The pick of the science news
Vipers focus on victims’ image
A new study has shed some light on how various kinds of snake are able to “see” their prey at night – by building up a thermal image.
Vipers, boas and pythons can detect infrared radiation from the intended victim through holes called “pit organs” in the snake’s face.
Research published in this week’s edition of the journal Nature shows that as pit organ membranes heat up from the infrared radiation, TRP ion channels are activated in pit organ nerve cells, which allows an electrical signal to be triggered so that a snake registers the prey.
Understanding how this “sixth sense” works could have implications for military uses or in developing drugs to treat chronic pain.
Gumshoes on trail of bacteria
In future it may not just be fingerprints or DNA that give criminals away, it could even be the bacteria they leave behind.
A US study swabbed computer keyboards and mice and found that bacterial DNA on the surfaces matched well with bacterial signatures on the fingertips of the individual users.
"Each one of us leaves a unique trail of bugs behind as we travel through our daily lives," says Noah Fierer, who is a co-author on the study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“While this project is still in its preliminary stages, we think the technique could eventually become a valuable new item in the toolbox of forensic scientists,” Fierer tells the journal.
Such daily clocks may be positively a hindrance in environments where there is no reliable light/dark cycle for much of the year
– Prof Andrew Loudon from Manchester University, talking to the BBC about the discovery that reindeer in northern Norway appear to lack an internal 24-hour clock