Super-sniffer mice can be trained to detect the bombs

Rats are known as rodents often sniff out food or crumbs. Now a study conducted to hone the rats olfactory abilities so can detect mines. The discovery of super-sniffer mice is also expected to be detect dangerous diseases. 

(Illustrated: mouse) Super-sniffer mice can be trained to detect the bombs. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1cEcVX)

The researchers at Hunter College, University of New York City, created the mice that can be tuned and have different levels of sensitivity to any odors. The nature of the actual olfactory receptors have been discovered in 1991. But now it is possible olfactory system can be used on living beings. 

Basically, the mammalian nose contains a set of sensory neurons. Each is equipped with a single chemical sensors called receptors that can detect a specific odor. According to the researchers, mice like humans, each neuron pick just one receptor. Collectively, neurons select equalization receptor, so that each of the thousands of different receptors represented around 0.1% of the neurons.

Researchers have honed a mouse’s sense of smell, so it can be tuned to detect chosen odours. Red fluorescence (left) represents super-sniffer receptors connecting to the brain in the mouse olfactory system while the green fluorescence marks all other odor receptor populations. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1cEeUj)

In an attempt to understand the mechanisms of these neurons is used to select a particular receptor. Paul Feinstein, a professor of biological sciences at Hunter Collage, tinkering with the genome of mice.

He introduced the DNA to olfactory receptor genes via injection into the nucleus of the fertilized egg. It also adds an extra string to the DNA gene sequence to see if it will change the probability of the selected genes. After several attempts, he found an string work as the extra DNA that results in a series of mice have "super olfactory."

They have increased the number of neurons expressing the receptor is selected, which has a sweet smell similar to jasmine. The researchers tested the rodents’ amplified sense of smell, by using fluorescent imaging to trace the activation of the amplified odour receptor in response to the receptor's corresponding odour.

This graphic summarises MouSensors. Scientists have increased the total number of neurons expressing specific mouse or human smell receptors  in the nose of a mouse by genetically controlling specific genes. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1cEeUj)

This test provides visual confirmation that the receptors are functional and present in larger quantities than others. In the second behavioral test, the animals are trained to avoid a disgusting smell known to bind the transgenic receptors.

"The animals could smell the odour better because of the increased presence of the receptor," said Dr D'Hulst as reported by the Daily Mail on Friday, July 8, 2016.

The team plans to commercialize the technology and has set up a company called MouSensor. And Fernstein's Lab has received funding from the US Department of Defense to develop the super-sniffer mice, so that it can be trained to detect TNT and potentially find the land mines. This could mean reducing the number of soldiers and civilians who have to take the risk of sacrificing their lifes to clear mines or navigating a mine fields. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | DAILY MAIL]

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How the whale dung allow Humans eat fish forever?

Ocean is not just a place to stay but also a toilet. A study published in the PLoS Biology journal in August 2011 revealed that about 2.2 million species, from microscopic zooplankton to one-ton creatures, living and defecating in the ocean. Among the many types of animals, whales are most abundant species to produce "garbage".

A study released in the Canadian Journal of Zoology reveals, Sei whales which can reach a length of 18 meters and weighs 45 tons to produce 627 liters of urine a day, the equivalent of 166 gallons of drinking water. Meanwhile, Fin whales along the 26 meters and weight of 72,575 kilograms of producing 974 liters or 257 gallons of urine per day. Total the sea feces has never been measured but dengam easily found at the sea surfaces. The feces of the largest mammals on Earth that has a distinctive color and a pungent odor. 

The impressive quantities of waste produced by a whale don't go to waste. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1bobpO)

Although it is a metabolic waste, urine and feces of whales useful, and makes human beings can still eat fish. Urine provide nitrogen to the environment. While feces in addition to providing nitrogen also supplies the oceans with phosphorus and iron.

Phytoplankton, a tiny sea creatures that have functions such as a tree, using the nutrients from whale waste to grow. With the nutrients, phytoplankton are able to perform photosynthesis, providing oxygen for other marine creatures, and reproduce.

Phytoplankton growth due to the dirt of whales allows marine ecosystems remain balanced. Zooplankton eat phytoplankton. Zooplankton then eaten by other bigger creatures. Thus the food chain in the oceans work.

Joe Roman, a biologist from the University of Vermont, said that the whale is "ecosystem engineers". Several species of whales prey on creatures that live in the deep sea and throw the waste of the digestive on the surface of the ocean. Whale shows the connection between deep sea creatures and surface that will not be possible to meet each other.

