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Jul302021 by adminNo Comments

Without genetic variation, asexual invasive species have to find other ways to adapt

Science

July 30 (UPI) -- Invasive all-female weevils pass along epigenetic changes to their offspring, helping them adapt to new environs, according to a new study. Across most of the animal kingdom, an organism's ability to adapt and evolve is largely dependent on genetic variation. Sufficient genetic diversity makes it more likely that favorable traits will emerge and proliferate as the fittest specimens populate subsequent generations. Some species, however, reproduce asexually, which means their genetic reservoir is limited. So how do they adapt to new environs? To find out, researchers collected specimens of two asexually reproducing, invasive weevil species, Naupactus cervinus and N. leucoloma, from Florida, California and Argentina. Despite sharing the exact same DNA, research...

Jan132021 by adminNo Comments

Social networks explain why independent cultures interpret the world in similar ways

Science

Jan. 13 (UPI) -- How can cultures that developed on opposite sides of the world come to similar understandings about colors, shapes, familial relationships and other categorical systems? The traditional explanation for this cross-cultural continuity is that humans are born with categories wired into their brains. Advertisement Researchers with the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, however, have an alternative explanation. It's not the human brain, exactly, that yields categorical consensus across disparate groups, researchers contend in a new paper, published in the journal Nature Communications, but the dynamics of consensus building among large groups of people. The phenomenon of "category convergence" has long been recognized by archaeologists in th...

Jan22021 by adminNo Comments

Five ways to reduce your carbon footprint

Science

We need to drastically cut our carbon emissions to reduce the harmful impacts of climate change. Global leaders have set targets to reach net zero emissions by the second half of this century. That means putting the same amount of greenhouse gases into the air as we take out. .css-po6dm6-ItalicText{font-style:italic;}BBC Minute’s Olivia Le Poidevin reports.Let's block ads! (Why?) BBC News - Science & Environment

Oct282020 by adminNo Comments

4 ways wealthy families are trying to head off heftier estate taxes under a Biden administration

Finance

Tom Merton | OJO Images | Getty ImagesWith the election less than a week away, the phones are ringing off the hook for estate planning attorneys and accountants.That's because wealthy families fear that an overhaul of the estate and gift tax exemption — the amount of assets they can transfer without a 40% levy — is just around the corner."For tax nerds, it's like our Super Bowl," said Alison Hutchinson, managing director at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York. "There are lots of conversations with people who are interested in getting everything set up and ready to go."In 2018, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act roughly doubled the amount wealthy individuals could transfer either over their lifetime or in a bequest without being subject to the 40% estate or gift tax. In 2020, it's sitting at $ 11....

Oct52020 by adminNo Comments

NASA, space industry seek new ways to cope with space debris

Science

Oct. 5 (UPI) -- NASA's official watchdog panel has renewed calls for the agency to move faster on a plan to better track and mitigate dangers posed by orbiting debris in space. Members of NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel said during a regular meeting last week that the agency has made some progress, but it needs to focus on space debris as a top priority. Advertisement At stake is the safety of astronauts, anyone going into space on planned private missions and the nation's growing fleet of satellites used for national security, communications and scientific observation. Because debris orbits at thousands of miles per hour, even tiny pieces of space trash can puncture spacecraft. The panel's comments came on the heels of NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine telling a Senate Committee...