World’s Rarest Wolf Threatened by Rabies

Rabid domestic dogs are endangering the world’s rarest canid, the Ethiopian wolf. The Ethiopian wolf population has dwindled to about 500, and rabies could kill up to two-thirds of the remaining animals. An outbreak of the viral disease in 1990 reduced the largest known Ethiopian wolf population, found in the Bale Mountains National Park, from about 440 to less than 160 in just two weeks. In an effort to stem the spread of the disease, scientists are now trapping the wolves and vaccinating them before releasing them back into the wild.

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World’s Rarest Wolf Threatened by Rabies

World’s Rarest Wolf Threatened by Rabies

Rabid domestic dogs are endangering the world’s rarest canid, the Ethiopian wolf. The Ethiopian wolf population has dwindled to about 500, and rabies could kill up to two-thirds of the remaining animals. An outbreak of …

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World’s Rarest Wolf Threatened by Rabies

Rare Wolf Threatened by Rabies

Rabid domestic dogs are endangering one of the world’s rarest canids, the Ethiopian wolf. The Ethiopian wolf population has dwindled to about 500, and rabies could kill up to two-thirds of the remaining animals. An outbreak of the viral disease in 1990 reduced the largest known Ethiopian wolf population, found in the Bale Mountains National Park, from about 440 to less than 160 in just two weeks. In an effort to stem the spread of the disease, scientists are now trapping the wolves and vaccinating them before releasing them back into the wild.

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Rare Wolf Threatened by Rabies

Headphones Endanger Heart Patients

While MP3 players themselves appear to pose no danger to people who have implantable defibrillators and pacemakers regulating their heartbeats, researchers believe that the small, strong magnets found in the music players’ headphones could interfere with these medical devices. Nearly 25% of patients tested in a recent study experienced interference when headphones were placed on their chests, within 1.2 inches of their heart devices. Researchers warn patients never to place headphones in a shirt or coat pocket near the chest, drape them over their shoulders, or allow someone listening to an MP3 player to rest his head on their chest.

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Headphones Endanger Heart Patients

Twenty Killed in Russian Submarine Disaster

Twenty people died on Saturday in Russia’s worst naval accident since a nuclear submarine sank and killed all 118 crew members in 2000. While it was being field tested in the Sea of Japan over the weekend, the submarine’s automatic firefighting system was unexpectedly triggered, causing a fire suppressant gas that displaces breathable oxygen to be released. Most of the dead were civilian members of the shipyard crew, and some speculate that they may have not known how to react when the gas was released. It is unclear why the portable breathing gear typically issued to Russian submarine crews did not save them, and an investigation into the incident is underway.

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Twenty Killed in Russian Submarine Disaster

Nerve Regrowth Stimulated in Mice Brains

When nerve fibers in the peripheral nervous system are severed, they can regrow and repair themselves; but those in the central nervous system, which consists of the brain and spinal cord, do not regenerate. Thus, spinal and brain injuries often result in permanent deficits and paralysis. By blocking proteins believed to keep nerve growth in check, however, researchers were able to stimulate nerve regrowth in mice with damaged optic nerves in just two weeks. A number of inhibitory factors have been linked to the prevention of nerve regrowth, but in this experiment, the mice were genetically engineered to lack just the PTEN and TSC1 proteins.

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Nerve Regrowth Stimulated in Mice Brains

Bullies Pleased When Witnessing Pain

A small study of aggressive teenage boys found that contrary to the popular notion that bullies are cold and unfeeling, they actually experience a good deal of emotion when witnessing others in pain. While imaging the brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers exposed eight 16- to 18-year-old boys with aggressive conduct disorder to videos of someone inflicting pain on another. Surprisingly, the boys showed increased activity in the amygdala and ventral striatum, areas of the brain linked to feelings of reward, and showed little activity in those areas of the brain involved in self-regulation.

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Bullies Pleased When Witnessing Pain

Drug Tricks Body into Burning Fat

French researchers have announced that the SRT1720 drug, which mimics the health-boosting compound resveratrol found in red wine, can trick the body into burning fat. The potent drug targets the SIRT1 protein and shifts the metabolism to a fat-burning mode that normally takes over only when energy levels are low. Mice fed a high-fat diet and given a low dose of SRT1720 were partially protected from weight gain, while at higher doses the drug completely prevented weight gain. The experimental drug may also help ward off type 2 diabetes by improving blood …

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Drug Tricks Body into Burning Fat

Could Mammoths Roam the Earth Again?

Researchers in Japan have developed a new cloning technique that could one day bring extinct species back to life. When cells are frozen, they burst, damaging the DNA inside. Previously, scientists believed that the nuclei of frozen cells were too degraded to be used in cloning. However, Japanese researchers have for the first time successfully cloned mice from specimens that had been frozen for 16 years. Though DNA specimens taken from mammoth carcasses preserved in the Siberian permafrost have been highly degraded, this cloning technique …

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Could Mammoths Roam the Earth Again?

Women’s Hands Harbor More Bacteria

According to researchers, the typical human hand is home to more than 150 species of bacteria, a far higher number than previously thought. The study identified 4,742 types of bacteria thriving on 51 pairs of hands. Only 5 bacterial species were shared by all participants. On average, women carried 50% more species of bacteria on their hands than men, possibly due to the fact that men’s skin is generally more acidic and less welcoming to bacteria. Women’s use of moisturizers and cosmetics may also be a factor.

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Women’s Hands Harbor More Bacteria

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