http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org provides the latest news from Emory University CRISPR, a system of genes that bacteria use to defend themselves against viruses, has been found to be involved in helping some bacteria evade the mammalian immune system. The results are scheduled for publication Sunday, April 14 in Nature. http://phys.org/news285141729.html Biology Sun, 14 Apr 2013 13:00:23 EST news285141729 To truly understand the mechanisms of natural selection, evolutionary biologists need to shift their focus from present-day molecules to synthesized, ancestral ones, says Shozo Yokoyama, a biologist at Emory University. http://phys.org/news280159287.html Biology Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:01:40 EST news280159287 Comforting a friend or relative in distress may be a more hard-wired behavior than previously thought, according to a new study of bonobos, which are great apes known for their empathy and close relation to humans and chimpanzees. This finding provides key evolutionary insight into how critical social skills may develop in humans. The results are published in the online journal PLOS ONE. http://phys.org/news278787903.html Biology Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:05:23 EST news278787903 Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, are the first to show chimpanzees possess a sense of fairness that has previously been attributed as uniquely human. Working with colleagues from Georgia State University, the researchers played the Ultimatum Game with the chimpanzees to determine how sensitive the animals are to the reward distribution between two individuals if both need to agree on the outcome. http://phys.org/news277380536.html Biology Mon, 14 Jan 2013 15:00:01 EST news277380536 (Phys.org)—Scientists studying how songbirds stay on key have developed a statistical explanation for why some things are harder for the brain to learn than others. http://phys.org/news275210892.html Biology Thu, 20 Dec 2012 07:28:46 EST news275210892 (Phys.org)—December 22 marks the 125th anniversary of the birth of Srinivasa Ramanujan, an Indian mathematician renowned for somehow intuiting extraordinary numerical patterns and connections without the use of proofs or modern mathematical tools. A devout Hindu, Ramanujan said that his findings were divine, revealed to him in dreams by the goddess Namagiri. http://phys.org/news274941179.html Other Sciences Mon, 17 Dec 2012 04:33:08 EST news274941179 The ability to learn complex, symbolic math is a uniquely human trait, but it is intricately connected to a primitive sense of magnitude that is shared by many animals, finds a study to be published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). http://phys.org/news270824464.html Other Sciences Tue, 30 Oct 2012 14:01:24 EST news270824464 (Phys.org)—When it comes to physics, glass lacks transparency. No one has been able to see what's happening at the molecular level as a super-cooled liquid approaches the glass state – until now. Emory University physicists have made a movie of particle motion during this mysterious transition. http://phys.org/news269599963.html Physics Tue, 16 Oct 2012 09:53:36 EST news269599963 A racial quota system at one of the leading universities in Brazil raised the proportion of black students from low-income families, without decreasing their efforts to succeed in school, a major new study finds. http://phys.org/news266243036.html Other Sciences Fri, 07 Sep 2012 13:24:17 EST news266243036 While exchanging favors with others, humans tend to think in terms of tit-for-tat, an assumption easily extended to other animals. As a result, reciprocity is often viewed as a cognitive feat requiring memory, perhaps even calculation. But what if the process is simpler, not only in other animals but in humans as well? http://phys.org/news265888896.html Biology Mon, 03 Sep 2012 15:00:26 EST news265888896 When an invading bacterium or virus starts rummaging through the contents of a cell nucleus, using proteins like tiny hands to rearrange the host's DNA strands, it can alter the host's biological course. The invading proteins use specific binding, firmly grabbing onto particular sequences of DNA, to bend, kink and twist the DNA strands. The invaders also use non-specific binding to grasp any part of a DNA strand, but these seemingly random bonds are weak. http://phys.org/news265567046.html Physics Thu, 30 Aug 2012 17:37:31 EST news265567046 (Phys.org) -- Chimpanzees from African sanctuaries carry drug-resistant, human-associated strains of the bacteria Staphlyococcus aureus, a pathogen that the infected chimpanzees could spread to endangered wild ape populations if they were reintroduced to their natural habitat, a new study shows. http://phys.org/news264781423.html Biology Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:24:29 EST news264781423 (Phys.org) -- Bewildered by the array of antioxidant fruit juices on display in the supermarket and the promises they make? To sort out the antioxidant properties of fruits and berries, scientists at Emory University School of Medicine turned to fruit flies for help. http://phys.org/news264760570.html Biology Tue, 21 Aug 2012 09:50:03 EST news264760570 When it comes to protecting endangered species, the power of the people is key, an analysis of listings under the U.S. Endangered Species Act finds. http://phys.org/news264343252.html Biology Thu, 16 Aug 2012 14:00:07 EST news264343252 What feeds anti-American sentiment in the Islamic world? It’s a question that has grown in volume since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, generating policy debate and cultural assumptions, but few hard answers. http://phys.org/news261291199.html Other Sciences Thu, 12 Jul 2012 05:53:36 EST news261291199