Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Soft-Shell Crabs Created On Demand?
Researchers may have found a way to induce molting in blue crabs, which could increase the availability of soft-shell crabs, considered a delicacy. Video.
Hybrid Cubs Show Polar Bear and Grizzly Traits
Cubs born to polar bear and grizzly bear parents show mix of features.
Global Warming Cycles Threaten Endangered Primate Species
One of the first-ever analyses of the effects of global warming on endangered primates has examined how El Niño warming has affected the abundance of four highly threatened New World...
French Male Bears In Immediate Need Of More Females
The population of brown bears in France is now so small that the species might become extinct in the near future. However, there is new hope. New research suggests that...
Supercomputer hunts HIV vaccine targets
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Oct. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they're using the world's fastest supercomputer in an effort to create the world's largest human immunodeficiency virus evolutionary tree.
Curry compound killed cancer cells in lab
The compound that gives curry powder its distinct yellow colour has killed cancer cells in the lab, Irish and Polish researchers report.
Dining Out In An Ocean Of Plastic: How Foraging Albatrosses Put Plastic On The Menu
Marine biologists examined whether Laysan albatrosses nesting on Kure Atoll and Oahu, Hawaii, 2,150 km away, ingested different amounts of plastic by putting miniaturized tracking devices on birds to follow...
When Ants Attack: Chemicals That Trigger Aggression In Argentine Ants Synthesized
Researchers have identified and synthesized the chemical cues by which Argentine ants distinguish colony-mates from rivals. By exploiting these chemicals, researchers have demonstrated that normally friendly Argentine ants can turn...
Sandia, Others Funded to Sequence Microbial Genes for Potential Biofuels Use
Sandia researchers and others at the University of New Mexico (UNM), the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), Novozymes and North Carolina State University's Center for Integrated Fungal Research (NCSU-CIFR) have received...
Degraded Borneo land to be restored to orangutans
Almost 1000 hectares of degraded land in the area designated Heart of Borneo is to be restored as orangutan habitat, following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between WWF-Malaysia...
Ant fight!
A group of 'friend or foe' scent molecules have been isolated from colonies of Argentine ants. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Biology identified and synthesised the scents,...
Spot Crinkly, the odd-necked swan
A wildlife charity asks the public to watch for the arrival of a special swan called Crinkly, who survives despite a disability.
Scientists sift soil for new antibiotics
Scientists are looking at diverse sources - such as soil and frog skins - for new antibiotics, worried that doctors will run out of options to treat increasingly antibiotic-resistant infections.
Rare birds 'faring better' in UK
Rare birds in the UK have been faring far better than their more common counterparts over the last decade
Feature: Hitting the target and missing the point
Can biodiversity targets be bad for conservation? Josie Carwardine investigates.
Effort Launched To Find And Control Diseases That Move Between Wildlife And People
In hopes of preventing the next global pandemic and a possible death toll into the millions, researchers have launched an unprecedented international effort to find and control diseases that move...
Nepal expands critical tiger habitat
The Government of Nepal announced today an expansion of Bardia National Park in the Terai Arc Landscape by 900 sq km, which will increase critical habitat for tigers.
Research May Help Plants, Humans Survive Stress, Disease
(PhysOrg.com) -- New technology to analyze gene expression at the level of different cell types offers new insights in the ways that plants and animals react to the environment and...
Blue Whale Beached -- Flipper to be Amputated?
Nearly as long as two buses, a blue whale washed ashore this week in California. The apparent victim of a ship collision, the beached whale is seen as an "amazing" research opportunity.
PHOTOS: Best Wild Animal Pictures of 2009 Announced
A leaping wolf, a feisty pet cat, and two playful Amazon dolphins feature in some of the winning pictures from this year's Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
A Million Camels Plague Australia
Wild dromedary camels, brought to Australia in the mid-19th century to help explore and develop the outback, were left to breed and survive on their own. Now they number a million in...
NEW SPECIES PICTURES: 850 Underground Creatures Found
From "cannibal" water beetles to blind cave eels, hundreds of newfound subterranean animals have revealed unexpected diversity in the dry Australian outback.
Sick Damselflies Hit the Road
When something activates their immune system, the insects fly far from their homes [Read more]
'On the origin of nematodes' -- A phylogenetic tree of the world`s most numerous group of animals
Scientists from Wageningen University and Research Centre have published the largest nematode Phylogenetic Tree to date in cooperation with the Dutch Plant Protection Service (PD) and the University of California...
Ancient ‘unicorn’ fly had five eyes
An ancient fly sporting a horn on its head topped with three eyes would have easily seen predators coming where it lived in the jungles some 100 million years ago.
Migratory Route Of Eleonora's Falcon Revealed For First Time
Satellite tracking has allowed a research team to uncover the mysteries of the migration of Eleanora's falcon for the first time. In total, the bird flies more than 9,500 kilometers...
Tigers Said to be on "Verge of Extinction"
World's Tigers Are Fast Dying Out Despite Campaigns to Save Them, Experts Say
Endemic Birds Thrive On Timor-Leste's 'Lost World' Mountain
Surveys have confirmed that the finest montane forests in Timor-Leste, and possibly the whole island of Timor, are to be found on the inaccessible Mount Mundo Perdido -- literally, "Lost...