Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Tigers not deterred by selective logging
Recent research conducted by WWF shows that selectively logged forests may be able to support high population of tigers in Malaysia, and in turn boost the role of protected areas...
Global Wheat Crop Threatened by Fungus: A Q&A with Han Joachim Braun
In 1999 agricultural researchers discovered in Uganda a new variety of stem rust--a fungus that infects wheat plants and wiped out 40 percent of U.S. wheat harvests in the 1950s....
Lung cancer: Molecular scissors determine therapy effectiveness
In the past few years, a number of anti-cancer drugs have been developed which are directed selectively against specific key molecules of tumour cells. Among these is an antibody called...
Female Mammals Follow Their Noses To The Right Mates
Historically, most examples of female mate choice and its evolutionary consequences are found in birds. But that doesn't mean mammals aren't just as choosy, researchers say. It just means that...
Study finds elephant sharks perceive color
SINGAPORE, March 19 (UPI) -- Singaporean and British scientists say they used genome sequencing to discover the elephant shark can see colors much in the same way humans...
Scientists create living model of basic units of the human brain
Researchers in the School of Life and Health Sciences at Aston University in Birmingham, UK are developing a novel new way to model how the human brain works by creating...
Researchers clone key sperm-binding proteins
New treatments for infertility could be closer to reality, thanks to a discovery from scientists at the Universite de Montreal and Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Centre. According to a study published...
Guitarists' brains swing together
When musicians play along together it isn't just their instruments that are in time - their brain waves are too. Research published in the online open access journal BMC Neuroscience...
Discovery of New Microorganisms in the Stratosphere
(PhysOrg.com) -- Three new species of bacteria, which are not found on Earth and which are highly resistant to ultra-violet radiation, have been discovered in the upper stratosphere by Indian...
Is Salt Nature's Antidepressant?
Eating salt may make humans happier, suggests a new study in rats. And too little salt could have the opposite effect.
MicroRNA undermines tumour suppression
A small piece of RNA, or microRNA (miRNA), ratchets down the activity of the tumour-suppressor gene p53, according to a study by Whitehead Institute and National University of Singapore researchers...
More Evidence That Intelligence Is Largely Inherited: Researchers Find That Genes Determine Brain's Processing Speed
A new type of brain imaging scanner shows that intelligence is strongly influenced by the quality of the brain's axons or wiring that sends signals throughout the brain. The faster...
Study Yields Surprising New Insight into High-Temp Superconductors
(PhysOrg.com) -- Recently, an international group of researchers discovered that the underlying mechanism producing high-temperature superconductivity in a widely studied class of copper-oxygen-based superconductors may be different than scientists have...
Fungus devastates 'chicken' frog
Montserrat's "mountain chicken" frog is the latest victim of the lethal fungus sweeping the world.
Tiny Samples Could Yield Big Predictive Markers For Pancreatic Cancer
A handful of proteins, detected in incredibly tiny amounts, may help doctors distinguish between a harmless lesion in the pancreas and a potentially deadly one. If confirmed, these biomarkers could...
New Protein Identified In Bacterial Arsenal
Nearly a billion years ago, bacteria evolved an insidious means of infecting their hosts -- a syringe-like mechanism able to inject cells with stealthy hijacker molecules. These molecules, called virulence...
American Carnivores Evolved To Avoid Each Other, New Study Suggests
A large-scale analysis suggests that strategies that help America's carnivores stay away from each other have been a driving force in the evolution of many of these species, influencing such...
Polymer’s coats multi-task in drug delivery
Polymer spheres with a sugar coating on the outside and plastic coating on the inside may be better living cell mimics and drug delivery vessels
FOR KIDS: Pondering the puzzling platypus
Scientists are studying the mixed-up looking mammal for clues to animal ancestry
Synthetic Biology: Transforming Cells Into Microscopic Biological Computers
Synthetic biology is an emerging discipline through which scientists hope to transform cells into microscopic biological 'computers' programmed to perform specific tasks. Such capabilities would have a range of applications,...
Birds returned to mainland
Conservation researchers have re-introduced a parakeet species to the New Zealand mainland, with other species in an ‘open sanctuary’.
Timber is nature and nurture
Researchers studying the trade between fast-growing and strong wood pines have found that it’s a mix of genetics and environment.
A hungry humpback whale steals a bird's dinner - in one giant gulp
Humpback whales come up with a novel way for getting an easy snack, footage reveals.
Measuring The Strength Needed To Move Chromosomes
It's about as long as the width of a human hair and only half that length across. So it's tiny -- measured in millionths of a meter -- and extremely...
Scientist at Work: Alice W. Flaherty: From Bipolar Darkness, the Empathy to Be a Doctor
Dr. Alice W. Flaherty uses the racing mind of her manic phases to drive her ideas into forceful, highly personal treatments.
UC Davis Historian Catalogs U.S. Secrets, Lies and Conspiracies
(PhysOrg.com) -- The government's own secrets, lies and conspiracies have fueled a 45-year-long decline in America's trust in its leaders, a University of California, Davis, history professor argues in a...
HumBio instructor gets props for YouTube raps
Ask Tom McFadden, an instructor in Stanford's Human Biology Program (HumBio), why arms, legs and other body parts grow where they do, and he'll hold forth on the role of...
The Fall and Rise of the Right Whale
Researchers say the right whale offers proof that simple conservation steps can have a big impact, even for species driven to the edge of oblivion.