Sulforaphane mobilizes cellular defenses that protect skin against damage by UV radiation

carly submitted, created time 1 year 4 weeks (www.pnas.org)

UV radiation (UVR) is a complete carcinogen that elicits a constellation of pathological events, including direct DNA damage, generation of reactive oxidants that peroxidize lipids and damage other cellular components, initiation of inflammation, and suppression of the immune response.

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spiders like to leave the lights on

Darkfrog submitted, created time 1 year 7 months (www.sciam.com)

Interesting. I was just reading Amanda's post about the troglobites -- spider-like cave animals that die when exposed to UV light -- and then I came across this. When humans are deprived of sunlight, we lose vitamin D and the calcium that it lets us absorb. It seems that spiders have a reaction to UV deprivation too ...though I wouldn't call it similar.

Celibacy or rickets? Decisions, decisions...

This ties in with Amanda's post.
(http://www.discover8.com/article/Tiny_blind_animal_halts_billion_dollar_Aussie_mine_0)

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