Human beings have a bad habit of making the place they inhabit quite uninhabitable. (I like the word "habit" for some reason.) The sad thing is, human beings as a race would probably be the last to suffer its own mistakes - it's the rest of the world that would suffer first, and it looks like the polar bears of the Arctic are the next casualties. In this edition of the Science Weekend Warrior, we take a look at what it's like to be on top of the food chain.

In the human brain's history of evolution, it's developed a decision-making sector that is used to make us react quickly in dangerous situations. However, we've come a long way from having to go head-to-head with a boar just to get food (although the cast of Lost beg to differ). Is our evolution on the path of losing this part of the brain? Will humans have smaller brains in the future? Ponder on in the full article.

The predator and prey scenario has always been a natural recurring thing in nature. Scientists from the University of Bristol conducted a study which looked into the prey instincts of European starlings and how they respond to stimulus from predators. Find out more about this in our full article after the jump.

Aside from unhealthy eating habits, where is  the obesity epidemic coming from? Theories that it might be stemming from moms to their kids have risen, but a new study says otherwise. The University of Bristol's recent take on the matter suggests that other factors may be in play here. See the full article for details.

Does it really matter if we should study why over 90 percent of life on earth was nearly wiped out in a mass extinction event during the end of the Permian era? Scientists from the University of Bristol believe so. Their findings show how the recovery of the ecosystems affected by the phenomenon and how it can help us study our own current global extinction trends.

Check out the full article for more details!

For those days that you know for sure you woke up on the wrong side of the bed and it seems like nothing will ever go right, it would probably be advisable for you to go play in the dirt.

Researchers have found that a bacteria found in the soil, Mycobacterium vaccae, could actually boost your mood by "lifting the spirits" of the immune system. Amazingly enough, it's actually found to be just as effective for warding off depression as those prescriptive antidepressant drugs.

Testing it on them ever-reliable resident lab pets, the mice were made to swim in a large beaker of water for five minutes and were observed which of them would continue swimming and looking for a way out until they gave up. Those that were exposed to the bacteria proved to be resilient and paddled on for a much longer period of time than the control mice.

Study leader Chris Lowry of England's University of Bristol interprets this behaviour as such: "At the risk of anthropomorphizing, you could say the [bacteria-exposed] mice had a more active coping style."

Interesting still, though, is that the scientists still cannot pinpoint how come M. vaccae improves the mood. "We don't know the mechanism. That's something we would desperately want to know." They do, however, theorize that the microbes cause immune cells to release cytokines in the brain, albeit indirectly. These cytokines are able to activate the nerves that relay signals to the brain, as explained by Lowry.

So what do you say? Let's put down our games for a while and go enjoy the dirt. Healthier for all us, too. Just remember to bathe when you're done, alright?

Fat toddlers may look cute and healthy to some, but in the long run, cuteness may ultimately have its high price.

Researchers at the University of Michigan did a follow-up study on an earlier research conducted at the University of Bristol correlating childhood obesity with premature puberty in young girls.

In a study of 354 girls, it was revealed that manifestations of adolescence were already visible on more than half of the respondents by age nine. This included monthly periods and the budding of breasts.

Early puberty can be distressing for young girls who cannot fully understand what they are going through says Helen Crocker, research dietitian at University College London. UK studies show, however, that distress may only be one of the bad effects of an early puberty. According to the Bristol report, these kids are also more likely to develop breast cancer. On the social side, they are also more likely to start drinking alcohol and sexual activity ahead of their peers.

"Previous studies had found that girls who have earlier puberty tend to have higher body mass index, but it was unclear whether puberty led to the weight gain or weight gain led to the earlier onset of puberty," says Dr. Joyce Lee of the University of Michigan.

The generally accepted age when puberty normally starts is at 10 years. Parents of fat toddlers are encouraged to have the body mass index of their child calculated by a pediatrician to determine if their child is overweight so that appropriate measures may be taken to avoid premature adolescence.

Fancy watching marine creatures squirting luminescent substance into the water? Try diving off the West coast of Ireland. That or watch the sea creatures do the flashing light dance (follow source link to watch it). It makes for one spectacular underwater lights show. 

Some of us who've been watching the Discovery Channel would know that animals in the deep have light-producing organs, thereby making them the only source of light at the bottom of the ocean. As such, it becomes almost an impossibility for land-dwellers like us to experience the awesome flashes of light these animals give off.

Thanks to the unmanned vehicle called Intensified Silicon Intensifier Target (ISIT), we can get a glimpse of the bottom-dwellers-exclusive lights show. The ISIT was designed to research bioluminescense in the deep sea.

While some might think that the light display is just all for show, researchers from the University of Bristol explained that the luminescence-squirting action is likely to be a defense mechanism. Perhaps to ward off unfriendly creatures.

To date, the researchers have seen: animals swimming while flashing lights; single flashes of light; and the light-squirting action. Perhaps one of the most fantastic displays would be that of light explosions the size of footballs. Show-offs!