“Space Invader” -A Genetic Paradigm Shift 30-Million Years Ago Discovered

We’re talking about a paradigm shift because, until now, horizontal transfer has been seen as very rare in animal species. It’s actually a lot more common than we think. It’s like a pandemic, and one that can infect species that weren’t genetically or geographically close. It’s puzzling, scary almost,“ Cédric Feschotte of the University of Texas

Foreign genetic elements have integrated themselves into the genomes of several mammalian and reptilian species via horizontal transfer, rather than by traditional vertical inheritance, according to a recent study. 

Cédric Feschotte of the Univesrsity of Texas at Arlington and colleagues discovered previously uncharacterized elements of the hAT (hobo/Activator/Tam3) transposon superfamily, which they dubbed “space invaders.” Feschotte says that what he calls space invader tranposons jumped sideways millions of years ago into several species by piggybacking onto a virus.

The team thinks that the hAT transposon invasion occurred about 30 million years ago and spread across at least two continents. “It’s like a pandemic, and one that can infect species that weren’t genetically or geographically close. It’s puzzling, scary almost,” Feschotte said in an interview with New Science.

In most organisms, genes are inherited or passed along from parent to offspring. Lateral or horizontal transfer of genetic information, which is central to the evolution of simple prokaryotic organisms, occurs when non-native genetic elements incorporate themselves into a host genome. These elements are typically delivered via viruses, circular loops of DNA called plasmids, or transposons, which are small sequences of mobile DNA.

The researchers discovered the elements while surveying DNA transposons in the bushbaby, a nocturnal primate, and, after further examination, found the invaders in other species, including rats and mice, opossum, and the African clawed frog. Space invaders were not present, however, in the genomes of many other vertebrate species. These infiltrations, the authors say, are the first report of horizontal transfers of transposons in mammalian species, and likely occurred around the same time frame in affected species approximately 15 to 46 million years ago.

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/05/space-invaders.html#more

Old Genes Can Learn New Tricks, Horned Beetles Show

A popular view among evolutionary biologists that fundamental genes do not acquire new functions has been challenged by a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Indiana University Bloomington biologist Armin Moczek and research associate Debra Rose report that two ancient genes were “co-opted” to help build a new trait in beetles — the fancy antlers that give horned beetles their name. The genes, Distal-less and homothorax, touch most aspects of insect larval development, and have therefore been considered off-limits to the evolution of new traits.

In the two horned beetle species Moczek and Rose studied, the genetic sequences of Distal-less and homothorax were hardly different, suggesting the two genes have retained their unique identities because of selective pressures not to change. What changed was not the genes themselves, but when and where they are turned on.

“Evolutionary biologists have a good idea of what it takes to change the shape of a wing, the length of a leg, or the anatomy of an eye,” Moczek said. “What we have struggled with, though, is how these traits originate in the first place. How do you evolve that first wing, limb or photoreceptor from a flightless, limbless and blind ancestor?”

To investigate these questions, Moczek and Rose examined three development genes that are so old, all insects have them: Distal-less, homothorax and a third, dachshund. The genes were first characterized in fruit flies, and are categorized as “upstream” regulatory genes because they influence a wide variety of genetic processes in insect cells, such as the development of legs, antennae and wings. Moczek said that in horned beetles, each of the three genes is likely to have hundreds to thousands of downstream targets.

A tenuous consensus among evolutionary biologists was that such genes — upon which so many different and important processes depend — could not be easily modified, because any modification would affect countless aspects of the insect’s development, any one of which could be bad for the individual insect, reducing its fitness relative to its peers.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090511180655.htm

Bacteria Create Aquatic Superbugs In Waste Treatment Plants

For bacteria in wastewater treatment plants, the stars align perfectly to create a hedonistic mating ground for antibiotic-resistant superbugs eventually discharged into streams and lakes.

In the first known study of its kind, Chuanwu Xi of the University of Michigan School of Public Health and his team sampled water containing the bacteria Acinetobacter at five sites in and near Ann Arbor’s wastewater treatment plant.

They found the so-called superbugs—bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics—up to 100 yards downstream from the discharge point into the Huron River. Xi stresses that while the finding may be disturbing, it is important to understand that much work is still needed to assess what risk, if any, the presence of superbugs in aquatic environments poses to humans.

“We still need to understand the link between aquatic and human multiple drug resistant bacteria,” said Xi, assistant professor of public health.

