Flesh-Tearing Piranhas Communicate With Sound

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Red-bellied piranhas make three distinctive sounds when communicating about how much they will mess each other up. Cynthia Graber reports.

October 31, 2011?|

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Like a pit bull, piranhas will tear the flesh from your bones. Also like a pit bull, they bark. [Piranha audio type 1] Kind of.

Scientists had known that piranha barked when you pick them up ? carefully, of course. But they hadn?t known what these sounds were for. So researchers examined how the vocalizations might correspond with behavior.

They dropped a microphone into a piranha tank that, at different times, held three groups of 10 fish. They then placed a mussel in to see how the fish competed for food.

When the fish faced off, they produced that percussive bark. [Piranha audio type 1]

When they circled one another, they made a softer thud sound. [Piranha audio type 2]

A teeth gnashing [Piranha audio type 3] indicated that a piranha was getting pretty ticked off as it chased a competitor.

The first two sounds are produced by muscles contracting around the fish?s swim bladder. The findings are in the Journal of Experimental Biology. [Sandie Millot, Pierre Vandewalle and Eric Parmentier, Sound production in red-bellied piranhas (Pygocentrus nattereri, Kner): an acoustical, behavioural and morphofunctional study. Piranha audio courtesy of Sandie Millot]

The researchers are now interested in whether piranhas vocalize during mating. But they?ll have to travel to Brazil to study this in the wild ? turns out that when it comes to mating in captivity, piranhas say no tanks.

?Cynthia Graber

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast]

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Obama to take executive action on drug shortages (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? U.S. President Barack Obama will sign an executive order on Monday aimed at easing shortages of prescription drugs, according to a White House House official.

The official said the order would direct the Food and Drug Administration "to take action to help further reduce and prevent drug shortages, protect consumers and prevent price gouging."

The signing of the order is scheduled for 12:20 p.m. EDT. Obama is also expected to give his support to legislation pending in the House of Representatives and Senate that would give the FDA new tools to prevent drug shortages.

The prescription drug order is the latest in a series of actions Obama is taking that do not require congressional approval. Obama, who is trying to pressure Republicans to drop their resistance to his $447 billion jobs package, has promised to take new executive actions on the economy each week.

Struggling with weak poll numbers of around 44 percent that could jeopardize his hopes for re-election in 2012, Obama wants to show U.S. voters he is acting to help the economy even if he is having difficulty passing legislation.

(Writing by Caren Bohan; Editing by Eric Walsh)

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Recovery expected for injured Oakland protester (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO ? The roommate of an Iraq War veteran seriously injured in a clash with police during an anti-Wall Street protest says Scott Olsen is doing well and doctors say he'll make a full recovery.

Keith Shannon served with the 24-year-old former Marine in Iraq.

He tells The Associated Press that he visited Olsen at a medical facility Sunday and he "seems to be doing well."

Shannon says Olsen still can't talk but doctors expect him to make a full recovery.

Olsen suffered a fractured skull and other head injuries during the clash Tuesday.

Police are investigating how Olsen was struck by a projectile.

Wall Street protesters around the country have rallied around Olsen's plight. That includes a march by hundreds Saturday night in Oakland.

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[Getting To Know Android 4.0, Part 3] YouTube Grows Up

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Chavez rejects British firm's compensation demands (AP)

CARACAS, Venezuela ? President Hugo Chavez says Venezuela refuses to pay compensation in foreign currency to a British-owned company after his government expropriated tens of thousands of acres of its ranchlands.

Chavez says the government has received a demand for payment in dollars from the owners of Agropecuaria Flora, a local subsidiary of the British company Vestey Group.

But Venezuela insists in paying for private land it has taken over in bolivars, Venezuela's currency.

It's difficult for foreign companies operating in Venezuela to repatriate profits and other income due to foreign currency controls in the South American country.

Representatives of Agropecuaria Flora did not answer telephone calls seeking comment Sunday.

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Pelosi cautious on Medicare, Social Security cuts as Republicans, Democrats swap deficit plans (Star Tribune)

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