Biology-blog.com: The place for biology

Indoor plants to fight air pollution

Air quality in homes, offices, and other indoor spaces is becoming a major health concern, especially in developed countries where people often spend more than 90% of their time indoors. Surprisingly, indoor air has been reported to be as much as 12 times more polluted than outdoor air in some areas. Indoor air pollutants emanate from paints, varnishes, adhesives, furnishings, clothing, solvents, building materials, and even tap water. A long........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 11/5/2009 8:39:57 AM)

Seeking flower variety

Florists and other retailers who sell flowers and plants can now add another tool to their marketing kit. A recent study of "consumption values" may help them understand what influences consumers' choices in regard to floral purchases, and how to better design marketing efforts and purchase stock that can increase customers and sales. Li-Chun Huang from National Taiwan University and Tzu-Fang Yeh from Da-Yeh University headed a research........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 11/5/2009 8:37:38 AM)

Pecan trees benefit from thinning

Pecan trees, like many fruit trees, have a tendency to bear fruit in cycles, producing a large crop in one or two years, followed by one or two years with little or no crop. This cycle, called "alternate bearing", is the most profit-limiting biological problem facing pecan producers; the inconsistent production pattern creates supply and marketing challenges that can have severe negative effects on the pecan industry. Producers have........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 11/4/2009 8:16:10 AM)

White sharks in the north Pacific

The white shark appears to be the ultimate loner of the ocean, cruising thousands of miles in a solitary trek, but a team of scientists has discovered that the sharks have maintained such a consistent pattern of migration that over tens of thousands of years the white sharks in the northeastern Pacific Ocean have separated themselves into a population genetically distinct from sharks elsewhere in the world. "White sharks are a large, highly........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 11/4/2009 8:10:39 AM)

North Atlantic Fish Populations Shifting

About half of 36 fish stocks in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, a number of of them commercially valuable species, have been shifting northward over the last four decades, with some stocks nearly disappearing from U.S. waters as they move farther offshore, as per a newly released study by NOAA researchers. Their findings, reported in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, show the impact of changing coastal and ocean temperatures on........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 11/2/2009 10:56:00 PM)

A heat sensor for body-clock synchronization

New research on the fruit-fly brain points to a possible mechanism by which temperature influences the body clock, as per researchers from Queen Mary, University of London. Eventhough much is known about how light affects the body clock - also known at the circadian clock - it is not well understood which cells or organs sense daily temperature changes or how temperature signals reach the part of the brain that contains the circadian clock. ........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 10/29/2009 10:07:56 PM)

The skeleton: Size matters

Vertebrates have in common a skeleton made of segments, the vertebrae. During development of the embryo, each segment is added in a time dependent manner, from the head-end to the tail-end: the first segments to be added become the vertebrae of the neck, later segments become the vertebrae with ribs and the last ones the vertebra located in the tail (in the case of a mouse, for example). In this process, it is crucial that, on the one hand,........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 10/27/2009 9:54:35 AM)

Mantis shrimps inspire technology

The remarkable eyes of a marine crustacean could inspire the next generation of DVD and CD players, as per a newly released study from the University of Bristol published recently in Nature Photonics The mantis shrimps in the study are found on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and have the most complex vision systems known to science. They can see in twelve colours (humans see in only three) and can distinguish between different forms of........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 10/26/2009 7:36:38 AM)

Genomes of Two Strains of E. coli Sequenced

An international team of scientists from the United States, Korea, and France has sequenced and analyzed the genomes of two important laboratory strains of E. coli bacteria, one used to study evolution and the other to produce proteins for basic research or practical applications. The findings will help guide future research and will also open a window to a deeper understanding of classical research that is the foundation of our understanding........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 10/20/2009 10:05:17 PM)

