How "Cheating" Slime Mold Escapes Death

Cheaters do prosper—at least if you're a slime mold, a new study says.

The slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum, found in most warm parts of the world, has an unusual life cycle. Most of the time Dicytostelium cells are "happy" single cells that hang out and eat bacteria, according to study leader Lorenzo Santorelli of the University of Oxford, who conducted the research while at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine.

But sometimes, when food is scarce, different strains of Dictyostelium, including a mutated strain, form a mobile, multicellular organism called a "slug." This cluster then sprouts a stalk called a fruiting body, which produces spores that disperse into new slime molds. (Also see "Slime Has Memory but No Brain.")

For a slug to produce a stalk, however, nearly 20 percent of its cells must die—essentially sacrificing themselves to pass on their genes. (Get a genetics overview.) The remaining 80 percent live on and become spores.

Now, for the first time, Santorelli and colleagues have figured out the mechanism by which the mutated strain is able to survive in higher numbers than the others.

It suppresses normal cells from becoming spores, thereby forcing more of these cells to sacrifice themselves for the stalk and die. Meanwhile, more cells in the mutated strain become spores—and thus avoid dying as stalk cells. In other words, more than the "fair share" of cheater cells see another day.

Cheating Cells Surprisingly Healthy

To make the discovery, the team mixed the cheater strain with normal strains and observed that more cells in the cheater strain live on. (See "Smart Slime, Ovulating Strippers Among 2008 Ig Nobels.")

On one hand, this isn't all that surprising, Santorelli noted: "Cooperation is always under attack in any organism—trying to get something for [yourself], it's just nature."

But what is striking, he said, is that usually cheaters eventually cause the entire cooperative system to collapse. Not so in Dictyostelium—somehow it's evolved a way to keep everything running smoothly, said Santorelli, whose study was recently published in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology.

What's more, cheaters are usually weaker than cooperative individuals. But not in Dictyostelium cheaters, which appear to be quite healthy.

Santorelli wants to find out how the cheater strain is so successful. And, just maybe, the lowly slime mold could unravel the evolutionary and genetic basis for cooperation, he added.

"Slime mold is an amazing organism."

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Hilda Solis resigns as labor secretary; some others in Cabinet to stay on

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis has resigned, opening another spot in President Obama’s Cabinet.

Announcing the resignation in a statement on Monday, Obama hailed Solis as “a tireless champion for working families” during “the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.” The president said that “her efforts have helped train workers for the jobs of the future, protect workers’ health and safety and put millions of Americans back to work.”

Solis’s resignation, following the resignation of Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson and the withdrawal of Susan Rice from consideration for secretary of state, adds to the issue of racial and gender diversity in Obama’s second-term Cabinet.

White House aides said, however, that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and Attorney General Eric Holder will remain with the administration in their current posts.

Solis has been widely expected to resign to run for office in Los Angeles, most likely to be LA County supervisor.

In a December interview at a The Washington Post Live event, Solis recalled that a high school counselor “told me that I was not college material and that I should lower my sights and stay as secretary. Thirty years later, I can say my title is Secretary of Labor.”

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US urges India, Pakistan to cool Kashmir tensions

WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday called on India and Pakistan to seek to cool tensions after Delhi accused the Pakistani army of beheading one of two Indian soldiers killed in Kashmir.

"Violence is not the answer for either country," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland insisted.

"We've been counselling both governments to de-escalate, to work through this issue, to continue the consultations between them at a high level that we understand are ongoing now."

Pakistan has insisted no such incident had taken place in the disputed Kashmir region and suggested a UN inquiry be held.

But India has denounced the "inhuman" treatment of the two soldiers killed two days after a Pakistani soldier was also slain in the area.

Tensions have blown up along the Line of Control, the de facto border in Kashmir, over the past week with the two incidents again highlighting the six-decade long dispute over the Himalayan region.

Washington has been working through its embassies in both countries to calm tensions, and urging both governments to talk to each other, Nuland said.

The UN observer force in Kashmir is investigating an incident in which Pakistan said one of its soldiers was killed, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters in New York. But he added no complaint has been made about the clash in which India alleged one of its soldiers was beheaded.

Nuland said that if both sides "can work it out themselves, that's obviously best. If both parties were interested in support from the UN... we'd obviously support that as well."

- AFP/jc

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Maharashtra plans water trains for drought areas

MUMBAI: With the state witnessing an acute drought, the state government has decided to adopt unprecedented measures.

