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By Stephen Luntz
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Browse in Brief
By Stephen Luntz
Brief bites of science news for subscribers only.
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Protein Is the Key to Weight Loss
By Stephen Luntz
A new line of evidence has been produced to support the theory that overeating is largely driven by inadequate protein content in the modern diet.
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Fish Slimed to Death
By Stephen Luntz
Hagfish filmed choking predators with noxious slime.
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Cane Toads Are Their Own Worst Enemy
By Stephen Luntz
An alarm pheromone released by cane toads could be the key to their control.
So far cane toads have survived everything that humans and the Australian environment have thrown at them in their quest to conquer the continent’s north. However, it seems one creature can subjugate the invader: the cane toads themselves.
“Cane toads are different from native Australian frogs in their possession of a sophisticated communication system used by tadpoles,” says Prof Rick Shine of the University of Sydney.
Parrot Infanticide Favours the Female Chicks
By Stephen Luntz
Eclectus parrots are one of only three species known to engage in sex-selective infanticide.
Aspects of the remarkable sex-selection behaviour of maternal Eclectus parrots have been explained in Current Biology, but tantalising mysteries remain.
The parrot, which is native to Cape York and Papua New Guinea, will sometimes kill its offspring. “It’s interesting in itself because infanticide is weird – why do you have babies and then kill them?” asks lead author Prof Robert Heinsohn of the Australian National University.
Video Violence Lowers Self-Esteem
By Stephen Luntz
People see themselves as less humane after playing the violent games.
Participation in violent video games makes people rate themselves lower on measures of humanity than playing non-violent games like online tennis, a paper in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology reports.
Party Drug Lights Up Rodent Brains
By Stephen Luntz
The effects on rats of mephedrone, better known as the party drug meow meow, indicate that for once the hype about a drug’s addictive effects might be accurate.
University of Sydney PhD student Craig Motbey used protein tracking to determine the parts of the rat brain activated by mephedrone. “When you look at the pattern of neurons activated by the mephedrone, it is as if the effect of ecstasy and the effect of methamphetamine on the brain’s neurons had been laid on top of each other,” he says.
“The findings confirm the anecdotal reports from mephedrone users that the drug combines the euphoric, sociable effects of ecstasy with an addictive hook comparable to drugs such as that
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By Stephen Luntz
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