Carbon-offsetting and conservation

Logged rainforests can support as much plant, animal and insect life as virgin forest within 15 years if properly managed, research at the University of Leeds has found. Because trees in tropical climates soak up large amounts of carbon dioxide, restoring logged forest through planting new trees could also be used in carbon trading, as per Dr David Edwards, from University's Faculty of Biological Sciences. Dr Edwards is calling for the........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 10/20/2009 8:48:40 AM)

Time in a bottle

A 21-year Michigan State University experiment that distills the essence of evolution in laboratory flasks not only demonstrates natural selection at work, but could lead to biotechnology and medical research advances, scientists said. Charles Darwin's seminal Origin of Species first laid out the case for evolution exactly 150 years ago. Now, MSU professor Richard Lenski and his colleagues document the process in their analysis of 40,000........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 10/19/2009 6:43:51 AM)

Do 3 meals a day keep fungi away?

The fact that they eat a lot and often may explain why most people and other mammals are protected from the majority of fungal pathogens, as per research from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The research, reported in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, showed that the elevated body temperature of mammals the familiar 98.6o F or 37o C in people is too high for the vast majority of potential fungal invaders to........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 10/15/2009 7:41:43 PM)

Whale-sized genetic study for southern hemisphere humpbacks

After 15 years of research in the waters of the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the American Museum of Natural History, and an international coalition of organizations have unveiled the largest genetic study of humpback whale populations ever conducted in the Southern Hemisphere. By analyzing DNA samples from more than 1,500 whales, scientists can now peer into the population dynamics and........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 10/14/2009 7:14:28 AM)

Pets With a Microchip

Animals shelter officials housing lost pets that had been implanted with a microchip were able to find the owners in almost three out of four cases in a recently published national study. As per the research, the return-to-owner rate for cats was 20 times higher and for dogs 2 ½ times higher for microchipped pets than were the rates of return for all stray cats and dogs that had entered the shelters. "This is the first time there has been........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 10/14/2009 7:11:15 AM)

Panama butterfly migrations

A high-speed chase across the Panama Canal in a Boston Whaler may sound like the beginning of another James Bond filmbut the protagonist of this story brandishes a butterfly net and studies the effects of climate change on insect migrations at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. "Our long-term study shows that El Nio, a global climate pattern, drives Sulfur butterfly migrations," said Robert Srygley, former Smithsonian post doctoral........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 10/6/2009 7:56:49 AM)

Marine Microbe Is Source of Rare Nutrient

A newly released study of microscopic marine microbes, called phytoplankton, by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of South Carolina has solved a ten-year-old mystery about the source of an essential nutrient in the ocean. Roughly a decade ago researchers discovered a rare form of organic phosphorus in marine organic matter. Not only were the scientists surprised to find this form of phosphorus,........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 9/29/2009 10:30:35 PM)

Building on Nature

Natural systems are the focus of two intriguing and imperative research areas: creating revolutionary capabilities for sensing and response; and obtaining hydrocarbons from plants and microorganisms. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced 20 grants in these areas for FY 2009, awarding a total of $39,991,202 over four years to 94 researchers from 27 institutions through the NSF Office of Emerging Frontiers in Research and........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 9/29/2009 10:25:37 PM)

Grow your own apples

Choose a location that offers 8 hours of sun per day (trees in shady areas won"t produce ample fruit) For pollination to occur, you need to plant at least two trees within 3 o 4 m of one another Well-drained soil is very important since too much moisture will harm the roots of both new and established trees Likewise, the soil needs to be rich; abundant nutrients are essential for a bountiful crop, so when planting, work compost,........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 9/27/2009 10:06:38 PM)

Sunday audacity

We had a squirrel incident in the back yard in suburbia this last week. Somehow, three baby squirrels had fallen from their nest high in the cypress tree on a cold and rainy night. The mother was whistling for them, but the little things must have been too dazed to move. Queequeg found them for us, and before he could do what dogs do, Libby put him in the house then retrieved the half-drowned squirrel pups and put them on a soft towel in a box........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 9/27/2009 6:23:39 PM)

