Last update Mother tongue versus father tongue—a new study reconciles the two hypotheses, 1 hour ago
The relatively swift adaptability of tiny, acorn-dwelling ants to warmer environments could help scientists predict how other species might evolve in the crucible of global climate change.
Surprisingly few of the more than 3,000 mosquito species actually specialise in biting humans. Instead, most are opportunistic feeders – feeding when they are able and from lots of different sources. But Aedes aegypti and ...
It's sometimes reported that one in every three bites of food depends on bees. As is often the case when an easy to grasp notion spreads, there's a dose of truth and a dollop of exaggeration.
Contrary to previous studies, pigs appear to have better visual discrimination abilities than had previously been assumed. Cognition researchers from the Messerli Research Institute showed in a new study that pigs not only ...
The researchers at the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL used thin sections of roots less than two millimetres thick to identify the tree rings of several hundred spruce (Picea abies), pine (Pinus sylvestris), beech (Fagus ...
Two moon bears are gently removed from the cramped cages where they have been held for 13 years, rescuers carefully checking their rotten teeth and matted paws before sending them to their new home in a grassy sanctuary in ...
Scientists have revisited—and confirmed—one of the most famous textbook examples of evolution in action.
On a windswept dune overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, hastily erected signs warned Cape Cod beachgoers to stay out of the water on Thursday, a day after a New York man became the first person to be attacked by a shark off the ...
Maize plants release secondary metabolites into the soil that bind to iron and thereby facilitate its uptake by the plant. The Western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera), the most economically important maize pest worldwide, ...
Today in the international journal Science, the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) published a detailed description of the genome of bread wheat, the world's most widely cultivated crop. This work will ...
In a study published in Behavioral Ecology researchers from Uppsala University show that the same type of sperm is not always the best for all male birds. Depending on how attractive or dominant you are you might be more ...
Flowering plants are well known for their special relationship to the insects and other animals that serve as their pollinators. But, before the rise of angiosperms, another group of unusual evergreen gymnosperms, known as ...
In numerous different animals, cognitive ability, including learning and memory, is often negatively affected by stress. But not all individuals of a particular species are equally good at cognitive tasks to begin with, and ...
A new study has shown that the Tasmanian devil is under severe threat from a newly emerged contagious cancer, Devil Facial Tumour 2 (DFT2), which could jeopardise its future in the wild.
A state of emergency has been declared in Florida as the worst red tide in a decade blackens the ocean water, killing dolphins, sea turtles and fish at a relentless pace.
The mosquito, sworn enemy of exposed ankles and elbows, locates each bloody meal using a finely tuned sense of smell. Yet, not all insects can sniff out vulnerable flesh. Butterflies, for example, feed not on necks but on ...
Australia is home to the world's only known site where cuttlefish gather to mate en masse.
The aquaculture sector is growing, with fish farming being a key way to ensure Europe gets the quality food it needs without exploiting marine resources further. One key problem the industry faces is how to get the immature ...
Brazilian researchers may have discovered why Africanized honeybees are so aggressive. The scientists detected higher levels of certain chemical substances in the brains of Africanized honeybees than in gentler strains of ...
Botanists have discovered a new species of orchid in Peru's central Amazonian rainforest, the country's national parks service announced Tuesday.
In the first study of its kind, researchers characterized the skin microbiome of a population of free-ranging snakes to begin to understand how the animals' environmental microbial community may promote disease resistance ...
The Meg is the blockbuster shark monster movie we didn't realise we needed in our lives. With a cast led by Jason Statham, this is a big-budget version of several megalodon movies that have popped out over the years – including ...
Researchers carrying out unprecedented efforts to save an ailing young killer whale in the U.S. Northwest released live salmon into waters in front of the free-swimming orca but didn't see her take any of the fish.
Fruit flies don't appear to use their tiny, translucent wings for optimal flight, as one might expect. The speedy appendages seem to be doing double duty, helping the insect sniff out food, mates and other important scents, ...
