Designer babies may explain insect sociality

Feb. 3, 2013 ? Being able to choose the sex of their babies may be the key to the complex societies built by ants, bees, and wasps, according to Oxford University scientists.

The researchers calculated the evolutionary costs and benefits to insect mothers of choosing the sex of their offspring and showed that, if females help out with bringing up babies, then mothers prefer to have daughters rather than sons -- leading to a large workforce of female helpers.

Their findings could also help to explain why termites, alone among social insects, have complex societies with a roughly equal balance of males and females: because in termite society both males and females help to raise offspring.

A report of the research is published in the March issue of the journal The American Naturalist.

'In social ants, bees, and wasps, mothers can decide the sex of their offspring by controlling which of their eggs get fertilized by sperm,' said Dr Andy Gardner of Oxford University's Department of Zoology, an author of the report. 'Fertilized eggs develop as daughters, and unfertilized eggs develop as sons. It's the daughters who do all the work in the colony, so this special ability means that the mother can raise a female workforce without wasting resources on relatively useless males.'

Previously, the sociality of ants, bees and wasps has been attributed to the curious fact that, in these species, a female is genetically more similar to her sisters than she is to her own daughters -- the so-called 'haplodiploidy hypothesis'.

However, this genetic quirk does not occur in termites, which have also evolved elaborate societies. 'The failure of the haplodiploidy hypothesis to explain the sociality of termites is one of the reasons why it has gradually fallen out of favour since being proposed in the 1960s' said Dr Gardner.

Co-author Laura Ross of Oxford University's Department of Zoology points out that termite sociality is, however, fully consistent with the new 'sex-ratio adjustment' hypothesis:

'Termites are the exception that proves the rule. They can't bias the sex ratio towards females, but they don't need to, because the males do as much work as the females in their societies. We suggest that the ability and need for sex ratio adjustment explains why some insects have evolved advanced eusociality and why other insects have not.'

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Oxford.

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Journal Reference:

1. Andy Gardner, Laura Ross. Haplodiploidy, Sex-Ratio Adjustment, and Eusociality. The American Naturalist, 2013; : E000 DOI: 10.1086/669147

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/PC8BLJc0w5s/130203085411.htm

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Solar development absorbing Calif. farmland

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) ? There's a land rush of sorts going on across the nation's most productive farming region, but these buyers don't want to grow crops. They want to plant solar farms.

With California mandating that 33 percent of electricity be generated from renewables by the end of the decade, there are 227 proposed solar projects in the pipeline statewide. Coupled with wind and other renewables they would generate enough electricity to meet 100 percent of California's power needs on an average summer day, the California Independent System Operator says.

And new applications for projects keep arriving.

Developers are flocking to flat farmland near power transmission lines, but agriculture interests, environmental groups and even the state are concerned that there is no official accounting of how much of this important agricultural region's farmland is being taken out of production.

""We've been trying to get a handle on the extent of this for quite a while now," said Ed Thompson of American Farmland Trust, which monitors how much of the nation's farmland is absorbed by development.

The California Department of Conservation, which is supposed to track development on privately held farmland, has been unable to do so because of staff and funding reductions, officials say.

"I'd love to say we have all of that information, but we really don't," said Molly Penberth, manager of the land resource protection division. "We're going to play catch up getting that information, particularly in the San Joaquin Valley."

Planning department records in four of the valley's biggest farming counties show about 100 solar generation plants already proposed on roughly 40,000 acres, or about the equivalent of 470 Disneyland theme parks. Planners in Fresno County say their applications for solar outnumber the ones they received for housing developments during the boom days.

Solar developers have focused on the southern San Joaquin Valley over the past three years for the same reason as farmers: flat expanses of land and an abundance of sunshine. Land that has been tilled most often has fewer issues with endangered species than places such as the Mojave Desert, where an endangered tortoise slowed solar development on federal land.

Much of the solar development is proposed for Kern, Tulare, Fresno and Kings counties, which are home to more than 400 crops that pump $30 billion into the economy and help sustain U.S. food security.

