What is causing the waves in California to glow? It looks like something from the movie "Avatar": ocean waters that light up like neon glow sticks when they splash. Beaches across southern California have recently been alight with eerie, glowing waves. What could be causing such an otherworldly phenomenon? A recent report by Discovery News has provided an answer. According to marine biologist Jorge Ribas, the glowing is caused by a massive red tide, or algae bloom, of bioluminescent phytoplankton called Lingulodinium polyedrum. The phenomenon has been observed on a semi-regular basis since at least 1901 along the beaches around San Diego, Calif. For surfers who don't mind catching a wave in water teeming with a sludge of microorganisms, the glowing ocean offers the chance of a lifetime. Several videos posted on YouTube show the majestic effects of the phenomenon.
Nedeljnik Vreme Miniature Chameleons Discovered—Fit on Match Tip PLANETA magazin za nauku, istraživanja i otkrića ČASOPIS PLANETA Br 49 Jozef Baruhović, Milan Dimitrijević, Milan Đurić, Filip Franeta, Ibrahim Hadżić, Mirko Jakovljević, Branka Jakšić, Ilijana Jakšić, Zoran Janjušević, Nataša Jovanović, Vladimir Jovanović, Oliver Klajn, Nadežda Krstić, Dragan Lazarević Jelisaveta Lalić, Mirjana Lukić, Borka Marinković, Zoran Matić, Vladimir Milojević, Žaneta Miljanić, Darko Mladenović, Miloš Popović, Ilja Slani, Mićo Tatalović, Miomir Tomić, Gordana Tomljenović, Zdenko Štromar. Direktor: Milan Knežević Glavni i odgovorni urednik: Aleksandar Gaon Pomoćnik glavnog urednika: Miloslav Rajković Likovno-grafički urednik: Branka Savković Fotografije: Rade Krstinić Internet: Dragan Bogdanović IZDAVAČ I OSNIVAČ : "Belmedia" d . o . o . DISTRIBUCIJA: Global Press d.o.o, Beograd, Žorža Klemansoa 24, 011/276-4538 i 276-9301 ŠTAMPA: "Batatisak", Beograd, Miloša Savkovića 4-6, 011/38 -20 -333
The Venus Project Métamorphoses de l’évolution. Le récit d’une image | L'Atelier d Illustration de couverture de la traduction hollandaise de l'ouvrage de Stephen Jay Gould, Ever Since Darwin (Honderd jaar na Darwin, 1979). Dans La Vie est belle, le paléontologue Stephen Jay Gould note que “l’iconographie au service de la persuasion frappe (…) au plus profond de notre être”. Pour introduire à une réflexion d’envergure sur l’histoire de la vie, le savant s’en prend à une illustration: la fameuse “marche du progrès”, dont il reproduit plusieurs parodies. La succession des hominidés en file indienne, “représentation archétypale de l’évolution – son image même, immédiatement saisie et instinctivement comprise par tout le monde”, propose une vision faussée d’un processus complexe. Spécialiste de l’usage des modèles évolutionnistes, Gould est conscient que “bon nombre de nos illustrations matérialisent des concepts, tout en prétendant n’être que des descriptions neutres de la nature”. Volumes de la collection Time-Life (en traductions françaises). Peu importent ces nuances.
Bees Solve Hard Computing Problems Faster Than Supercomputers We already know bees are pretty good at facial recognition, and researchers have shown they can also be effective air-quality monitors. Here's one more reason to keep them around: They're smarter than computers. Bumblebees can solve the classic "traveling salesman" problem, which keeps supercomputers busy for days. They learn to fly the shortest possible route between flowers even if they find the flowers in a different order, according to a new British study. The traveling salesman problem is an (read: very hard) problem in computer science; it involves finding the shortest possible route between cities, visiting each city only once. Bees need lots of energy to fly, so they seek the most efficient route among networks of hundreds of flowers. To test bee problem-solving, researchers Lars Chittka and Mathieu Lihoreau tested bees' response to computer-controlled artificial flowers.
Tooth decay to be a thing of the past? Enzyme responsible for dental plaque sticking to teeth deciphered The Groningen professors Bauke Dijkstra and Lubbert Dijkhuizen have deciphered the structure and functional mechanism of the glucansucrase enzyme that is responsible for dental plaque sticking to teeth. This knowledge will stimulate the identification of substances that inhibit the enzyme. Just add that substance to toothpaste, or even sweets, and caries will be a thing of the past. The results of the research have been published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The University of Groningen researchers analysed glucansucrase from the lactic acid bacterium Lactobacillus reuteri, which is present in the human mouth and digestive tract. Three dimensional structure Using protein crystallography, the researchers were able to elucidate the three dimensional (3D) structure of the enzyme. Functional mechanism The unravelling of the 3D structure provided the researchers with detailed insight into the functional mechanism of the enzyme. Inhibitors