Science Show - 2009-08-08

New songbird found in Laos Iain Woxvold went to central Laos to undertake a biological survey for a mining company. There he discovered a new species of bird. It appeared bald. There were quite a few birds, and it´s been named the bare-faced bulbul. It seems to be the only songbird in mainland Asia. It is thought some animal and plant species are found only in very small areas, and may be threatened as habitats are changed by mining or other factors. Great Barrier Reef birds in decline Brad Congdon is assessing bird populations along the Great Barrier Reef. Birds are used to assess food supply in the reef and sea ecology. Being upper level predators, the food they bring to their chicks correlates to food availability. Chicks are weighed before they are fed, then again after feeding. Rather than specifics, this study looks at volume, and how sea surface temperature, chlorophyll levels and other factors affect food supply. Early results show food supply is inversely proportional to water temperature. Higher water temperatures produce less food for birds. There are signs that birds have been in decline over the last 10 years. In fact, the birds seem to respond to precursors to El Nino. After periods of chick mortality, when food is difficult to find, long lived adults can make trips as long as 2000km to get food. Hooked on the Net - listener feedback Science Show audience responses to our Hooked on the Net project, with some new research into how gaming is affecting our schoolchildren, how 'addiction' should be classified, stories of listeners´ own experiences and how some games could be made more educational. Sarah Castor-Perry reports. HIV traced to early 1900s Michael Worobey headed to central Africa to test the idea that HIV crossed from chimps into humans. In the year 2000, it was known that the pandemic form of HIV was a chimp virus. One idea was that it crossed to humans during some medical research with polio vaccines developed in the 1950s. Samples from wild chimps were found and it is now thought human HIV didn´t come from these Congolese chimps but rather was circulating in humans from as early as 1908. It wasn´t until human ecology changed that it became a pandemic as people began living in large cities and travelled widely. Darwin on empathy Frans de Waal says Darwin was insightful in his writing on empathy. He knew animals intimately and understood their emotional lives. And he drew lines from this to human behaviour and empathy. Empathy is a mammalian characteristic. The simplest form of empathy is being emotionally affected by the emotions of somebody else. If you are caring for offspring who are vulnerable you need to get upset when they are hungry or endangered. This could explain why human females have more empathy than males. Frans de Waal discusses his book, Chimpanzee Politics, published in the late 1980s, which described his observations of chimpanzees on an island in a zoo. Chimps form coalitions. They groom the babies of their friends. They kiss after fighting and share food and pay back favours. It all points to understanding the minds of others. Even mice can demonstrate empathy. Darwin also studied blushing. It betrays one´s feelings. It demonstrates care and guilt. 50 Genetics Ideas You Really Need To Know Genetics is a very young science. It´s just over 50 years since Watson and Crick mapped the structure of DNA. Only recently has the human genome been available. Mark Henderson traces the history of the science, describes some of the paradoxes and tackles a number of highly charged topics under than banner, `Nature versus nurture´.