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Friendly Fungi: Elucidating the fungal biosynthesis of stipitatic acid

(Phys.org) -- In a tale worthy of Sherlock Holmes, scientists in the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol, UK have solved a biochemical mystery that had previously proven elusive for 70 years: ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 18, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast feature

Newly discovered sensory organ in the chin of baleen whales allows them to be world's largest hunters

Lunge feeding in rorqual whales (a group that includes blue, humpback and fin whales) is unique among mammals, but details of how it works have remained elusive. Now, scientists from the Smithsonian Institution ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created 14 hours ago | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Hacking code of leaf vein architecture solves mysteries, allows predictions of past climate

(Phys.org) -- UCLA life scientists have discovered new laws that determine the construction of leaf vein systems as leaves grow and evolve. These easy-to-apply mathematical rules can now be used to better ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created 21 hours ago | popularity 3.6 / 5 (8) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Today's environment influences behavior generations later: research

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and Washington State University have seen an increased reaction to stress in animals whose ancestors were exposed to an environmental compound generations earlier. The findings, ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 21, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (5) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Study finds modern dog breeds genetically disconnected from ancient ancestors

Cross-breeding of dogs over thousands of years has made it extremely difficult to trace the ancient genetic roots of today's pets, according to a new study led by Durham University.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 21, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (7) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Totally rad: Scientists create rewritable digital data storage in DNA

(Phys.org) -- Scientists from Stanford's Department of Bioengineering have devised a method for repeatedly encoding, storing and erasing digital data within the DNA of living cells.

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 21, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (15) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

Bacteria alive (more or less) in 86-million-year-old seabed clay

(Phys.org) -- A new study by scientists from Denmark and Germany has found live bacteria trapped in red clay deposited on the ocean floor some 86 million years ago. The bacteria use miniscule amounts of oxygen ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 18, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (15) | comments 10 | with audio podcast report

Group finds circadian clock common to almost all life forms

(Phys.org) -- A group of biology researchers, led by Akhilesh Reddy from Cambridge University have found an enzyme that they believe serves as a circadian clock that operates in virtually all forms of life. ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 17, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 8 | with audio podcast report

Commonly used pesticide turns honey bees into 'picky eaters'

Biologists at UC San Diego have discovered that a small dose of a commonly used crop pesticide turns honey bees into "picky eaters" and affects their ability to recruit their nestmates to otherwise good sources of food.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created 2 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Deep sea animals stowaway on submarines and reach new territory

Marine scientists studying life around deep-sea vents have discovered that some hardy species can survive the extreme change in pressure that occurs when a research submersible rises to the surface. The team's ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created 3 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

The living fossils of brain evolution

(Phys.org) -- In the course of its evolution, the architecture of the mouse brain may have barely changed. Similar to the tiny ancestors of modern mammals that lived about 80 million years ago, nerve cells ...

Biology / Evolution

created 16 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Project to examine 'Yeti' DNA

(Phys.org) -- A new collaboration between Oxford University and the Lausanne Museum of Zoology will use the latest genetic techniques to investigate organic remains that some have claimed belong to the ‘Yeti’ ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created 18 hours ago | popularity 4 / 5 (3) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Research suggests cells communicate via biophotons

(Phys.org) -- Biologists have long been familiar with luminescence in organisms, where plants and animals produce visible light, but more intriguing perhaps is the newer field of study centered around biophotons, ...

Biology / Other

created 18 hours ago | popularity 4 / 5 (7) | comments 1 | with audio podcast weblog

Human-like spine morphology found in aquatic eel fossil

For decades, scientists believed that a spine with multiple segments was an exclusive feature of land-dwelling animals. But the discovery of the same anatomical feature in a 345-million-year-old eel suggests ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created 22 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Not a one-way street: Evolution shapes environment of Connecticut lakes

Environmental change is the selective force that preserves adaptive traits in organisms and is a primary driver of evolution. However, it is less well known that evolutionary change in organisms also trigger ...

Biology / Evolution

created 22 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast