
A spokesman for the North's General Department of Atomic Energy said restarting its nuclear facilities was part of efforts to resolve the country's acute electricity shortage, but also for "bolstering up the nuclear armed force both in quality and quantity," the official Korean Central News Agency said, according to Reuters.
Pyongyang conducted its third nuclear test in February, prompting a new round of U.N. sanctions that have infuriated its leaders and led to a torrent of threatening rhetoric. The United States has sent nuclear-capable bombers and stealth jets to participate in annual South Korean-U.S. military drills that the allies call routine but that Pyongyang claims are invasion preparations.
As North Korean state TV shows constant images of the army bombarding South Korea, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un is saying his missiles are at the ready and has cut off emergency communications. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
KCNA kept up the rhetoric on its English-language site Tuesday, with an article headlined ?Intensified Anti-U.S. Action Called For.?
It quoted the ?North Side Committee for Implementing the June 15 Joint Declaration? as saying in a statement that the joint U.S. and South Korean military exercise ?clearly proves that the U.S. imperialists' scenario to launch a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula at any cost has reached an extremely reckless phase of its implementation.?
?As already clarified by the DPRK [North Korea], gone are the days when it could have verbal exchange with them,? the statement said.
?To wage a merciless, just, retaliatory war is the only way of rooting out the source of the danger of a nuclear war on this land and build a peaceful and prosperous reunified thriving nation where all Koreans live together,? it added.
Reuters and NBC News' Andrea Mitchell and John Newland contributed to this report.
Related:
US Navy shifts destroyer in wake of North Korea missile threats
US official warns North Korea is no 'paper tiger'
Analyst: Threats are predictable, Kim Jong Un is not
This story was originally published on Tue Apr 2, 2013 4:39 AM EDT
Contact: A'ndrea Elyse Messer aem1@psu.edu 814-865-9481 Penn State
Increases in ground-level ozone, especially in rural areas, may interfere not only with predator insects finding host plants, but also with pollinators finding flowers, according to researchers from Penn State and the University of Virginia.
"Ozone pollution has great potential to perniciously alter key interactions between plants and animals," the researchers said in a recent issue of Environmental Research Letters.
The animal tested in this case was the striped cucumber beetle, a predator of cucurbits -- cucumber, squash, pumpkin and melons. These insects dine on the plants from the moment they emerge from the ground and when fruit forms, they eat that as well.
"Insects detect odor with olfactory receptors located on their antennae," said Jose D. Fuentes, professor of meteorology, Penn State. "These receptors sense plant-emitted volatile organic compounds in very small amounts -- as low as six molecules hitting an antenna."
However, ozone, which is a very reactive substance, degrades the volatile organic compounds when they mix to the point where they no longer stimulate the olfactory system.
Fuentes, working with John Zenker, Penn State undergraduate in meteorology, and T'ai H. Roulston, research associate professor and curator, Blandy Experimental Farm, University of Virginia, tested the beetles in an enclosed Y-tube apparatus so that the insect could choose which branch to take. Researchers collected the insects from pumpkin and squash plants. They tested the insects using buffalo gourd plants, a naturally growing wild gourd that likes semiarid areas.
Separate air streams flowed into the two branches of the Y-tube. Choices of air in each tube were ambient filtered air, ambient filtered air plus up to 120 parts per million ozone, ambient filtered air plus volatile organic compounds, or air plus up to 120 parts per billion ozone and volatile organic compounds from the plant. To obtain this mix, or only ozone or volatile organic compounds, that branch flowed either to a plant chamber or ozone generator or both.
The researchers tested the insects with all ambient air, with ambient air and ozone, with ambient air and volatile organic compounds, and with ambient air and a mix of ozone and volatile organic compounds. When presented with an ambient air or volatile organic compound airstream, the beetles chose the volatile organic compound tube 80 percent of the time.
"However, as the ozone levels increased, they chose the path to the flower less frequently," said Fuentes. "By the time the mix contained 80 parts per billion ozone, the beetles showed no preference for either tube."
The researchers also tested the beetles with volatile organic compounds and a mix of volatile organic compounds and ozone. At low ozone levels, the insects showed no preference, but as ozone levels increased, the insects increasingly preferred the ozone-free path. At 80 parts per billion, the beetles chose the volatile organic compounds without ozone significantly more often than the ozonized mixture.
While one might think that higher ozone levels in the lower atmosphere would improve crops because predator insects would be unable to find their hosts, the additional ozone would also interfere with mutualistic insect plant responses such as pollination.
###
The National Science Foundation supported this research.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: A'ndrea Elyse Messer aem1@psu.edu 814-865-9481 Penn State
Increases in ground-level ozone, especially in rural areas, may interfere not only with predator insects finding host plants, but also with pollinators finding flowers, according to researchers from Penn State and the University of Virginia.
"Ozone pollution has great potential to perniciously alter key interactions between plants and animals," the researchers said in a recent issue of Environmental Research Letters.
The animal tested in this case was the striped cucumber beetle, a predator of cucurbits -- cucumber, squash, pumpkin and melons. These insects dine on the plants from the moment they emerge from the ground and when fruit forms, they eat that as well.
"Insects detect odor with olfactory receptors located on their antennae," said Jose D. Fuentes, professor of meteorology, Penn State. "These receptors sense plant-emitted volatile organic compounds in very small amounts -- as low as six molecules hitting an antenna."
However, ozone, which is a very reactive substance, degrades the volatile organic compounds when they mix to the point where they no longer stimulate the olfactory system.
Fuentes, working with John Zenker, Penn State undergraduate in meteorology, and T'ai H. Roulston, research associate professor and curator, Blandy Experimental Farm, University of Virginia, tested the beetles in an enclosed Y-tube apparatus so that the insect could choose which branch to take. Researchers collected the insects from pumpkin and squash plants. They tested the insects using buffalo gourd plants, a naturally growing wild gourd that likes semiarid areas.
Separate air streams flowed into the two branches of the Y-tube. Choices of air in each tube were ambient filtered air, ambient filtered air plus up to 120 parts per million ozone, ambient filtered air plus volatile organic compounds, or air plus up to 120 parts per billion ozone and volatile organic compounds from the plant. To obtain this mix, or only ozone or volatile organic compounds, that branch flowed either to a plant chamber or ozone generator or both.
The researchers tested the insects with all ambient air, with ambient air and ozone, with ambient air and volatile organic compounds, and with ambient air and a mix of ozone and volatile organic compounds. When presented with an ambient air or volatile organic compound airstream, the beetles chose the volatile organic compound tube 80 percent of the time.
"However, as the ozone levels increased, they chose the path to the flower less frequently," said Fuentes. "By the time the mix contained 80 parts per billion ozone, the beetles showed no preference for either tube."
The researchers also tested the beetles with volatile organic compounds and a mix of volatile organic compounds and ozone. At low ozone levels, the insects showed no preference, but as ozone levels increased, the insects increasingly preferred the ozone-free path. At 80 parts per billion, the beetles chose the volatile organic compounds without ozone significantly more often than the ozonized mixture.
While one might think that higher ozone levels in the lower atmosphere would improve crops because predator insects would be unable to find their hosts, the additional ozone would also interfere with mutualistic insect plant responses such as pollination.
###
The National Science Foundation supported this research.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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