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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Peculiar parasitoid wasp found on rare sawfly developing in ferns

Mar. 25, 2013 ? A mysterious parasitoid wasp was found in the B?hmerwald (Northeast Austria) and reared in the garden of the amateur entomologist Ewald Altenhofer of Gross Gerungs municipality, Austria. The parasitoid was identified by Kees van Achterberg, senior researcher at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, the Netherlands, as the rare Seleucus cuneiformis. It is the first time that a tip of its biology was discovered.

The study was published in the open access journal Journal of Hymenoptera Research.

The parasitoids reared by Mr Altenhofer belong to the peculiar genus Seleucus. The reared parasitoid Seleucus cuneiformis is known from only a few countries in Europe and is new to Austria. The host is the fern sawfly Blasticotoma filiceti, the only member of the family Blasticotomidae in Europe. The family is considered to be one of the oldest extant families of the true sawflies. This particular sawfly was previously known only from the region near Linz since 1973 and this is the second find reported for the fauna of Austria.

The larvae of B. filiceti live in the stems of ferns in a small chamber, or gall, that they induce themselves for their protection. They feed on the nutrients in the phloem fluids and may produce foam on the outer side of the gall. The larvae have a true ant trophobiosis, or ants can live in symbiosis based on food for protection, the only known occurrence of this phenomenon within the Hymenoptera. The Myrmica ants receive fluids through some holes connected to the stem gall of the larva.

During the rearing experiments, important notes on the previously unknown biology of the parasitoid wasp were recorded. Four weeks after the sawflies emerged from the gall, the adults of Seleucus cuneiformis also started appearing, which continued over a period of two weeks. Interestingly, the parasitoid females at first had a droplet-shaped rear body characteristic for males. During the course of the first day the metasoma got expanded into the very elongate shape typical of females, which is of use to inject their eggs into the galls of the sawflies.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Pensoft Publishers. The original story is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Kees van Achterberg, Ewald Altenhofer. Notes on the biology of Seleucus cuneiformis Holmgren (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Ctenopelmatinae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 2013; 31 (0): 97 DOI: 10.3897/JHR.31.4204

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/QVvaLKZUxBI/130325125653.htm

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Mo. Sen. McCaskill supports for gay marriage

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) ? Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill says she now believes that gay couples should be allowed to marry, a change from her previously nuanced stance during last year's re-election campaign in which she defended the right of Missouri voters to outlaw same-sex weddings.

The Democratic senator's support for gay marriage is a matter of both personal belief and public policy, her spokesman said Monday. McCaskill declared her position on her blog Sunday evening in advance of U.S. Supreme Court arguments on the topic later this week.

"I have come to the conclusion that our government should not limit the right to marry based on who you love," McCaskill said on her Tumblr site. "While churches should never be required to conduct marriages outside of their religious beliefs, neither should the government tell people who they have a right to marry."

The court is to hear a challenge Tuesday to California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, then arguments Wednesday concerning a part of the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act that bars same-sex couples who are legally married from receiving federal tax, pension and other benefits available to other married people.

Missouri voters overwhelmingly adopted a constitutional amendment in 2004 defining marriage as between a man and a woman. During her unsuccessful campaign for governor that year, McCaskill said she opposed gay marriage but also opposed the constitutional amendment, because Missouri already had a similar state law.

"I just didn't think it was an appropriate thing to put in our constitution," McCaskill said during an October 2004 gubernatorial debate.

McCaskill has generally shied away from discussing gay marriage during her Senate campaigns. But she defended Missouri's right to ban gay marriage when asked last June about a federal appeals court decision striking down certain parts of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

"It's been decided in Missouri. It's in our constitution. I don't quarrel with that decision," McCaskill said nearly 10 months ago. "I, for one, think it's much better for these decisions to be made at the state level, like we have here in Missouri."

McCaskill acknowledged in her Sunday posting that "my views on this subject have changed over time."

"But as many of my gay and lesbian friends, colleagues and staff embrace long term committed relationships, I find myself unable to look them in the eye without honestly confronting this uncomfortable inequality," McCaskill said. "Supporting marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples is simply the right thing to do for our country, a country founded on the principals of liberty and equality."

President Barack Obama announced his support for gay marriage last year. Other politicians also have recently followed suit, including former Democratic Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Republican Sen. Rob Portman.

