My picks from ScienceDaily

Poor Sleep Is Associated With Lower Relationship Satisfaction In Both Women And Men:

A bidirectional association exists between couples' sleep quality and the quality of their relationship, according to a research abstract that will be presented on Wednesday, June 10, at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

Less Than Half Of Older Americans Get The Recommended 8 Hours Of Nightly Sleep:

Older Americans with depressive symptoms and poor mental health tend to get seven hours of sleep per night or less, according to a research abstract that will be presented on Wednesday, June 10, at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

First-time Moms' Exhaustion Caused By Sleep Fragmentation, Rather Than Timing Of Sleep:

Contrary to popular belief, the timing of sleep in new mothers is preserved after giving birth, according to a research abstract that will be presented on Wednesday, June 10, at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

Older Adults Less Affected By Sleep Deprivation Than Younger Adults During Cognitive Performance:

Older adults are able to retain better cognitive functioning during sleep deprivation than young adults, according to a research abstract that will be presented on Wednesday, June 10, at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

Siberian Jays Use Complex Communication To Mob Predators:

When mobbing predators, Siberian jays use over a dozen different calls to communicate the level of danger and predator category to other members of their own group. A Swedish study from Uppsala University, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences, shows birds have evolved call systems that are as sophisticated as those of primates and meerkats.

Zebra Mussels Hang On While Quagga Mussels Take Over:

The zebra mussels that have wreaked ecological havoc on the Great Lakes are harder to find these days -- not because they are dying off, but because they are being replaced by a cousin, the quagga mussel. But zebra mussels still dominate in fast-moving streams and rivers.

One Moose, Two Moose: Scientist Seeks Correction In Number Of Species:

It is a misinterpretation of the application of the bedrock of scientific naming with regard to the number of moose species that Kris Hundertmark, a University of Alaska Fairbanks wildlife geneticist at the Institute of Arctic Biology, seeks to correct.

Evolution Can Occur In Less Than 10 Years, Guppy Study Finds:

How fast can evolution take place? In just a few years, according to a new study on guppies led by UC Riverside's Swanne Gordon, a graduate student in biology. Gordon and her colleagues studied guppies -- small fresh-water fish biologists have studied for long -- from the Yarra River, Trinidad. They introduced the guppies into the nearby Damier River, in a section above a barrier waterfall that excluded all predators. The guppies and their descendents also colonized the lower portion of the stream, below the barrier waterfall, that contained natural predators.

What Limits The Size Of Birds?:

Why aren't birds larger? Fifteen-kilogram swans hold the current upper size record for flying birds, although the extinct Argentavis of the Miocene Epoch in Argentina is estimated to have weighed 70 kilograms, the size of an average human. In a forthcoming article in PLoS Biology, Sievert Rohwer, and his colleagues at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington, provide evidence that maximum body size in birds is constrained by the amount of time it takes to replace the flight feathers during molt.

If The Shoe Flits, Duck: Real-life Example Of Humans' Dual Vision System:

It's rare when real-world events perfectly mirror experiments that scientists are conducting. That's why neuroscientists at the University of Washington were delighted at the reactions of former President George W. Bush and Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki when an Iraqi reporter flung his shoes toward the two men during a Baghdad news conference.

Extended Or Shortened Sleep Duration Linked To Weight Gain:

Body Mass Index (BMI) varies as a function of habitual sleep duration, according to a research abstract that will be presented on June 11, at Sleep 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.