Latest science news in Biology & Nature
New Theory Gives More Precise Estimates Of Large-scale Biodiversity
The Census Bureau is good at profiling the US population by sampling small groups of people. Biologists, however, lack a good theory of how to estimate the richness of life...
Turtles' shells made from shoulder blades and ribs, study says
A folding process takes place in the egg, leading to the bony exterior that is an integral part of the reptile's anatomy, scientists say. The turtle's shell is unique, but the evolution of...
Newborn Brain Cells Improve Our Ability To Navigate Our Environment
Although the fact that we generate new brain cells throughout life is no longer disputed, their purpose has been the topic of much debate. Now, researchers have made a big...
Telomeres resemble DNA fragile sites
Telomeres, the repetitive sequences of DNA at the ends of linear chromosomes, have an important function: They protect vulnerable chromosome ends from molecular attack. Researchers at Rockefeller University now show...
Restrict calories, increase life span? Not so easy
Though low-calorie diets have been found to have anti-aging effects on animals, human studies are still in the early stage. The anti-aging effects of calorie restriction were first identified in the 1930s by...
One secret to how TB sticks with you
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is arguably the world's most successful infectious agent because it knows how to avoid elimination by slowing its own growth to a crawl. Now, a report in the...
Toward an explanation for Crohn's disease?
Twenty-five per cent of Crohn's disease patients have a mutation in what is called the NOD2 gene, but it is not precisely known how this mutation influences the disease. The...
Francis Collins To Direct NIH
President Obama picks former genome institute leader for top spot.
Concern over Ebola virus in pigs
A form of Ebola virus has been detected in pigs for the first time, raising concerns it could mutate and pose a new risk to humans.
Prairie Dogs: Influencing The Accumulation Of Metals In Plants?
Elemental hyperaccumulation in plants is hypothesized to represent a plant defense mechanism. The objective of this study was to determine whether selenium hyperaccumulation offers plants long-term protection from the black-tailed...
UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News
NASA: Spirit still stuck in Martian sand ... Antacid drugs may lead to dependency … Frozen carbon a climate change threat … Cancer, non-cancer cells have similarities ... Health/Science news...
Thousands of plant species likely to go extinct in Amazon
As many as 4,550 of the more than 50,000 plant species in the Amazon will likely disappear because of land-use changes and habitat loss within the next 40 years, according...
Beetle, fungus deliver one-two punch to black walnut trees
(PhysOrg.com) -- A newly discovered disease, caused by a previously undescribed fungus hitchhiking on a tiny native bark beetle, is infecting and killing hundreds of black walnut trees in California...
New microscale tool aids biofilm research
ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 9 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they've created a microscale tool to aid research involving biofilms -- bacterial colonies involved in most human infectious...
Key To Maintaining Embryonic Stem Cells In Lab
In a new study that could transform embryonic stem cell (ES cell) research, scientists have discovered why mouse ES cells can be easily grown in a laboratory while other mammalian...
Psychiatry Via a Laser Beam To the Brain
This is not your typical light show. The neon light piping into the brain of a mouse with Parkinson's disease stops the animal's tremors instantly. Neuroscientist and psychiatrist Karl Deisseroth and his colleagues...
Study: Mangrove animals risk extinction
WASHINGTON, July 9 (UPI) -- A U.S. study indicates more than 40 percent of animals living in mangrove ecosystems around the world are threatened with extinction.
Rhino poaching may reach 15-year high
GENEVA, Switzerland, July 9 (UPI) -- Three conservation groups say an increased demand for rhinoceros horns in Asia could soon lead to a 15-year high in rhino poaching...
Genes that change flowers' color are ID'd
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., July 9 (UPI) -- University of California-Santa Barbara scientists say they have identified the genes that are responsible for changing a flower's colors.
Sperm Prefer Attractive Females
The sperm of one male may have to compete with those from another. How and why they do it is surprising.
Desert dust alters plant ecology
FORT COLLINS, Colo., July 9 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say global warming might have a greater influence on some plants' annual growth cycles than previously thought.
Of Yeast And Men: Unraveling The Molecular Mechanisms Of Friedreich's Ataxia
Scientists have created an experimental model that produces large-scale expansion of GAA repeats during DNA replication, which is the cause of Friedreich's Ataxia. With this model, the researchers are able...
CAVEman 3-D Virtual Patient Is a Holodeck For the Human Body
A 3-D virtual patient that allows doctors to visualize and diagnose ailments in high-definition What happens when you pop a pill? Inside the University of Calgary's $1.5-million virtual-reality room, scientists can don...
Molecules Discovered With A Higher Selective Ability To Exterminate Cancer Cells
Researchers have obtained a new type of molecules which have proven -in in vitro cultivations- a high level of efficiency against cancer cells, as well as very low toxicity against...
Scientists hope tiny insect can help save soybeans
(AP) -- An insect no bigger than a comma is being studied as a natural predator that farmers could use instead of chemicals to protect the nation's soybean crop...
Brain Surgery Frees a Runner, but Also Raises New Barriers
A lobectomy cured ultra-runner Diane Van Deren’s epileptic seizures, but left her with an inability to remember exactly where she is going or how to get back.
3-D Protein Map To Aid Stroke And Cancer Research Drafted
Researchers have generated a computer map of the protein acid-sensing ion channel-1, or ASIC-1, an important neurological pathway. The map greatly simplifies the testing of drugs or compounds designed to...
Better Than A Hearing Aid? Better Hearing With Bone Conducted Sound
New technology to hear vibrations through the skull bone has been developed. Besides investigating the function of a new implantable bone conduction hearing aid, researchers have studied the sensitivity for...