Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Natural Born Killers: How The Body's Frontline Immune Cells Decide Which Cells To Destroy
The mechanism used by "natural killer" immune cells in the human body to distinguish between diseased cells, which they are meant to destroy, and normal cells, which they are meant...
Standard DNA Barcodes For Plants?
Researchers are recommending standards for the DNA barcoding of land plants, a step they hope will lead to a universal system for identifying over 400,000 species, and ultimately boost conservation...
The 15-Minute Genome: Faster, Cheaper Genome Sequencing On The Way
In the race for faster, cheaper ways to read human genomes, Pacific Biosciences is hoping to set a new benchmark with technology that watches DNA being copied in real time....
Comprehensive Look At Rare Leukemia Finds Relatively Few Genetic Changes Launch Disease
The most comprehensive analysis yet of the genome of childhood acute myeloid leukemia found only a few mistakes in the genetic blueprint, suggesting the cancer arises from just a handful...
TIGER PICTURES: Camera Traps Help Uncover 121 in Nepal
The country's first ever nationwide tiger survey is a heartening sign for the Bengal tiger, which has dropped severely in number throughout its Asian habitat, conservationists say.
More To Bats' Vision Than Meets The Eye
The eyes of nocturnal bats possess two spectral cone photoreceptor types for daylight and color vision. Scientists have detected cones and their visual pigments in two flower-visiting species of bat.
Scientists Track Impact Of DNA Damage In The Developing Brain
Switching off a key DNA repair system in the developing nervous system is linked to smaller brain size as well as problems in brain structures vital to movement, memory and...
Brain Power: In Battle, Hunches Prove to Be Valuable
U.S. soldiers are at the center of an effort to understand how it is that some people’s brains can sense danger before others’ do.
A yeast cancer model for mapping cancer genes
Researchers have devised a scheme for identifying genes in yeast that could lead to the identification of new cancer genes in humans. The study is published online this week in...
Researchers team up to provide new hope for childhood hunger
A St. Louis-based team of plant and physician-scientists with a vision of eradicating malnutrition throughout the developing world today announced the formation of the Global Harvest Alliance (GHA), a humanitarian...
HIV relies on cell mechanism
A study has found that HIV may rely on a cell process called autophagy, where cells digest some of their own components.
Sponges hold stem cell secrets
Researchers have found that sea sponges produce stem cells able to turn into any cell type – not just when young, but throughout life.
Woodlands 'losing biodiversity'
UK woodlands are becoming less biologically distinctive as a result of increased soil fertility and tree cover, researchers suggest.
Orangutans unique in movement through tree tops
Movement through a complex meshwork of small branches at the heights of tropical forests presents a unique challenge to animals wanting to forage for food safely. It can be particularly...
Pi-calculus based assembly mechanism of UML state diagram and Validation of model refinement
Paper: Pi-calculus based assembly mechanism of UML state diagram and Validation of model refinement Author: Yefei Zhao, Zongyuan Yang, Jinkui Xie
Feature: Artful Dodgers
A sports scientist explains the art and science behind the effective 'sidestep' move in Rugby League, and why it is so difficult to defend.
New Zealand Tree Stuck in a Time Warp
Plant still harbors adaptations that protected it from a long-dead foe
Monkey Mind-Controls Robot Arm
Monkeys with computer chips implanted in their brains are helping researchers develop technology that could help paralyzed humans become more self-sufficient. Video.
Warmer Conditions Mean Shorter Lives for Cold-Blooded Animals
Temperature explains much of why cold-blooded organisms such as fish, amphibians, crustaceans, and lizards live longer at higher latitudes than at lower latitudes, according to research published this week in...
Observing Bacteria As They Infect A Living Host
Researchers have developed a new technique that allows them for the first time to make a movie of bacteria infecting their living host.
Unusual Effects On Cell Infected By Virus Found In Boiling Acidic Spring In Yellowstone National Park
Researchers have noted unusual effects on a cell infected by a virus collected from a boiling, acidic spring in Yellowstone.
Seawater Gets a New Definition
Seawater is a lot more complex than a simple solution of water and sodium chloride. As researchers have been discovering for the past century, it is a highly variable cocktail, and its...
Great Slave Lake fish may be new species: biologist
A fish biologist in the Northwest Territories says he may have found an entirely new species of cisco in Great Slave Lake.
African disease labs to get health check
Rating system for labs could improve diagnosis and lift standards.
Fruit flies on LSD aid psychosis study
BATON ROUGE, La., July 27 (UPI) -- Two U.S. researchers seeking to understand human psychosis and schizophrenia are studying rats and fruit flies given psychedelic LSD, the researchers say.
Fungal pesticide saves crops from locusts
Swarms of red locusts in Tanzania have been destroyed by the application of a biopesticide containing fungal spores.
Freshwater crabs 'feel the pinch'
Freshwater crabs are among the most vulnerable of all animal groups with one in six species facing extinction, say scientists.
AWOL zoo bird recaptured in Philadelphia park
Officials at the Philadelphia Zoo say they're happy that an AWOL avian has been found and is returning to its perch.