Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Tobacco plant thwarts caterpillar onslaught by opening flowers in the morning
Plants attract insect pollinators to ensure reproduction. However, female moths are also threatening to the plant: attracted by the flower's scent, they lay eggs on the leaves, and voracious caterpillars...
Microbe's poison linked to fish kills
BALTIMORE, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- A microbe linked to toxic algae blooms in the Chesapeake Bay emits a poison to protect itself and to stun its equally tiny prey,...
Microbial Life in Mars Analog Lakes
The first microbiological survey of Mars analog lakes in Western Australia is offering new evidence of the diverse life that could have once thrived on Mars.
Unwanted guests: How herpes simplex virus gets rid of the cell's security guards
A viral infection is like an uninvited, tenacious houseguest in the cell, using a range of tricks to prevent its eviction. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have...
Researchers identify a new gene involved in autophagy, the cellular recycling program
All cells are equipped with a recycling programme to collect and remove unnecessary cellular components. Autophagy sequesters and digests aged organelles, damaged proteins and other components, which, if not disintegrated...
Mountain plants unable to withstand invasion
An international research team has studied the distribution of plant species in mountainous environments. The study shows that mountain plant communities are not particularly resistant to invasion by exotic species....
Scientists create blood vessel cells from stem cells
New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF)-Druckenmiller Fellow, Daylon James, PhD, of Weill Cornell Medial College, is lead author on a study defining conditions for generating a plentiful supply of endothelial...
Identification of the gene responsible for a new form of adult muscular dystrophy
A study published in today's online edition the American Journal of Human Genetics, allowed the first identification of a new form of adult onset muscular dystrophy. The research team led...
Nobel-winning scientist Nirenberg dies at 82
Marshall Nirenberg, a scientist whose groundbreaking work untangling fundamental genetic processes earned him a Nobel Prize, has died. He was 82. Nobel Prize - Chemistry -...
Little pill means big news in the treatment of MS
A new drug for multiple sclerosis promises to change the lives of the 100,000 people in the UK who have the condition, say researchers at Queen Mary, University of London...
Egypt Mufti: Muslim Ringtones "Demeaning"
Top Cleric Issues Fatwa Urging Muslims to Stop Using Quranic Verses, Calls to Prayer on Cell Phones
Water still has a few secrets to tell
(PhysOrg.com) -- We are used to thinking of water as a substance with relatively few secrets left. Its basic structure has been studied by high school students for decades, and...
The pink gene
Far Eastern diners are partial to a variety of sweet, pink-skinned tomato. Dr Asaph Aharoni of the Weizmann Institute's Plant Sciences Department has now revealed the gene that's responsible for...
Weizmann Institute scientists reveal how tendons shape developing bones
Bones, muscles and tendons work together to provide the perfect balance between stability and movement in the skeleton. Now, Weizmann Institute scientists show that this partnership begins in the embryo,...
Tullow makes 'significant' find in Ghana
LONDON, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- London-listed Tullow Oil announced a "significant" find in its Tweneboa-2 exploratory appraisal well located in the deep waters off the coast of Ghana.
Record number of manatees counted in Fla.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Florida wildlife officials counted more than 5,000 manatees, a record number, suggesting the endangered marine mammals are on the rebound, officials said.
Key piece of puzzle sheds light on function of ribosomes
When ribosomes produce protein in all living cells, they do so through a chemical reaction that happens so fast that scientists have been puzzled. Using large quantum mechanical calculations of...
Plan: Adopt Sumatran tigers to save them
JAKARTA, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Indonesia may let people adopt critically endangered Sumatran tigers born in captivity for $100,000 a pair to help save them from extinction, officials said.
Gene essential for neuron development and contextual memory
New research demonstrates the essential function of the gene PC3/Tis21/BTG2 in the maturation of the neuron, and how this plays an important role in the integration of the neuron into...
Coconut palms bring ecological change to tropics, researchers say
(PhysOrg.com) -- Those graceful coconut palms swaying in tropical breezes are lowering nutrient levels in the soils and the plants around them, thereby altering the eating habits of animals. Researchers...
Healthy roos breed males
A recent study has found that the healthier a female kangaroos is, the more likely she is to produce male offspring.
King-sized fast food for fur seal
Antarctic fur seals have been filmed catching and eating king penguins in the open ocean, behaviour not seen before.
Llama proteins could play a vital role in the war on terror
Scientists at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR) have for the first time developed a highly sensitive means of detecting the seven types of botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) simultaneously.
Wales in crawfish plea to divers
Divers are asked for help recording crawfish numbers in Welsh waters after it is named a conservation target.
Cancer detection by electrical signature
Separating live and dead leukaemia cells could provide an automated system for early cancer detection
Shorebirds shape up and ship out
Some Canadian shorebirds have had to get fit or die trying. Research published in the open access journal BMC Ecology has found that the average Pacific dunlin has lost weight...
Busy Bees Need a Balanced Diet
Bees fed just one type of pollen are less able to protect hive from disease [Read more]
GlaxoSmithKline Opens Chemical Database to Researchers Hunting Malaria Drugs
Open sourcing has revolutionized everything from software architecture to agriculture to the way we archive knowledge, so why can't it find a cure for malaria? That seems to be the reasoning behind pharmaceutical...