Mystery behind the strongest creature in the worldThe strongest creature in the world, the Hercules Beetle, has a colour-changing trick that researchers have long sought to understand. Research published recently, Tuesday, 11 March, in the New Journal of Physics, details an investigation into the structure of the species peculiar protective shell which could aid design of intelligent materials.
The Hercules Beetle is remarkable, not only for its strength, able to carry up to 850 times its........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 3/11/2008 5:27:26 AM)
Protective Role Of MicroRNASnippets of genetic material that have been associated with cancer also play a critical role in normal embryonic development in mice, as per a new paper from MIT cancer biologists.
The work, published in the March 7 issue of Cell, shows that a family of microRNAs--short strands of genetic material--protect mouse cells during development and allow them to grow normally. But that protective role could backfire: The scientists theorize that........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 3/9/2008 5:23:51 PM)
Photograph depicts wolverine in CaliforniaForest Service scientists believe an Oregon State University graduate student working on a cooperative project with the agencys Pacific Southwest Research station on the Tahoe National Forest has photographed a wolverine, an animal whose presence has not been confirmed in California since the 1920s.
Katie Moriarty, a wildlife biology student, was conducting research on another carnivore called the American marten when a remote-controlled........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 3/9/2008 4:34:18 PM)
Killer freeze of '07 illustrates paradoxes of warming climateA destructive spring freeze that chilled the eastern United States almost a year ago illustrates the threat a warming climate poses to plants and crops, as per a paper just reported in the journal BioScience. The study was led by a team from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The "Easter freeze" of April 5-9, 2007, blew in on an ill wind. Plants had been sending out young and tender sprouts two to three weeks earlier........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 3/5/2008 8:54:49 PM)
Two Kinds Of Carbon To Survive Coral BleachingHow well ocean reefs recover from the growing damage caused by warming sea temperatures depends both on how much the tiny coral polyps can eat, and how healthy they can keep the microscopic algae that live inside their bodies.
New research intended to dissect one of the planet's most fertile and endangered ecosystems may change the way researchers look at this symbiotic partnership, shifting it from a case where the polyps function only as........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 3/4/2008 6:11:28 PM)
Sleep patterns of PigeonsIn humans, as in all mammals, sleep consists of two phases: deep, dreamless slow-wave-sleep (SWS) alternates with dream phases, called Rapid Eye Movement (REM)-sleep. Although several studies suggest that information is processed and memories are consolidated during sleep, this remains a hotly debated topic in neurobiology. Comparative studies in birds may help to clarify the function of sleep by revealing overriding principles that would........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 3/3/2008 9:56:18 PM)
Low 2007 salmon returns along West CoastNOAA researchers are reviewing unusual environmental conditions in the Pacific Ocean as the likely culprit for the dramatically low returns of Chinook and coho salmon to rivers and streams along the West Coast of the United States in 2007.
Scientists from NOAAs Northwest and Southwest Fisheries Science Centers are comparing data on the low food production of the California Current in 2005 that occurred when this years returning salmon would........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 3/3/2008 9:21:47 PM)
Northern Right Whales Head South to Give BirthLike a number of northerners who head south to warmer climates for the winter, a number of Northern right whales also head south in November and stay into April. Their destination is the only known calving ground for this rare and endangered population-the waters off Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. When they arrive, NOAA researchers are there to greet them, and to take DNA samples.
Eventhough they are large animals, finding them in the........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 3/3/2008 8:29:52 PM)
Zebrafish provide useful screening tool for genesA small striped fish is helping researchers understand what makes people susceptible to a common form of hearing loss, although, in this case, its not the fishs ears that are of interest. As per a research findings reported in the Feb. 29 issue of the journal PLoS Genetics, scientists at the University of Washington have developed a research method that relies on a zebrafishs lateral linethe faint line running down each side of a fish that........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 3/2/2008 8:58:35 PM)
A case for Darwinism
Michael Pollan talks about his garden zen and the moment he became aware of corn''s plan for world domination. Greener MagazineGo to the Biology-blog (Added on 3/2/2008 8:07:51 AM)
New Paradigm on Ecosystem EcologyPredators have considerably more influence than plants over how an ecosystem functions, as per a Yale study published recently in Science.