Fish fend off invading germs with an initial response

Since the human response to infection is highly complex, research to understand how people fight infection is facilitated by studying how similar processes occur in simpler organisms. Zebrafish are becoming an important model for human disease, since they are easily handled, maintained and manipulated and a number of fundamental processes between zebrafish and humans are conserved. In addition, the small zebrafish embryo is highly amenable to........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 9/24/2009 7:06:08 AM)

Bananas Gone Bad Glow Blue in UV-Light

Nicholas Turro of Columbia University, Bernhard Krautler of the University of Innsbruck, Austria and their colleagues have observed that, as chlorophyll ages and begins to disintegrate in banana peels it does not change color in the spectrum of visible light we see. Instead, it glows blue when observed under ultraviolet light. While the light show adds a level of exoticism to the fruit in our eyes, and serves to attract a host of potential........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 9/20/2009 7:12:55 PM)

Unlocking genetic secrets of date palm

Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar have mapped a draft version of the date palm genome, unlocking a number of of its genetic secrets. "We have generated a draft DNA sequence and initial assembly of the date palm using the most advanced technology," says Joel Malek, director of the Genomics Laboratory at WCMC-Q. Genetic information about the date palm is extremely valuable to scientists who are working to improve fruit yield........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 9/15/2009 9:23:23 PM)

New Sequencing Technique Could Boost Pine Beetle Fight,

September 15, 2009. UBC scientists have helped developed a cheaper, faster way to compile draft genome sequences that could advance the fight against mountain pine beetle (MPB) infestation and improve cancer research. Current sequencing methods have a variety of advantages and disadvantages--including the cost involved. Dr Steven Jones and his colleagues at UBC, the BC Cancer Agency and Simon Fraser University have combined cutting edge........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 9/15/2009 2:36:33 PM)

Clues into the evolution of the first flowers

Approximately 120-130 million years ago, one of the most significant events in the history of the Earth occurred: the first flowering plants, or angiosperms, arose. In the late 1800s, Darwin referred to their development as an "abominable mystery." To this day, researchers are still challenged by this "mystery" of how angiosperms originated, rapidly diversified, and rose to dominance. (See the January 2009 issue of the American Journal of........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 9/15/2009 7:51:15 AM)

Barcoding endangered sea turtles

Conservation geneticists who study sea turtles have a new tool to help track this highly migratory and endangered group of marine animals: DNA barcodes. DNA barcodes are short genetic sequences that efficiently distinguish species from each othereven if the samples from which the DNA is extracted are minute or degraded. Now, a recently published research paper by researchers from the American Museum of Natural History and the University of........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 9/15/2009 7:47:26 AM)

For carnivorous plants, slow but steady wins the race

Like the man-eating plant in Little Shop of Horrors, carnivorous plants rely on animal prey for sustenance. Fortunately for humans, carnivorous plants found in nature are not dependent on a diet of human blood but rather are satisfied with the occasional fly or other insect. The existence of carnivorous plants has fascinated botanists and non-botanists alike for centuries and raises the question, "Why are some plants carnivorous?" . A........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 9/14/2009 11:55:46 PM)

Oil and wildlife don't mix in Ecuador's Eden

What harm can a simple road do in a pristine place such as Ecuador's Yasuni National Park, home to peccaries, tapirs, monkeys and myriad other wildlife species? A great deal, it turns out. Specifically, it can turn subsistence communities into commercial hunting camps that empty rainforests of their wildlife, scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and the IDEAS-Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador have found. A study by........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 9/11/2009 7:38:29 AM)

Migrating birds chill to fatten up

Marathon runners are famed for pasta packing in the days before a big run but when tiny passerine birds set out on their epic migrations, the distances are too great to cover on the energy reserves with which they embark. Michał Wojciechowski and Berry Pinshow explain that most birds stop off en route to their destination to refuel. One of the Eurasian blackcaps' preferred refuelling stops is Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel, where the birds........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 9/11/2009 6:55:37 AM)