Songbirds can acquire new abilities both through observation and through trial and error. However, skills acquired with the latter method are more easily adapted to new situations, as scientists at ETH and the University ...
Chimpanzees are generally known as the ripe fruit specialist among the great apes, but also incorporate other food items such as leaves and seedpods into their diets. Savannah chimpanzees are thought to rely on these non-fruit ...
Recognising faces is essential for how we interact in complex societies, and is often thought to be an ability that requires the sophistication of the large human brain.
As Tahlequah carries her deceased calf for a 17th straight day, and concerns mount about her health, taking the calf away is not an option because of the tight bond between Tahlequah and the rest of the pod to her baby—dead ...
Teams taking drastic measures to save a young, ailing killer whale loaded up two boats with live fish and rushed to waters near an island off Washington state Friday, preparing if needed to feed the critically endangered ...
After 20 years of development hell, the film The Meg opens in Australia this week. The screenplay is based on the first of Steve Alten's six-book, horror sci-fi series. The film has been pitched as an action-packed thriller, ...
Sleep is essential for brain functionality and overall health but understanding how sleep delivers its beneficial effects remains largely unknown. In an article publishing on August 9 in the open access journal PLOS Biology, ...
As marine mammals evolved to make water their primary habitat, they lost the ability to make a protein that defends humans and other land-dwelling mammals from the neurotoxic effects of a popular man-made pesticide, according ...
Algae and corals have been leaning on each other since dinosaurs roamed the earth, much longer than had been previously thought, according to new research led by scientists at Oregon State University and Penn State.
Every day you get a day older. So do plants. While the biological daily clock ticks, time passes also for the aging clock. Scientists at the Center for Plant Aging Research, within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), have ...
Among its many useful traits, the federally endangered snail kite helps wildlife managers gauge whether the Florida Everglades has sufficient water. That's one reason University of Florida scientists closely monitor the birds' ...
Vets have developed a blood test that quickly spots early signs of liver disease in dogs, a study suggests.
A team of researchers from the University of British Columbia and Warsaw University of Life Sciences has found that dairy cows are willing to expend energy to gain access to a grooming brush. In their paper published in the ...
Conservationists have designated August 12 as World Elephant Day to raise awareness about conserving these majestic animals. Elephants have many engaging features, from their incredibly dexterous trunks to their memory abilities ...
Chirp, chirp!
A new species of African pygmy toad was discovered during an expedition in 2016 to Angola's second highest peak, the Serra da Neve Inselberg.
Australian honey, produced from domesticated European honey bees mostly foraging in native vegetation, is unique. Under the microscope, most Australian honey samples can be distinguished from honey produced in other countries.
Co-products from the grain milling and oilseed industries are sometimes included in diets for pigs, but limited data exist on the digestibility of protein in these ingredients when fed to younger pigs. Research at the University ...
"Partial migration"—where some individuals within a population migrate and some don't—is common among birds and is speculated to be a step on the evolutionary path to complete, long-distance migration, but scientists ...
A team of researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has developed a way to strengthen DNA nanostructures for improved survival under harsh environmental conditions. In their paper published in the journal Science ...
Researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology report on an enzyme belonging to the glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT) family as a promising target for increasing biofuel production from the red alga Cyanidioschyzon ...
New quantum theory research, led by academics at the University of St Andrews' School of Physics, could transform the way scientists predict how quantum particles behave.
America's drug problem may be even worse than officials realize. And illicit drugs are consumed at a higher rate during celebratory events. Those are just two of the conclusions scientists have drawn from recent studies of ...
Scientists report they have successfully developed and tested the world's first ultrathin artificial retina that could vastly improve on existing implantable visualization technology for the blind. The flexible device, based ...
Nearly 700 million people suffer from mosquito-borne diseases—such as malaria, West Nile, Zika and dengue fever—each year, resulting in more than 1 million deaths. Increasingly, many species of mosquitoes have become ...
