Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Molecular sleuths track evolution through the ribosome
A new study of the ribosome, the cell's protein-building machinery, sheds light on the oldest branches of the evolutionary tree of life and suggests that differences in ribosomal structure between...
Dying Frogs Sign Of A Biodiversity Crisis
Devastating declines of amphibian species around the world are a sign of a biodiversity disaster larger than just frogs, salamanders and their ilk, according to researchers from the University of...
Towards understanding bluetongue outbreaks
A recent article published in Virology, reports the identification of a bluetongue virus strain that caused the northern European Bluetongue outbreak in 2006. Comparison of the virus strain with the...
Graduate Student Discovers, Names Bacterium Linked To Psyllid Yellows
Allison Hansen, a doctoral student in entomology at the University of California, Riverside, has discovered and named a new bacterial pathogen that could be responsible for "psyllid yellows," a disease...
Microbes, By Latitudes And Altitudes, Shed New Light On Life's Diversity
Microbial biologists may not have Jimmy Buffett's music from 1977 in mind, but they are changing attitudes about evolutionary diversity on Earth, from oceanic latitudes to mountainous altitudes. They are...
Hollywood Hair is Captured at Last
(PhysOrg.com) -- UC San Diego computer scientists presented a new method this week for accurately capturing the shape and appearance of a person`s hairstyle for use in animated films and...
Navy sonar pact is reached
Federal court in San Francisco OKs an accord that restricts use of low-frequency active sonar to protect whales and other marine life. ...
Climate Change Threatens One In Five Plant Species In Germany
One in five of Germany's plant species could lose parts of its current range, a new study reveals. Species distributions will be rearranged as a result of climate change; this...
PHOTOS: Primates Newly Listed as Critically Endangered
A black-and-white lemur, a tiny tamarin, and a monkey discovered just three years ago are among the species added in 2008 to the "critically endangered" category of the IUCN Red...
Observatory: Effects of Parasite Extend to Offspring
Parasite infections can have repercussions that go beyond individual hosts to the population as a whole.
Science Visuals: How the First Farmers Colonized the Mediterranean
Using a new set of criteria, researchers have determined that animals were domesticated much earlier than previously thought.
Strange Molecule In The Sky Cleans Acid Rain, Scientists Discover
Researchers have discovered an unusual molecule that is essential to the atmosphere's ability to break down pollutants, especially the compounds that cause acid rain. It's the unusual chemistry facilitated by...
The Anthrax Case: From Spores to a Suspect
Full-genome sequencing played central role in linking Army scientist to attacks
Disney backs research centres
New facilities in Zurich and Pittsburgh hope to develop film technologies for the next animated blockbuster.
Researchers Discover Tiny Cellular Antennae Trigger Neural Stem Cells
(PhysOrg.com) -- Yale University scientists today reported evidence suggesting that the tiny cilia found on brain cells of mammals, thought to be vestiges of a primeval past, actually play a...
Running Slows Aging
A recent study by Stanford researchers has confirmed your worst fears—that dorky neighbor in the short-shorts who zips by every morning at 6 o’clock in the morning will likely outlive...
Female migrants most likely to be illegally underpaid
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study shows female migrant workers may be more likely than any other group to be paid less than the national minimum wage.
Mutant plants can boost yields, resistance: IAEA conference
Against a backdrop of global food and energy crises, the UN atomic watchdog opened a four-day conference Tuesday on ways of using radiation to improve crop yields and resistance.
Carbon Nanotube-Coated Electrodes Improve Brain Readouts
A research group has significantly improved the quality of brain-function measurements by coating metal neural electrodes with carbon nanotubes. Their work could potentially allow scientists to learn more about brain...
Zoo's Tiger a Shy Guy
Officials at the Erie Zoo say one of their new Amur tigers is too shy to explore a new $500,000 exhibit.
Humpback whale on comeback trail, say conservationists
The humpback whale, for four decades the poster child of the conservation movement, is no longer considered a high risk for extinction, a leading environmental group said Tuesday.
Cuba to send animals to Venezuelan zoos
Venezuela sends oil to Cuba and now Cuba will ship zoo animals to Venezuela, giving a new dimension to ties between the socialist allies.
In Some Henna Tattoos, a Harmful Dye
Henna is a vegetable dye that can be brown, red or green, and it wears off in a matter of days. But to produce a darker color, some tattoo artists...
VIDEO: Echidna Sex Secrets Studied
Scientists in Tasmania, Australia, have tagged hundreds of ant-eating Echidnas to better understand their reproductive habits—and the role of the animals' unusual sex organs. Warning: video contains graphic imagery.
Opinion: The effect of acidation on polar oceans
Acidification isn't limited to the tropics, we need to better understand the damage that is being done to cooler ocean ecosystems and how it may affect both marine and human...
Actions Of Individuals Key To Saving Biodiversity -- And Ourselves, Biologists Say
A multi-pronged approach is the only way humanity can preserve biodiversity, say Stanford biologists Paul Ehrlich and Robert Pringle. While many people have gotten the impression that only government-level action...
Elephant seals enlisted in study of Antarctic seas
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have enlisted some burly help as they try to get a better understanding of the remote south polar marine environment -- and these assistants don't mind...
Actions of individuals key to saving biodiversity-and ourselves
Even if you don't like the outdoors, you're probably pretty fond of air, clean water and food. That makes you a fan of biodiversity, because those essentials for life-human and...