Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Microbes produce fuels directly from biomass
Researchers have developed a microbe that can produce an advanced biofuel fuel directly from biomass. Deploying the tools of synthetic biology, the researchers engineered a strain of E. coli bacteria...
Magnesium May Boost Brainpower
Mice given extra doses of a new magnesium compound had better working memory, long-term memory and greater learning ability.
Tiger Range Countries and partners make new conservation commitments in Thailand
Governments from across Asia's tiger range countries (TRCs) sent a powerful message that new efforts to save wild tigers from extinction would begin immediately and called for total protection of...
Stem cell breakthrough: Bone marrow cells are the answer
Using cells from mice, scientists from Iowa and Iran have discovered a new strategy for making embryonic stem cell transplants less likely to be rejected by a recipient's immune system....
Leukemia cells metabolize fat to avoid cell death
Leukemia cells, like most cancers, are addicted to glucose to generate their energy, but new research shows for the first time that these cells also rely on fatty acid metabolism...
Deadly fish virus now found in all Great Lakes
A deadly fish virus that was first discovered in the Northeast in 2005 has been found for the first time in fish from Lake Superior, report researchers. That means that...
Mouse skin cells turned directly into neurons, skipping IPS stage
Even Superman needed to retire to a phone booth for a quick change. But now scientists have succeeded in the ultimate switch: transforming mouse skin cells in a laboratory dish...
The RSPB's annual Big Garden Birdwatch begins
The Big Garden Birdwatch, the world's largest wildlife survey, is launched by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Pollen tube growth on camera illuminates fertilisation
Studying pollen tubes, University of Massachusetts Amherst plant cell biologist Peter Hepler and colleagues have captured some of the fastest growing tissues known, on camera for the first time, to...
Does evolution always lead to bigger brains?
The commonly held assumption that as primates evolved, their brains always tended to get bigger has been challenged by a team of scientists at Cambridge and Durham. Their work helps...
Trees retaliate when their fig wasps don't service them
Figs and fig wasps have evolved to help each other out: Fig wasps lay their eggs inside the fruit where the wasp larvae can safely develop, and in return, the...
Researchers develop new tool for gene delivery
Researchers have developed a new tool to deliver DNA in gene therapy. DNA delivered to the retina with a peptide called PEG-POD was expressed 215 times more efficiently than delivery...
Letters: Genetic contribution to human behaviour
In his latest rant against genetics, Oliver James either does not understand, or wilfully misunderstands, the genetic basis of neurobiology, and purposefully overlooks huge swathes of scientific literature (
Apple's New iPad: Why We Should Care
CNET.com Senior Editor Natali Del Conte Gives Her Take on Apple's Newest Product
Long-Awaited Barefoot Running Study Finds Sneakers Are Harmful
Shoes change the human foot strike and may lead to more running injuries All the latest footwear engineering in your running sneakers might not mean a thing when it comes to preventing injuries....
NASA satellite sees Tropical Depression 10P Strengthening in south Pacific
NASA's Aqua satellite is keeping an eye on the tenth tropical depression to form in the southern Pacific Ocean. Tropical Depression 10P has formed overnight and is expected to continue...
Bacteria Transformed into Biofuel Refineries
The bacteria responsible for most cases of food poisoning in the U.S. has been turned into an efficient biological factory to make chemicals , medicines and, now, fuels. Chemical...
Sea turtles face surgery due to cold spell
BOCA RATON, Fla., Jan. 27 (UPI) -- A nature center official in Boca Raton, Fla., said 35 green sea turtles underwent surgery for a disease caused in part by...
Sub-Saharan Africa news in brief: 14–27 January 2010
Africa to get access to world-class labs, sunflower genome mapping could boost agriculture, gorillas carry malaria parasites, and more.
Systems Biology Has Become Meaningless
Since when has systems biology been a synonym for genomics? This is from a Perspective piece in the Oct. 2 issue of Science: The relative value of discovery aimed at hypothesis generation...
Scientists discover how certain hormones control aspects of root branching in plants
(PhysOrg.com) -- Roots are the most underestimated parts of a plant, even though they are crucial for water and nutrient uptake and consequently growth. In a world of changing water...
UFO sighting puzzles N.L. residents
Residents in Harbour Mille, a tiny community on Newfoundland's south coast, want to know what they saw in the sky Monday night.
Poor swiftly tire of bednets, study finds
Many bednets, distributed to protect people from nightly mosquito bites, are discarded after six months, a study shows.
The birth of the biological clock
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have moved one step closer to solving the inner workings of the biological clock, by studying it from the moment it starts ticking.
Insectlike 'microids' might walk, run, work in colonies
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new approach in the design of miniature, insectlike robots could lead to "microids" the size of ants that move their tiny legs and mandibles using solid-state "muscles."
Green energy management: How plants cope with variable light conditions
Plants use energy derived from sunlight to form sugars from carbon dioxide and water by the process of photosynthesis. Recent discoveries made by a research group at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich,...
Iron-plated snail could inspire new armor
Tiny snails sitting on the ocean floor might seem defenseless against a large, determined predator such as a crab. But evolution has provided one species of sea snail with a unique iron-plated armored...
Sea Slugs Generating Green Energy
Photosynthesizing sea slugs take 'you are what you eat' to an extreme: by eating photosynthesizing algae, these "solar-powered" sea slugs are able to live off photosynthesis for months. How does...