Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Database Shows Effects Of Acid Rain On Microorganisms In Adirondack Lakes
Researchers have long known that acid rain can severely decrease the diversity of plant and animal communities in fresh water lakes and ponds. However, little is known about how microscopic...
Automated Microfluidic Device Reduces Time To Screen Small Organisms For Genetic Studies
Genetic studies on small organisms such as worms and flies can now be done more quickly using a new microfluidic device. The new "lab-on-a-chip" can automatically position, image, determine the...
Baby crocodiles communicate from egg
ST. ETIENNE, France, June 25 (UPI) -- French scientists say they've discovered for the first time baby crocodiles communicate with each other and their mother while they are...
Study: Dry Tortugas has signs of recovery
MIAMI, June 25 (UPI) -- A team of 38 U.S. research divers has completed a 20-day biennial census, measuring how the protected status of the Dry Tortugas is...
Frogs found whose toes morph into claws
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 25 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have found 11 African frog species whose toes can morph into claws -- the only vertebrate claws known to pierce...
Exploited Fish Make Rapid Comeback In World's Largest No-take Marine Reserve Network
No-take marine reserves, in which fishing is completely banned, can lead to very rapid comebacks of the fish species most prized by commercial and recreational fisheries, reveals a new study...
To Find Out What's Eating Bats, Biologist Takes To Barn Rooftops
Bloodsucking pests like bat fleas and bat flies may not sound very appealing to the rest of us, but to many biologists they are considered among the most successful creatures...
Single Insecticide Application Can Kill Three Cockroach Generations
One dose of an insecticide can kill three generations of cockroaches as they feed off of each other and transfer the poison, according to entomologists who tested the effectiveness of...
Understanding The Migration Of Cancer Cells
Lamellipodia and filopodia are dynamic surface extensions of the cell which play a pivotal role in cell migration, invasion and wound healing. Biochemists have succeeded in clarifying the interplay between...
Pigs prefer 3 square meals a day
Pigs raised in conventional indoor pens have different feeding patterns from those raised under more natural conditions. Research published today in BioMed Central's open access journal Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica shows...
Some searchers still expect to see rare woodpecker
(AP) -- For the last three years, researchers in camouflage and waders have slogged through the east Arkansas woods hoping to spot a rare bird that so far seems...
DNA will help manage worms
Scientists have found DNA markers to use in a test that will drastically improve management of a major threat to Australian sheep.
World checklist of bees is compiled
WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI) -- A U.S.-led international team of scientists says it's identified nearly 19,500 bee species worldwide, which is about 2,000 more than previously estimated.
Life on the edge: To disperse, or become extinct?
Plants at range limits produce seeds with larger wings, Dr. Eckert discovered. The hardiest plants and those most likely to survive the climatic shifts brought about by global warming are...
Gene silencer and quantum dots reduce protein production to a whisper
More than 15 years ago scientists discovered a way to stop a particular gene in its tracks. The Nobel Prize-winning finding holds tantalizing promise for medical science, but so far...
Salmonella can ride water into tomatoes
(AP) -- Pick a tomato in the blazing sun and plunge it straight into cold water. If that happened on the way to market, it might be contaminated. Too...
Green Insect Repellents Come Up Short
There are natural insect repellents - citronella, lemongrass and rosemary, among them - but when it comes to effectiveness, at least for personal use, the chemical compound DEET is the...
Animal vertebrae development studied
KANSAS CITY, Mo., June 23 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say they have discovered the mechanism that causes animals to develop varying numbers of vertebrae.
Top new species revealed!
Thousands of new plant and animal species were discovered in 2007, though only 10 were bizarre enough, lethal enough or just plain cool enough to garner spots on a new...
Primate's scent speaks volumes about who he is
Perhaps judging a man by his cologne isn't as superficial as it seems.Duke University researchers, using sophisticated machinery to analyze hundreds of chemical components in a ringtailed lemur's distinctive scent,...
High Hormone Levels In Seabird Chicks Prepare Them To Kill Their Siblings
The Nazca booby, a Galápagos Island seabird, emerges from its shell ready to kill its brother or sister. Biologists have linked the murderous behavior to high levels of testosterone and...
Neuroscientists Show Insulin Receptor Signaling Regulates Structure Of Brain Circuits
Neuroscientists have demonstrated for the first time in living animals that insulin receptors in the brain can initiate signaling that regulates both the structure and function of neural circuits. The...
Nasal spray using body's immune system provides hope of cure for common cold
Hopes of cure for common cold on the horizon A nasal spray that mimics our own natural defense system may be the answer to beating the common cold, according...
Reliance on unverifiable observations hinders successful conservation of wildlife species
Nearly any evidence of the occurrence of a rare or elusive wildlife species has the tendency to generate a stir. Case in point: in February 2008, remote cameras unexpectedly captured...
Building Giant 'Nanoassemblies' That Sense Their Environment
Researchers in Texas are reporting the design, construction, and assembly of nano-size building blocks into the first giant structures that can sense and respond to changes in environmental conditions.
Repellent Made from Pine Oil
A naturally-occurring compound prepared from pine oil that seems to deter mosquito biting and repels two kinds of ticks has been found by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists. read more
Science Weekly podcast: sandbag.org.uk, immunotherapy, and chimpanzees' sexual politics
Alok Jha is joined by Bryony Worthington, the founder of sandbag.org.uk, to discuss carbon trading and combating climate change. Plus, is immunotherapy set to revolutionise cancer treatment? And the science...
Critically endangered Indonesian rhino seriously ill: official
A member of the world's most threatened rhinoceros species is seriously ill in Indonesia, a forestry official said Monday.