In January, the farmland trust released a report projecting that by 2050 more than 570,000 acres across the region could be lost to development as the Central California population explodes. Farmland losses due to housing, solar development, a warming climate, cyclical drought and ongoing farm water rationing to protect endangered fish, plus the state's signature transportation project ? the High Speed Rail ? are all issues the trust is trying to monitor.

"These are things that don't make headlines, but come under the category that you don't know what you've got until it's gone," Thompson said.

No statewide plan or policy exists to direct projects to areas where land is marginal for farming and power transmission lines exist or can be easily routed, though groups as diverse as the Defenders of Wildlife and the independent state oversight agency Little Hoover Commission have issued studies calling for one.

Projects are approved by elected county boards of supervisors, or if larger than 50 MW, the California Energy Commission.

"There's no consistent approach" county to county in deciding what gets approved on farmland, said Kate Kelly, a planning consultant who is studying the environmental impact of valley projects for Defenders of Wildlife.

While one of the nation's leading solar trade groups has not taken an official position on conversion of farmland to solar, Katherine Gensler of the Solar Energy Industries Association says more thought must go into location.

The largest solar facility operating so far covers 500 acres 60 miles northwest of Bakersfield and produces enough electricity for 36,000 homes.

Just three weeks into 2013, five valley farmers have told the Department of Conservation that they want to cancel low agriculture tax rate contracts to develop solar on their property. None takes advantage of a year-old law making it easier to cancel on marginal land, Penberth said.

County boards of supervisors are attracted to the promise of clean energy construction jobs. Some of the projects are on prime land as small as 20 acres, some on habitat shared by threatened or endangered species such as the kit fox, Swainson's hawk and blunt nose lizard. The 9,000-acre Maricopa Sun project in western Kern County is on prime land that the county says lacks a reliable water supply.

Almost always developers chose sites because there's a willing seller in the vicinity of existing transmission lines, experts say.

Transmission is the biggest reason for the holdup of a massive project that energy planners, agriculture interests and environmentalists agree is perfectly situated ? the Westlands Solar Park in remote Kings and Fresno counties. It's planned for 47 square miles of farmland fallowed because of high levels selenium in the soil.

Developers say the project ultimately could provide 2.7 gigawatts of electricity ? enough for 2.7 million homes. But the wait for approval from the California Independent System Operator to tap into transmission lines for a large project proved too long so they got out. For now.

"We realized it would be a seven-to-10 year process," said Joshua Martin, the solar company's chief financial officer. "We could easily have spent $7 million in fees to stay in line, but it doesn't make good business sense. It's a messy market right now and things need to calm down."

Ten years might be wishful thinking. An email the ISO sent to stakeholders on Jan. 18 said that it could be 12 years or longer before the needed upgrades in transmission infrastructure could be complete for solar projects currently waiting for transmission hookups in the Fresno area.

Westlands Solar Park is betting that environmental obstacles and connection costs will force many of the projects in the pipeline statewide to be abandoned. But what they're hoping in the meantime is that state regulators eventually will direct solar development away from prime farmland.

Next month the California Energy Commission is set to make a move in that direction with adoption of a report that will recommend a coordinated approach placing solar in "zones with minimal environmental or habitat value," near existing or planned electric system infrastructure. The agency would also collaborate with the Department of Conservation to identify areas of the state with marginal land.

Martin says the move likely is too late to help the projects that are stalled and in danger of missing out on federal tax incentives that expire in 2016.

"Someone needs to take a role and say what lines should be built and which aren't in the state's best interest," said Martin. "So far we have been underwhelmed."

____

Reach Tracie Cone on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/TConeAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-02-Solar%20Land%20Rush/id-534ce0151fdc40bda91760c9b790984b

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North Korea threatens US over rockets launches

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? North Korea is threatening to retaliate for what it calls U.S. double standards over recent rocket launches by Pyongyang and U.S. ally Seoul.

A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman did not elaborate on what that might entail in his comments Saturday to the official Korean Central News Agency. But Pyongyang has recently threatened to conduct its third nuclear test in response to what it calls U.S. hostility.

