Evolution favors brainier birds. The most crowded branches of the avian tree of life generally hold the most intelligent birds because larger-brained birds split into new species faster than smaller-brained ones, according to recent work published in Evolution. “Being smart … Continue reading
Journal Club
Highlighting recently published papers selected by Academy members
Author Archives: Amy McDermott
Smarter birds speciate faster
Categories: Evolution | Journal Club
Tagged birds, diversification, evolution, intelligence, phylogenetics
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Unlocking a mystery of seed development promises fatter, oilier oilseeds
The canola cooking oil lining supermarket shelves comes from the seeds of Brassica napus, a weedy-looking plant in the mustard family. Farmers of this crop understandably want varieties that yield big, oily seeds. A recent study in The Plant Cell … Continue reading
Categories: Agriculture | Genetics | Plant Biology
Tagged Arabidopsis, Brassica napus, canola, LEC2, oilseed rape, rapeseed, UPL3
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Pollen frozen in a glacier reveals the legacy of human impacts in the heart of the Inca Empire
The Illimani glacier sits between the urban sprawl of La Paz, Bolivia, on one side, and the roads and plantations of the Amazon basin on the other. It was no doubt a very different landscape some 550 years ago, when … Continue reading
Categories: Anthropology | Ecology | Journal Club
Tagged Amazon, Andes, glacier, ice core, Inca, paleoclimatology, paleoecology, pollen analysis
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Sweeping study finds big landscape changes on the fringes of Europe’s protected areas
Quaint cobblestone towns and green pastures dot the Pyrenees Mountains, at the gates of Catalonia’s Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park. Hike a few miles into the park, though, and the Spanish landscape of trickling rivers and montane … Continue reading
Categories: Ecology | Environmental Sciences | Journal Club
Tagged buffer zone, conservation, CORINE data
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Honeybee queens influence offspring caste through egg size
Queen bees have surprising sway over the future development of their eggs, a recent study reports. The reigning bee matriarch lays larger eggs in the wax honeycomb cells where workers raise new queens as compared with the eggs laid in … Continue reading
Categories: Developmental Biology | Genetics | Journal Club
Tagged honeybee, maternal effect, queen
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Journal Club: Protozoan predators help pinpoint how evolution and ecology shape predator-prey dynamics
A hungry lynx bounds after a scampering hare. Occasionally the lynx secures its catch. Often, it doesn’t. For ecology students, this back and forth battle is the textbook example of an ecological process driving predator–prey population dynamics. The predator population … Continue reading
Categories: Ecology | Evolution | Journal Club
Tagged bacteria, eco-evolutionary, hare, Lotka-Volterra equation, lynx, predation, predator-prey population dynamics, protozoan
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Journal Club: In big advance for lab-grown organs, 3-D printing better replicates tissue complexity
The lung is a feathery web of blood vessels and air sacs that branch closely together, but never touch. They’re nestled near enough that oxygen can diffuse into the bloodstream, but far enough that blood and air flow through separate … Continue reading
Categories: Engineering | Journal Club | Medical Sciences
Tagged 3-D printing, bioengineering, lung, photoabsorber, regenerative medicine, stereolithography, tissue engineering
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Journal Club: Newly discovered ion channel gene promises disease insights
The molecular identity and precise function of a commonly expressed cell-membrane chloride channel has long been a mystery. A recent study in Science uncovers the gene responsible for the channel, potentially shedding light on its role in the body. Researchers … Continue reading
Categories: Cell Biology | Journal Club | Medical Sciences | Neuroscience
Tagged acidosis, ASIC, chloride channel, CRISPR, gated pore, heart attack, ion channel, membrane protein, PAC, stroke, TMEM206
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Journal Club: Brain scans and behavior suggest oxytocin can change perceptions of fairness
Some people are more generous in social situations—offering to cover the dinner bill for example. Others are more individualistic, preferring to keep resources for themselves. A recent study in Nature Neuroscience finds that perceptions of fairness vary from person-to-person based … Continue reading
Categories: Journal Club | Neuroscience
Tagged amygdala, fairness, orbitofrontal cortex, oxytocin, prosocial
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