Washington, August 22: A team of Wisconsin scientists have explained the mechanics of how the male lion got his mane, how the bull moose acquired such an impressive set of antlers, and, how the peacock got its magnificent tail.

The work is an extension of a research about the molecular details of how a simple genetic switch controls decorative traits in male fruit flies and how that switch evolved.

A team led by University of Wisconsin-Madison molecular biologist Sean Carroll described the regulation and evolution of a genetic circuit in fruit flies that permits the male to decorate its abdomen.

The work also shows how the regulation of the same genetic circuit in females represses such ornamentation.

Washington, August 22: A new research has determined that air circulates above the Earth in four distinct cells, with two either side of the equator.

The new observational study describes how air rises and falls in the atmosphere above the Earth’s surface, creating the world’s weather.

This process of atmospheric circulation creates weather patterns and influences the climate of the planet.

It is important to understand these processes in order to predict weather events, and to improve and test climate models.

Previous theories have claimed that there are just two large circular systems of air in the atmosphere, one either side of the equator.

Washington, August 22: In the run-up to the U. S. presidential elections, a team of Canadian and Italian researchers has shown that a common psychological testing methodology called the ‘implicit association test’ can enable pollsters to determine how the undecided will vote, even before the voters know themselves.

Bertram Gawronski of The University of Western Ontario says that many times people have already made up their minds at an unconscious level, even when they consciously indicate they are undecided.

Washington, Aug 22: Attaching importance to yesterday’s phone call by US President George Bush to his former Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf, diplomatic and political observers in Washington have said that it demonstrated that Musharraf will be treated differently (by the US) than Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos or the Shah of Iran because he had a “better image” in the United States.

He is not seen here as corrupt as Marcos or as ruthless as the Shah, added the observers in Washington.

Washington, August 22: A new study has rejected an earlier theory which had suggested that the dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex evolved into a chicken.

A claim by researchers to have extracted proteins from a Tyrannosaurus rex bone and matched these to proteins found in chickens has been attacked in the same journal that published the original research.

Washington, August 22: A new report has indicated that worldwide corruption driven by mafia-like organizations throughout water industries is forcing the poor to pay more for basic drinking water and sanitation services.

According to a report in National Geographic News, the Water Integrity Network (WIN), an advocacy group, and the anticorruption group Transparency International (TI) made the report.

The report determined that if bribery, organized crime, embezzlement, and other illegal activities continue, consumers and taxpayers will pay the equivalent of US 20 billion dollars over the next decade.

"The water sector is one of most corrupt after health and education," said Hakan Tropp, chair of WIN.