| sciences news |
[Feb. 26th, 2003|02:58 pm] |
Worker ants reveal their mercenary side
Ants have long been regarded as the embodiment of teamwork and selflessness, but a new study reveals a more mercenary side.
Work by researchers in Finland shows that worker ants do preferentially favour their own kin when caring for eggs and larvae. This also means the ants must have some way of recognise how related they are to an individual.
A sense of wonder [smell]
What's smell got to do with modern art? How does a fragrance set the scene for memory? Why are humans losing their sense of smell? Neuroscientist Upinder Bhalla believes that our smell system could prove an easier route to understanding the human brain than more conventional means. He has even built a smell machine to find out which groups of people have retained or lost their olfactory skills. And, as he told Seema Singh in Bangalore recently, you may get a chance to leave your own smell on the project when it comes to the UK in June - all in the name of art
Melting snow could trigger earthquakes
Melting snow could trigger earthquakes, says a geophysicist who has been studying quake records from the inland mountains of Japan.
anti- bio and chemical weapons ready for use
Prototypes of unconventional munitions designed to destroy stores of chemical and biological weapons could see their first use in Iraq, analysts believe.
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