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Ask Dr. Universe: How do starfish eat?

Starfish might have the coolest—and strangest—way of gobbling up a snack.

Cori Kane.I learned all about it from my friend Cori Kane. She studied coral reefs when she was a Ph.D. student in biological sciences at Washington State University. Now she works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She writes policies to help protect the ocean and the animals that live there.

“Sea stars are probably one of the weirdest creatures. I don’t know any other organism that basically barfs out its stomach to eat,” Kane said.

Yes, you heard that right. She said sea stars barf out their stomachs.

“They have stomachs sort of similar to ours,” she said. “But instead of ingesting food through the mouth and going to the stomach, they basically spit out their stomach through their mouth. Then the stomach wraps around the food and digests the food outside of its body. Once all the food is digested, it pulls in the stomach and swallows it back into its body again.”

Wow. That’s a lot to digest.

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Dr. Universe

Ancient dart throwing provides introduction to experimental archeology

The first complex weapon system developed by humans is helping Washington State University students learn about both ancient technological innovation and modern-day experimental archeology.

Originating in Europe over 30,000 years ago, the “atlatl” consists of a short stick or board with a cup at one end that enables the wielder to throw a dart further and with more force than a spear. The weapon pre-dates the bow and is still used around the world today to hunt large game.

Shannon Tushingham.
Tushingham

On a cloudy afternoon earlier this semester on the Thompson Flats at WSU Pullman, students in Shannon Tushingham’s archeological methods and interpretation class had the unique opportunity to hunt wooly mammoths with the ancient weapon system. The key difference between the students’ mammoth hunt and that of their ancient ancestors was that the mammoths at WSU were made of cardboard.

“I find that my students just love anything hands on, and this is a real fun one,” Tushingham said. “Whenever you get to throw projectiles in class, it is a big hit.”

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WSU Insider

A new holiday song with a rat pack vibe

Greg Yasinitsky.
Yasinitsky

Just in time for the holidays, Washington State University Music Emeritus Professor Greg Yasinitsky has a new song, “It’s Santa!,” which is now streaming on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon, Deezer, and more.

The holiday song also is also included in the Winter Jazz Playlist, which is available on multiple streaming sites.

Horace Alexander Young.
Young

The song was recorded in two versions with vocalist Horace Alexander Young and Yasinitsky’s YAZZ Band, and with the JECCA Vocal Jazz Ensemble, directed by Kathleen Hollingsworth, director of choral activities at Clackamas College, performing with Yasinitsky’s YAZZ Band.

Sarah Miller.
Sarah Miller

The recordings feature WSU emeritus faculty members Yasinitsky, who plays saxophone, vocalist Young, and drummer David Jarvis, along with current WSU faculty members Sarah and A.J. Miller on trombones.

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WSU Insider

Ask Dr. Universe: How do gems form underground?

Johannes Haemmerli.
Haemmerli

When I was a kitten, I loved collecting rocks and gems. So, I was very excited to talk about your question with my friend Johannes Haemmerli. He studies minerals in the School of the Environment at Washington State University.

Minerals are solids that form from non-living elements in nature. They have a very specific structure for how those elements are arranged. Haemmerli told me that nearly all gems are minerals or sometimes mixtures of minerals.

You’re right that gems form underground. A diamond forms when the element carbon is buried nearly 100 miles deep inside the Earth. It’s super-hot and there’s tons of pressure down there. Eventually the pressure pushes the carbon atoms together to form the mineral we call diamond. Above ground, where there is much less pressure, the same carbon can come together and form a mineral we call graphite. That’s the “lead” of your pencil.

Sometimes gems form in scalding hot water called hydrothermal fluid. This water is underground and has dissolved elements in it. As it cools, those elements form minerals like quartz.

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Dr. Universe

Twin Study Links Exercise to Beneficial Epigenetic Changes

Consistent exercise can change not just waistlines but the very molecules in the human body that influence how genes behave, a new study of twins indicates.

The Washington State University study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, found that the more physically active siblings in identical twin pairs had lower signs of metabolic disease, measured by waist size and body mass index.

This also correlated with differences in their epigenomes, the molecular processes that are around DNA and independent of DNA sequence, but influence gene expression.

The more active twins had epigenetic marks linked to lowered metabolic syndrome, a condition that can lead to heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.

Since the identical twins have the same genetics, the study suggests that markers of metabolic disease are strongly influenced by how a person interacts with their environment as opposed to just their inherited genetics.

Michael Skinner.
Skinner

“The findings provide a molecular mechanism for the link between physical activity and metabolic disease,” said Michael Skinner, WSU biologist and the study’s corresponding author.

“Physical exercise is known to reduce the susceptibility to obesity, but now it looks like exercise through epigenetics is affecting a lot of cell types, many of them involved in metabolic disease.”

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