Headline Jan 04, 2018/ ''' SCIENCE 2017 STORIES '''

''' SCIENCE 2017 STORIES '''

THREE BIOLOGISTS WON A NOBEL PRIZE this year for exploring fruit fly sleep, and showing that *humans and flies* share many of the same genes-

That control cycles of sleep and wakefulness. Remarkable, findings and conclusion all the way. I think time enough to  *Give Science a chance*. 

But for now.................  

THE WORLD STUDENTS SOCIETY stops to pay respect to all those great protesters who walked through New York's Times Square during the Earth Day-......   *MARCH  FOR SCIENCE NYC*  demonstration in April 2017.

Some of the best of the Science Stories that you may have missed in 2017 :  Birds with brains and    Jellyfish with bedtimes were  two very important scientific findings last year:

And to show one beautiful example:

Just watch : Filepic of golden jellyfish in Jellyfish lake in Palau. And by the way these are first brainless animals known to show sleep-wake cycles.     

IN THE YEAR 2017, as it turned out, it was just so easy for any story about  science  or nature to get, quiet literally,  eclipsed. When the world wasn't fixated-

On the total solar eclipse that traversed  the continental  United States, scientists were making headlines by marching through major  American cities.

But there were many other important if less publicised events, ideas, trends, problems and discoveries in 2017. Take, for one, an  announcement in July  that strongly suggested ravens were capable of  cause-and-effect  reasoning, planning ahead and skilled bartering.

Psychologists commenting on the paper noted a profound implication-

That evolution produced intelligence independently at least twice. In intelligent behavior in apes may have stemmed from the same root as our own, but birds are perched on a different branch of the evolutionary tree, separated from ours by 300 million years.

The experiments were small featuring  just five birds -but the findings were striking. Ravens consistently turned down a small piece of food in order to get a tool that would allow them pry a bigger piece of food from a box.

They also turned down a small food treat in favor of a bottle cap they'd been trained to redeem for a bigger treat.  

They have made those choices  even when they had to wait more than 15 minutes to cash in-  an act of patience that eludes most four-year-old humans and a few of us over four as well.

This all follows a  trend in bird research by showing that ravens and their relatives can outperform apes in a number of puzzles that seem to require the kind of cause-and-effect reasoning once thought unique to humanity. 

The Washington Post called the findings an ''indignity'', perhaps assuming it diminishes humanity to find intelligence in other creatures. But given that we're still waiting for a visit from intelligent space aliens, people should be delighted to recognise that other intelligent life forms have lived among us all along.

Another demonstration of a human-like-behavior comes courtesy of a more distant relative. The humble  jellyfish  apparently sleeps at night. It's not clear which bigger surprise : that an animal without a brain sleeps, or that in the daytime, it's capable of being awake.   

These are the first brainless animals  known to show  sleep-wake cycles, but not the first invertebrates.

Three biologists won a  Nobel Prize this year for exploring fruit by sleep, and showing that humans and flies share many of the the same genes that control cycles of sleep and wakefulness.

To probe the sleep of  jellyfish, a team of graduate students at CALTECH used a tank of creatures of genus Cassiopea. The main daytime activity of these animals is laying near the bottom of the tank and undulating their bell-shaped bodies to waft in nutrients and waft away waste.

The CALTECH team used motion sensors to show that at night their jellyfish undulated at more  languid pace. When the researchers roused the  restful creatures  with food, or by moving them, they are much slower to respond during the night than during the day.

To top it off, the team  sleep-deprived  the animals by squirting them periodically with jets of  water, and found that this made them sluggish the next day. But following a good night's sleep the next night, the  jellyfish  were back to normal.

The Honor and Serving of the  latest Operational Research  on Science, Discoveries and Delights continues. The World Students Society thanks the author and researcher Faye Alam.

With respectful dedication to the  Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya Register on !WOW!  -the World Students Society and Twitter-!E-WOW!  -the Ecosystem 2011:

''' Science &  Sonars '''

Good Night and God Bless

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