Today, whales are the animals that face many threats. Scientists predicted, caused a decline in whale populations would be disastrous for the organisms that depend on the waste of whales. If left unchecked, the fish stocks as a source of protein for humans in danger. Humans may be difficult to eat fish.

"Research shows that more and more whales, the population of the fish population will also increase. This is because the pope to release nutrients that sustain the life of the fish," said Ramon as quoted by LiveScience, June 25, 2016. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | LIVESCIENCE]

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Rare photographs, a Fish trapped inside the Jellyfish

A photograph captured a rare phenomenon, the fish that swim in jellyfish has become a hot issue on social media recently. And until now, the photos taken in the waters of eastern Australia that has been viewed more than two million times.

The unique photo successfully taken by a photographer Tim Samuel while swimming with a friend Franny Plumridge in the waters near the tourist resort of Byron Bay, last December. The tiny fish trapped in the body of jellyfish that are larger than its body. Facial expressions of the fish visible from the outside, because the body of jellyfish translucent. The fish looks scared and panic.

Tim Samuel was free diving in the waters off Byron Bay, near the Queensland-New South Wales border, when he noticed a jellyfish bobbing past with a fish trapped inside it. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1b4P84)

"It was trapped inside the jellyfish but it controls the movement of the jellyfish," Samuel said in his posting on Instagram. 

After his picture re-repost by an account alias @discoverocean on Monday, June 6, 2016, Samuel admitted that he got a lot of phone calls.

"When @franny.plumridge and I found it, we realized that we found something special, but we do not know if this turned out to be a rare phenomenon," he wrote.

He posted the first image in December which depicted his friend Franny Plumridge (pictured) swimming behind the unlikely duo. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1b4P84)

"I was really surprised by the many highlights from around the world," said Samuel.

Some netizens also give their own opinions. Some suspect the fish is stung by thejellyfish, while others highlight the tail still outside the body of the jellyfish, so that it can control the movement of the jellyfish.

William Gladstone, a marine life experts agree that this is indeed a rare phenomenon. Academics from the University of Technology in Sydney, told the Sydney Morning Herald, said that he had ever seen the trevally fish hiding in the jellyfish, but have never seen anything like Samuel's photo shoots. Samuel photos has been viewed 2.3 million times on the photo sharing sites, Imgur.

Samuel thought of trying to help the fish out of the body of the jellyfish. However, he decided to let nature find their own way. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | DAILY MAIL]

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Chinese scientists managed to create colorful sheep

Consumers may get more choice of natural colors for wool products, because Chinese scientists can change the color of the sheep fleece by editing the animal genes. Scientists from Urumqi, Xinjiang, managed to raise five lambs in a variety of colors by using a technique known as CRISPR-Cas9.

In Xinjiang Academy of Zootechnical Science, there are five sheep that attract attention. Two of them had color shades of black and white, the other two are black with white spots, while one sheep was brown and white like a cappuccino.

5 colorful sheep were raised at Xinjiang Academy of Zootechnical Science. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1axGj8)

"The sheep are born in March, it has become our beloved pets," said lead researcher, Liu Mingjun. And according to Liu, this is the first time scientists alter the fleece color of large animals through the CRISPR-Cas9 techniques. Previously, the experiment performed limited on mice only. 

As quoted from Xinhua on Tuesday, June 7, 2016, Liu team chose ASIP, which is a key gene to affect the color of fleece, which is used to edit the colors as their wish.

CRISPR, or Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, was chosen as the latest breakthrough in 2015 by one of the US science journal. The findings were assessed as molecular scissors that can selectively discard unwanted parts of the genome and replace it with new DNA. Meanwhile Cas9 are certain types of proteins related to CRISPR where patterns can be altered by genetic modification of the genome.

By using CRISPR-Cas9 techniques, consumers can buy wool products with more variety of color choices without having to add artificial coloring. Not only that, farmers can also order different colors according to their needs or preferences. 

"Compared with the traditional approach of gene mutations, in which researchers require decades to develop new seeds, by editing of the genes are much more effective," said Liu.

In the past year, his team has designed 38 sheep that outperformed ordinary ones in muscle and wool growth. Those animals will be studied more about the genetic stability during reproduction in the autumn of this year.. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | XINHUA]

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The world's longest insect found in China

A half-meter long insect was found in southern China, has been named as the longest insect in the world, as reported by Xinhua this week. An insect with a 62.4 centimeters long was found two years ago in the province of Guangxi.