Washington says Seoul's rocket launch Wednesday had no military intent while Pyongyang's in December was a test of banned ballistic missile technology.

The U.N. Security Council has imposed new sanctions on Pyongyang for its launch. Pyongyang says it should be allowed to launch satellites for peaceful purposes.

Both Koreas say their satellites are working properly. U.S. experts say Pyongyang's satellite is apparently malfunctioning.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-threatens-us-over-rockets-launches-050743466.html

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Violent Egypt protests leave one dead, dozens hurt

CAIRO/PORT SAID, Egypt (Reuters) - At least one protester was shot dead and dozens wounded on Friday when riot police clashed with demonstrators demanding the overthrow of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi.

Youths threw petrol bombs and shot fireworks at the outer wall of Mursi's Cairo presidential compound as night fell. Police responded by firing water cannon and teargas leading to skirmishes in the surrounding streets.

Two witnesses said they had seen a protester shot dead in Cairo with live ammunition in front of them.

"It's verified. I am at the morgue. He was shot with two bullets, and that's the report of the hospital. The shots were in the neck and the right side of the chest," said one of the witnesses, lawyer Ragia Omran. Medical and security sources confirmed Mohamed Hussein Qurany, 23, was killed with live bullets.

The head of Egypt's ambulance service said at least 54 people had been wounded across the country, mostly in Cairo.

The renewed violence brought an end to a few days of calm after the deadliest week of Mursi's seven months in power.

Protests marking the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak have killed nearly 60 people since January 25, prompting the head of the army to warn this week that the state was on the verge of collapse.

The head of the Republican Guard, which protects the palace, condemned what he described as attempts to climb the compound walls and storm a gate. In a statement to the state news agency, he urged protesters to keep their demonstration peaceful.

With multi-colored fireworks bouncing off their shields and bursting among them, helmeted and baton-wielding riot police chased protesters at the palace and set their tents ablaze. Petrol bombs briefly set fire to a building inside the compound.

Footage aired by al-Hayat private television showed half a dozen helmeted riot police surrounding a prone man, beating him with truncheons as he lay on the ground beside an armored vehicle near the palace.

Activists quickly posted the pictures online with comments including "As if the revolution never happened".

The protesters accuse Mursi of betraying the spirit of the revolution by concentrating too much power in his own hands and those of his Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood accuses the opposition of trying to overthrow the first democratically elected leader in Egypt's 5,000-year history.

Mohamed Ahmed, 26, protesting at the presidential palace, said: "I am here because I want my rights, the ones the revolution called for and which were never achieved."

There were also scuffles earlier near Cairo's central Tahrir Square, where police fired teargas at stone-throwing youths. In Alexandria, protesters blocked roads, staged a sit-in on the railway and tried to break into the TV and radio building.

Earlier, men dressed in mourning black marched through the Suez Canal city of Port Said, scene of the worst bloodshed of the past eight days, chanting and shaking their fists.

"There is no God but God and Mohamed Mursi is the enemy of God," they chanted. Brandishing portraits of those killed in recent days, they shouted: "We will die like they did, to get justice!"

For the Port Said marchers, Friday was also the first anniversary of a soccer stadium riot that killed 70 people last year. Death sentences handed down on Saturday against 21 Port Said men over the riots helped fuel the past week's violence there, which saw dozens shot dead in clashes with police.

VIOLENCE DISAVOWED

Friday's marches took place despite an intervention by Ahmed al-Tayyeb, head of the 1,000-year-old al-Azhar university and mosque, who hauled in politicians for crisis talks on Thursday where they signed a charter disavowing violence. Mursi's foes said the pact did not require them to call off demonstrations.

"We brought down the Mubarak regime with a peaceful revolution and are determined to realize the same goals in the same way, regardless of the sacrifices or the barbaric oppression," tweeted Mohamed ElBaradei, a former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog who has become a secularist leader.