Maple trees are best known for their maple syrup and lovely fall foliage. But it turns out that the beauty of those leaves could be skin-deep—and that's a good thing. Today, scientists report that an extract from the leaves ...
Saliva is crucial for tasting and digesting food, but scientists have now found that it may have another, more subtle role. Salivary proteins could be part of a feedback loop that influences how food tastes to people—and ...
Digital traces from credit card and mobile phone usage can be used to map urban lifestyles and understand human mobility, according to a report led by UCL, MIT and UC Berkeley.
About 50,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed annually with head, neck, nasal and oral cancers. Most are treated with radiation, and of those, 70-80 percent develop a painful and debilitating side effect called severe oral ...
Many people rely on contact lenses to improve their vision. But these sight-correcting devices don't last forever—some are intended for a single day's use—and they are eventually disposed of in various ways. Now, scientists ...
The life-threatening bacteria called MRSA can cripple a hospital since it spreads quickly and is resistant to treatment. But scientists report that they are now making advances in a new technique that avoids antibiotics. ...
Robots that can diagnose diseases, play badminton and wow audiences with their musical skills are among the machines China hopes could revolutionise its economy, with visitors to a Beijing exhibition offered a glimpse of ...
The sight of a basking shark's brooding silhouette gliding through the waters off western France is more than just a rare treat for sailors—it is a boon for scientists trying to trace its secretive migrations across the ...
Dartmouth scientists have created a more sustainable feed for aquaculture by using a marine microalga co-product as a feed ingredient. The study is the first of its kind to evaluate replacing fishmeal with a co-product in ...
A Princeton-led study has revealed an emergent electronic behavior on the surface of bismuth crystals that could lead to insights on the growing area of technology known as "valleytronics."
Are magnetic fields an important guiding force for gas accreting to a supermassive black hole (SMBH) like the one that our Milky Way galaxy hosts? The role of magnetic fields in gas accretion is little understood, and trying ...
How Einstein's equivalence principle extends to the quantum world has been puzzling physicists for decades, but a team including a University of Queensland researcher has found the key to this question.
The ALMA telescope in Chile has transformed how we see the universe, showing us otherwise invisible parts of the cosmos. This array of incredibly precise antennas studies a comparatively high-frequency sliver of radio light: ...
A massive cylindrical habitat may one day house up to four astronauts as they make the trek to deep space.
Scientists have shown that water is likely to be a major component of those exoplanets (planets orbiting other stars) which are between two to four times the size of Earth. It will have implications for the search of life ...
A trio of researchers with The University of Hong Kong, Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics in Taiwan and Northwestern University in the U.S., has come up with an alternative theory to explain how some ...
A schoolboy who "dreamed" of working for Apple hacked the firm's computer systems, Australian media has reported, although the tech giant said Friday no customer data was compromised.
NASA's Opportunity rover has been silent since June 10, when a planet-encircling dust storm cut off solar power for the nearly-15-year-old rover. Now that scientists think the global dust storm is "decaying"—meaning more ...
Nearly five years ago, NASA and Lincoln Laboratory made history when the Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) used a pulsed laser beam to transmit data from a satellite orbiting the moon to Earth—more than 239,000 ...
The transition from light bulbs to LEDs has drastically cut the amount of electricity we use for lighting. Most of the electricity consumed by incandescent bulbs was, after all, dissipated as heat. We may now be on the verge ...
A major new study involving researchers from the University of York has measured a global shift towards more sustainable agricultural systems that provide environmental improvements at the same time as increases in food production.
When the good and bad bacteria in our mouth become imbalanced, the bad bacteria form a biofilm (aka plaque), which can cause cavities, and if left untreated over time, can lead to cardiovascular and other inflammatory diseases ...
Cancer vaccines are designed to heighten the immune system's awareness of a tumor's unique features, boosting its ability to recognize, attack, and destroy the cancer. To date, effective cancer vaccines have focused on what ...
In future decades, the need for effective strategies for medical rehabilitation will increase significantly, because patients' rate of survival after diseases with severe functional deficits, such as a stroke, will increase. ...
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