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Unmatched Among Chameleons?
Photograph courtesy Frank Glaw unknown **Match-tip tiny, //Brookesia micra// (juvenile pictured) is the smallest of four new chameleon species found on the African island country of [|Madagascar]. With an average adult length of just over an inch (2.9 centimeters) from snout to tail, //B. micra// is among the tiniest reptiles in the world.** (Related: [|"Record-Breaking Chameleons Live Only a Few Months."] ) Scientists think the diminutive new chameleon species might represent extreme cases of island dwarfism, whereby organisms shrink in size due to limited resources on islands. "The extreme miniaturization of these dwarf reptiles might be accompanied by numerous specializations of the body plan, and this constitutes a promising field for future research," study leader [|Frank Glaw] of Germany's Zoological State Collection said in a statement. = Dwarf Galaxy Found Secretly Feasting on Smaller Dwarf = Rachel Kaufman for [|National Geographic News] Published February 10, 2012 **For the first time astronomers have captured highly detailed pictures of a dwarf [|galaxy] consuming an even smaller companion—one so diminutive that at first it looked like nothing more than a smudge.** "It wasn't clear what it was" originally, study co-author [|Aaron Romanowsky], an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said of the mini galaxy. The small blob of stars was first spied in digitized photographic plates from the [|Digitized Sky Survey] project. The tiny galaxywent unconfirmed for five years because it's so very faint. The nearby dwarf galaxy NGC 4449, in the constellation Canes Venatici, is about 50 times brighter. Recently, though, Romanowsky and colleagues decided to follow up by capturing more detailed images of the dwarf galaxy and its neighboring smudge. An international team—including study leader David Martinez-Delgado of the [|Max Planck Institute for Astronomy] in Heidelberg, Germany, and co-author Jay Gabany, an amateur astronomer—collected data from the Blackbird Observatory in New Mexico and the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii. "We got this fantastic image where we could actually see the individual stars of the galaxy" that's being swallowed by the larger one, Romanowsky said. (Related [|picture: "New ALMA Telescope Peers Into Galaxy Smashup."] ) **Galaxies Feed "Like Russian Dolls"** Astronomers could tell that one galaxy was "eating" the other because of a so-called stellar stream around NGC 4449. The pictures clearly showed a halo of scattered stars around the larger galaxy, which is being created as its smaller counterpart gets shredded by the merger. (Related: [|"Galaxy 'Crumbs' Found in Milky Way—Proof of Recent Feeding."] ) The discovery confirms some aspects of galaxy-formation theory, which says that galaxies of all sizes should consume each other. "Large galaxies should eat smaller galaxies, and smaller galaxies should eat [even] smaller galaxies—like Russian dolls," Romanowsky said. The finding also could explain why NGC 4449 is currently an active star-forming region: The smaller galaxy is orbiting the larger one in an elliptical orbit, much like how a comet orbits a star, Romanowsky said. Although the companion galaxy appears exceptionally small to our eyes, when dark matter enters the picture, the two galaxies are actually much closer in mass, with the fainter dwarf maybe a fifth the mass of the brighter one. (Also see [|"Dark-Matter Galaxy Detected: Hidden Dwarf Lurks Nearby?"] ) "When that thing makes a close pass, it's going to push gravitationally on [the larger galaxy] and get it all riled up," he said. Such a push about 500 million years ago could have been what started the intense star birth we see today. //The dwarf galaxy-merger paper has been accepted to the// [|Astrophysical Journal Letters]. //NGC 4449's companion galaxy was independently discovered by a team led by astronomer [|Michael Rich] of the University of California, Los Angeles, based on data from the Polaris Observatory Association. That study was published in the February 9 issue of the journal// [|Nature]. = Side Effects of Becoming a Vegetarian = by Benna Crawford, Demand Media A vegetarian diet is a healthy choice if you pay attention to nutritional requirements and follow a balanced eating plan. The Mayo Clinic created a vegetarian food pyramid that recommends daily food intake of six servings of grains, five servings of nuts, beans, legumes and other protein foods, four servings of vegetables, two of fruit and two of unsaturated fats. (See References 5) Inattention to dietary needs can create side effects that are unpleasant and unhealthy. For vegans, who avoid all animal products, countering potential dietary deficiencies is particularly important. == Vitamin B12 Deficiency == If you are a strict vegetarian and eat no dairy, eggs or other animal products, your diet may be deficient in vitamin B12. Symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency include anemia, weakness, poor balance and tingling in the arms and legs, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. B12 is important for metabolism, maintenance of the central nervous system and the formation of red blood cells. Vegetarian sources of B12 include fortified grains and nutritional yeast, as well as vitamin supplements. == Iron Deficiency == The most readily absorbed iron is available in foods many vegetarians do not consume: red meats, poultry and fish. A lack of sufficient iron can cause anemia. Symptoms of low iron include exhaustion, weakness, slow cognitive development, chills and increased susceptibility to infection. Women who suffer from iron deficiency can give birth to premature or low birth weight infants. But the type of iron found in beans, lentils, enriched grains, spinach, raisins and tofu is adequate for normal nutritional needs. The National Institutes for Health recommends that vegetarians get twice as much iron as non-vegetarians because the type of iron they consume is more difficult to absorb. NIH advises vegetarians to increase iron absorption by taking vitamin C or consuming citrus with plant-based iron sources. == Zinc Deficiency == Zinc helps you to smell and taste. It's also important for the immune system -- zinc helps wounds heal, is a factor in cell division and cell growth and contributes to the process of carbohydrate break down. Zinc is found in high protein foods like meats and dark meat poultry, so vegans and many vegetarians can develop a zinc deficiency. That could result in poor appetite, frequent infections, hair loss and a host of other symptoms. One good way for vegetarians to consume zinc is by eating legumes, peanuts and peanut butter, although zinc from animal protein is more readily absorbed by the body. == Calcium and Bone Loss == Strong bones need calcium and one of the best ways to get it is from dairy products. If milk, yogurt and butter aren't part of your diet, look for cereals, breads and juices that have added calcium, fortified tofu, kale, broccoli and Chinese cabbage. Calcium shortages can lead to thinning bone density and osteoporosis, dental problems and other medical conditions. Calcium helps blood to circulate through the body, muscles to move, nerves to transmit messages from the brain, and it releases hormones and enzymes. The NIH points out that calcium supplements can interfere with some medications so you should check with your health care provider before adding supplements to any diet.