The main opposition National Salvation Front denied it was to blame for the demonstrations turning violent. Mursi's office said it would "hold the political forces that may have participated in incitement fully politically responsible, pending results of investigation".

Tahrir Square, ground zero of the uprising against Mubarak, has become a graffiti-scarred monument to Egypt's perpetual turmoil, strewn with barbed wire and burnt-out cars. Vendors sold flag bracelets, pharaonic statues, sunflower seeds, water and fruit while the protesters gathered.

A man with a microphone shouted to the crowd, calling for Mursi to be put on trial. "We came here to get rid of Mursi," said furniture dealer Mohammed al-Nourashi, 57.

UNGOVERNABLE

The rise of an elected Islamist after nearly 60 years of rule by secular military men in the most populous Arab state is the most important change achieved by two years of Arab revolts.

But seven months since his narrow election victory over an ex-Air Force commander, Mursi has failed to unite Egyptians and protests have made the country seem all but ungovernable. The turmoil has worsened an economic crisis, forcing Cairo to drain its currency reserves to prop up its pound.

Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie, on his Facebook page, blamed the unrest on "regional and international forces which aim for instability and to stir up problems and ignite strife to damage Egypt ... to thwart the democratic transition".

Brotherhood followers have clashed with demonstrators in the past, especially at the presidential palace which they regard as a symbol of his legitimacy. But the group has kept its men off the streets during the latest violence.

It is far from clear that opposition politicians could call off the street demonstrations, even if they wanted to.

"You have groups who clearly just want a confrontation with the state - straightforward anarchy; you've got people who supported the original ideals of the revolution and feel those ideals have been betrayed," said a diplomat. "And then you have elements of the old regime who have it in their interests to foster insecurity and instability. It is an unhealthy alliance."

Many Egyptians are fed up.

"We are exhausted. This protests thing is a political game whose price the people are paying. I hate them all - liberals and Brotherhood," said Abdel Halim Adel, 60, near the presidential palace.

(Additional reporting by Tom Perry, Shaimaa Fayed and Alexander Dziadosz in Cairo, Abdul Rahman Youssef in Alexandria and Yusri Mohamed in Ismailia; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-opposition-protest-deadly-week-105152272.html

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Wall Street surges to five-year highs on data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed to five-year highs on Friday in the wake of jobs and manufacturing data that showed the economy's sluggish recovery is still on track.

The Dow industrials rose to 14,000 for the first time since mid-October 2007 and the S&P hit its highest since December that year. The S&P advanced 5 percent in January, its best start to a year since 1997.

Analysts attributed the market's robust showing so far this year partly to a deluge of cash flowing into equities.

Data on Thursday showed investors poured $12.7 billion into U.S.-based stock mutual funds and exchange-traded funds in the latest week, concluding the strongest four-week flows into stock funds since 1996.

"There's a lot of money looking for a home and people are finally deciding the bond market is done and moving money into equities," said Edward Simmons, managing director and partner at HighTower in Portland, Maine.

"I see the rotation (of assets) pushing the market up in the face of not-massive amounts of good news," he said. "People are overlooking the higher risk in equities."

Employment grew modestly in January, with 157,000 jobs added in the month, slightly below expectations for 160,000. Still, figures for both November and December were revised upwards.

Other reports released Friday showed the pace of growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector picked up in January to its highest level in nine months, U.S. consumer sentiment rose more than expected last month, while December construction spending also beat forecasts.

"All the data seems to keep pointing to a slowly, steadily improving economy," said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer at North Star Investment Management Corp in Chicago.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> rose 137.21 points or 0.99 percent, to 13,997.79, the S&P 500 gained 14.81 points or 0.99 percent, to 1,512.92 and the Nasdaq Composite added 34.76 points, or 1.11 percent, to 3,176.89.

With the day's gains, major equity indexes were on track for a fifth straight week of gains. The S&P 500 is also coming off its best monthly performance since October 2011.

Investors were also attuned to corporate earnings, with a trio of Dow components reporting profits that beat expectations.

Exxon Mobil was little changed at $89.95 after its results while Chevron added 0.8 percent to $116.10.