Anticipating that certain parts of Marathwada will go completely dry by March, the state government has drawn up a plan to transport water for drinking in railway wagons. At the state cabinet meeting on Wednesday, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan informed colleagues that initial discussions in this regard had been held with officials from Western Railway and Central Railway. Chavan further informed that the railway officials have agreed to provide three rakes for the purpose. He further said that the arrangement could provide means to transport five lakh litres of water to the drought-prone areas daily.

The total water storage in reservoirs in the Marathwada belt is barely 18%. Big dams like Ujni and Jayakwadi have almost gone dry.

Pressing the contingency plan, the state cabinet decided to provide a contingency grant of Rs 2 crore to collectors in drought-hit districts for emergency operations.

CM Prithviraj Chavan said the schemes have now been reserved for drinking water. The state has issued instructions asking authorities to prioritize completion of incomplete water supply schemes in drought-hit areas. Chavan has also issued directives asking officials to ensure that alternative means of employment are made available in the affected areas. The kharif crop production has been hit.

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Albino-like Bald Eagle Spotted in Washington State

Talk about an odd bird—a bald eagle with white spots has been seen in Washington State.

Photographers Chris Teren and Traci Walter snapped the bird feeding on the Nooksack River, near Bellingham (map), on January 6. (Also see "'White,' Albino-like Penguin Found in Antarctica.")

"It was chaotic, with eagles flying and calling everywhere, then in came this eagle. It didn't take me long to figure out what we saw was something very special," Walter told National Geographic News by email.

"I was so excited, but I contained myself and focused on this eagle, and wound up with some great shots. I have seen a couple leucistic animals before, and figured that's what was going on."

Indeed, the animal likely has leucism, according to Andrew Griswold, an expert on bald eagles and director of ecotravel for the Connecticut Audubon Society.

Leucism is a mutation that prevents melanin, or pigment, from being produced in parts of an animal's body. In the case of birds, the pigment is absent from some feathers.

Another condition that creates white coloration in animals is albinism, which occurs when an animal produces no melanin at all throughout its entire body. (See pictures of albino animals.)

Bald eagles on the cusp of adulthood have similar mottled feathers, but in this case, the bird has the telltale golden eyes and beak of an adult, added Teresa McGill, a wildlife photographer with McGill's Nature in Motion. The pure-white head is also a sign of adulthood.

"This is an extremely mature eagle, [and it's] not just going through its change of plumage. Beautiful!" McGill said by email.

Odd Eagle May Have Romantic Woes

Leucism is seen in many bird species, although it's relatively rare, noted Patrick Comins, director of bird conservation for Audubon Connecticut. Comins has seen only a handful in his lifetime of bird-watching, mostly in red-tailed hawks.

Their rarity may be because leucistic birds are at a disadvantage. Unless they live in snowy regions, their striking white color may be more noticeable to predators or prey and may also turn off members of their own species.

The recently photographed bald eagle probably doesn't have trouble feeding or staying safe, since the large birds have few predators and scavenge their prey.

However, the fact that the bird looks like a teenager could be problematic, he said.

The plumage "might give a signal to another eagle that's a potential mate: This is not quite an adult bird, why would I want to mate with it?" Comins said.

Luckily, though, the bald eagle as a species is "a tremendous conservation success story," he noted. Once federally endangered, the well-known bird has rebounded from an estimated 16,000 birds in 1999 to at least 26,000 in 2011.

Added photographer Walter, who has watched wildlife her whole life, the rare eagle "was a sighting I will never forget."

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Arias Kissed New Beau Day After Killing Boyfriend

Jodi Arias drove to the home of her new romantic interest, kissed him, and laughed with his friends just 24 hours after she stabbed and shot her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander to death, according to court testimony today.

Ryan Burns, whom Arias met in the spring of 2008, took the stand today at the start of the fourth day of testimony in the trial.

Arias, 32, is accused of murdering Alexander, 30, her one-time boyfriend whom she continued to sleep with occasionally. She claims he was abusive and she stabbed and shot him in self-defense. Alexander's body was riddled with 27 knife wounds including a slashed throat and a bullet wound to the head.

WATCH LIVE: Jodi Arias Murder Trial

Burns, who met Arias at a business conference, exchanged frequent long phone calls and online conversations with Arias before inviting her to come visit him in West Jordan, Utah, in June. Arias lived in California at the time.

Arias has confessed to driving to Alexander's home in Mesa, Ariz., where she killed him, and then to Burns' home in Utah. She arrived at Burns's home 24 hours after she was expected there, telling him that she got lost, drove the wrong way on a freeway for a few hours, fell asleep for awhile, and then got lost again, Burns testified today.

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She never told him that she had confronted Alexander with a knife or gun and ended up killing him just hours before their date.

