Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Maize (Corn) May Have Been Domesticated In Mexico As Early As 10,000 Years Ago
Now, in addition to more traditional macrobotanical and archeological remains, scientists are using new genetic and microbotanical techniques to distinguish domesticated maize from its wild relatives as well as to...
Should Doctors Be Increasing Their Carbon Footprint By Flying To Medical Conferences?
Every year thousands of doctors and scientists fly to meetings all over the world, but with climate change accelerating, can this type of travel be justified, two doctors debate the...
Customized 'Wimpy' Polioviruses Designed: A New Path To Vaccines?
A team of molecular biologists and computer scientists at Stony Brook University has designed and synthesized a new class of weakened polioviruses. They used their synthesizing method with computer software...
Food Inspection Technology Could Kill Waiter Jokes
New inspection X-ray technology developed by European researchers is helping to ensure that the only thing in people's dinners is the food itself. Finding a snail in a salad, a...
Alkaline Soil Sample From Mars Reveals Presence of Nutrients for Plants to Grow
Scientists find that the soil on the northern arctic plains of Mars is full of mineral nutrients that plants would need to survive.
How Neural Activity Spurs Blood Flow In The Brain
Neuroscientists have pinpointed exactly how neural activity boosts blood flow to the brain. The finding has important implications for our understanding of common brain imaging techniques such as fMRI, which...
Ronin An Alternate Control For Embryonic Stem Cells
Like the masterless samurai for whom it is named, the protein Ronin chooses an independent path, maintaining embryonic stem cells in their undifferentiated state and playing essential roles in genesis...
Global warming chase plants uphill
Faced with global warming, plants are heading for the hills. A study of 171 forest species in Western Europe shows that most of them are shifting their favored locations to...
Scientists Discover How An Injured Embryo Can Regenerate Itself
Scientists have developed a mathematical model to describe interactions that occur within genetic networks of an embryo, answering the age-old question of how half embryos are able to maintain their...
Unique Pheromone Detection System Uncovered
Researchers have overturned the current theory of how a pheromone works at the molecular level to trigger behavior in fruit flies. The finding, if it proves true in other species,...
What It's Like To Be A Bat: Vocal Sonar Does More Than Locate Objects; It Cues Memory And Assists Flight
Not many people think about what it's like to be a bat, but for those who do, it's enlightening and potentially groundbreaking for understanding aspects of the human brain and...
Huge Genome-scale Phylogenetic Study Of Birds Rewrites Evolutionary Tree-of-life
The largest ever study of bird genetics redraws the avian evolutionary tree, challenges current classifications, alters our understanding of avian evolution, and provides a resource for future studies. Early Bird,...
Success will be sweet in latest genome hunt
Cacao plant is latest organism to have complete genetic code sequenced in drought and pest study
Winter did not stop pine beetle spread in Alberta
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Cold temperatures did not stop the spread of pine beetles in Alberta this winter, and it may be too late to eliminate the tree-killing insects...
PHOTOS: Bird Odd Couples Revealed by New Gene Study
You can't judge a bird family by its feathers, a new study shows. See which strange pairs are actually close cousins--and which lookalikes are nearly unrelated.
Zoo hopes to get cranes to mate
BOSTON, June 26 (UPI) -- Officials at a Boston zoo have brought two African wattled cranes together, hoping they will reproduce.
Study to change our view of birds
The results of a five-year study are so broad that the scientific names of dozens of birds will have to be changed in biology textbooks and birdwatchers' field guides.
Bird Study Reveals 10 Things You Didn't Know
Scientists have just discovered a flock of unexpected new avian facts.
Giant squid discovered along Calif. coast
SANTA CRUZ, Calif., June 26 (UPI) -- Wildlife researchers in California said they found the remains of what is likely a rare 25-foot-long giant squid.
Evidence of cancer, contamination in Miramichi lab, inquiry hears
A pathologist who worked with Rajgopal Menon says he found evidence of cancer on tissue cells several times when his colleague had not.
Genomic medicine sector 'needs government backing'
Genomic medicine in developing countries needs government support and protection of 'genomic sovereignty', says researchers.
Oak Ridge Pegged for National Ecological Network
Dozens of instruments to be deployed on the Oak Ridge Reservation and other sites around the nation will provide valuable information related to climate change, biodiversity and invasive species, infectious...
Navy disputes restrictions to protect whales
(AP) -- The Navy is challenging Hawaii's authority to protect whales by restricting the use of sonar during training exercises, environmentalists and military representatives say.
Multiple Regions Of Chromosome 8 Found To Be Associated With Different Cancers
A recently discovered, but not yet understood, section of chromosome 8, called 8q24, may contain at least five distinct regions that are associated with different cancers, according to a study...
Sonar System For The Blind
Animals use echolocation for hunting and navigation, but visually impaired humans also employ echolocation as part of their orienting repertoire while navigating the world. There are a few rare individuals...
Australian unis feed body issues
Research has found that Asian university students living in Australia, along with Australian students, have more body image problems than those in China.
City Is Pushing for H.I.V. Tests for All in Bronx
Officials are planning an ambitious effort to give an H.I.V. test to every adult living in the Bronx.
Fitness: Out of the Loop and on the Run in Central Park
Central Park was designed for refuge, discovery and communing with society. Not for running. Yet 150 years later, its 843 acres are a paradise for runners.