Shrinking arctic ice threatens polar bears

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Shrinking arctic ice threatens polar bears ANCHORAGE, Alaska (UPI) -- The amount of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, at its lowest levels in decades, threatens polar bears that depend on the ice to survive, conservationists say. The National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., said there was 5.65 million square miles of sea ice this winter, nearly 8 percent less than the average of 6.12 million square miles recorded from 1979 to 2000, the Anchorage Daily News reported Tuesday. Steven Armstrup of the non-profit Polar Bears International said that 2010 was one of the warmest years on record and last autumn's ocean circulation patterns led to late and weak ice formation throughout much of the Arctic. "Because polar bears depend on the surface of the sea ice to catch seals, those things are not favorable for polar bear survival," Armstrup said. "So, if you are a polar bear, this could be a tough year -- with increased starvation especially among the young and very old." Armstrup said he is less concerned with what happens in 2011 or any individual year than he is with rising average temperatures in the arctic. "If we are lucky, we will have a series of cold years with circulation patterns that conserve sea ice. Ultimately, however, the greenhouse gases signal will clearly emerge," he said. "After that, all of the years will be bad for polar bears ... and polar bears ultimately will disappear." Copyright 2011 by United Press International
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Injection needle mimics mosquito bite OSAKA, Japan (UPI) -- Japanese researchers say they've developed a motorized hypodermic needle patterned after a mosquito's mouth parts that hurts less than a conventional one. Seiji Aoyagi at Kansai University in Osaka, Japan, said the needle mimics a mosquito's proboscis, which is serrated and barely touches the skin so you don't feel the initial bite, NewScientist.com reported last week. A smooth, traditional hypodermic needle leaves a lot of metal in contact with the skin, which stimulates nerves and causes pain, Aoyagi said. His design could help diabetic people who have to take frequent blood samples, he said. Etched from silicon, the needle imitates a mosquito's mobile mouth parts. The sections of the needle, vibrated by small crystals, break the skin in the same sequence as they do with a mosquito as observed under high-speed video microscopes. Aoyagi has tested his needle on himself and three volunteers, who say the pain is much less but lasts longer than with a conventional syringe. Copyright 2011 by United Press International
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Hunt is on for threatened Ill. frogs SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (UPI) -- A threatened Illinois frog species is the target of researchers who say the rare creatures live in just a few sandy areas suitable for their survival. "It's really a challenging species to work with," Bob Bluett of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources said of the Illinois chorus frog. "They are only above ground for a few weeks, and the habitats they choose to live in are here today, gone tomorrow due to weather, groundwater and other variables." Scientists say the call of the chorus frog, starting just after sunset, can be heard as far as a mile away on a still night, The (Springfield, Ill.) State Journal-Register reported Sunday. Bluett and other researchers have been identifying likely habitats using computer models and sophisticated mapping software. In dry years, the frogs may not be around at all, researchers said, then in wet years the chorus can be deafening. Scientists say they're unsure what the Illinois chorus frog does in dry years, or what it does after the breeding season in years of ample moisture. By finding the frogs and protecting their habitats, researchers say they hope to someday remove the Illinois chorus frog from the threatened species list. Copyright 2011 by United Press International
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Study: Babies are sophisticated learners BOSTON (UPI) -- Research into how children learn by forming, testing and continually adjusting ideas about the world around them could help teachers, U.S. scientists say. Until recently, researchers were unsure of the precise ways babies and toddlers start to make sense of their surroundings, but studies are finding young children have a surprisingly sophisticated intuitive grasp of probabilities, which they use to make inferences about things, The Boston Globe reported Monday. "We start with these newborn babies and by the time they're 4 years old, they have a lot of common sense knowledge about the world," Laura Schulz, professor of cognitive sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said. "They have ideas about physics, they have ideas about other people, they have ideas about causal relationships," she said. "The way we get the world right is by making bets -- based on probabilities, given the evidence." One surprise finding in the studies was that teaching too much can stifle exploration. Schulz and colleagues built a complicated toy and presented it to children. The toy had many functions: pulling on one tube caused a squeak, pressing a button turned on a light and pushing a pad made music play. In one session, an adult showed preschool children how the toy worked, but demonstrated only the squeak sound. In another session, other children were just shown the toy. In both cases, the researchers encouraged the children to play with the toy and figure out how it worked. They found that children taught explicitly how to make the toy squeak sent less time playing with it and discovered fewer functions than those who merely had the toy demonstrated to them. Copyright 2011 by United Press International
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