When she arrived, the pair quickly got physical, he testified.

"We went back to my house. We talked for awhile, and agreed that we were going to watch a movie. At some point we were talking and we kissed. Every time we started kissing it got a little more escalated. Our clothes never came off, but at some point she was kissing my neck, I was kissing hers, but our clothes never came off," he said.

Burns said that both he and Arias stopped kissing at the time, though they again became physically involved later in the evening when Arias climbed on top of Burns and began kissing him. Burns said that they stopped kissing because he did not want her to "regret the visit" because of her Mormon beliefs about sex.

He also told prosecutors upon questioning that Arias was physically strong.

"She's very fit," he said, describing their encounter when she climbed on top of him. "She's very strong. She has close to a six pack (of abs)."

Prosecutors likely asked about the strength of Arias because in testimony Tuesday Maricopa County medical examiner Kevin Horn said Alexander was stabbed so forcefully that the blade chipped his skull and his neck was cut all the way back to the spinal cord.

Burns, who is also a Mormon, said he noticed two bandages on Arias's hand when she arrived at his house, which she told him she got when a glass broke at her place of employment, Margaritaville.

During her visit, the pair also went to a business meeting and went out with Burns' friends where Burns described Arias as acting "shy" and a "little awkward."

"She was fine, she was laughing about simple little things like any other person. I never once felt like anything was wrong during the day. With a crowd she was a little awkward in social areas, but one on one she was very talkative and excitable," he said.

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Yemen says US drone strikes to continue

SANAA: Yemen's national security chief said on Tuesday that US drone strikes against Al-Qaeda targets will continue as the two governments keep up their counter-terrorism cooperation.

"The Yemeni-American cooperation, including the use of friendly aircraft, will continue," Ali Hassan al-Ahmadi told reporters in Sanaa.

"Yemen is one of the countries that joined the international alliance to combat terrorism after the September 11," 2001 attacks on the United States, he said.

Washington has been stepping up its support for Yemen's battle against militants of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which it regards as the most active and deadliest franchise of the global jihadist network.

US drone strikes in Yemen nearly tripled in 2012 compared to 2011, with 53 recorded against 18, according to the Washington-based think tank New America Foundation.

At least 14 Al-Qaeda suspects have been killed in Yemen since December 24, when attacks by the unmanned aircraft on targets in Al-Bayda and the eastern Hadramawt province were stepped up.

AQAP took advantage of the weakness of Yemen's central government during an uprising in 2011 against now ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, seizing large swathes of territory across the south.

But after a month-long offensive launched in May last year by Yemeni troops, most militants fled to the more lawless desert regions of the east.

According to Ahmadi, "terrorist elements of around 13 nationalities took part in killing Yemenis during the past period and have destroyed Abyan province, especially (its capital) Zinjibar which was completely destroyed."

Around 170,000 people fled Abyan after the militants seized much of the province, he added.

- AFP/jc

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Kamal Nath’s plan to fast-track trial of politicians criticized

NEW DELHI: In what is like to further exacerbate the growing disconnect between the civil society and government, political parties have opposed parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath's contention that fast track courts be set up for trial of politicians accused of heinous crimes like rape and murder. This was even as RTI activists and other civil rights groups endorsed the idea.

Nath had said that the public should be able to look up to politicians instead of looking down upon them. However, his proposal failed to enthuse his own party. "Cases are against an accused not against a politician or any other category. What's important is the nature of crime. There cannot be a discrimination between people. Such crimes (sexual assault) should be tried fast, irrespective of who is accused," said Congress party spokesman P C Chacko.

The BJP reacted to Nath's prescription by saying that there is no point in creating categories of criminals or criminal cases to be fast tracked. "It is unfortunate that our legal system takes so long. In fact, I am planning to bring a private members bill in the next session whereby one court will have to get over with a single case within one years time," said spokesperson Prakash Javdekar.

Left leaders said there is a need to speed up the justice delivery system. "Justice must be delivered expeditiously in all cases," said CPI leader A B Bardhan.

A politician accused in a criminal offence is a criminal and should be treated like one. Why should there be a distinction between criminals, he said.

According to CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, "We have said that there should be fast track courts to try all rape cases without distinction if the accused is a politician. We will welcome it if the Congress or the UPA government sets up fast track courts for graft cases."

However, Association for Democratic Reforms, which has spearheaded the campaign for making election affidavits public, demanded that not only should courts be set up but also that if found guilty the candidate should be disqualified. ADR's Anil Bairwal said, "The National Commission for Working of Review of Constitution and the Law Commission report have recommended that cases pending against elected representatives should be investigated and brought to a close within six months. If found guilty, the candidate should be disqualified."

