Science & Technology

Study finds boys trouble from the beginning

It turns out there may be some truth to the old wives' tale that male babies cause more difficult pregnancies.

Researchers at the Tel Aviv University conducted a study of 66,000 births and found that pregnancies involving males had a higher rate of complication. They found an increased instance of problems like premature birth or Caesarian delivery.

Maybe the old adage "don't worry, be happy" has some truth in it after all.

According to a study conducted by researchers at UC Davis and the University of Washington, although children between the ages of five and seven all understand the connection that negative emotions can cause poorer school performance, only the 7-year-olds realized the link between positive emotions and better school performance.

Today

Opsin Expression in Fishes: Photoreceptor Plasticity and its Ecological Relevance

Inigo Novales Flamarique (Simon Fraser University, British Columbia)

1:10 to 2 p.m., 1022 Life Sciences

Sponsored by neurobiology, physiology and behavior, College of Biological Sciences

Topic to be announced (land, air and water resources)

Pasquale Steduto (Food and Agriculture Organization)

4:10 to 5:30 p.m., 3001 Plant and Environmental Sciences

Sponsored by land, air and water resources, Environmental Science and Policy

Insomnia may affect "hunger hormones"

UCLA researchers have uncovered that one of the two hormones that is primarily responsible for telling the body when it is hungry or when it is full is disrupted by chronic insomnia.

This is the first study looking into the elevated nocturnal levels of the two hormones - ghrelin and leptin - in patients diagnosed with primary insomnia.

Lake Tahoe's clarity is currently not declining and its outlook is positive, suggests data from a collaborative effort of UC Davis researchers, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the Tahoe Environmental Research Center.

"In terms of clarity, the outlook is hopeful," said Dennis Oliver, public affairs director of the TRPA. "There's been quite a lot of progress made to undo the damage that was seen here in the 1950s."

UC Davis professor of wildlife, fish and conservation biology Tim Caro spends his time off in Africa - in a remote corner of Tanzania near the Katavi National Park, to be exact.

In cooperation with federal, state and county agencies, UC Davis has taken drastic action to safeguard the university's ongoing rice research and California's rice industry by ridding its greenhouses of a new and destructive pest - the panicle rice mite.

A recent study by UC Davis researchers showed that declining populations of sea otters could be attributed to pathogens in their diet.

Such pathogens are also influencing their behavior on the sea floor, slowing their biologically inclined recovery times - the time it takes an otter to come up to shore.

Tests could determine source of 'mystery tumors'

New tests may hold the key to identifying and treating unidentified cancerous tumors.

UC Davis' very own graduate student in International Agriculture Development Margaret Lloyd might someday be President Barack Obama's personal White House Farmer.

Hearing a blast from our past can stir up vivid, poignant memories of a significant other or a significant event in our lives. Psychologists have evinced that this is a common human experience, but how music triggers mental flashbacks in our heads remained mostly a matter of speculation.

If you are wondering why your chicken breast tastes a little blander than usual, it may be because your chicken is lacking the spice of life - diversity.

Deadly herpes strain affects captive Asian elephants

U.S. zookeepers worry that a strain of the herpes virus will continue to strike Asian elephants in captivity nationwide.

UC Davis evolutionary ecologist Andrew Forbes may have made a discovery that will add another chapter to high school biology books everywhere. Published in Science, his findings suggest that a major cause for biodiversity in the ecosystem may be diversity itself.

Much like how common sense guides us to huddle for a private conversation, animals use innate strategies to adapt their vocal displays to fit the social situation at hand.