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Changes in Early Stone Age tool production have 'musical' ties

So about 1.75 million years ago there was a innovation in stone tool technology, when the early humans made small tools from pebbles and rocks. This brought us to walk and talk. To understand the link to the brain and a challenge is impossible to observe the brain activity of extinct humans. Lead author Dr Shelby Putt, from the Stone Age Institute, said: "This work offers novel insights into prehistoric cognition using a cutting-edge neuroimaging technique that allows people to engage in complex actions while we are measuring localized brain activity."The study reveals key brain networks that might underlie the shift towards more human-like intelligence around 1.75 million years ago. We think this marked a turning point in the evolution of the human brain, leading to the evolution of a new species of human." The reporters also said “that brain networks specialised for language in modern humans were only activated during Acheulian tool production when participants learned to make tools in the verbal instruction condition.” ."Our findings do not neatly overlap with prior claims that language and stone tool production co-evolved. There is more support for the idea that working memory and auditory-visual integration networks laid the foundation for advances in stone tool-making."It is fascinating that these same brain networks today allow modern humans to perform such behaviours as skilfully playing a musical instrument." John Spencer said, a co-author from the UEA. To sum up the paragraph, Robert Franciscus from the University of Iowa “We discovered that the appearance of a type of more complexly shaped stone tool kit in the archaeological record marked an important cognitive shift when our ancestors started to think and act more like humans rather than apes."The insights provided by this study into some of the biggest questions in human evolution -- cognitive evolution and its relationship to the emergence of language -- would have been difficult, if not impossible to achieve without the kind of interdisciplinary approach to research that this project was grounded on."

How this made me feel was I love music and how it make me feel. It was very cool to learn and read this and I am so glad i shared this with y’all

#music

The mysterious powers of spider silks

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170501112627.htm

As they say today in an online paper in Nature Genetics, Penn state scientists and their collaborators sequenced the full genome of the golden orb-weaver spider (Nephila clavipes), a prolific silk-spinner produces 28 varieties of silk proteins. "There were so many surprises that emerged from our study: new silk genes, new DNA sequences that presumably confer strength, toughness, stretchiness and other properties to silk proteins; and even a silk protein made in venom glands rather than silk glands," said senior author Benjamin F. Voight, PhD. "All this new information should greatly advance our efforts to capture the extraordinary properties of these silks in human-made materials." The biggest shock was discovering that one of the orb-weaver's spidroins -- FLAG-b, a novel discovery by the group -- appears to be produced primarily in the orb-weaver's venom gland rather than in any silk gland, hinting at intriguing new functions for silk connected to prey capture, immobilization, or preservation.

how this can effect us

how this made me feel was I HATE spiders i’m terrified of spiders but this was very cool and fun to read and learn about this topic. The Darwin's bark spider is the spider in the picture Voight ( the scientist ) said "When I say that we'd like to build a 'web-shooter' like Spider-Man's in the lab, I'm only half joking".

#spiders

Naked mole-rats 'turn into plants' when oxygen is low

"This is just the latest remarkable discovery about the naked mole-rat -- a cold-blooded mammal that lives decades longer than other rodents, rarely gets cancer, and doesn't feel many types of pain," says Thomas Park, professor of biological sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Humans, mice, and other mammals slowly die when the brain cells run out of oxygen they run out of energy and slowly die. But the mole rats have help a backup there brains start burning sugar, fructose, to give them energy. The new study show the the fructose pumps in the intestines. "The naked mole-rat has simply rearranged some basic building-blocks of metabolism to make it super-tolerant to low oxygen conditions," said Park, who has studied the strange species for 18 years.

How this can effect

Well for example that picture up there are really plants. This was really cool to learn about this made me feel a tiny bit uncomfortable because the picture made me uncomfortable. But other then that I like it, to learn about it.

#mole

Device pulls water from dry air, powered only by the sun

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170413141104.htm

The college thet helped fegure this out was University of California - Berkeley

With the future not that far away, with the proof of this weeks water there is a harvester that is powered by the sun to pull water out of the air everyday.This solar-powered harvester reported in the journal of Science. "This is a major breakthrough in the long-standing challenge of harvesting water from the air at low humidity there is no other way to do that right now, except by using extra energy. Your electric dehumidifier at home 'produces' very expensive water." said Omar Yaghi. The harvester conditions of 20-30 percent humidity, was able to pull 3 quarts or 2.8 liters of water out of the air over 12 hours. 3 years ago in 2014 Omar Yaghi and his UC Berkeley team created a MOF - a combination of zirconium metal and adipic acid that binds water vapor.

