if yer dull, you'll survive the coming apocalpyse better

[Guest guest]

Study Shows Dull Birds Fared Better After Chernobyl

 

 

July 11, 2007 — By Michael Kahn, Reuters

 

LONDON -- Birds with bright feathers suffered worse from contamination after the

Chernobyl nuclear disaster, a study into the impact of radiation on different

species showed on Wednesday.

 

Four groups of birds in the forests around Chernobyl -- the site of the world's

worst nuclear disaster in 1986 -- declined more than others, researchers

examining 1,570 birds from 57 different species at varying distances found.

 

Birds with red, yellow and orange feathers, birds that laid the biggest eggs and

those that migrated the farthest were hardest-hit, possibly because they use up

more of a natural chemical that forms a remedy against radiation.

 

" These are the species that seem to be missing or depressed in numbers, " said

Timothy Mousseau, an ecologist at the University of South Carolina.

 

The results bolster an earlier study of barn swallows in Ukraine indicating that

impact from radiation varies among species, said Mousseau, who worked with

Anders Moller of the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie.

 

Survival seems to stem from antioxidants -- natural chemicals usually obtained

through diet that help fight the negative effects of oxygen free radicals

generated by DNA-damaging radiation, Mousseau said.

 

Activities like producing pigments for feathers, migrating long distances and

laying large eggs all use up crucial antioxidants and put these groups of birds

at greater risk from radiation following the 1986 disaster, he said.

 

The study, which the team said was the first linking the effects of radiation on

population size of different species to antioxidant defence, also shows that

reports of species rebounding in the area may be off the mark.

 

The results could help scientists better understand the implications for animals

elsewhere, particularly in mountain regions that tend to have higher levels of

natural radiation.

 

" There are no studies of the biological consequences of such variation in

natural levels of radioactivity, but we suggest that some of the consequences

can be predicted from the present study, " the researchers said in the study in

the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology.

 

Source: Reuters

 

 

When I see the price that you pay

I don't wanna grow up

I don't ever want to be that way

I don't wanna grow up

Seems that folks turn into things

that they never want

[Guest guest]

That's interesting. Thankfully it doesn't apply to wearing bright

coloured clothes.

 

Jo

 

, fraggle <EBbrewpunx wrote:

>

> Study Shows Dull Birds Fared Better After Chernobyl

>

>

> July 11, 2007 †" By Michael Kahn, Reuters

>

> LONDON -- Birds with bright feathers suffered worse from

contamination after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, a study into the

impact of radiation on different species showed on Wednesday.

>

> Four groups of birds in the forests around Chernobyl -- the site of

the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986 -- declined more than

others, researchers examining 1,570 birds from 57 different species

at varying distances found.

>

> Birds with red, yellow and orange feathers, birds that laid the

biggest eggs and those that migrated the farthest were hardest-hit,

possibly because they use up more of a natural chemical that forms a

remedy against radiation.

>

> " These are the species that seem to be missing or depressed in

numbers, " said Timothy Mousseau, an ecologist at the University of

South Carolina.

>

> The results bolster an earlier study of barn swallows in Ukraine

indicating that impact from radiation varies among species, said

Mousseau, who worked with Anders Moller of the Universite Pierre et

Marie Curie.

>

> Survival seems to stem from antioxidants -- natural chemicals

usually obtained through diet that help fight the negative effects of

oxygen free radicals generated by DNA-damaging radiation, Mousseau

said.

>

> Activities like producing pigments for feathers, migrating long

distances and laying large eggs all use up crucial antioxidants and

put these groups of birds at greater risk from radiation following

the 1986 disaster, he said.

>

> The study, which the team said was the first linking the effects of

radiation on population size of different species to antioxidant

defence, also shows that reports of species rebounding in the area

may be off the mark.

>

> The results could help scientists better understand the

implications for animals elsewhere, particularly in mountain regions

that tend to have higher levels of natural radiation.

>

> " There are no studies of the biological consequences of such

variation in natural levels of radioactivity, but we suggest that

some of the consequences can be predicted from the present study, "

the researchers said in the study in the British Ecological Society's

Journal of Applied Ecology.

>

> Source: Reuters

>

>

> When I see the price that you pay

> I don't wanna grow up

> I don't ever want to be that way

> I don't wanna grow up

> Seems that folks turn into things

> that they never want

>