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Plants & Animals news

Earwigs are the hero single mothers of the insect world, and good for your garden too
You lift a stone and staring up at you is a little insect with its tail curled and pincers ready to inflict who knows what. Then you see its attendants—tiny white insects, huddled underneath. Should you drop the stone and ...
Plants & Animals
6 hours ago
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TV zombie fungus highlights real world threat of fungal pathogens
Hit TV show "The Last of Us" follows on from an outbreak of a fictitious fungi, but Imperial experts are among those battling very real fungal diseases.
Plants & Animals
6 hours ago
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Honey bee colony loss in the US linked to mites, extreme weather, pesticides
About one-third of the food eaten by Americans comes from crops pollinated by honey bees, yet the insect is dying off at alarming rates. In one year alone, between April of 2019 and April of 2020, one study reported a 43% ...
Plants & Animals
6 hours ago
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Power struggles in nature can be more subtle, nuanced and strategic than just dog-eat-dog
Scientists used to think power in animals played out in a tidy and simple way. Nature is a dog-eat-dog place. Rams butt heads in a thunderous spectacle, and the winning male gets to mate with a female. Bigger, stronger, meaner ...
Plants & Animals
6 hours ago
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Why are muskies the 'fish of 10,000 casts'? A new study explains
For anglers, landing a muskellunge, or muskie, is a big deal. The "fish of 10,000 casts" is notoriously elusive, making the massive fish an even bigger prize when one finally strikes a lure.
Plants & Animals
7 hours ago
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Two newly recorded species join Thailand's aquatic insect fauna
Caddisflies are an order of aquatic insects with high diversity. In Thailand, more than 1,000 caddisfly species are known to occur, and a recent study in the journal Check List shows that their diversity in the country is ...
Plants & Animals
7 hours ago
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Mating causes 'jet lag' in female fruit flies, changing behavior
An innovative technique from Cornell University researchers finds seminal fluid protein transferred from male to female fruit flies during mating changes the expression of genes related to the fly's circadian clock.
Plants & Animals
8 hours ago
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New freshwater mussels discovered in southwestern Australia
Genetic techniques have helped uncover a new threatened species of freshwater mussel in southern Western Australia and redefine the range of existing species.
Plants & Animals
9 hours ago
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Species of rock ant doesn't just walk randomly, they 'meander' systematically
If you've ever watched an ant searching for food, you probably assumed that they were just covering ground in a random fashion. But a study by researchers reporting in the journal iScience on January 30 now finds that at ...
Plants & Animals
9 hours ago
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Mistletoe nutrient concentrations found to mainly depend on host nutrients
Mistletoes are obligate hemiparasitic aerial shrubs and play important roles in biogeochemical cycles. They obtain mineral nutrients and water from their hosts via haustoria that penetrate host vascular tissues. Although ...
Plants & Animals
9 hours ago
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Newly-named species of tree-dwelling snakes threatened by mining
Five new tree-dwelling snake species were discovered in the jungles of Ecuador, Colombia, and Panama. Conservationists Leonardo DiCaprio, Brian Sheth, Re:wild, and Nature and Culture International chose the names for three ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 27, 2023
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Environmentalists to file lawsuit over Illinois' Bell Bowl Prairie, home to the endangered rusty patched bumblebee
The fight to preserve Bell Bowl Prairie in Rockford, Illinois, where federally endangered rusty patched bumblebees have been found, ramped up this week, with environmentalists saying they intend to return to federal court.
Plants & Animals
Jan 27, 2023
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It'll take 150 years to map Africa's biodiversity at the current rate, say researchers
The African continent is bursting with biodiversity. In a 2016 report, the United Nations Environment Program wrote: "Africa's biomes extend from mangroves to deserts, from Mediterranean to tropical forests, from temperate ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 27, 2023
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Rosy finches are Colorado's high-alpine specialists, and researchers want to know why
Mountaineers who venture high into the Colorado Rockies have likely spotted medium-sized, brown-and-pink birds rummaging around on snow patches for insects and seeds. These high-elevation specialists are rosy finches, a type ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 27, 2023
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Prairie voles without oxytocin receptors can bond with mates and young
The vital role of oxytocin—the "love hormone"—for social attachments is being called into question. More than 40 years of pharmacological and behavioral research has pointed to oxytocin receptor signaling as an essential ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 27, 2023
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The humble sea campion flower can show us how species adapt
The speed of environmental change is very challenging for wild organisms. When exposed to a new environment individual plants and animals can potentially adjust their biology to better cope with new pressures they are exposed ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 27, 2023
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Alien plant species are spreading rapidly in mountainous areas, says new monitoring study
Many mountain ranges contain semi-natural habitats experiencing little human interference. They are home to many animal and plant species, some of them endemic and highly specialized. Mountains have also been largely spared ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 27, 2023
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A transnational collaboration leads to the characterization of an emergent plant virus
In the 21st century, "collaboration" has become a popular buzzword, but effectively working together across disciplines and countries is easier said than done. However, authentic collaboration is critical to the fight against ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 26, 2023
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Rare orchids could be saved by common fruits in Florida, research finds
Florida's night orchid is at risk of extinction, but backyard fruit trees could hold the key to their survival.
Plants & Animals
Jan 26, 2023
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New virus discovered in whales, dolphins across Pacific
A novel virus, potentially fatal to whales and dolphins, has been discovered by researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi Health and Stranding Lab. Prior to its discovery in 10 whale and dolphin host species across the Pacific, ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 26, 2023
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Training ants to sniff out cancerous tumors in mice

Cat-egorizing play and genuine fighting in cats

First report of rare cat discovered on Mt. Everest

Why do cats and dogs get 'the zoomies'?

One step closer to optimal fertilization of clover grass

Development of the bony cap structure in digits across species

Endangered tree kangaroo born at UK zoo

What crocodile DNA reveals about the Ice Age

No spread of H5N1 bird flu between mammals found

Plant protection of the future may come from the plants themselves

Everyday Aussies' social media posts help find missing plant species
Other news

Predicting human group sizes with physics

AI: World likely to hit key warming threshold in 10-12 years

New algorithm enables simulation of complex quantum systems

Schoolkids lost third of a year's learning to pandemic: study

How a novel class of sulfonamides potently blocks malaria transmission

Untangling a knot of galaxy clusters

Solids that are also liquids: Elastic tensors of superionic materials

Humans can recognize and understand chimpanzee and bonobo gestures

Q&A: Meet the bug that tastes 'like quinine with habanero'

Sea spiders can regrow body parts, not just limbs: study

Economics trump environment to save large carnivores, say ecologists

Stress may trigger male crucian carp defense against predators

Automated detection of isolated single cells using microscope images and AI

Researchers identify important molecular switch for hearing development
