Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Scientists push "Doomsday Clock" back a minute
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Scientists pushed back the hands on the symbolic Doomsday Clock by one minute citing hopeful developments in nuclear weapons and climate change.
Carnegie Mellon's Philip LeDuc discovers new protein function
Carnegie Mellon University's Philip R. LeDuc and his collaborators in Massachusetts and Taiwan have discovered a new function of a protein that could ultimately unlock the mystery of how these...
Scientists find amazing new pondlife on nature reserve
One year in to a project to save one of the UK's top sites for pondlife, amazing new species are being revealed for the first time...
A Yeast Contribution For The Treatment Of Parkinson’s Disease
Scientists have just identified several molecules capable of reversing the brain abnormalities of Parkinson’s disease (PD), while also uncovering new clues for its origin in a study just published in...
First known instance of a cricket as an orchid pollinator captured on film
A researcher studying how the orchid genus Angraecum has adapted to different pollinators on Reunion Island has used motion sensitive night cameras to capture the first known occurrence of a...
Worms aid understanding of stem cells
MADISON, Wis., Jan. 12 (UPI) -- The study of simple roundworms is helping explain the stem cell's ability to develop into any cell type in the body, scientists in...
Strawberry genes to aid food research
BELTSVILLE, Md., Jan. 12 (UPI) -- The newly mapped genome of the alpine strawberry is to be used to improve heat tolerance in strawberries and other fruits, scientists in...
Microbe understudies await their turn in the limelight
On the marine microbial stage, there appears to be a vast, varied group of understudies only too ready to step in when "star" microbes falter. New research provides the first...
Terns' 43,000-mile migration tracked
NUUK, Greenland, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Scientists in Greenland have followed the epic 43,000-mile migration of the tiny Arctic tern by fitting them with an even tinier tracking device.
Proper flower and leaf development tied to the same gene
(PhysOrg.com) -- A group of Dartmouth researchers have discovered a new role for an important plant gene. Dartmouth Biology Professor Tom Jack and his colleagues have learned that a gene...
Synthetic Skin Delivers Gene Therapies Straight to Body, No Needles Necessary
The problem with needles is that nobody likes them. Aside from that, injection sites can become inflamed, and repeated injections into the same area can damage vascular tissue (see Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for...
3D View of the Brain
(PhysOrg.com) -- A completely new view of the brains of mice has been achieved by a team headed by R. Graham Cooks at Purdue University (West Lafayette, Indiana, USA). By...
Study: Running Shoes Could Cause Joint Strain
Running shoes may put more strain on your joints than running barefoot or even walking in high heels, a recent study suggests.
How the big freeze has brought some unusual visitors
All sorts of unusual visitors are turning up in British gardens, to the delight of wildlife-watchersAs you struggle to get to work on icy roads, spare a thought for our wildlife. Britain's...
Climate change and habitat destruction affect butterfly populations
RENO, Nev. -- Butterfly populations in California are declining and, in some cases, moving to higher elevations in the Sierra Nevada due to climate change and loss of habitat,...
Elusive Tree Kangaroos Fitted With Video Cameras
These hard-to-reach "plush toys" on Papua New Guinea have been outfitted with "Crittercams" for the first time. The breathtaking treetop footage is already solving tree kangaroo mysteries, researchers say.
Rare Gorillas Spied Feasting on Figs
See what could be the first professional footage of elusive Cross River gorillas, the most endangered subspecies of gorilla, filmed recently in Cameroon. Video.
Australian city's hottest night in 108 years
The Australian city of Melbourne has sweltered through its hottest night since 1902, with temperatures topping 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit), meteorologists said Tuesday.
Harmful algae stun their prey
Toxic blooms may help single-celled algae to eat their competitors.
Sitting may shorten lives
A new study suggests that activities such as TV-watching can reduce your lifespan, even if you also get plenty of exercise.
New research: Sticking to diets is about more than willpower -- complexity matters
Many people think the success of dieting, seemingly a national obsession following the excesses and resolutions of the holiday season, depends mostly on how hard one tries -- on willpower...
Science explains the wrinkly dog
The genetic cause of the Shar-pei dog's wrinkled skin is explained by scientists.
Delivering stem cells improves repair of major bone injuries in rats, study shows
A new study shows that delivering stem cells on a polymer scaffold to treat large areas of missing bone leads to improved bone formation and better mechanical properties compared to...
Scientists decode secrets of dog breeding
A new study has laid down the first pieces of the age-old puzzle behind dog breeding by sequencing large sections of genes from nearly 300 canines belonging to 10 different...
Outsmarting bacteria: Researchers develop faster method to generate new antibiotics
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Michigan's Life Sciences Institute have developed a new method to rapidly generate and test novel antibiotic-drug candidates. The technique could provide scientists with...
Engineering A Cell Switch
Why should we bother building mathematical models of biological systems? Scientists from other fields might wonder why one would as such a question - physicists, climate scientists, economists, engineers, and...
Hunting Fossil Viruses in Human DNA
A virus infected our monkey-like ancestors 40 million years ago, and its genes have been passed down ever since.
Dead Sea-dwelling microbes reveal roots of protein common to all higher life forms
(PhysOrg.com) -- We have more in common with Dead Sea-dwelling microbes than previously thought. University of Florida researchers have found that one of the most common proteins in complex life...