Latest science news in Biology & Nature
New way found to mend traumatic bone loss
CLEVELAND, March 11 (UPI) -- Two Cleveland researchers say they've developed a method of using natural or artificial sheaths to mend traumatic bone loss using the body's own stem...
New method of animal lab testing proposed
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., March 11 (UPI) -- A Purdue University scientist says adding environmental variables to laboratory mouse testing would increase the accuracy of such experiments.
Way to go: MBL scientists identify driving forces in human cell division
If you can imagine identical twin sisters at rest, their breath drawing them subtly together and apart, who somehow latch onto ropes that pull them to opposite sides of the...
Sonic hedgehog gene found in an unexpected place during limb development
Sonic hedgehog is at work in mice limb buds in what is known as the ectoderm, the cell layer that gives rise to skin, researchers discovered. Finding Sonic hedgehog here...
Ocean Probe Lost at Sea
An accomplished deep-sea exploration robot met a mysterious and watery end while scoping the... [Read more]
DNA barcoding tracks small insects
MINNEAPOLIS, March 10 (UPI) -- A U.S.-led team of scientists says it has determined a technique called DNA barcoding provides a much faster way to study the spread and...
A new dawn for transgenic crops in Europe?
Approval of the Amflora potato could signal a fresh approach to genetically modified organisms.
From the desk lamp to the desktop?
In the future, getting a broadband connection might be as simple as flipping on a light switch. In fact, according to a group of researchers from Germany, the light coming...
Research identifies gene that changes the brain's response to stress
(PhysOrg.com) -- Brains change. They change throughout life, responding to developmental but also environmental cues, like stress. Scientists know of several important proteins that play a role in what brains...
Bill Introduced to Codify U.S. Stem Cell Rules
Congressional supporters of stem cell research have re-introduced legislation to codify President Barack Obama's... [Read more]
Rare Palos Verdes butterflies bred in captivity released into wild
A rare blue butterfly took flight Saturday morning on a windswept bluff of the Palos Verdes Peninsula in California. Then another. And then another.
Building Smarter Artificial Intelligence By ... Shrinking The Body?
There are currently two ambitious projects straddling artificial intelligence and neuroscience, each with the aim of building big brains that work. One is The Blue Brain Project, and it describes...
Natural antioxidants give top barn swallows a leg on competitors
A new study indicates North American barn swallows outperform their peers in reproduction -- the "currency" of evolutionary change -- by maintaining a positive balance of antioxidants commonly sold in...
This Tiny Crustacean Menace Could Fuel the World
They don't exactly look like the saviors of our energy economy, but that's exactly what some researchers think they could be. Gribbles -- tiny crustacean pests with a knack for digesting wood...
The alpine marmot spreads into the Catalan Pyrenees
Researchers from the Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) have demonstrated, using a map of the potential distribution, the alpine marmot's...
Chemical competition: Research identifies new mechanism regulating embryonic development
A Princeton University-led research team has discovered that protein competition over an important enzyme provides a mechanism to integrate different signals that direct early embryonic development. The work suggests that...
Tailored diet may slow DNA damage
Mounting evidence on the effect of micronutrients on DNA damage calls for a re-evaluation of recommended dietary intake values, say researchers.
Model may offer better understanding of embryonic development
A mathematical model developed at Purdue University can predict complex signaling patterns that could help scientists determine how stem cells in an embryo later become specific tissues, knowledge that could...
How Octenol Guides Mosquitoes To Mammalian Hosts
Scientists from the U.S. department of Agriculture have discovered how The Aedes aegypti mosquito detects the chemical structure of a compound called octenol as one way to find a mammalian...
Desert ants perceive odor maps in stereo and use this information for navigation
Desert ants are well-known for their remarkable orientation: they use a compass along with a step counter and visible landmarks to locate their nest. After researchers from the Max Planck...
Two Pringles potato crisp flavors recalled
CINCINNATI, March 9 (UPI) -- The Procter & Gamble Co. says it is recalling two varieties of Pringles potato crisps because of possible bacterial contamination.
Syrian drought aid neglected, U.N. says
DAMASCUS, Syria, March 9 (UPI) -- Efforts by the United Nations to help those affected by pervasive drought in Syria are restricted because of chronic underfunding, officials said.
Boeing testing green UAV
ST. LOUIS, March 9 (UPI) -- The hydrogen-powered Phantom Eye unmanned aircraft can fly for more than four days because of its advanced propulsion system, defense giant Boeing Co....
Lough eel numbers 'on the brink'
There are growing concerns about the future of the Lough Neagh eel fishery and the hundreds of jobs it supports.
Molecular midwives helped birth of DNA
‘Molecular midwives’ may have helped the first DNA strands form in the primordial soup
Huw Irranca-Davies on introducing an insect predator to attack Japanese knotweed
Huw Irranca-Davies, wildlife minister, tells Jon Dennis about a plan to introduce an insect predator to attack Japanese knotweedJon Dennis
Dr. Barton Childs, Who Studied Inherited Diseases, Is Dead at 93
Dr. Childs helped shape the understanding of inherited diseases as scientists learned more about so-called inborn errors of metabolism, biochemistry and molecular biology.
How smart are killer whales? Orcas have 2nd-biggest brains of all marine mammals
Neuroscientist Lori Marino and a team of researchers explored the brain of a dead killer whale with an MRI and found an astounding potential for intelligence.