Note: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) interviewed Oswald Schmitz for a story on this research. The interview is available on their site.
The findings, as per the author, Oswald Schmitz, Oastler Professor of Population and Community Ecology at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental........ Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 2/26/2008 5:38:34 PM)
'Canaries in the Coal Mine' of Climate ChangeAs oceans warm and become more acidic, ocean creatures are undergoing severe stress and entire food webs are at risk.
The information was presented by researchers at a press briefing on February 17 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston.
Gretchen Hofmann, associate professor of biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has just returned from a research mission to Antarctica........ Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 2/26/2008 5:33:57 PM)
CoyoteThere are several predators in the Park, including bobcats, eagles, badgers, and cougars, but the coyotes are the most easily seen.
Most research has shown that coyotes commonly feed on small mammals and birds. They do not feed heavily on livestock or larger ungulates, like elk, deer, or bison unless the animal is already dead or dying.
Little is known about the predatory behavior of wild coyotes, but a sudden hop or pounce is most often........ Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 2/26/2008 4:40:47 PM)
Ancient oceans sparked spread of complex lifeThe rise of oxygen and the oxidation of deep oceans between 635 and 551 million years ago may have had an impact on the increase and spread of the earliest complex life, including animals, as per a research studypublished in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online Early Edition during the week of February 25 29.
Today, we take oxygen for granted. But the atmosphere had almost no oxygen until 2.5 billion years ago, and it........ Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 2/25/2008 9:11:10 PM)
Keys bonefish population censusResults are in from last years fifth annual Bonefish Population Census in the Florida Keys and the bonefish population has remained fairly steady from 2006, however, the number of volunteers participating in the annual event continues to grow. As per Jerry Ault, Ph.D., University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science Professor of Marine Biology and Fisheries, thats exactly the type of fish stock numbers and community........ Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 2/25/2008 8:50:25 PM)
Salamanders, headwater streams critical in food chainUniversity of Missouri scientist Ray Semlitsch studies creatures most people dont ever see. These creatures are active only at night and thrive in the shallow, cool, wet surroundings of headwater streams, an oft-overlooked biological environment.
A collaborative study, with MU graduate student Bill Peterman, recently reported in the journal Freshwater Biology, revealed the biomass (total mass of an organism in an area) of the black-bellied........ Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 2/24/2008 10:00:29 PM)
Engineering Approach To Study Biological PathwaysAn MIT team has used an engineering approach to show that complex biological systems can be studied with simple models developed by measuring what goes into and out of the system.
Such an approach can give scientists an alternative way to look at the inner workings of a complicated biological system--such as a pathway in a cell--and allow them to study systems in their natural state.
The MIT scientists focused on a pathway in yeast that........ Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 2/12/2008 9:29:51 PM)
Sclerochiton odoratissimusThank you to Michael Charters of Calflora.net for contributing today''s photograph via the Botany Photo of the Day submissions forum on the garden''s site (in this thread). As Michael notes, “Here''s a picture of a beautiful species that has few if any images displayed on the internet”
It''s not just images that are hard to come by online – information about the species is hard to find, too! Michael''s description,........ Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 2/12/2008 7:38:07 PM)
Science, not romanceThis Valentines Day, Cupid wont be making a stop at the Smithsonians National Zoo. Unlike the spontaneous attraction that most humans equate with love and romance, mating and dating at the National Zoo is planned, strategic and science-basedquite an unromantic encounter.
Successful breeding is often much more complicated than putting a male and female together and expecting nature to take its course. Animals in captivity need to be managed........ Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 2/10/2008 10:11:37 PM)
Nitrogen pollution boosts plant growthA study by UC Irvine ecologists finds that excess nitrogen in tropical forests boosts plant growth by an average of 20 percent, countering the belief that such forests would not respond to nitrogen pollution.
Faster plant growth means the tropics will take in more carbon dioxide than previously thought, though long-term climate effects are unclear. Over the next century, nitrogen pollution is expected to steadily rise, with the most dramatic........ Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 2/6/2008 9:05:42 PM)
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Wandering Albatrosses Follow Their NoseThe first study of how individual wandering albatrosses find food shows that the birds rely heavily on their sense of smell. The birds can pick up a scent from several miles away, U.S. and French scientists have found.
