BiotechMashup

A new study examines series of small earthquakes occurring near the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport between Oct. 30, 2008, and May 16, 2009.

(Southern Methodist University) Scientists have prepared the first skeletal mount of the Texas state dinosaur, the giant Paluxysaurus jonesi, just unveiled at the new Museum of Science and History in Fort Worth. The dinosaur's bones were recovered from a prolific bone bed on a private Texas ranch. The mount reveals new biology about the Early Cretaceous sauropod, says Dale Winkler, lead consultant for anatomy and posture, and a research professor at Southern Methodist University, Dallas.

(Southern Methodist University) A prehistoric crocodile thought to have originated in Europe now appears to have been a Texas native, says paleontologist Thomas Adams, Southern Methodist University, Dallas. The switch for the genus Terminonaris is based on Adams' identification of a well-preserved fossil snout that was discovered near the waters edge of a Dallas-area lake. The 96-million-year-old fossil is the oldest of its kind worldwide, indicating Terminonaris likely originated in Texas and dispersed northward, he said

(Southern Methodist University) Investigators at Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas at Dallas have discovered a family of small molecules that shows promise in protecting brain cells against nerve-degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Huntington's, which afflict millions.The two universities and biotechnology company EncephRx Inc. have executed an exclusive worldwide patent license to enable commercialization of the compounds. EncephRx will develop medications suitable for clinical trials over the next several years.

(Southern Methodist University) Fossil bones discovered in Texas are from the left wing of an ancient flying reptile that died 89 million years ago, representing what may be the world's earliest occurrence of the prehistoric creature Pteranodon, says paleontologist Timothy S. Myers, Southern Methodist University, Dallas. If the reptile is Pteranodon, it would be the first of its kind discovered as far south as Texas within the ancient Western Interior Seaway, said Myers, who identified the fossils.

(Southern Methodist University) Who belongs in America? Immigration has sparked a raging national debate -- including in Farmers Branch, Texas, the first US city to make renters prove they are legal residents. Race isn't the only reason that many white, middle-class people feel threatened by immigrants settling in their suburbs. They view it as a threat to their class status and their identity as Americans, say anthropologists Caroline Brettell and Faith Nibbs, Southern Methodist University, Dallas.

(Southern Methodist University) Using portable 3-D laser technology, scientists have electronically preserved a rare 110 million-year-old fossilized dinosaur footprint excavated in 1933, and built into the wall of a bandstand at a Texas courthouse. The laser image preserves an original track used to describe a species of dinosaur identified in 1935 as ichnospecies Eubrontes glenrosensis, says paleontologist Thomas L. Adams at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

(Southern Methodist University) Antibiotics, not surgery, may better treat childhood appendicitis when the appendix hasn't burst, according to research by Southern Methodist University and University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, both in Dallas. Findings suggest that nonperforating appendicitis, when the appendix hasn't burst, and nonperforating diverticulitis, which is treated with antibiotics, could be different manifestations of the same underlying process. If so, the authors say, antibiotic therapy may be the best treatment for nonperforating antibiotics.

(Southern Methodist University) A new study in the Journal of Applied Physiology offers intriguing insights into the biology of human running speed. The study identifies the critical variable imposing the biological limit to running speed, and projects how the biological limits might be pushed beyond speeds achieved by Usain Bolt to perhaps 35 or even 40 miles per hour, said two of the study's authors: Peter Weyand, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, and Matthew Bundle, University of Wyoming.