Xi and colleagues found that while the total number of bacteria left in the final discharge effluent declined dramatically after treatment, the remaining bacteria was significantly more likely to resist multiple antibiotics than bacteria in water samples upstream. Some strains resisted as many as seven of eight antibiotics tested. The bacteria in samples taken 100 yards downstream also were more likely to resist multiple drugs than bacteria upstream.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090512193238.htm

HDMI 1.4 brings internet sharing, dreadful tiers of quality

Okay, so there’s good news and bad news. Given that we just love to tease, we’ll start you off with the positives. HDMI 1.4 was just revealed, bringing with it an HDMI Ethernet Channel (HEC) that enables data transfers of up to 100 Mbps between supported connected devices. Put simply, this could allow a “broadband-connected television using its HEC-enabled HDMI port to provide internet connection sharing with another HEC-enabled device such as a game console or DVR.” Furthermore, the spec’s Audio Return Channel (ARC) enables broadcast audio to be easily streamed back to an external amplifier, and the Automatic Content Enhancement (ACE) provides support for “future 3D video standards, increased resolution support (up to 4,096 x 2,160 pixels at up to 30Hz), and content recognition that promises to automatically optimize the TV’s picture settings based on content type.”

The bad news? HEC will only work with new HDMI 1.4 spec cables, and those will be graded into two separate levels of performance: low- and high-data rate. We needn’t describe to you what kind of ball Monster Cable is going to have with that one, but even outside of that, we’re baffled by the decision to add one more complexity to a cable that should seriously be doing everything in its power to not be overshadowed by DisplayPort. At any rate, we’re told that Silicon Image is hoping to ship chip samples to manufacturers in Q2 2009, while HDMI 1.4-enabled products could arrive as early as next year. We aren’t holding our breath, but we’ll gladly eat crow if need be.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/14/hdmi-1-4-brings-internet-sharing-dreadful-tiers-of-quality/

IEA: Little gadgets consume gigawatts of power

Without more efficient consumer electronics, the world will need to build hundreds of gigawatts worth of new power plants to run the exploding number of electronic gadgets, according to the International Energy Agency.

The Paris-based energy industry watchdog on Wednesday published its “Gadgets and Gigawatts” report, saying that consumer electronics already account for 15 percent of households’ electricity bills and is rising rapidly.

Around the world, a growing number of people are acquiring electronics, from mobile phones to televisions, which means the total amount of electricity from electronics is poised to explode in the next two decades.

The IEA estimates that the yearly energy consumed from IT and consumer electronics is on pace to double by 2020 and triple by 2030 to 1,700 terawatt-hours. That would be the equivalent of the combined residential electricity consumption of Japan and the United States in a year.

It’s clear that there is technology available to make devices more energy efficient, the IEA said. Because consumers want a long run-time, mobile devices are already more efficient than appliances that run from outlets.

“This example shows us what can be achieved. Where no such commercial drivers exist, governments must step in to ensure that we make the most of every energy efficiency opportunity,” IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka said in a statement.

He said that governments should “urgently implement” energy-efficiency policies. The biggest opportunity for energy savings improvements from consumer electronics companies is “making hardware and software work together more effectively to ensure that energy is only used when, and to the extent needed,” the IEA said

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10240088-54.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0

http://www.enn.com/energy/article/39903

Star Crust is Ten Billion Times Stronger Than Steel

The Man of Steel has nothing on the collapsed cores of massive snuffed-out stars, scientists say.

A new computer model suggests that the outer crusts of so-called neutron stars are the strongest known material in the universe.

To determine the breaking point of a neutron star’s crust, the team modeled magnetic field stresses and crust deformation for a small region of the star’s surface.

The results showed that the crust of a neutron star can withstand a breaking strain up to ten billion times the pressure it would take to snap steel.

“It sounds dramatic, but it’s true,” said study team member Charles Horowitz of Indiana University.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/090513-strong-star-crust.html

Ancient Elite Island With Pyramid Found in Mexico

An island for ancient elites that includes a treasury and a small pyramid (pictured) has been found in central Mexico, archaeologists said in May 2009. 

An island for ancient elites has been found in central Mexico, archaeologists say. Among the ruins are a treasury and a small pyramid that may have been used for rituals.

The island, called Apupato, belonged to the powerful Tarascan Empire, which dominated much of western Mexico from A.D. 1400 to 1520, before the European conquest of the region.

“Because Apupato was an island and relatively unsettled, it is a neat window into how the [Lake Pátzcuaro] basin looked like years ago,” said Christopher Fisher, lead investigator and archaeologist at Colorado State University.

“If you would paddle up to the island [during the time], you would see a number of buildings, some temples with smoke coming out of them from rituals, and a small village of specialized people—priests, elites,” Fisher said.

The Purépecha people—named Tarascan by the Spanish—were formidable enemies with their neighbors, the Aztec. From their powerful capital city and religious center Tzintzuntzan, the Tarascans successfully thwarted every attack by the Aztec.

Tarascan people valued such products as honey, cotton, feathers, and salt, and they often expanded into neighboring lands in search of these goods.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/090513-mexico-ritual-island.html