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Contents contributed and discussions participated by Skeptical Debunker

Skeptical Debunker

Aspen's 'dandelion' habits challenge mountain evergreens - 0 views

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    The face of high-elevation evergreen forests in Western Canada could be drastically altered as a combination of climate change, human and natural disturbances is making spruce and pine forests in the Rocky Mountains vulnerable to a slow but steady invasion of aspen trees.
Skeptical Debunker

Flightless mosquitoes developed to help control dengue fever - 0 views

  • Dengue fever causes severe flulike symptoms and is among the world's most pressing public health issues. There are 50 million to 100 million cases per year, and nearly 40 percent of the global population is at risk. The dengue virus is spread through the bite of infected female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, and there is no vaccine or treatment. UCI researchers and colleagues from Oxitec Ltd. and the University of Oxford created the new breed. Flightless females are expected to die quickly in the wild, curtailing the number of mosquitoes and reducing - or even eliminating - dengue transmission. Males of the strain can fly but do not bite or convey disease. When genetically altered male mosquitoes mate with wild females and pass on their genes, females of the next generation are unable to fly. Scientists estimate that if released, the new breed could sustainably suppress the native mosquito population in six to nine months. The approach offers a safe, efficient alternative to harmful insecticides.
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    A new strain of mosquitoes in which females cannot fly may help curb the transmission of dengue fever, according to UC Irvine and British scientists. Great idea or frankensketter?
Skeptical Debunker

Symbiotic Stars - 0 views

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    Many, perhaps even most stars, are members of binaries -- two stars that orbit each other. Symbiotic stars are a small subset of binaries with an attitude: they display characteristic, dramatic, episodic changes in the spectra of their light because (it is thought) one star of pair is a very hot, small star while the other is a cool giant.
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