Getting plants to rid themselves of pesticide residues

Researchers in China are reporting the "intriguing" discovery that a natural plant hormone, applied to crops, can help plants eliminate residues of certain pesticides. The study is scheduled for the Sept. 23 issue of ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication. Jing Quan Yu and his colleagues note that pesticides are essential for sustaining food production for the world's growing population. Farmers worldwide........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 9/10/2009 7:06:05 AM)

MicroRNAs to Track Evolutionary History for First Time

The large group of segmented worms known as annelids, which includes earthworms, leeches and bristle worms, evolved millions of years ago and can be found in every corner of the world. Eventhough annelids are one of the most abundant animal groups on the planet, researchers have struggled to understand how the different species of this biologically diverse group relate to each other in terms of their evolutionary history. Now a team of........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 9/10/2009 6:58:49 AM)

Flips, flops and cartwheels

Geckos and other lizards have long been known for their incredible ability to shed their tails as a decoy for predators, but little is known about the movements and what controls the tail once it separates from the lizard's body. Anthony Russell of the University of Calgary and Tim Higham of Clemson University in South Carolina are closer to solving this mystery as outlined in a paper they co-authored reported in the journal Biology Letters ........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 9/9/2009 7:36:20 AM)

New biosensor to detect bacteria

A research group from the Rovira i Virgili University (URV) in Tarragona has developed a biosensor that can immediately detect very low levels of Salmonella typhi, the bacteria that causes typhoid fever. The technique uses carbon nanotubes and synthetic DNA fragments that activate an electric signal when they link up with the pathogen. "We have developed a new biosensor that can detect extremely low concentrations of bacteria immediately,........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 9/9/2009 7:32:50 AM)

Making better broccoli

Carotenoidsfat-soluble plant compounds found in some vegetablesare essential to the human diet and reportedly offer important health benefits to consumers. Plant carotenoids are the most important source of vitamin A in the human diet; the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, found in corn and leafy greens vegetable such as kale, broccoli, and spinach, are widely considered to be valuable antioxidants capable of protecting humans from chronic........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 11/5/2009 8:42:04 AM)

Sustainably grown garlic

Consumer interest in new and diverse types of garlic is on the rise. Fueled by factors including the growth of the "local foods" movement, interest in world cuisines, and widespread reports touting its numerous health benefits, demand for high-quality, locally grown garlic is increasing throughout the U.S. While most grocery stores in carry the familiar white, "softneck" garlic (which is most often imported), varieties of "hardneck" garlic........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 11/4/2009 8:19:53 AM)

For African violets

African violets have a mixed reputation. Their delicate, colorful flowers and furry, soft leaves make them a favorite among home gardeners and growers. But the striking plants are often regarded as temperamental: a precise recipe of light, moisture, warm temperatures, high humidity, and fertilizer is mandatory to encourage african violets to grow and flower. A recently published study by researchers Julia C. Brotton and Janet C. Cole from........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 11/4/2009 8:15:01 AM)

Cultured pearls from the queen conch

For more than 25 years, all attempts at culturing pearls from the queen conch (Strombus gigas) have been unsuccessfuluntil now. For the first time, novel and proprietary seeding techniques to produce beaded (nucleated) and non-beaded cultured pearls from the queen conch have been developed by researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (HBOI). With less than two years of research and experimentation,........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 11/4/2009 7:59:36 AM)

Moose eat plants; wolves kill moose

Moose eat plants; wolves kill moose. What difference does this classic predator-prey interaction make to biodiversity? A large and unexpected one, say wildlife biologists from Michigan Technological University. Joseph Bump, Rolf Peterson and John Vucetich report in the November 2009 issue of the journal Ecology that the carcasses of moose killed by wolves at Isle Royale National Park enrich the soil in "hot spots" of forest fertility around........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 11/2/2009 8:44:50 AM)