Drugmaker Merck & Co fell 2.9 percent to $42 after a cautious 2013 outlook.

Generic drugmaker Perrigo reported a better-than-expected second-quarter profit and its shares jumped 6.3 percent to $106.92, the largest advancer on the S&P 500.

Of the 252 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far, 69 percent have exceeded expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data. That is a higher proportion than over the past four quarters and above average since 1994.

Overall, S&P 500 fourth-quarter earnings are estimated to have grown 4.4 percent, according to the data, up from a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season but well below a 9.9 percent profit growth forecast on October 1.

Dell Inc gained 4.2 percent to $13.80 after sources said the company was nearing an agreement to sell itself to a buyout consortium led by its founder Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners.

Shares of General Motors and Ford Motor rose after the two largest American automakers posted better-than-expected U.S. auto sales for January.

GM gained 1.2 percent to $28.42 and Ford added 0.9 percent to $13.07.

Shares of Zoetis surged on its trading debut on the New York Stock Exchange after its shares were priced at $26, above the expected range. Zoetis was trading at $30.67 at midday, after earlier climbing as high as $31.74.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wall-street-five-high-165635876--finance.html

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Syria opposition chief meets Russia's Lavrov in Munich

MUNICH (Reuters) - The head of the Syrian opposition Moaz Alkhatib told Reuters he had met Russia's foreign minister on Saturday on the sidelines of a conference in Munich and had been invited to visit Moscow.

Alkhatib, president of the Syrian National Coalition, said he had received a "clear invitation" from Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to visit Moscow, a breakthrough in relations that could help pave the way for a solution to the Syrian crisis.

"Russia has a certain vision but we welcome negotiations to alleviate the crisis and there are lots of details that need to be discussed," Alkhatib said after the talks.

(Reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis; Writing by Stephen Brown)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syria-opposition-chief-meets-russias-lavrov-munich-155128473.html

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NASA sees a coronal mass ejection erupt from the sun

Public release date: 31-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Susan Hendrix
Susan.m.hendrix@nasa.gov
301-286-7745
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

On Jan. 31, 2013 at 2:09am EST, the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME. Experimental NASA research models, based on observations from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) and ESA/NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, show that the CME left the sun at speeds of around 575 miles per second, which is a fairly typical speed for CMEs. Historically, CMEs at this speed are mild.

Not to be confused with a solar flare, a CME is a solar phenomenon that can send solar particles into space and reach Earth one to three days later.

Earth-directed CMEs can cause a space weather phenomenon called a geomagnetic storm, which occurs when they connect with the outside of the Earth's magnetic envelope, the magnetosphere, for an extended period of time. In the past, CME's such as this have caused auroras near the poles but didn't disrupt electrical systems on Earth or interfere with GPS or satellite-based communications systems.

NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center is the United States Government official source for space weather forecasts, alerts, watches and warnings.

Updates will be provided if needed.

###

High Resolution imagery and additional multimedia from this event is available at http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011201/.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 31-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Susan Hendrix
Susan.m.hendrix@nasa.gov
301-286-7745
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

On Jan. 31, 2013 at 2:09am EST, the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME. Experimental NASA research models, based on observations from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) and ESA/NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, show that the CME left the sun at speeds of around 575 miles per second, which is a fairly typical speed for CMEs. Historically, CMEs at this speed are mild.

Not to be confused with a solar flare, a CME is a solar phenomenon that can send solar particles into space and reach Earth one to three days later.

Earth-directed CMEs can cause a space weather phenomenon called a geomagnetic storm, which occurs when they connect with the outside of the Earth's magnetic envelope, the magnetosphere, for an extended period of time. In the past, CME's such as this have caused auroras near the poles but didn't disrupt electrical systems on Earth or interfere with GPS or satellite-based communications systems.

NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center is the United States Government official source for space weather forecasts, alerts, watches and warnings.

Updates will be provided if needed.

###

High Resolution imagery and additional multimedia from this event is available at http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011201/.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/nsfc-nsa013113.php

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