Latest science news in Biology & Nature
AUDIO: Farmers 'concerned' over new virus
Scientists are warning that a nasty virus affecting cows and sheep called the Schmallenberg virus could spread across the UK this year. Nigel Gibbens, chief veterinary officer of the UK,...
Test vaccine successfully protects monkeys from Nipah virus
Researchers have successfully tested in monkeys a vaccine against Nipah virus, a human pathogen that emerged in 1998 during a large outbreak of infection and disease among pigs and pig...
DNA traces historic Jewish migrations
NEW YORK, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- North African Jews are more closely related to Jews from other parts of the world than to their non-Jewish neighbors in North Africa,...
Shedding new light on how jaws evolve
If you're looking for information on the evolution and function of jaws, a new integrative research program has some answers. Scientists are investigating major adaptive and morphological transformations in the...
Hopes Dashed for Yet Another Alzheimer's Therapy
Pfizer abandons development of the once-promising bapineuzumab
Birds do better in 'agroforests' than on farms
Compared with open farmland, wooded "shade" plantations that produce coffee and chocolate promote greater bird diversity, although a new study says forests remain the best habitat for tropical birds. The...
Epileptic fits are like raging thunderstorms: Astrocytes help reduce long-term damage, surprising new research shows
Epileptic fits are like thunderstorms raging in the brain: Nerve cells excite each other in an uncontrolled way so that strong, rhythmic electrical discharges sweep over whole brain regions. In...
Holy bat detector! Ecologists develop first Europe-wide bat ID tool
Just as differences in song can be used to distinguish one bird species from another, the pips and squeaks bats use to find prey can be used to identify different...
Paddlefish's doubled genome may question theories on limb evolution
The American paddlefish -- known for its bizarre, protruding snout and eggs harvested for caviar -- duplicated its entire genome about 42 million years ago, according to a new study....
Beluga whale dies at Vancouver Aquarium
The oldest beluga whale at the Vancouver Aquarium, also believed to be the oldest at any other accredited aquarium in North America, has died.
9 genes found that affect bones
Osteoporosis affects over 2 million Australians, and identifying genes that lead to the condition will help to treat the problem. Image: JimmyAnderson/iStockphoto Australian and UK scientists have shown that a large percentage of...
Researchers eliminate aggression in birds by inhibiting specific hormone
(Phys.org) -- James Goodson and colleagues at Indiana University have found that by altering the secretion of the hormone VIP in certain parts of the brain, treated birds lose their...
Baby rhinos get second chance in S. African orphanage
The baby black rhino slurps milk greedily from a cola bottle, hops around and chases its caregiver in South Africa's newest and largest orphanage for calves whose parents were poached...
Evolutionary molecule identified by researchers
(Phys.org) -- Researchers at the University of Dundee have identified a molecule that could play a key role in how cells develop into the building blocks of life.
Insect Olympians: Students ask what makes horned passalus beetles so strong
(Phys.org) -- All eyes are turned to London as the world's top athletes compete for Olympic glory, but a humbler competition has been taking place in Andy Davis's lab at...
Study reveals new family tree for ray-finned fish
(Phys.org) -- The most common lineages of fish found today in oceans, lakes, and rivers evolved about the same time as mammals and birds, a new Yale University-led study shows.
Bacteria branch out
(Phys.org) -- Streptomyces produce the majority of clinically useful antibiotics, yet we dont fully understand how they grow. PhD student Antje Hempel has contributed to our understanding of this by...
Researchers solve plant sex cell mystery
(Phys.org) -- Although farmers have been manipulating plant germlines since the Neolithic, plant sex cells have stubbornly guarded the secret of their origin. The surprisingly simple answer low oxygen...
Op-Docs: Anosmia
Conjuring scents on screen, the filmmaker profiles people with a rare condition that renders them unable to smell.
Temperature rise can help prey
Temperature rise helped to protect the little mosquitofish from its predator, the Australian bass (pictured). The researchers suggest this highlights how the ability of a species to adapt to climate change may be...
Researchers peek at the early evolution of sex chromosomes
Two new studies offer insight into sex chromosome evolution by focusing on papaya, a multimillion dollar crop plant with a sexual problem (as far as growers are concerned) and a...
Brain signal IDs responders to fast-acting antidepressant
Scientists have discovered a biological marker that may help to identify which depressed patients will respond to an experimental, rapid-acting antidepressant. The brain signal, detectable by noninvasive imaging, also holds...
Possible muscle disease therapeutic target found
The study of muscular system protein myostatin has been of great interest to researchers as a potential therapeutic target for people with muscular disorders. Although much is known about how...
How forests thrive after fires and volcanoes
Forests hammered by windstorms, avalanches and wildfires may appear blighted, but a researcher says such disturbances can be key to maximizing an area's biological diversity. In fact land managers can...
Why Don't Any Animals Have Wheels?
Most human technologies have analogues in nature. But why haven't wheels - our most useful invention of all - ever evolved?
Forensic tools for catching poachers
The trade in ivory was largely outlawed in 1989, but poaching continues and remains a serious threat to the African elephant. Seizures of large amounts of ivory, sometimes over a...
Side Effects: Don’t Swat That Bug! It May Be Working on Next Year’s Vintage.
The yeast-storing utility of otherwise pesky wasps and hornets holds a larger lesson about creatures that we perceive as objectionable.
Global Update: Study Suggests That Rabies May Not Always Be Fatal
Scientists who took blood samples from 63 relatively healthy villagers in Peru’s Amazon jungle, where vampire bat bites are common, found seven people who had antibodies to rabies.