He added that political parties should take cognizance but despite growing public opinion against the move, every election saw a number of elected representatives getting tickets. ADR has pointed out that MPs with criminal records had increased from 128 in 2004 to 162 in 2009. Their criminal offences had become more heinous too, including murder, rape and dacoity.

Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal said, "We had raised the demand for fast-track courts to hear cases against the 162 MPs in July, 2012. In additional political parties should not give tickets to any candidates who have charges of crimes of moral turpitude against them. We in AAP have resolved not give tickets to such people."

RTI activist Nikhil Dey said, "It is an unpopular view but I believe that it is unfair to say that political parties should not give tickets to people who have charges against them. We know that on several occasions the charges are politically motivated and it is a convenient way to exclude people from the political process. However, it is important that fast-track courts be set up and resources prioritized because this is a sensitive issue: either clear the candidate or put the matter to an end."

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James Holmes' Elaborate Booby Trap Plan Revealed

A gasoline-soaked carpet, loud music and a remote control car were part of an elaborate plan by accused Aurora gunman James Holmes' to trick someone into triggering a blast that would destroy his apartment and lure police to the explosion while he shot up a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., according to court testimony today.

FBI agent Garrett Gumbinner told a Colorado court about Holmes' complex plans to booby trap his apartment. Gumbinner said he interviewed Holmes on July 20, hours after he killed 12 and wounded 58 during the midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises."

"He said he rigged the apartment to explode to get law enforcement to send resources to his apartment instead of the theater," Gumbinner said.

Click here for full coverage of the Aurora movie theater shooting.

His plan failed to prompt someone into triggering the bombs.

Gumbinner said Holmes had created two traps that would have set off the blast.

The apartment was rigged with a tripwire at the front door connected to a mixture of chemicals that would create heat, sparks and flame. Holmes had soaked the carpet with a gasoline mixture that was designed to be ignited by the tripwire, Gumbinner said.

"It would have caused fire and sparks," the agent said, and "would have made the entire apartment explode or catch fire."

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Holmes had set his computer to play 25 minutes of silence followed by loud music that he hoped would cause a disturbance loud enough that someone would call police, who would then respond and set off the explosion by entering the apartment.

Gumbinner said Holmes also told him he rigged a fuse between three glass jars that would explode. He filled the jars with a deadly homemade chemical mixture that would burn so hot it could not be extinguished with water.

Holmes set a second detonation system outside the building, the agent said.

Holmes, Gumbinner said, rigged one of the triggering devices, called a "pyro trip box" with a remote control. He then took the remote control outside and placed it on top of a white trash bag near the apartment building.

Next to the remote, Holmes placed a remote control car. Inside the trash bag, he put a portable stereo set to play 40 minutes of silence, followed by loud music, the agent said.

The plan, Gumbinner explained, was for someone to hear the music and be drawn to the remote control car with what appeared to be the remote control lying next to it. When that person picked up the remote to activate the car, he or she would have unknowingly triggered the explosion in the apartment.

Holmes also left rows of white powder on the floor, which Gumbinner said was ammonium chloride. The powder, Gumbinner believes, was meant "to scare us" and would have created a large amount of smoke if it had ignited.

Prosecutors showed several photographs of the devices in court.

Holmes legally bought thousands of bullets, four guns and chemicals, months before prosecutors say he opened fire on a crowded movie theater, an ATF agent testified today.

Click here for more details on his deadly arsenal.

Earlier in the day, prosecutors played two 911 calls in court, including the very first call from movie goer Kevin Quinonez as the shooting was still underway.

At least 30 rapid-fire gunshots could be heard in the background of the 27-second call, along with screaming.

"Gunshots?" Quinonez can be heard saying.

The dispatcher pleads with Quinonez to give the theater address, but the sound of gunshots and chaos drowns him out.

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Pictures: Wildfires Scorch Australia Amid Record Heat

Photograph by Jo Giuliani, European Pressphoto Agency

Smoke from a wildfire mushrooms over a beach in Forcett, Tasmania, on January 4. (See more wildfire pictures.)

Wildfires have engulfed southeastern Australia, including the island state of Tasmania, in recent days, fueled by dry conditions and temperatures as high as 113ºF (45ºC), the Associated Press reported. (Read "Australia's Dry Run" inNational Geographic magazine.)

No deaths have been reported, though a hundred people are unaccounted for in the town of Dunalley, where the blazes destroyed 90 homes.

"You don't get conditions worse than this," New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told the AP.

"We are at the catastrophic level, and clearly in those areas leaving early is your safest option."

Published January 8, 2013

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