Light-sensing receptor plays role in temperature sensation: study

A light-sensing receptor that's packed inside the eye's photoreceptor cells has an altogether surprising role in cells elsewhere in the body, Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered. Using fruit flies, they showed that this ...

Modeling retinitis pigmentosa with iPS cells

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a cluster of genetically determined eye disorders that cause visual defects such as night blindness and narrowing of the field of vision, due to progressive loss of rod photoreceptors. As many ...

Unlocking the secrets of a plant's light sensitivity

(PhysOrg.com) -- Plants are very sensitive to light conditions because light is their source of energy and also a signal that activates the special photoreceptors that regulate growth, metabolism, and physiological development. ...

Red light regulates nectar secretion

Flowering plants produce nectar to attract insect pollinators. Some plant species, such as Lima bean, also secrete nectar from so-called extrafloral nectaries to attract ants which in turn fend off herbivores. Scientists ...

Fish can recognize a face based on UV pattern alone

Two species of damselfish may look identical -- not to mention drab -- to the human eye. But that's because, in comparison to the fish, all of us are essentially colorblind. A new study published online on February 25th in ...

Chickens 'one-up' humans in ability to see color

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have peered deep into the eye of the chicken and found a masterpiece of biological design.

Plentiful poinsettias without PGRs

Poinsettias can be a lucrative crop for ornamental plant growers, particularly during the Christmas season. In the temperate regions of the southern hemisphere, where poinsettias are grown for both export and local markets, ...

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