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Bog Hopper Highlights
Geometry Playground: What if geometry meant climbing inside giant 3D shapes, or watching yourself in a big curved mirror as you try to play hopscotch? The Geometry Playground exhibition changes the way you think about geometry and lets you use your hands, brain, and body to play with physical demonstrations of this often "textbook subject." Learn More
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Life forms such as plants, animals, and fungi experience circadian rhythms, but they may have acquired this timing in different ways and at different times. Histones in plants have been shown to be related to histones in animals. Now, a "Jumonji-containing domain 5 gene" (sometimes called a clock gene) was identified in both humans and arabidopsis (a mustard plant) that is interchangeable despite the different paths of evolution. This is reported by Matthew Jones and associates at the University of California, Davis; Rice University, TX; and Salk Institute for Biological Studies, CA. When the biologists inserted the plant gene into cells of a human who lacked this gene for circadian timing, the timing was restored. Similarly, when the human gene was inserted into plant cells deficient for circadian timing, the plant reverted to normal circadian rhythm. The authors think that although plants and animals have the same gene with this function, the genes had evolved independently of each other; it is called "convergent evolution" when two organisms arrive at the same solution to a problem but from different starting points. (Proceedings National Academy Sciences USA 2010, doi:10.1073/pnas.1014204108)
Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and phosphorus are the six elements that make up the nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids in most living matter. In the mud of Mono Lake in California, a new bacterium (photo) was found that substitutes arsenic for phosphorus. This is reported by Felisa Wolfe-Simon and associates at NASA Astrobiology; US Geological Survey, CA; Arizona State University; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, CA; Duquesne University, PA; and Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, CA. This is an important finding because it has always been thought that phosphorus was essential for life. Arsenic is highly toxic and was once used as a common rat poison. These bacteria grow in regions where oxygen is scarce. It is known that arsenic can substitute for phosphorus in some biochemical reactions. This discovery has led to speculation that such or similar organisms may exist on other planets. (Science 2010; DOI: 10.1126/science.1197258)
In 2008, a ceratopsian dinosaur was found for the first time in Korea in the Tando Basin in South Korea. It was named Koreaceratops hwaseongensis and was estimated to have lived 103 million years ago report Yuong-Nam Lee and associates from the Korea Institute for Geoscience and Mineral Resources; Hokkaido University Museum, Japan; and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, USA. This horned dinosaur was approximately five to six feet long and weighed about 60 to 90 pounds. It was also described as bipedal, an herbivore, and with a fan-shaped tail. (Naturwissenschaften 2010; 97: 1913)
Tapioca is starch extracted from the root of the cassava plant (Manihot esculenta). It is in the spurge family along with poinsettia, castor oil plant, and leafy spurge. Manioc is another name for cassava. Although originating in South America and the West Indies, cassava is now grown for food throughout the tropical world. Cassava roots (photo) are gluten free and almost protein free. The starch is harvested from roots and prepared as flakes, powder, or as "pearls." Moist starch is forced through sieves to form the pearls, which are opaque before being cooked and translucent after cooking. All parts of the plant contain the poisonous hydrogen cyanide, and the roots are only edible after they are peeled and boiled in water. Cassava starch is also used in paper manufacture, textiles, and as monosodium glutamate, a flavoring in Asian cooking. The polyester resin in tapioca starch is used to make plastic bags that are compostable, renewable, and recyclable.
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