"This is the first time anyone has looked at the odor-tracking behavior of individual birds in the wild using remote techniques," said Gabrielle Nevitt, professor of neurobiology, physiology and behavior at UC Davis and an........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 3/9/2008 6:02:29 PM)
Signaling pathway for better biofuel sourcesA newly defined biochemical pathway in plants may provide the scientific tools to design plants that will yield larger quantities of alternative transportation fuels than currently can be produced, as per Purdue University researchers.
The pathway moves materials that determine cell shape and size through a system of signaling proteins, said Dan Szymanski, a plant geneticist and cellular biologist. By learning more about the growth and........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 3/9/2008 5:14:45 PM)
Why pears may become brown during commercial storageInternal browning of pears stored under low oxygen conditions is correlation to restricted gas exchange inside the fruit, as per a research studypublished March 7th in the open-access journal PLoS Computational Biology. Scientists at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium suggest a computer model that can be used to improve long-term storage of fruit under controlled atmospheres.
Pears and other fleshy fruit are commercially stored........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 3/9/2008 4:39:18 PM)
Stevens chemists identify compounds to lure nutriaA 10-pound rodent pest called nutria ravaging southern wetlands in the US, which has been particularly damaging to the marshland ecology in the Mississippi Delta following Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, may have finally met its match thanks to molecular science that includes the work of Professor Athula B. Attygalle, an expert in molecular chemistry and mass-spectrometry based at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, and a team........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 3/7/2008 5:23:57 AM)
Rats' Twitchy Whiskers In ActionRats use their whiskers in a way that is closely correlation to the human sense of touch: Just as humans move their fingertips across a surface to perceive shapes and textures, rats twitch their whiskers to achieve the same goal. Now, in a finding that could help further understanding of perception across species, MIT neuroresearchers have used high-speed video to reveal rat whiskers in action and show the tiny movements that underlie the rat's........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 3/5/2008 8:19:43 PM)
National Zoo scimitar-horned oryx going into the wildA male scimitar-horned oryx from the Smithsonians National Zoos Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Va., is playing an important role in ensuring the species does not vanish from the planet.
The oryx, along with eight others from American and European zoos, was sent to Tunisia in December 2007 for an eventual reintroduction into the wild, where they have been extinct since the late 1970s. Oryx are a type of desert antelope that........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 3/4/2008 5:24:53 PM)
Are wolves the pronghorn's best friend?As western states debate removing the gray wolf from protection under the Endangered Species Act, a new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society cautions that doing so may result in an unintended decline in another species: the pronghorn, a uniquely North American animal that resembles an African antelope.
The study, appearing in the latest issue of the journal Ecology, says that fewer wolves mean more coyotes, which can prey........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 3/3/2008 9:49:48 PM)
Key For Converting Waste To ElectricityScientists at the University of Minnesota studying bacteria capable of generating electricity have discovered that riboflavin (usually known as vitamin B-2) is responsible for much of the energy produced by these organisms.
The bacteria, Shewanella, are usually found in water and soil and are of interest because they can convert simple organic compounds (such as lactic acid) into electricity, as per Daniel Bond and Jeffrey Gralnick, of the........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 3/3/2008 8:25:33 PM)
Darwin was wrong about the origins of chickensA novel genetic study has revealed why chickens have yellow legs, demonstrating that though Charles Darwin was right about a number of things, his view on the origins of the chicken was not entirely correct. The study, published February 29 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics, reveals the genetic basis for the appearance of yellow skin in billions of chickens raised worldwide.
Yellow-skinned chickens have a different version of a gene........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 3/2/2008 9:01:56 PM)
Ski tourism stressing capercaillieSki tourism is raising stress levels among capercaillie, which could harm the birds fitness and ability to breed successfully, ecologists have found. Writing in the British Ecological Societys Journal of Applied Ecology, scientists warn that forests should be kept free from tourism infrastructure if they are inhabited by capercaillie - a species whose numbers are declining markedly across central Europe.
The study by ecologists from........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 3/2/2008 8:25:43 PM)
Evidence of 'rain-making' bacteriaLSU professor of biological sciences, in partnership with colleagues in Montana and France, recently found evidence that rain-making bacteria are widely distributed in the atmosphere. These biological particles could factor heavily into the precipitation cycle, affecting climate, agricultural productivity and even global warming. Christner and colleagues will publish their results in the prestigious journal Science on Feb. 29.
