Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Brain Quickly Remembers Complex Sounds
A new study on acoustic memorization reveals a remarkable ability of the brain to recognize patterns in complex sound and noise.
Ancient ‘brain food’ helped humans get smart
Between 1.9 and 2 million years ago, the brain size of our human ancestors increased dramatically. Now a trove of 1.95-million-year-old bone fragments from various animals adds evidence to a...
Elusive Particle Caught in Strange Appearing Act
Observation confirms that different types of neutrinos turn into one another
Digging tips to avoid arsenic contamination
By observing simple rules on digging wells and pumping water for irrigation it is possible to avoid arsenic poisoning.
Flies offer insight into human metabolic disease
Galactosemia is a metabolic disease resulting from an inherited defect that prevents the proper metabolism of galactose, a sugar commonly found in dairy products, like milk. Exposure of affected people...
MIT chemists design new way to fluorescently label proteins
Since the 1990s, a green fluorescent protein known simply as GFP has revolutionised cell biology. Originally found in a Pacific Northwest jellyfish, GFP allows scientists to visualise proteins inside of...
Australia to Take Japan to Court over Whaling
Japan Skirts International Ban on Commercial Whaling by Harpooning Hundreds of Whales for Scientific Research
Making enough red blood cells: Scientists identify molecules that ensure red blood cell production
Scientists have identified two small RNA molecules which ensure that enough red blood cells are produced efficiently, by fine-tuning a number of different genes involved in this process.
Study finds alternative to antibiotics
HAMILTON, Mont., June 1 (UPI) -- A U.S. National Institutes of Health-led study has created what's described as a possible future alternative to the use of antibiotics to prevent...
Can We Do Better at Managing Rare, Big Risks?
Can humans overcome traits that lead to well blowouts and other foreseen disasters?
Understanding the APJ Receptor Binding Site
(PhysOrg.com) -- Apelin is a recently discovered peptide that binds to the apelin (or APJ) G-protein-coupled receptor. Apelin-13 (NH2-QRPRLSHKGPMPF-COOH), one of several cleavage products of the proprotein form of the...
Newly discovered kinase regulates cytoskeleton, and perhaps holds key to how cancer cells spread
Scientists at the University of California, San Diego have identified a previously unknown kinase that regulates cell proliferation, shape and migration, and may play a major role in the progression...
Concealed patterns beneath life's variety
Although the tropics appear to the casual observer to be busily buzzing and blooming with life's rich variety when compared with temperate and polar regions - a fact that scientists...
Powerful genome barcoding system reveals large-scale variation in human DNA
Genetic abnormalities are most often discussed in terms of differences so miniscule they are actually called 'snips' - changes in a single unit along the 3 billion that make up...
Animal study reveals new target for antidepressants
University of Michigan scientists have provided the most detailed picture yet of a key receptor in the brain that influences the effectiveness of serotonin-related antidepressants, such as Prozac...
Haiti's mango farmers get help growing the industry
The Inter-American Development Bank and Coca-Cola are giving growers access to loans and markets and teaching new harvesting techniques. ...
MicroRNA expression and turnover are regulated by neural activity in the retina and brain
Scientists in Switzerland have found that microRNAs, small RNA regulators of gene expression, are up- and down-regulated in the retina during light-dark adaptation and in response to synaptic stimulation in...
Natural selection for moderate testosterone surprises scientists
A field study of the relationship between testosterone and natural selection in an American songbird, the dark-eyed junco, has defied some expectations and confirmed others. Scientists report that extreme testosterone...
U.S. thinks No. 3 al-Qaida official dead
U.S. officials believe al-Qaida's No. 3, Sheikh Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, is dead, killed by a U.S. Predator drone strike in Pakistan's tribal areas within the past two weeks.
Scientists decipher structure of nature's 'light switch'
Opening a window into the process by which plants turn on the greenery and unleash a floral profusion of color, scientists have deciphered the structure of a molecular "switch" much...
Tracking Ticks via Satellite
Finding a tick usually involves a squeamish self-examination - carefully rubbing fingertips through the scalp, meticulously scanning the body, and groaning "eyeww" if a little bloodsucker is discovered.
Oak has secret weapon against caterpillar
A plague of caterpillars is munching its way through the leaves on our trees. Oak forests are suffering the most, reports the Nature Calendar. Cause for concern? Not according to...
Observatory: Iguanas Rely on Stress Hormone, Study Says
Some iguanas have a unique ability to survive without food for many months.
Mind: ‘Vital Exhaustion’? Just Don’t Call It ‘Nervous Breakdown’
At one time, the term “nervous breakdown,” a catch-all for all kinds of symptoms, pretty much disappeared. But it may be hard to improve upon.
Approaching Space Center, and End of Line for the Shuttle
With a train’s delivery of solid-fuel booster segments to Florida, the program has just two trips left.
Basics: In Creating ‘Synthetic Cell,’ Scientists Are Indebted to the Real Thing
The scientists who created a synthetic variant are in debt to nature, time and billions of years of evolution.
Scientists breed goats that produce spider silk
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from the University of Wyoming have developed a way to incorporate spiders' silk-spinning genes into goats, allowing the researchers to harvest the silk protein from the goats`...
Researchers Discover Secret of Success For Mysterious Hybridized Caribbean Bats
(PhysOrg.com) -- Sometime in the last 30,000 years or so, two separate bat species colonized the Caribbean and converged on islands in the southern Lesser Antilles. One came from Mexico...