Former President Bill Clinton signed the federal Defense of Marriage Act ? which requires the federal government to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages ? but he recently wrote an op-ed saying it's time to overturn it.

___

Follow David A. Lieb at: http://www.twitter.com/DavidALieb

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mo-sen-mccaskill-supports-gay-marriage-210924103.html

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Advertising dependency for free social media sites makes for risky ...

When was the last time you clicked on a Facebook ad? Option A: You can?t remember. Option B: You never, ever click on any of the ads. Option C: Does anyone actually click on those ads?

Apparently people do, as 85 percent of Facebook?s revenue comes from advertisements ? the other 15 percent is from selling virtual goods.

There are two ways in which such statistics look good. Either a company is very good at targeting a niche market, or it is not so good but has a huge audience. Facebook is in the second category. In fact, because of the current low success rates of target advertisements, Internet businesses that provide free services have no alternative for survival but to become big enough so that their size can compensate ? unless they plan to subsist through donations, as Wikipedia does.

Two questions then arise. First, since there obviously isn?t a market for a lot of big social media websites, why is it that we keep seeing new social websites popping up? After all, people have to eventually stop looking at pictures of friends or cat videos and be productive. Second, why is target advertising so difficult that Internet companies can?t afford being small?

The answer to the second question is a paradox. On one hand, everyone would be delighted to hear about a product they would enjoy having, a new band they would love to listen to or a play they would like to see. On the other hand, most people are obsessed with privacy, refraining from giving personal information to this or that company. Although privacy is certainly a right, companies can?t provide more accurate ads without more precise information. There is no way around this. Not until artificial intelligence tools are so advanced that user preferences can be inferred by interpreting jokes and comments.

The first question is more obviously answered: There are a lot of investors, with no better idea about where to put their money, who are afraid of missing the ?next big thing.? That?s why we have Path, Tumblr, Pinterest and many other social media venues whose purposes intersect, and most of whom we don?t even hear about. Their business model? Advertising. Which one is going to grow enough to profit from advertising? Place your bets.

Apparently, there is no shortage of entrepreneurs who believe they have the perfect alternative to Facebook or a shortage of investors to back their startups. But we already have enough tools for connecting, liking and sharing. It is time for entrepreneurs and their funders to think of something else. According to recent reports about decline of time spent on and multi-week breaks from Facebook, some Internet users already are.

A version of this article was published in the Monday, March 25 print edition. Marcelo Cicconet is a staff columnist. Email him at opinion@nyunews.com.

Source: http://nyunews.com/2013/03/25/cicconet-11/

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Monday, March 25, 2013

did you see the catch he made in college before the draft? google: Matt Den Dekker, CF, Florida makes a sensational catch against UCLA in the 2010 College World Series

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Source: http://dendekker.tumblr.com/post/46201766272

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Evernote premium adds document search, Deutsche Telekom customers get one year free subscription

Evernote's premium package adds a bunch of extra features to the online jotter if you're willing to pay the price. Now though, if you've got a mobile, fixed-line or broadband contract with Deutsche Telekom, a deal between the companies means you'll be able to skip that 40 euro annual charge (around $52) and enjoy the power-user suite free for a year. Don't get down if you've already forked out, though, as current premium subscribers can just tag that extra year onto the end of their cycle. In addition, Evernote has added another feature for premium users worldwide it calls "Document Search," which'll rifle through various note-attached files created in MS Office, iWork or OpenOffice. If you happen to be on Deutsche Telekom's books, you can sign up for your free premium account at the link below. Then again, you've got until the back end of September 2014 to claim, so you could always clip this and get to it later.

Filed under: Internet, Software

Comments

Via: The Next Web

Source: Evernote (1), (2)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/-aUQ6ROqmUk/

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Google+ update for Android and iOS adds Snapseed editing, always-on location option

Snapseed quickly took on Google+ integration after it was acquired by Google. It's now Snapseed's time to return the favor. An update to the Google+ apps is introducing basic image editing (currently for iOS only) and, yes, those seemingly inescapable retro filters to get just the right effect before an image goes into a post. The pseudo-Instagram layer is far from the only addition, however. Android and desktop users can optionally tell Google+ to always share their closest available location in their profile; posts in the stream now include more text and make it easier to see photos and videos; Community participants can also invite people, share posts and manage activity away from their computers. If you've ever wanted to fix a Google+ photo -- or break it, some would argue -- the Android and iOS updates are rolling out today.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Internet, Mobile, Google