Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Cane toads weak against ants
Researchers have discovered that cane toads are vulnerable to meat ants – and local frogs, which evolved with the ants, are safe.
Missing Or Mutated 'Clock' Gene Linked To Vascular Disease
The circadian clocks that set the rhythmic motion of our bodies for wakeful days and sleepy nights can also set us up for vascular disease when broken.
New Wheat Disease Could Spread Faster Than Expected
Both plant and human diseases that can travel with the wind have the potential to spread far more rapidly than has been understood, according to a new study, in findings...
A Venomous Tale: How Lizards Can Shed Their Tail When Predators Attack
Ecologists have answered a question that has puzzled biologists for more than a century: What is the main factor that determines a lizard's ability to shed its tail when predators...
Brain Activity Associated With Phantom Limbs, Study Shows
Phantom limbs, often described after amputation, are also experienced as an extra limb in patients who are paralyzed on one side following a stroke. Referred to as supernumerary phantom limb,...
Slide show: Rare clouded leopard cubs born in Virginia
A male named Tai and a female named Mook are the first pair of endangered clouded leopard cubs born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s Conservation and Research Center in 16...
Biologists worry over increased turtle harvest
(AP) -- Surging demand for turtle meat in southeast Asia has prompted a huge jump in turtle harvesting, leading to concerns that populations of the reptiles could suffer permanent...
Drop in daddy long legs is devastating bird populations
Warm summers are dramatically reducing populations of daddy long legs, which in turn is having a severe impact on the bird populations which rely on them for food.
Activity of individual brain cells predicts cognitive flexibility
A new study provides intriguing insights into mechanisms of cognitive flexibility at the single cell level. The research, published by Cell Press in the 26th March issue of the journal...
Visual attention: How the brain makes the most of the visible world
The visual system has limited capacity and cannot process everything that falls onto the retina. Instead, the brain relies on attention to bring salient details into focus and filter out...
Researchers decipher blood stem cell attachment, communication
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have deciphered a key sequence of events governing whether the stem cells that produce red and white blood cells remain anchored to the...
Kenya wildlife perishes in nets bought with US aid
DIANI, Kenya (AP) -- Plastic fishing nets - some bought for poor fishermen with American aid money - are tangling up whales and turtles off one...
Bees Prefer Shortest Distance Between Two Flowers
Honeybees and bumble bees are predictable in the way they move among flowers, typically moving directly from one to another in the same row of plants. The bees' flight paths...
Gene Exchange Common Among Sex-manipulating Bacteria
Certain bacteria have learned to manipulate the proportion of females and males in insect populations. Now researchers have mapped the entire genome of a bacterium that infects a close relative...
VAI study rules out transcriptional coactivators as useful herpes antiviral drug targets
Grand Rapids, Mich. (March 25, 2009) - Researchers at Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) have determined that the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) does not require transcriptional coactivators for...
The egg makes sure that sperm don't get too old
In contrast to women, men are fertile throughout life, but research at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, has now shown that a fertilising sperm can get help from...
Nun Study returns to Minnesota, where scientists plan to research Alzheimer's, dementia
Last fall, scientists from the University of Minnesota returned from Kentucky with some 600 preserved brains and 439 boxes filled with memories. That's how the world-famous Nun Study of Alzheimer's...
Listening to the song of the toadfish (w/Audio)
(PhysOrg.com) -- Professor Roger Bland is listening in on one of the noisier creatures in San Francisco Bay, using physics to analyze the mating song of the toadfish. While fish...
Incest can lead to more disease in offspring, crow study finds
(PhysOrg.com) -- Crows that are the product of incest are more susceptible to diseases, according to a new Cornell study published online this month in the journal Proceedings of the...
Nature-inspired technology creates engineered antibodies to fight specific diseases
(PhysOrg.com) -- When viruses and bacteria invade the body, the immune system generates protective proteins called antibodies that bind to and destroy the invading pathogens.
Male circumcision fends off the most common STDs
Operation offers partial protection against genital herpes and human papillomavirus
Ill. rest areas not good for wind power
CHAMPAIGN, Ill., March 25 (UPI) -- Scientists say they assessed more than 50 Illinois highway rest areas and weigh stations as possible sites for wind turbines and found...
Clockwork plants
(PhysOrg.com) -- How do plants tell the time and the passing of the seasons? Plant scientists are enlisting the help of engineers in their quest to uncover the rhythms of...
Study explores effects of herbicide drift on white oak
CHAMPAIGN, IL--Herbicide drift, which occurs when pesticides "drift" from the targeted application area to a nearby non-targeted area, is a particular concern in Midwestern regions of the United States.
Researchers uncover signaling pathway that regulates movement of blood-forming stem cells
Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) have identified a signaling pathway that helps regulate the movement of blood-forming stem cells in the...
Study finds not all bats land the same way
PROVIDENCE, R.I., March 25 (UPI) -- A U.S.-led study has documented for the first time how bats land and the scientists discovered that not all bats land in...
Human Medications and Personal Care Products in Fish Caught in Several U.S. Waterways
Baylor University researchers, working with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, have detected low-level residues of several human medications and personal care products in fish collected from effluent-dominated rivers, including...
Atomic Fountain Clocks Are Becoming Still More Stable
Atomic fountain clocks are at present the most accurate clocks in the world: Caesium fountain clocks furnish the second accurate to 15 places after the decimal point. Until they reach...