Tiny animal hairs could act as sensitive compass needles
Statistical mechanics shows that some animals may be able to perceive Earth's magnetic field with bundles of microscopic hairs in their inner ears.
Statistical mechanics shows that some animals may be able to perceive Earth's magnetic field with bundles of microscopic hairs in their inner ears.
Plants & Animals
Sep 21, 2022
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6
Pacing up and down a beach of fine white sand on the Black Sea coast, 63 year-old Ukrainian scientist Ivan Rusev breathes a sigh of relief: he did not find any dead dolphins today.
Ecology
Aug 29, 2022
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16
Endothermy, or warm-bloodedness, is the ability of mammals and birds to produce their own body heat and control their body temperature.
Evolution
Jul 20, 2022
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250
A new King's-led study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has found that a single factor (a protein coding gene known as Sox8) can make non-ear cells adopt ear character during embryo development. ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 11, 2022
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76
The human middle ear—which houses three tiny, vibrating bones—is key to transporting sound vibrations into the inner ear, where they become nerve impulses that allow us to hear.
Evolution
Jun 17, 2022
5
4063
A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. and Brazil has found evidence that pumpkin toadlets (Brachycephalus) have poor jumping skills because their inner ear canals are too small. In their paper ...
Twenty million years ago, the Swiss Plateau region, or Mittelland, was an ocean in which dolphins swam. Researchers at the University of Zurich's Paleontological Institute have now discovered two previously unknown species ...
Paleontology & Fossils
May 17, 2022
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1336
German and Austrian scientists took a closer look at the braincase of a dinosaur from Austria. The group examined the fossil with a micro-CT and found surprising new details: it was sluggish and deaf. The respective study ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jan 11, 2022
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713
As mammals, we have very sensitive hearing, thanks to a process known as cochlear amplification. This amplification is down to sensory cells in the inner ear called outer hair cells (OHCs), and it is thought to depend on ...
Biotechnology
Jan 6, 2022
1
75
From the smooth tubes of our arteries and veins to the textured pockets of our internal organs, our bodies are made of tissues arranged in complex shapes that aid in performing specific functions.
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 22, 2021
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86