Latest science news in Biology & Nature
New research may lead to new ways to control honeybee parasite
Ground-breaking discoveries could help protect honeybees from deadly parasites that have devastated commercial colonies.
Real human bone grown in tissue culture
Researchers have created a process that grows real human bone in tissue culture, which can be used to investigate how bones form, grow and fracture.
Study: Heart motions differ by age, gender
FREIBURG, Germany, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- German medical researchers say new, more precise imaging techniques have revealed important differences in heart motions by age and gender.
Odor receptors in humans and apes studied
DURHAM, N.C., Dec. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they have discovered why the same sex-related odor receptors in humans and other primates are used in different ways.
Scientists ID key Ebola virus structure
LA JOLLA, Calif., Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Scripps Research Institute scientists say they've identified the structure of a key Ebola virus protein -- a major step that might help...
UC Berkeley social scientists build case for 'survival of the kindest'
Researchers at UC Berkeley are challenging long-held beliefs that human beings are wired to be selfish. In a wide range of studies, social scientists are amassing a growing body of...
Why cancer cells just won't die
When cells experience DNA damage, they'll try to repair it. But if that fails, the damaged cells are supposed to self-destruct, a process called apoptosis. A cancer researcher at...
A Wild Celebration
It's a good time to remember not only the remarkable variety of living things, but our dependence on the ones we don't even know about.
77 percent of European pigs are castrated without anesthetic
The castration of pigs prevents the "boar taint" smell in the meat and allows them to contain more fat. However in practice this can be very different. Now, for...
Imaging tissue growth
Swiss scientists have investigated how regrowing tissue using scaffolds affects the cell’s environment and properties
Sparkly Spiders and Photonic Fish
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists in Israel and the UK have uncovered the details of how certain fish and spiders create their iridescent scales and silvery skins.
Some Alka-Seltzer cold gels recalled
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the recall of a single lot of Alka-Seltzer Plus Day & Night Cold Formula Liquid Gels due...
Rivers wash otters out of homes
A Somerset wildlife charity takes in a record number of otters this winter as higher than normal river levels threaten their habitat.
Human umbilical stem cells cleared mice's cloudy eyes
Transplanting human stem cells from umbilical cords onto the abnormally thin, cloudy corneas of laboratory mice significantly improved corneal transparency and increased the thickness of the animals' corneal stroma, the...
H1N1 influenza adopted novel strategy to move from birds to humans
The 2009 H1N1 influenza virus used a new strategy to cross from birds into humans, a warning that it has more than one trick up its sleeve to jump the...
Merkel cells revealed as secret behind sensation of light touch
Scientists have proved experimentally what has been suspected since the discovery of Merkel cells in the skin over a century ago: the sense of light touch that is critical for...
'Art gallery' of cell recognized at ASCB annual meeting
The eerily beautiful but rarely seen world inside the miniscule cells that compose all living organisms took center stage Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 8, when the winners of "Celldance 2009," the...
Opinion: Engineering education needs improvement
Australia can reduce the shortfall of engineering graduate numbers by increasing the visibility of engineering and by enhancing the flexibility of study pathways, writes Robin King.
Effort to regenerate damaged spinal cords turns to new model: Mexican axolotl salamander
For more than 400 years, scientists have studied the amazing regenerative power of salamanders, trying to understand how these creatures routinely repair injuries that would usually leave humans and other...
Another livestock drug endangers vultures
Potential replacement for bird-killing veterinary NSAID turns out to be toxic too
Bears Go Bald at Zoo; Experts Stumped
Three spectacled bears at Germany's Leipzig Zoo have mysteriously lost their fur, and no one knows why they developed the non-life-threatening condition.
Biologists Going Quantitative
Molecular biologists and mathematical models frequently don't mix well, especially when the molecular biologists in question were trained before the rise of genomics, back when most labs only needed a...
App in the hand finds birds in bushes as you roam
(AP) -- When Jory Langner finds time for a field trip during an upcoming visit to Washington, he won't have to ask local birders where to find candidates to...
Bacteria-Busting Genetic Bombs Make Biofuel Processing a Blast
Generating biofuels from bacteria would be easier and potentially more efficient than producing it from plant matter -- if it weren't for the energy-intensive chemical reactions needed to extract the fuel from the...
New List Highlights Animals Threatened by Climate Change
We already knew polar bears were in high water due to climate change, but who knew some types of dolphins, lemmings, flamingoes and oxen were also threatened by global warming?
MSU researcher unveils new approach to treat lower back pain
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Using a branch of science that crosses disciplines to study complex problems, a Michigan State University researcher is introducing a new way to understand...
All About the Brain, in Just 75 Minutes
It is the consistency of room-temperature butter, fits easily into two outstretched hands and contains a galaxy's worth of neurons. It is the human brain and the focus of a...
Stradivari's Secret
Conservation Chemistry: Famous violins had mundane varnish, reviving the mystery of why they sound so good.