Researchers sequence swine genome

A global collaborative has produced a first draft of the genome of a domesticated pig, an achievement that will lead to insights in agriculture, medicine, conservation and evolution. A red-haired Duroc pig from a farm at the University of Illinois will now be among the growing list of domesticated animals that have had their genomes sequenced. Scientists will announce the achievement Monday (Nov. 2) at a meeting at the Wellcome Trust Sanger........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 11/2/2009 8:42:32 AM)

Environmental Impact Of Marine Fisheries

An Australian method for assessing the environmental impact of marine fisheries has caught the eye of fishery management agencies worldwide. Aspects of the 'ecological risk evaluation' (ERA) method have been adopted in the US, Canada, Ecuador, and the Western and Central Pacific, and by the international eco-labelling organisation the Marine Stewardship Council. The method was developed in research led by Dr Tony Smith and Dr Alistair........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 10/27/2009 9:57:09 AM)

Charles Darwin's ideas about the origin of life

When Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species 150 years ago, he deliberately avoided the subject of the origin of life. This, coupled with the mention of the 'Creator' in the last paragraph of the book, led us to believe he was not willing to commit on the matter. An international team, led by Juli Peret of the Cavanilles Institute in Valencia, now refutes that idea and shows that the British naturalist did explain in other documents how........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 10/27/2009 9:52:08 AM)

New method to help keep fruit and vegetables fresh

ATLANTA Did you know that millions of tons of fruits and vegetables in the United States end up in the trash can before being eaten, as per the U.S. Department of Agriculture? A Georgia State University professor has developed an innovative new way to keep produce and flowers fresh for longer periods of time. Microbiologist George Pierce's method uses a naturally occurring microorganism no larger than the width of a human hair to........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 10/20/2009 10:19:11 PM)

Family tree for cattle, other ruminants

Pairing a new approach to prepare ancient DNA with a new scientific technique developed specifically to genotype a cow, an MU animal scientist, along with a team of international researchers, created a very accurate and widespread "family tree" for cows and other ruminants, going back as far as 29 million years. This genetic information could allow researchers to understand the evolution of cattle, ruminants and other animals. This same........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 10/20/2009 8:54:29 AM)

Discovery overturns long-held theory about biological clocks

University of Michigan mathematicians and their British colleagues say they have identified the signal that the brain sends to the rest of the body to control biological rhythms, a finding that overturns a long-held theory about our internal clock. Understanding how the human biological clock works is an essential step toward correcting sleep problems like insomnia and jet lag. New insights about the body's central pacemaker might also,........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 10/15/2009 7:47:00 PM)

Being a standout has its benefits

Standing out in a crowd is better than blending in, at least if you're a paper wasp in a colony where fights between nest-mates determine social status. That's the conclusion of a study by University of Michigan scientists published online this week in the journal Evolution. "It's good to be different, to wear a nametag advertising your identity," said graduate student Michael Sheehan, who collaborated on the research with evolutionary........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 10/15/2009 7:44:23 PM)

Loss of Tumor-Suppressor and DNA-Maintenance Proteins

A study reported in the recent issue of Nature Genetics demonstrates that loss of the tumor-suppressor protein p53, coupled with elimination of the DNA-maintenance protein ATR, severely disrupts tissue maintenance in mice. As a result, tissues deteriorate rapidly, which is generally fatal in these animals. In addition, the study provides supportive evidence for the use of inhibitors of ATR in cancer treatment. Essentially, says senior author........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 10/15/2009 5:23:13 PM)

Conservation biologists setting their targets too low

Conservation biologists are setting their minimum population size targets too low to prevent extinction. That's as per a newly released study by University of Adelaide and Macquarie University researchers which has shown that populations of endangered species are unlikely to persist in the face of global climate change and habitat loss unless they number around 5000 mature individuals or more. The findings have been published online in a........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 10/13/2009 8:26:31 AM)

