New Findings for an old phenomenom

There is a protein for that??  

FTA:    Previous research has shown that women talk almost three times as much as men. In fact, an average woman notches up 20,000 words in a day, which is about 13,000 more than the average man. In addition, women generally speak more quickly and devote more brainpower to speaking. Yet before now, researchers haven't been able to biologically explain why this is the case.

A new study

This goes along with the previous post that Rats are different than Humans. In rats, the males have more of the protein FOXP2 and make more noise than the females. In humans, it is the female who has more of the protein.  Also correlates with which gender the mothers prefer.

Mice are very different TPT

Settled Science ISN'T.

FTA:

“Is it the same in the mouse or not?”

The group decided to look, expecting to find some similarities. But when the data were analyzed, there were none at all.

“We were kind of blown away,” Dr. Davis said. 

The drug failures became clear. For example, often in mice, a gene would be used, while in humans, the comparable gene would be suppressed. A drug that worked in mice by disabling that gene could make the response even more deadly in humans. 

...

Here is a link to the original publication in PNAS 

and comments on WUWT.

...substantially greater wildlife mortality TPT...

Oh no... The newest horror..  Cats kill Rats

Notice the article doesn't say rats... instead they use 'mammals' in the same sentence with 'cute and cuddly'.


FTA: A new study published by Nature Communications shows the adorable family pets - renown for their cute and cuddly antics - kill about 2.4 billion birds and 12.3 billion mammals each year in the United States alone.

 ... both domestic and feral cats are to blame for the massacre which is some three times worse than previously suspected...


Let's put this in a different perspective.  From this article on Rat reproductive rates,
Take the conservative estimate in all cases EXCEPT assuming all off-spring survive a full life span.. something fewer cats would make more likely.
2 rats reach reproductive maturity in 2 month. They have 6 to 12 off spring per litter and can reproduce again every 3 months. Each generation time is then about 3 months.  To make things simpler, assume the population doubles with each generation i.e. a gross underestimate..

Also assume 10 generation in 3 years instead of 12... Then 2 rats in 9 years generates 2.4 billion rats. After another year, 2047 have died of old age but another 8X have been added to the mix.

No wonder the ancient Egyptians honored and revered their cats.

Imagine what human society would be with an extra 12 billion rats and mice and their off-spring each year.

Protons are smaller TPT

Protons are smaller TPT

FTA: A team of scientists set out to find the size of protons, and in doing so have upset the current body of literature on quantum electrodynamics.

From another article: If the smaller size is correct, then there's something missing in physicists' understanding of quantum electrodynamics, which governs how light and matter interact.  

...

Chad Orzel, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at Union College and author of "How to Teach Physics to Your Dog" (Scribner, 2010), said the results are good for physics generally. "It's really boring when all the measurements and theory agree with each other. This kind of disagreement gives us something to talk about that isn't the Higgs boson."

***
Another example of 'if the debate is over, it isn't science.'

Lost worlds of South America

A new release from The Teaching Company. Very interesting with lots of 'Than Previously Thought' spread throughout the lectures.

The Amazon basin supported millions of people. Thousands of square miles of human modified landscape.

Crossing the Behring land bridge doesn't fit the data.

etc

North Star closer TPT

The North Star has moved from 434 light years as measured  in 1990 to 323 light years as measured by newer methods.  111 light years in 23 years time? Pretty fast movement. Also another indication that Science is NOT about being settled. It is constant revision as new data and methods appear.

Pygmy Whale Not Extinct as PT

FTA: "The living pygmy right whale is, if you like, a remnant, almost like a living fossil," said Felix Marx, a paleontologist at the University of Otago in New Zealand. "It's the last survivor of quite an ancient lineage that until now no one thought was around."