Christners........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 2/28/2008 9:47:11 PM)
Family Dynamics of Yellow JacketsMichael Goodisman could be called the Maury Povich of the yellow jacket world. In his laboratory, Goodisman determines the paternity of yellow jackets to study family dynamics within a colony. Even though only one family lives within a colony, each yellow jacket queen mates with several males, creating a complex family tree.
"Social insects such as yellow jackets have been described as one of the greatest achievements of evolution because of........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 2/26/2008 5:25:04 PM)
Giant Fossil Frog from HellA team of researchers, led by Stony Brook University paleontologist David Krause, has discovered the remains in Madagascar of what may be the largest frog ever to exist.
The 16-inch, 10-pound ancient frog, scientifically named Beelzebufo, or devil frog, links a group of frogs that lived 65 to 70 million years ago with frogs living today in South America.
Discovery of the voracious predatory fossil frog -- reported on-line this week in the........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 2/26/2008 5:14:51 PM)
Draft sequence of corn genomeA team of researchers led by Washington University in St. Louis has begun to unlock the genetic secrets of corn, a crop vital to U.S. agriculture. The scientists have completed a working draft of the corn genome, an accomplishment that should accelerate efforts to develop better crop varieties to meet society's growing demands for food, livestock feed and fuel.
Corn, also known as maize, underlies myriads of products, from breakfast cereal,........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 2/25/2008 9:03:39 PM)
The next generation sequencingGenomatix Software GmbH, a Systems Biology company focussed on high quality annotation and the understanding of gene regulation, has begun showcasing its abilities in the analysis of data generated by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology.
Allan P. Boyle et al reported in the January 2008 issue of Cell some remarkable work on.
High-Resolution Mapping and Characterization of Open Chromatin across the Genome where they identified........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 2/25/2008 8:51:42 PM)
Is that sea otter stealing your luncht?Hunted to near extinction, sea otters are making a steady comeback along the Pacific coast. Their reintroduction, however, is expected to reduce the numbers of several key species of commercially valuable shellfish dramatically, such as sea urchins and geoducks.
Despite of this potential conflict, Kai Chan, an NSERC-funded researcher at the University of British Columbia, believes there is a way to ensure Canadian First Nations fishers can........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 2/17/2008 10:47:37 PM)
'Genetic corridors' are next step to saving tigersThe Wildlife Conservation Society and the Panthera Foundation announced plans to establish a 5,000 mile-long genetic corridor from Bhutan to Burma that would allow tiger populations to roam freely across landscapes. The corridor, first announced at the United Nations on January 30th, would span eight countries and represent the largest block of tiger habitat left on earth.
Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, director of Science and Exploration Programs at........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 2/13/2008 9:32:18 PM)
Sumatran tigers are being sold into extinctionLaws protecting the critically endangered Sumatran Tiger have failed to prevent tiger body parts being openly sold in Indonesia, as per a TRAFFIC report launched today.
Tiger body parts, including canine teeth, claws, skin pieces, whiskers and bones, were on sale in 10 percent of the 326 retail outlets surveyed during 2006 in 28 cities and towns across Sumatra. Outlets included goldsmiths, souvenir and traditional Chinese medicine shops, and........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 2/12/2008 9:23:07 PM)
Moss protein plays role in Alzheimer's DiseasePreventing Alzheimer's disease is a goal of Raphael Kopan, Ph.D., professor of molecular biology and pharmacology at the Washington University School of Medicine. The moss plant Physcomitrella patens studied in the laboratory of Ralph S. Quatrano, Ph.D., the Spencer T. Olin Professor and chair of the biology department on WUSTL's Danforth Campus, might inch Kopan toward that goal. Here's how.
The gene presenilin (PS) in mammals provides the........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 2/10/2008 10:06:02 PM)
Novel Fluorescent Proteins for Live Cell Imaging,Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Molecular Biosensor and Imaging Center (MBIC) have developed new "fluorogen activating proteins" (FAPs) that will become a key component of novel molecular biosensor technology being created at Carnegie Mellon. The FAPs, which can be used to monitor biological activities of individual proteins and other biomolecules within living cells in real time, are described in the recent issue of Nature........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 2/6/2008 10:20:45 PM)
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