Rainforest Plants Then and Now

Smithsonian scientists working in Colombia's Cerrejn coal mine have unearthed the first megafossil evidence of a neotropical rainforest. Titanoboa, the world's biggest snake, lived in this forest 58 million years ago at temperatures 3-5 C warmer than in rainforests today, indicating that rainforests flourished during warm periods. "Modern neotropical rainforests, with their palms and spectacular flowering-plant diversity, seem to have come........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 10/13/2009 8:18:41 AM)

Understanding of how insects smell

New research announced recently, Wednesday 30th September, by a team of leading researchers working with the UK's national Synchrotron, Diamond Light Source, could have a significant impact on the development and refinement of new eco-friendly pest control methods for worldwide agriculture. Reported in the Journal of Molecular Biology, the study was carried out by Dr Jing-Jiang Zhou and his colleagues at the world's oldest agricultural........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 9/30/2009 6:39:01 AM)

From underground 850 new species

Australian scientists have discovered a huge number of new species of invertebrate animals living in underground water, caves and "micro-caverns" amid the harsh conditions of the Australian outback. A national team of 18 scientists has discovered 850 new species of invertebrates, which include various insects, small crustaceans, spiders, worms and a number of others. The team led by Professor Andy Austin (University of Adelaide), Dr........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 9/28/2009 6:44:14 AM)

Eight-legged mama

Normally, I don’t have much luck photographing spiders, but at this time of the year, when cooler temps are moving in, I have gotten a few nice shots, especially of wolf spiders, the terrible hunters of the forest floor We saw this beauty in the mown area atop the dam. It’s sudden movement is what allowed me to see it at all, but then it paused at the edge of the taller grass and let me take this portrait That is an egg sack........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 9/27/2009 6:23:48 PM)

163 new species found: including a bird-eating fanged frog

A new WWF report celebrates the recent discovery of 163 new species in the Greater Mekong region of South-east Asia - including a bird-eating fanged frog, a leopard-patterned gecko and a bird that would rather walk than fly - but we also warn they could soon face extinction because of climate change. Our report, entitled Close Encounters, lists 100 new plants, 28 fish, 18 reptiles, 14 amphibians, 2 mammals and a bird, all identified in the........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 9/27/2009 8:51:27 AM)

Frog fungus hammering biodiversity

Sometimes to see something properly, you have to stand farther back. This is true of Chuck Close portraits where a patchwork of a number of small faces changes into one giant face as you back away. It may also be true of the frogs of Central America, where the pattern of extinctions emerges clearly only at a certain spatial scale. Everyone knows that frogs are in trouble and that some species have disappeared, but a recent analysis of........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 9/23/2009 7:33:09 AM)

Salmon migration mystery explored

Temperature differences and slow-moving water at the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake rivers in Idaho might delay the migration of threatened juvenile salmon and allow them to grow larger before reaching the Pacific Ocean. A team of Northwest scientists are examining the unusual life cycle of the Clearwater's fall Chinook salmon to find out why some of them spend extra time in the cool Clearwater before braving the warm Snake. The........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 9/17/2009 11:54:00 PM)

Drug-free Cannabis plant

In a first step toward engineering a drug-free Cannabis plant for hemp fiber and oil, University of Minnesota scientists have identified genes producing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive substance in marijuana. Studying the genes could also lead to new and better drugs for pain, nausea and other conditions. The finding is reported in the recent issue of the Journal of Experimental Botany Main author is David Marks, a professor of........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 9/15/2009 9:19:35 PM)

Exotic timber plantations use water

Ecologists have discovered that timber plantations in Hawaii use more than twice the amount of water to grow as native forests use. Particularly for island ecosystems, these findings suggest that land management decisions can place ecosystems and the people who depend on them at high risk for water shortages. "Researchers used to believe that forests in same environments use water in the same way," says Lawren Sack of The University of........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 9/15/2009 2:45:30 PM)

