News

For decades now I've emailed snippets of interesting online news to my son (and family). Now I regret not having shared sharing more widely. From now on I intend to post such snippets here at IonaArc, a new News post per month. Today's and the rest of January's will get posted here: if I remember, budget time, energy ...
I'm not going to bother with links: you cut and paste:

---

die-offs common
In the past eight months, the USGS has logged 95 mass wildlife die-offs in North America and that's probably a dramatic undercount, White said. The list includes 900 some turkey vultures that seemed to drown and starve in the Florida Keys, 4,300 ducks killed by parasites in Minnesota, 1,500 salamanders done in by a virus in Idaho, 2,000 bats that died of rabies in Texas, and the still mysterious death of 2,750 sea birds in California.
...
On average, 163 such events are reported to the federal government each year, according to USGS records. And there have been much larger die-offs than the 3,000 blackbirds in Arkansas. Twice in the summer of 1996, more than 100,000 ducks died of botulism in Canada.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110107/ap_on_sc/us_sci_dead_wildlife_fact_check

tears, pheromones, sexual disinterest
Emotional tears are chemically different from the reflex tears that form when you get dust in your eye. But biologists have long puzzled over the true function of emotional tears: Are they merely cathartic, or do they have some other physiological role?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110106/ap_on_sc/us_sci_tear_signals

aging bones
Bones undergo a number of changes with age, the researchers found. In both men and women, the eye sockets became wider and longer. The distance between the most prominent part of the brow to the top of the nose decreased, while the cheekbones stuck out less and the opening of the nose bones receded. Meanwhile, the lower jaw shrunk in both length and height.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20110107/sc_livescience/facialbonestructurerevealsage;_ylt=AsW9M8E7FFPZ02RM_IRRzC0PLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTNidGlzcXZmBGFzc2V0A2xpdmVzY2llbmNlLzIwMTEwMTA3L2ZhY2lhbGJvbmVzdHJ1Y3R1cmVyZXZlYWxzYWdlBHBvcwMzBHNlYwN5bl9hcnRpY2xlX3N1bW1hcnlfbGlzdARzbGsDZmFjaWFsYm9uZXN0

Whether it's the Beatles or Beethoven, people like music for the same reason they like eating or having sex: It makes the brain release a chemical that gives pleasure, a new study says.
The brain substance is involved both in anticipating a particularly thrilling musical moment and in feeling the rush from it, researchers found.
Previous work had already suggested a role for dopamine, a substance brain cells release to communicate with each other. But the new work, which scanned people's brains as they listened to music, shows it happening directly.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110109/ap_on_sc/us_sci_music_on_the_brain;_ylt=AkgEHjnAaApK6E2Ydzsd8rsPLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJxNXBocTUxBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwMTA5L3VzX3NjaV9tdXNpY19vbl90aGVfYnJhaW4EY3BvcwMxBHBvcwMxBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA3N0dWR5bG92ZW11cw--

Life on Earth has exploited just about every conceivable niche, tolerating extremes of temperature, salinity, pH and pressure. Conway Morris makes the case that Earth life thus exists close to the physical and chemical limits of life anywhere. [The Weirdest Life on Earth]
Further, Conway Morris says, evolution operates predictably, producing relatively predictable outcomes. These two suppositions argue that alien life, if it exists, should be fairly similar to terrestrial life, generating intelligent beings much like us. These aliens may look unfamiliar, but any differences would be skin-deep.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20110110/sc_space/studyifwerenotaloneweshouldfearthealiens;_ylt=AsgZ7gO6qcV9KklcQA.Kt.kPLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTM4YjVycXRmBGFzc2V0A3NwYWNlLzIwMTEwMTEwL3N0dWR5aWZ3ZXJlbm90YWxvbmV3ZXNob3VsZGZlYXJ0aGVhbGllbnMEcG9zAzcEc2VjA3luX21vc3RfcG9wdWxhcgRzbGsDc3R1ZHlpZndlMzly

Why is north up?
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/441/on-maps-why-is-north-always-up
I explained this one to my son bk when he was eight or ten years old: as we waited on the line for the ski lift. I would ask bk questions of that type, let him search for answers. One time the chair arrived and we got on: the guy on line behind us called after us: Why?!

Obese black patients receive less weight reduction and exercise advice from doctors than obese white patients, a new study finds.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20110115/hl_hsn/israceafactorinobesitycounseling;_ylt=AnA._M4_X.tUDZSm97lXEqhllpd4;_ylu=X3oDMTQxZTgxbWoxBGFzc2V0Ay9zL2hzbi8yMDExMDExNS9obF9oc24vaXNyYWNlYWZhY3Rvcmlub2Jlc2l0eWNvdW5zZWxpbmcEY2NvZGUDbXBfZWNfOF8xMARjcG9zAzEwBHBvcwMxMARzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3JpZXMEc2xrA2lzcmFjZWFmYWN0bw--

A 1997 letter from the Vatican warned Ireland's Catholic bishops not to report all suspected child-abuse cases to police — a disclosure that victims' groups described as "the smoking gun" needed to show that the church enforced a worldwide culture of covering up crimes by pedophile priests.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110118/ap_on_re_eu/eu_ireland_catholic_abuse;_ylt=AurL2F3Shel_RWDG13JqgavC9bQF;_ylu=X3oDMTNzZGRjdWM2BGFzc2V0Ay9zL2FwLzIwMTEwMTE4L2FwX29uX3JlX2V1L2V1X2lyZWxhbmRfY2F0aG9saWNfYWJ1c2UEY2NvZGUDbXBfZWNfOF8xMARjcG9zAzQEcG9zAzQEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawN2YXRpY2Fud2FybmU-