Homeopathic remedies are increasingly popular in the U.S., with retail sales in the hundreds of millions of dollars. But very little science has been done to test their efficacy, says Kelly Karpa, associate professor of pharmacology in the Penn State College of Medicine. "I don't know if homeopathy works," says Karpa, "but I won't say that I think it's quackery either." (more)
It doesn't tick, it doesn't have hands, and it doesn't tell you what time of day it is. But a molecular clock does tell time--on an epoch scale. The molecular clock, explained S. Blair Hedges, is a tool used to calculate the timing of evolutionary events.
Instead of measuring seconds, minutes and hours, said Hedges, Penn State professor of biology, the molecular clock measures the number of changes, or mutations, which accumulate in the gene sequences of different species over time. Evolutionary biologists can use this information to deduce how species evolve, and to fix the date when two species diverged on the evolutionary timeline. "Unlike a wristwatch, which measures time from regular changes (ticks), a molecular clock measures time from random changes (mutations) in DNA," Hedges noted. (more)
"Bees are good at collecting everything in their environment, and they've gathered a lot of pesticides--on average, we've found six pesticides per pollen sample." -Maryann Frazier, senior extension associate in the Department of Entomology (more)
Lewisburg beekeeper Dave Hackenberg and others in the trenches have their own opinions about what is going on with regard to colony collapse disorder (CCD) and recent, dramatic losses of honeybees. Hackenberg doesn't mince words. "Our scientists are working their heads off on a little bit of nothing. All we're doing here is slowly reinventing the wheel of what Europe has already figured out." Find out what France and Germany have done to combat CCD in this final segment of Research Penn State's three-part, in-depth look at Penn State's efforts toward understanding the complex and alarming loss of honeybees. (more)
To solve a murder mystery with millions of victims and no smoking gun requires CSI-style teamwork, or as Dennis vanEngelsdorp likes to say "a coordinated effort that takes a page from the beehive, where all the individuals play a role to make the hive successful." Penn State's entomology department, long recognized for its strengths in disease research and chemical analysis, has emerged as a leader in honeybee and colony collapse disorder research nationwide. Research Penn State takes an in-depth look into the department's efforts toward understanding the complex and alarming loss of honeybees. This is part two of a three-part series. (more)
While the words "endangered species" typically call to mind photogenic tigers, pandas or whales, an estimated 80 percent of all known animal species on Earth are insects, and their extinction often goes unremarked. A recent study notes that hundreds of thousands of insects could be lost in the next 50 years and that the loss of "keystone" insect species -- those on which many other species depend -- could be particularly detrimental for ecosystems and people. Apis mellifera, the western honeybee, is the very essence of a keystone insect. Research Penn State takes an in-depth look at Penn State's efforts toward understanding the complex and alarming loss of honeybees. This is part one of a three-part series. (more)
Many believe that the pain of childbirth would turn the steeliest man into a quivering pile of jelly, and everyone has heard the stories of peasant women stoically giving birth in the fields only to return to work the same day. Are women built for pain? "This is an interesting question because people have strong beliefs about gender and pain," said Jennifer Graham, professor of biobehavioral health at Penn State. (more)
"As astronomers, we can claim with a perfectly straight face that we are the one group of scientists that will never physically manipulate our subjects." - Chris Palma, outreach fellow in astronomy (more)
Stradivarius violins were constructed by famed Italian instrument-maker Antonio Stradivari between 1680 and 1720. Some sell for more than $3.5 million. Only 700 of them exist, and they're stored in vaults, frequently stolen and often counterfeited. Treasured for possessing sublime acoustic properties, these rare instruments have spawned dozens of theories attempting to explain their legendary tone, and luthiers -- makers of stringed instruments -- are still trying to reproduce it. The question remains: Are Stradivarius violins worth all the fuss? (more)
A young woman runs alone through a shadowy forest, frantically glancing over her shoulder. No matter how fast she runs, her pursuer keeps getting closer and closer. Suddenly she trips! In an instant, her attacker looms over her, silhouetted as he raises a bloody axe, wet and glinting in the moonlight. The camera zooms in on our heroine's terrified face as she lets out a piercing scream...
If you're a fan of scary movies, you've probably watched a scene like this hundreds of times, on the edge of your seat with each viewing (and maybe peeking between your fingers). Non-fans, though, can't understand the allure. Shouldn't watching another human being -- even a fictional one -- in the grip of mortal terror be an unpleasant experience? Why do some people like scary movies?
The appeal, says Mary Beth Oliver, depends on both physiological and psychological responses. Physiologically, almost everyone responds to a scary scene, whether violent or suspenseful, in the same way. "You see increased heart rate, galvanic skin response -- the general indicators of arousal associated with fear," explains Oliver, co-director of Penn State's Media Effects Research Laboratory. Frightening on-screen events provoke similar (though less intense) fear response in viewers that they'd have if they were actually experiencing those events, she adds. (more)
