http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (Phys.org) —Malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) is a disease that is almost always fatal in cattle. Cows contract MCF after coming into contact with wildebeest carrying a form of herpes virus known as alcelaphine herpesvirus 1 (AlHV-1). In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Benjamin Dewals of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Liège in Belgium and his team report that they have discovered the gene that enables AlHV-1 infection to progress to MCF, and they have developed a vaccine against the disease. http://phys.org/news286543832.html Biology Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:20:01 EST news286543832 For territorial animals, such as beavers, "owning" a territory ensures access to food, mates and nest sites. Defending that territory can involve fights which cause injury or death. How does an animal decide whether to take on an opponent or not? A new study by Helga Tinnesand and her colleagues from the Telemark University College in Norway has found that the anal gland secretions of beavers contain information about age and social status which helps other beavers gauge their level of response to the perceived threat. The study is published online today in Springer's journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. http://phys.org/news284718726.html Biology Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:32:20 EST news284718726 Sea hares are not the favourite food choice of many marine inhabitants, and it's easy to see why when you find out about the chemical weapons they employ when provoked – namely, two unpalatable secretions, ink and opaline, which they squirt at unsuspecting peckish predators. However, while much is known about the consequences of purple ink secretion, how the whitish and viscous opaline outsmarts a potential predator remains unknown. Charles Derby from Georgia State University, USA, wondered whether opaline could decrease the activity of a predator's sensory system. Along with his colleagues Tiffany Love-Chezem and Juan Aggio, he set out to test the effect of opaline on spiny lobsters, which occasionally try to snack on sea hares. http://phys.org/news283627649.html Biology Wed, 27 Mar 2013 18:27:34 EST news283627649 Four new species from the Steninae subfamily of the large family of rove beetles (Staphylinidae) have been discovered in the Ningxia Autonomous Region, China, as part of an exploration of the insect fauna of the Liupan Shan Natural Reserve, where a large number of specimens has been collected. The expedition also yielded 11 new records for the Ningxia province of previously described Steninae species. The study was published in the open access, peer reviewed journal Zookeys. http://phys.org/news281007850.html Biology Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:44:17 EST news281007850 (Phys.org)—Did dinosaurs lactate? It's a question physiology expert Professor Paul Else has been pondering for years –15 years in fact. http://phys.org/news279791498.html Other Sciences Mon, 11 Feb 2013 07:51:47 EST news279791498 Following up on an ancient Russian way of keeping milk from going sour—by putting a frog in the bucket of milk—scientists have identified a wealth of new antibiotic substances in the skin of the Russian Brown frog. The study appears in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research. http://phys.org/news274539452.html Chemistry Wed, 12 Dec 2012 12:57:46 EST news274539452 Animals, including humans, actively select the gut microbes that are the best partners and nurture them with nutritious secretions, suggests a new study led by Oxford University, and published November 20 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology. http://phys.org/news272647932.html Biology Tue, 20 Nov 2012 17:00:18 EST news272647932 Crocodiles and alligators are notorious for their thick skin and well-armored bodies. So it comes as something of a surprise to learn that their sense of touch is one of the most acute in the animal kingdom. http://phys.org/news271565216.html Biology Thu, 08 Nov 2012 02:49:09 EST news271565216 (Phys.org)—It's a battleground down there—in the soil where plants and bacteria dwell. http://phys.org/news267446757.html Biology Fri, 21 Sep 2012 11:46:03 EST news267446757 Mange and viral diseases have a substantial, recurring impact on the health and size of reintroduced wolf packs living in Yellowstone National Park, according to ecologists. http://phys.org/news266466795.html Biology Mon, 10 Sep 2012 03:33:24 EST news266466795 (Phys.org) -- Researchers at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) have created biodegradable, ultra tiny, nanosized particles that can easily slip through the body's sticky and viscous mucus secretions to deliver a sustained-release medication cargo. The interdisciplinary team of researchers, led by Justin Hanes of the JHU Center for Nanomedicine, developed the nanoparticles so that they not only penetrate mucus but degrade over time into harmless components. The team believes these nanoparticles have potential for delivering chemotherapeutic agents to tumors in mucus-coated tissues such as the lung and cervix. http://phys.org/news260691265.html Nanotechnology Thu, 05 Jul 2012 08:00:02 EST news260691265 Male Cardiocondyla obscurior ants are diphenic (either winged or wingless). New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Ecology demonstrates that the dominant wingless (ergatoid) male is able to identify potential rivals before they emerge from their