According to the Insect Museum of West China, the animals commonly called as the stick grasshoppers, now holds the record for the longest insect are among 807,625 insect species in the world.

A stick grasshopper. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1aAVJJ)

The previous record for the longest insect in the world pinned on a stick grasshopper found in 2008 in Malaysia. Insects along the 56.7 cm, which is now on display at the National History Museum, London, England.

The longest stick grasshopper in China was found by Zhao Li, a local scientist. He was hunting insects for six years, after hearing the villagers story about the grasshopper as big as the human finger with a length of more than half a meter.

The file photo shows the world's longest insect (C) compared with other insects in size. The Insect Museum of West China in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, told Xinhua Thursday that a 62.4-cm-long stick insect found during a field inspection in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in 2014 has broken the record for length for all 807,625 insects discovered so far. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1aAV89)

"I'm collecting insects in a mountain height of 1,200 meters in the city of Liuzhou, Guangxi on August 16, 2014, when a black shadow appeared in the distance. It is similar to tree branches," said Zhao.

The file photo shows the world's longest insect on the forearm of an adult. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1aAV89)

"I approached it and was surprised, because the legs of a giant insect that even as long as the body of the animal itself," he added.

The stick grasshopper was then named Phryganistria chinensis Zhao, in honor of the inventor himself. A scientific review of the insects will also be published soon. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | XINHUA]

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This is the largest creature on Earth that is still alive today

In the wild, the largest creatures on the Earth, turn out are gentle creatures, and not dangerous. Yes, the blue whales or Balaenoptera musculus, the sea creatures are believed to be the biggest living beings who ever lived on the planet, even bigger than the biggest dinosaurs.

The largest blue whale ever recorded weighed 181 tons and a length of 33 meters. If placed on the ground, the blue whale is equal to a length of 9 family cars! And the heart size of the sea mamals is similar to the size of a car, with the blood vessels was big too, so that we could swim in it.

Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1ZwX7w)

Imagine if we sail in the ocean for the first time, exploring the places that we have never seen, and suddenly at beside the ship, we saw blue whales come to the surface, and its size turned out to be more length than the ship that we were riding.

Maybe we will be afraid, especially perhaps because we have never seen a living creature with a size so large, we also do not know, what this giant sea creatures could do, whether it can flip over the ship and feed on humans. In fact, we need not fear with this giant sea creature.

The size comparison of some whale species. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1ZwXzs)

The staple food of blue whales is krill, though they also eat copepods in small quantities. Zooplankton species is eaten by various blue whales from one ocean to another. In the North Atlantic, Meganyctiphanes norvegica, Thysanoessa raschii, Thysanoessa inermis and Thysanoessa longicaudata were their common foods. While in the South Pacific, Euphausia pacifica, Thysanoessa inermis, Thysanoessa longipes, Thysanoessa spinifera, Nyctiphanes simplex dan Nematoscelis megalops. And in the Antarctic, they ate  Euphausia superba, Euphausia crystallorophias dan Euphausia vallentini.

An adult blue whale can eat up as much as 40 million krill per day. They always ate in areas with high concentrations of krill, so sometimes it takes approximately 3,600 kilograms (7,900 lbs) of krill in a single day. Blue whales filling their bellies in waters rich in krill in the Antarctic before migrating to breeding grounds in warmer waters and less rich in krill near the equator.

Perhaps one of the most spectacular of the blue whales are the sounds they make. Researchers have measured the low-frequency sounds produced by blue whales to communicate with each other using the decible-meter devices.

Some of their vocalizations have been recorded as loud as 188 decibels and can be heard as far as 848 km! Wow, just for comparison, the sound of jet aircraft that was taking off is 120 decibels. Thus, we can conclude that the blue whale is a living creature that is able to produce the loudest sound in the world.

Why the Blue Whale can be sized so big? So far, researchers still are not sure why, but they believe with certainty that any of the dinosaurs in the past, they never reached the size of a blue whale. This is the greatest living creature that has ever lived on the Earth, and is still alive today.

One important reason why whales can reach large sizes is that they have a large living space, a large area to move around and explore. Because more than 70% of the Earth is water.

Now, we get to know that the blue whales are completely harmless to humans, and in fact, they have something in common with the human, that they are the warm-blooded mammals who must breathe with the air.

They are also social animals with complex language and intelligence. And most importantly, the blue whales are not a monster at all, they are a gentle giant that we must respect, admire, and protect. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC INDONESIA]

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