This was very interesting to read about. One way this could effect us is that it would give us enough rainfall that we need to live for food and the animals, but this could also give us to much rainfall. You should read the article to learn more about Omar Yaghi and his team, and college.

#air water

Most cancer mutations are due to random DNA copying 'mistakes'

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170323141403.htm

Cristian Tomasetti said "It is well-known that we must avoid environmental factors such as smoking to decrease our risk of getting cancer. But it is not as well-known that each time a normal cell divides and copies its DNA to produce two new cells, it makes multiple mistakes" Researchers say that their studies are showing that 40 percent of cancers are caused but bad environment or smoking but we all know that, this article helped me understand that this is not true. Cancer is mostly caused by DNA copying mistakes. Most people ask “why me?” when they find out, and that is all because their scared that they might not live through this. Scientists say that their are 32 types of cancer, Lu Li, a doctoral student in Tomasetti's laboratory, also contributed to the research. Funding for the research was provided by the John Templeton Foundation, the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Fund for Cancer Research.

How this could affect us?

This made me fell sad because my Great Grandmother died of cancer, she also had to cut her toes off. Cancer has ran in my family but all cancer is caused by DNA mistakes. This also can help us understand how and why cancer happens.

#cancer

New analysis method of metabolites accurately predicts whether a child has autism

Autism - A serious developmental disorder that impairs the ability to communicate and interact.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170316141101.htm

Some people think Autism is a disease, but Autism really is a disorder. Autism spectrum disorder affect 1.5 percent of children. As I said Autism is and disorder of learning. Some scientists used blood sample collected at Arkansas Children's Hospital and 83 children with Autism from the age 3 to 10. Juergen Hahn a study author said "The method presented in this work is the only one of its kind that can classify an individual as being on the autism spectrum or as being neurotypical,". "We are not aware of any other method, using any type of biomarker that can do this, much less with the degree of accuracy that we see in our work."

https://www.google.com/search?q=autism&rlz=1CAHPZS_enUS705US705&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjj8OjuxOPSAhUFZCYKHa1aCocQ_AUIBygC&biw=1366&bih=630#imgrc=WpOpArV_npfZeM:

How do you know you child has Autism

There are plenty of way you could know that you kid has Autism.

They avoid eye contact, they use make very few hand gestures, they reacts weirdly to sights, smells, textures, and sounds, they also uses facial expressions that don't match what he or she is saying.

How could that effect us?

How this made me feel is really sad because I was one of those people who thought Autism was a disease, but after I read this I was very interested. Now you if your kid has Autism, and if your kid has Autism, that does not mean your kid is stupid it means that your kid learns slower then others.

#autism

Visualizing the genome First 3-D structures of active DNA created

“Scientists have determined the first 3-D structures of intact mammalian genomes from individual cells, showing how the DNA from all the chromosomes intricately folds to fit together inside the cell nuclei.” “Researchers from the University of Cambridge and the MRC Laboratory used a combination of imaging and up to 100,000 measurements of where different parts of the DNA are close to each other to examine the genome in a mouse embryonic stem cell. Stem cells are 'master cells', which can develop -- or 'differentiate' -- into almost any type of cell within the body.”

Most people are familiar with the x shaped chromosomes, but that only happens when the cell is divided. Using their new approach, they've now been able to determine the structures of active chromosomes inside the cell, and how they interact with each other. The knowledge of how DNA folds inside the cell allows scientists to study how specific genes, and the DNA regions that control them, interact with each other.

“Professor Ernest Laue, whose group at Cambridge's Department of Biochemistry developed the approach, commented: "Knowing where all the genes and control elements are at a given moment will help us understand the molecular mechanisms that control and maintain their expression. In the future, we'll be able to study how this changes as stem cells differentiate and how decisions are made in individual developing stem cells. Until now, we've only been able to look at groups, or 'populations', of these cells and so have been unable to see individual differences, at least from the outside. Currently, these mechanisms are poorly understood and understanding them may be key to realising the potential of stem cells in medicine."

The scientists research at the Departments of Biochemistry, Chemistry and the Wellcome-MRC Stem Cell Institute at the University of Cambridge, together with colleagues at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. "Visualising a genome in 3D at such an unprecedented level of detail is an exciting step forward in research and one that has been many years in the making. This detail will reveal some of the underlying principles that govern the organisation of our genomes -- for example how chromosomes interact or how structure can influence whether genes are switched on or off. If we can apply this method to cells with abnormal genomes, such as cancer cells, we may be able to better understand what exactly goes wrong to cause disease, and how we could develop solutions to correct this." said Dr Tom Collins from Wellcome's Genetics and Molecular Sciences.

