“Onions Made Pre-Human Ancestors Cry Too, Study Suggests (LiveScience.com via Yahoo! News)” plus 2 more |
- Onions Made Pre-Human Ancestors Cry Too, Study Suggests (LiveScience.com via Yahoo! News)
- EPA To Investigate Shale Gas Drilling Techniques (WYTV Youngstown)
- Study highlights “New Modes of Travel” (eyefortravel.com)
| Onions Made Pre-Human Ancestors Cry Too, Study Suggests (LiveScience.com via Yahoo! News) Posted: 19 Mar 2010 01:43 PM PDT The sensors in your body that make you tear up when you're cutting onions have been around for 500 million years, a new study finds. Foods like wasabi and onions, as well as substances like tear gas and cigarette smoke, contain tissue-damaging and irritating chemicals. When you get a taste or waft of the substances, a protein found throughout your body is thought to sense these irritating chemicals and send signals to your nervous system. The result is pain, which is why slicing onions makes you cry. In the new study, scientists found this chemical-sensing protein, called TRAPA1, is present in flies and for exactly the same purpose. Even more surprising, the team thinks the protein could date back millions of years to the common ancestor of all the varied creatures in the animal kingdom. "While many aspects of other chemical senses like taste and smell have been independently invented multiple times over the course of animal evolution, the chemical sense that detects these reactive compounds is different," said study author Paul Garrity, a biologist at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass. "It uses a detector we have inherited in largely unaltered form from an organism that lived a half-billion years ago, an organism that is not only our ancestor, but the ancestor of every vertebrate and invertebrate alive today." During the Cambrian Period, which lasted from 543 million to 490 million years ago, life forms included primitive marine organisms, such as echinoderms (a group that now includes sea stars and sea cucumbers), annelid worms and sponge-like organisms. History of chemical sensing Garrity and his colleagues reconstructed TRPA1's family tree back some 700 million years using a variety of bioinformatic methods (bioinformactics applies computer programs and statistic techniques to study biological data). For instance, the researchers compared the TRPA1 protein from different organisms to see how similar they were. They then used several computer programs to figure out how the proteins would relate to each other in terms of evolution. "We discovered that a new branch split off the tree at least 500 million years ago, and that this new branch, the TRPA1 branch, appeared to have had all the features needed for chemical sensing even back then," Garrity said. "Since that time, it appears that most animals, including humans, have maintained this same ancient system for detecting reactive chemicals." The ability to detect such harmful compounds, known as reactive electrophiles, would have given animals an evolutionary advantage, as they'd be able to avoid potentially toxic food or dangerous situations. Medical benefits? Since TRPA1 is so widely dispersed throughout the animal kingdom, it holds promise both as a target for therapeutics and deterrents. Further investigation might reveal new ways to turn TRPA1 off in humans to treat pain and inflammation, Garrity said. Research might also reveal how to turn the protein on in pests like malaria-carrying mosquitoes to hinder them from transmitting disease, he said. The results were published online March 17 in the journal Nature.
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| EPA To Investigate Shale Gas Drilling Techniques (WYTV Youngstown) Posted: 19 Mar 2010 09:56 AM PDT
Hundreds of newly announced valley jobs could be affected by the results of an upcoming EPA investigation into the safety of gas drilling into underground shale deposits. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it will study potential human health and water quality threats from an oil and natural gas drilling technique that injects massive amounts of water, sand and chemicals underground. Hydraulic fracturing, also known as "fracking," has become widespread and unlocked extensive natural gas reserves, but the EPA said Thursday that its $1.9 million study, expected to be done by 2012, would look at the industry's affect on groundwater, surface water, human health and the environment more generally. Drillers say the practice is safe, but concerns have mounted that unregulated fracking will taint drinking water, siphon off too The Mahoning Valley recently became the beneficiary of hundreds of millions of dollars of investment, and hundreds of intended new jobs, from companies locating or expanding in the area to supply the growing gas drilling industry. Eastern Ohio sits over the Marcellus Shale formation, an underground layer of shale thought to hold hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of recoverable natural gas, currently accessed best through hydraulic fracturing. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Study highlights “New Modes of Travel” (eyefortravel.com) Posted: 18 Mar 2010 11:28 PM PDT Social Media Strategies for Travel 2010March 24-25, San Francisco Now in its 3rd successful year this is the only event to be focused 100% on the profitable application of social media in the travel industry. Find out how to drive maximum return on your social media initiatives - we guarantee no stone will be left unturned! European Online Travel Report 3rd Edition2009-2010 This comprehensive report will help you understand the incredibly complex European online travel market and allow you to pinpoint specific growth opportunities for your travel company. Sales Management in Travel and Hospitality17-18 June 2010 As the travel consumer continues to demand more, sales teams need to perform to higher expectations than ever. This two day industry conference will provide all the necessary ingredients to learn how to thrive by using the latest technology, communications, strategies and motivational techniques, along with advice on hiring, training and working with other sectors within the company to improve sales. Travel Distribution Summit Asia 2010April 28 - 29th, 2010 Asia's trusted meeting place for all travel distribution, marketing/sales and revenue professionals. Travel Distribution Summit Europe 201017-18 June 2010 Taking the 4 cornerstones of travel commerce and placing them under one roof. Over the last 12 years, this event has consistently addressed the key issues facing the people who market, distribute, price and sell travel. It's also the best place to meet the partners and make the deals that will ensure your company becomes, or remains, an industry success story. Online Marketing Strategies for Travel 20101st Week June, Miami A must-attend event for all travel marketers. Hear real life case studies from top travel brands who have used powerful, innovative marketing strategies to boost travel sales – even when times are tough. Online Marketing & Social Media Strategies for Travel Summit 20105-6 October, Andels Hotel, Prague Formerly known as the Sales & Marketing in Travel Summit, this well established event examines key strategies to engage customers in the new media landscape. Join top travel brands who'll share insightful case studies, best practices and ideas! Travel Distribution Summit North America13-14 October, 2010 - Chicago Now in it's 12th successful year, this is THE travel industry event where the North American online travel industry meets to network, share fresh industry knowledge and learn profitable new strategies. Travel Distribution In-house Research and TrainingAvailable Now Access video footage from the world's biggest meeting of online travel and travel distribution execs. Includes more than 50 conference talks, slides and panel debates. Topics covered include online travel strategies, revenue management and ancillary revenue. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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