pupae. Constant patrolling of the nest ensures that this male is able to bite or chemically tag rivals as soon as they emerge from their pupae. Chemically tagged ants are quickly destroyed by workers. http://phys.org/news258913400.html Biology Thu, 14 Jun 2012 20:00:01 EST news258913400 In nature, how do host species survive parasite attacks? This has not been well understood, until now. A new mathematical model shows that when a host and its parasite each have multiple traits governing their interaction, the host has a unique evolutionary advantage that helps it survive. http://phys.org/news250087383.html Biology Sun, 04 Mar 2012 13:00:03 EST news250087383 Skin secretions found in Australian frogs may hold the key to designing powerful new antibiotics that are not prone to bacterial resistance in humans, say researchers. http://phys.org/news240041870.html Biology Wed, 09 Nov 2011 06:18:05 EST news240041870 Male adult helminthomorph millipedes usually have one or two pairs of legs from their seventh segment modified into sexual appendages. These specialized gonopods are used as claspers to hold the female during mating or to transfer sperm. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Frontiers in Zoology has looked in detail at millipede development and the internal reorganization needed to produce functional gonopods. http://phys.org/news233152883.html Biology Sun, 21 Aug 2011 20:00:01 EST news233152883 Male and female kittiwakes smell different from each other, according to research by Sarah Leclaire from the Centre national de la recherche scientifique at the Université Paul Sabatier in France and her team. Their work also suggests that the birds' body odors might signal the genetic makeup of individual birds, and could be used in mate choice to assess the genetic compatibility of potential partners. The study is published in the July issue of Springer's journal Naturwissenschaften. http://phys.org/news229176315.html Biology Wed, 06 Jul 2011 13:05:45 EST news229176315 The most toxic, brightly colored members of the poison frog family may also be the best athletes, says a new study. http://phys.org/news220621914.html Biology Tue, 29 Mar 2011 12:52:39 EST news220621914 During field studies, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology discovered that the oral secretions of tobacco hornworm larvae contain a particular substance that promptly alters a green leaf volatile in tobacco leaves into an odor attractant signal. With this signal, called (E)-2-hexenal, they unintentionally lure their own enemies: carnivorous bugs. These bugs start their piercing attacks not only against freshly hatched caterpillar babies; they also devour eggs laid by the female moths. http://phys.org/news202032966.html Biology Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:00:21 EST news202032966 Kissing a frog won't turn it into a prince — except in fairy tales — but frogs may be hopping toward a real-world transformation into princely allies in humanity's battle with antibiotic-resistant infections that threaten millions of people worldwide. Scientists today reported that frog skin contains natural substances that could be the basis for a powerful new genre of antibiotics. http://phys.org/news201958902.html Chemistry Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:00:01 EST news201958902 It frequently happens in science that what you throw away turns out to be most valuable. It happened to Deepak Nagrath, but not for long. http://phys.org/news188745463.html Biology Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:18:13 EST news188745463 (PhysOrg.com) -- A University of Adelaide forensic pathologist has sounded a worldwide warning of the potential lethal dangers of herbal medicines if taken in large quantities, injected, or combined with prescription drugs. http://phys.org/news184850027.html Medicine & Health Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:14:01 EST news184850027 Johns Hopkins University researchers have created biodegradable nanosized particles that can easily slip through the body's sticky and viscous mucus secretions to deliver a sustained-release medication cargo. http://phys.org/news181824459.html Nanotechnology Mon, 04 Jan 2010 10:48:20 EST news181824459 Plants may not have eyes and ears, but they can recognize their siblings, and researchers at the University of Delaware have discovered how. http://phys.org/news174747583.html Biology Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:14:10 EST news174747583 Spanish researchers said Monday they have discovered evidence of a type of giant worm that lived 475 million years ago and was up to one metre (three feet) in length. http://phys.org/news168528195.html Other Sciences Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:23:52 EST news168528195 After surgery to remove the head of the pancreas, invagination of the pancreas into the small intestine resulted in a lower rate of pancreatic fistula, according to researchers at the Jefferson Pancreas, Biliary and Related Cancer Center. The research was published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. It was performed as a randomized trial - the gold standard for studies. http://phys.org/news160311885.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:05:22 EST news160311885 Three reports describing advances in cystic fibrosis genetic testing appear in the May 2009 issue of The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics. http://phys.org/news160057199.html Medicine & Health Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:20:49 EST news160057199