How this can effect us?

This is pretty cool and it could show us things that we couldn't see before and tell scientists thing that we need to know.

#cell

Why pandas are black and white

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170303091414.htm

Credit: Ted Stankowich/CSU Long Beach

“The scientists who uncovered why zebras have black and white stripes, took the coloration question to giant pandas in a study published this week in the journal Behavioral Ecology.”

Deconstructing a Giant Panda

"Understanding why the giant panda has such striking coloration has been a long-standing problem in biology that has been difficult to tackle because virtually no other mammal has this appearance, making analogies difficult," said lead author Tim Caro, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Wildlife, "The breakthrough in the study was treating each part of the body as an independent area." This enabled the team to compare different regions of fur across the giant panda's body to the dark and light coloring more than 190 other carnivore species and more than 30 bear subspecies, which some were related.

Hiding in Snow or Forest

Through these comparisons, the study found that most of the panda its face, neck, belly, is white to help it hide in snowy habitats (like an polar bear). The arms and legs are black, helping it to hide in shade. The scientists suggest that this dual coloration stems from its poor diet of bamboo and plants. This means it can never store enough fat to go dormant during the winter, as do other bears. So it has to be active year-round, traveling across long distances and habitat types that range from snowy mountains to tropical forests. This really was a Herculean effort by our team, finding and scoring thousands of images and scoring more than 10 areas per picture from over 20 possible colors," said co-author Ted Stankowich, a professor at CSU Long Beach. "Sometimes it takes hundreds of hours of hard work to answer what seems like the simplest of questions: Why is the panda black and white?"

How could this effect us?

This really could not effect us but it is cool to learn this. Panda bears are really cool because bark colors attract heat and light colors reflects heat, so this means the panda bears attracts heat and reflects heat. As Ted Stankowich said something so simple can be so default.

#panda bears

Volcanic hydrogen spurs chances of finding exoplanet life

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170227152008.htm

“Hunting for habitable exoplanets now may be easier: astronomers report that hydrogen pouring from volcanic sources on planets throughout the universe could improve the chances of locating life in the cosmos.”

Combining the greenhouse effect, water and carbon dioxide on planets sprinkled throughout the cosmos, some stars could expand their habitable zones by 30 to 60 percent. "Where we thought you would only find icy wastelands, planets can be nice and warm -- as long as volcanoes are in view," said Lisa Kaltenegger, Cornell professor of astronomy and director of the Carl Sagan Institute.Their research, "A Volcanic Hydrogen Habitable Zone," published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. James Webb Space Telescope well be launching in 2018, or the approaching European Extremely Large Telescope, first light in 2024.

How can this effect us?

With latest research, Ramirez and Kaltenegger have possibly added to that number by showing that habitats can be found even though once thought too cold. This can could show what and answers to questions that we have.

#Volcanic hydrogen

Rat-grown mouse pancreases help reverse diabetes in mice

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170125145818.htm

Credit: Courtesy of the Nakauchi lab

Your pancreases plays an important part in your body. Your pancreases shoots out enzyme in to your small intestine and helps brakes down food. It also produces insulin that helps regulate the blood sugar. About 76,000 people are waiting for an organ transplant, but the organs are in short supply. Matched human organs in large animals could relieve the shortage and release transplant recipients from the need for lifelong immunosuppression, the researchers say. People with diabetes could also benefit form this approach. Diabetes is a life-threating disease in which a person or animal is unable to either make or respond. As a result, there were not enough functional islets in the smaller organs to successfully reverse diabetes in rats.

How could this affect us?

For people with diabetes this could find a “cure” for diabetes for people and animals.

#diabetes

“Endangered African penguins are falling into an 'ecological trap'”

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170209133516.htm

"Our results show that juvenile African penguins are stuck foraging for food in the wrong places due to fishing and climate change," says Richard Sherley of the University of Exeter and University of Cape Town.”

Sherley and colleagues, including Stephen Votier, also at the University of Exeter, and scientists from the Namibian and South African governments. The government made a discovery after using satellites to track the newly fledged African penguins from eight sites across their breeding range. They wanted to find out if the the penguins were being trapped in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME). The BCLME is one of four major boundary upwelling of the world. “Sherley explains that this portion of the ocean stretches from near the Angola-Benguela front in southern Angola in the north to Cape Point in South Africa's Western Cape” ,One of the most productive ocean areas in the world is the. Shrerley said that there is a way to save the baby penguins she said that they have to translating the chicks to a place where it's not possible to get trapped. Sherley says the South African government is working to implement spatially explicit catch limits and management practices in their sardine fishery, which will almost surely help. The researchers are helping to inform their decisions with the penguins in mind. Meanwhile, their work to understand how fishing influences the interactions between seabirds and their prey at different spatial scales and at different phases of the birds' lifecycle and how to protect them continues.

This could affect us because SAVE THE BABY PENGUINS. I love penguins it’s my favorite animal. Any way I think it is important to have penguins and baby penguins because if we don’t have them we would have to many fish on the earth and we would have a fish over load. And penguins are so adorable

#penguins

Sever's disease

What is Sever’s disease:

Sever's Disease also know as calcaneal apophysitis is an swelling of the growth plate in the heel. There is a strong pain in the heel and Achilles tendon is caused by repetitive stress.The disease normally is in growing children. It usually resolves when the bone has completed growth or activity is lessened. It is named for James Warren Sever an American Orthopedic doctor. Dr Sever had "The Principles of Orthopaedic Surgery" published in 1940 by The Macmillan Company.

Symptoms:

The most prominent symptom of Sever's disease is heel pain which is usually aggravated by physical activity such as walking, running or jumping. I dance so I have a burning pain after I dance. You have to take it slow when you do or play a sport like football and dance.

How can this affect us?

This can a effect us because it could take time off of what we like to do and could hurt us really bad.

#achilles

Dancing

There are different way to dance Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Pointe.

Ballet dancing is a beautiful but a lot harder than you think. Ballet is a form of dance that tells a story and expresses feelings. Ballet dancing is for boys and girls, boys will get in shape and find the perfect girl to dance with. Boy must have a strong back and strong arms, but they also have to have strong leg like the girls. The girls have to have a strong core (abs), we also have to have strong arms and legs. In order to dance you have to have a good body, a lot of football players take ballet to work on there balance and strengthen there legs. Dancing takes up a lot of your time you sweat and hurt at the end you have fun anyway.

Your muscles get really BIG

How this could affect you and dancers are you could get really hurt if you don’t stretch enough and right. You have to stretch 30 mins. to a hour everyday. But in the end you have fun. You have to have a better and healthier diet.

#dance #michael clifford

“Optical Illusions”

http://www.kidzworld.com/article/25708-optical-illusions

Sometimes our eyes play tricks on us. Illusions trick us into perceiving something differently than actually exists.

“Battle of the Brain” Science helps us to talk and explain optical illusions. Scientists have determined that we have two sides of our brains that work by itself. Have you ever seen or done a picture and it looked so real you think you can just reach in a grab it? I once saw a picture that looked like it was moving.

It’s like that picture “Nanimation”. When I look at it, I feel that it is moving, but it is perfectly still. It’s amazing. When you move your eyes the picture moves with it. All you have to do to stop it from moving stare at one spot in each picture for a few seconds and everything will stop moving. OR look at the black center of each circle in the first picture.

This could affect us, how? Looking at to much could get us dizzy and sick looking at it. It made me dizzy. I couldn’t even walk straight for a minute.

#eyes

Snot

http://www.kidzworld.com/article/3267-bone-up-on-boogers

What do you call it - snot, mucus, boogers, or slime - that stuff in your nose works hard to keep you healthy. Snot is that slimy, gooey stuff that is technically known as mucus. But is snot really a bad thing, snot is a slimy, gooey green stuff in you nose called mucus. The mucus membrane lines on the inside of your nose and sinuses and secrete snot to protect your body from invaders like germs, pollen and dust. What is snot, snot is mostly water. It’s also made salt and chemicals to help it stay sticky. Snot and spit might look similar but they aren't the same stuff. Spit comes from salivary glands inside the mouth. Some people eat boogers, boogers are the hard crusty stuff the form when dirty snot dries out. PLEASE DON’T THE BOOGER!!!!! because the booger has it's also bad for you cause boogers are full of germs and other yucky things.

How this can effect us it that the snot can help not so sick and this can teach you not to eat and pick your nose. You can learn a lot about the mucus and the mucus membrane.

#snot

The Science of Weather

There may be a chance of SNOW!

It is currently 29 degree in Helena.

Meteorology is the scientific study of the the weather/atmosphere. Weather always doing something outside it is ether it’s too hot or too cold. The science behind the weather is actually very interesting. Sometimes I find myself thinking a lot about it. In Helena it is raining and sleeting the roads are very VERY slick. The news are telling people to stay off the roads and stay inside.

How this could effect us is the roads, we could get get stuck on the roads and slip off the road. A lot of people are getting hurt on the roads people getting stuck in work and grocery store. Family's are getting worried. We are praying for those family's and our family.

#snow

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