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Saturday April 23, 2011

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* World's Oldest Toothache * Dwindling Archipelago * Arctic Coasts in Retreat * Fishing Orangutans * Powering The Dream *

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World's Oldest Toothache

dinosaur_toothache.jpg The arrow indicates the site of the infection, courtesy Dr. Robert Reisz 
A fossil of a terrestrial reptile that lived 275 million years ago, in present day Oklahoma, has provided scientists with evidence of what may be the world's oldest toothache.  The lower jaw bone of Labidosaurus hamatus shows damage in the form of an abscess and missing teeth, due to an oral bacterial infection.  The infection likely contributed to the death of the reptile.  Dr. Robert Reisz, Chair of the Department of Biology at the University of Toronto, Mississauga, believes the fossil is also key to understanding the evolution of terrestrial vertebrate teeth.  As this reptile moved onto land and embraced a new diet of tougher vegetation, its teeth needed to become stronger.  But this evolution came with a price.  As it lost the capacity to simply grow new teeth, it developed more permanent teeth with a stronger connection to the jaw bone.  The disadvantage, however, was that the stronger teeth were more prone to chipping and breaking, and subsequently more susceptible to such oral infections.

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Dwindling Archipelago

archipelago_melt.jpgMelt channel on the Belcher Glacier, Devon Island, courtesy Angus Duncan
Canada's Arctic Archipelago contains the third largest mass of land-based ice in the world, after Greenland and Antarctica.  New work by Canadian scientist Dr. Alex Gardner and his colleagues shows that it may be melting proportionally faster than either.   Dr. Gardner is a research fellow in the Department  of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.  Using a combination of ground-based observations and satellite monitoring, his group showed that between 2004 and 2009, the archipelago lost a volume of ice almost as large as Lake Erie - some 300 cubic kilometers, and was a major contributor to global sea-level rise.   

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Arctic Coasts in Retreat
melting_coastlines.jpg Thawing permafrost leading to coastal erosion. Photo: Hugues Lantuit, Alfred Wegener Institute
The permafrost that comprises two-thirds of all Arctic coastlines is eroding by an average of 1-2 metres per year, and more than 8 metres in some places.  This erosion is documented in a new report called, "State of the Arctic Coast 2010".  It was prepared by scientists representing various Arctic research groups from ten countries, including Canada.  Dr. Wayne Pollard, a Professor of Geography at McGill University, and the Director of McGill's Arctic Research Station, has also researched this problem and his work was cited in the report.  He says the coastal permafrost erosion is the result of prolonged periods of exposure to open water, due to loss of the sea ice that once provided a buffer.  The permafrost is even more vulnerable to erosion from waves and storms as it warms in rising global temperatures. The report also describes the impact on the lives of the people living in the coastal regions most effected, as well as the ecosystems that are at risk.  Dr. Pollard suggests the report is a warning to polar countries to start planning ways of adapting to this issue.    

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Fishing Orangutans
  orang_fishing_2.jpgPiscivorous Orangutan, photo courtesy Indrayana
Orangutans are generally not fond of water, but Dr. Anne Russon, a professor of psychology at the York University, and an orangutan researcher, has discovered that some of them have conquered their aversion in order to take up a new avocation: fishing.  She and her colleagues have observed apes at the sanctuary she's worked at scooping fish from shallow ponds, and even using sticks to move the fish to where they can be more easily captured.  They then enjoy a little fresh sushi.  This group of orangutans are rescued animals that grew up in captivity, and this behaviour hasn't been seen in their wild cousins.     

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Powering The Dream


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As the drawbacks of more than a century of heavy fossil fuel use become ever more evident, many people dream of a less energy-intensive, cleaner and greener energy system, based on renewable sources like solar energy and harnessing the wind and waves.  According to journalist Alexis Madrigal, Senior Editor at The Atlantic magazine, however, this is not a new dream.  In fact, it pre-dates the fossil fuel boom itself.  Mr Madrigal explores the history of green power in his new book, Powering the Dream: The History and Promise of Green Technology.  He looks at the way inventors and innovators have attempted to exploit what we now think of as "alternative" energy sources for more than two centuries, why fossil fuels came to dominate, and what this might mean for the future.

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Theme music bed copyright Raphaël Gluckstein, Creative Commons License by-nc-nd-2.0



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