More tamarisk invasion in future

If the future warming trends that researchers have projected are realized, one of the country's most aggressive exotic plants will have the potential to invade more U.S. land area, as per a newly released study reported in the current issue of the journal Invasive Plant Science and Management The study observed that tamariskprevalent today in some parts of the region, but generally limited to warm and dry environmentscould expand its range into........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 9/15/2009 2:29:31 PM)

Conflict between plant and animal hormones

Cis-OPDA (12-oxophytodienoic acid) is a highly reactive plant hormone which simultaneously serves as a precursor molecule of the metabolic "master switch" jasmonic acid. Both signal herbivory in leaves and shoots of plants and activate the plants' defense reaction against caterpillars. Cis-OPDA, when reaching the hemolymph of the caterpillar, has a negative effect on the animal, leading to premature pupation and, apparently, an impaired immune........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 9/15/2009 7:45:51 AM)

'Metacognition' in Some Animals

J. David Smith, Ph.D., a comparative psychology expert at the University at Buffalo who has conducted extensive studies in animal cognition, says there is growing evidence that animals share functional parallels with human conscious metacognition -- that is, they may share humans' ability to reflect upon, monitor or regulate their states of mind. Smith makes this conclusion in an article published the recent issue of the journal Trends in........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 9/15/2009 7:43:06 AM)

Dividing cells 'feel' their way out of warp

Every moment, millions of a body's cells flawlessly divvy up their genes and pinch perfectly in half to form two identical progeny for the replenishment of tissues and organs even as they collide, get stuck, and squeeze through infinitesimally small spaces that distort their shapes. Now Johns Hopkins scientists, working with the simplest of organisms, have discovered the molecular sensor that lets cells not only "feel" changes to their neat........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 9/11/2009 7:46:07 AM)

As ash borer claims more trees

Mark Widrlechner may someday be known as the modern-day Johnny Appleseed for ash trees. As the devastating insect emerald ash borer is working its way across North America destroying almost all the native ash trees it encounters, Widrlechner is rapidly collecting and storing ash tree seeds. Like the legendary Appleseed who planted apple trees across the country, Widrlechner's seed stocks can serve as a national source for reintroducing........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 9/11/2009 7:33:47 AM)

River flow and temperature limit trout numbers

Over a 23-year study, Javier Lobn-Cervi has found the mechanism that controls the number of salmonids found each year in Cantabrian rivers. His method has been to monitor population numbers in relation to river flow in March, when the juvenile fish emerge. He concludes that environmental conditions change each year and modify river flow, positively or negatively affecting survival rates. This information throws light on a long debate within........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 9/10/2009 7:12:41 AM)

Model backs green tea and lemon claim

An animal study at Purdue University has shown that adding ascorbic acid and sugar to green tea can help the body absorb helpful compounds and also demonstrates the effectiveness of a model that could reduce the number of animals needed for these types of studies. Mario Ferruzzi, associate professor of food science and nutrition, adapted a digestion model with human intestinal cells to show that adding ascorbic acid to green tea would........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 9/10/2009 6:56:06 AM)

Individual cells isolated from the biological clock

Alexis Webb enters a small room at Washington University in St. Louis with walls, floor and ceiling painted dark green, shuts the door, turns off the lights and bends over a microscope in a black box draped with black cloth. Through the microscope, she can see a single nerve cell on a glass cover slip glowing dimly. The glow tells her the isolated nerve cell is busy keeping time. Webb, a graduate fellow in the Neuroscience Ph.D. Program,........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 9/10/2009 6:54:05 AM)

Synthetic life before 2010?

Will scientists have synthesized a living organism for the first time by the end of this year? That"s the breathtaking prediction by Craig Venter--a top-rank molecular biologist whose breathtaking predictions have a way of coming true........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 9/2/2009 9:53:47 PM)

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