Inspired by the twitching whiskers of common rats and Etruscan shrews, European researchers have developed rodent-like robots and an innovative tactile sensor system that could be used to help find people in burning buildings, ...
Engineering
Aug 30, 2012
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A unique species of near-toothless rat that lives off earthworms and doesn't chew or gnaw has been seen in Indonesia.
Plants & Animals
Aug 23, 2012
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Singing mice (Scotinomys teguina) are not your average lab rats. Their fur is tawny brown instead of the common white albino strain; they hail from the tropical cloud forests in the mountains of Costa Rica; and, as their ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 10, 2012
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Most known Eocene cricetids are from East and Central Asia, especially China and Kazakstan. The genus Pappocricetodon is considered to be the most primitive cricetid. However, the origin of Cricetidae and the relationships ...
Archaeology
Aug 8, 2012
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Australian scientists said Wednesday cavers had stumbled upon a vast network of tunnels containing fossils that could offer key insights into species' adaptation to climate change.
Archaeology
Jul 25, 2012
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A paleontological team that includes scientists from the American Museum of Natural History; University of California, Santa Barbara; and Case Western Reserve University has described two ancient species of South American ...
Archaeology
Jul 23, 2012
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Big seeds produced by many tropical trees were probably once ingested and then defecated whole by huge mammals called gomphotheres that dispersed the seeds over large distances. But gomphotheres were probably hunted to extinction ...
Ecology
Jul 16, 2012
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Compared to the average three year life span of a common rat, the 10 to 30 year life of the naked mole rat, a subterranean rodent native to East Africa, is impressive. And compared to the human body, the body of this rodent ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 2, 2012
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Supertasting describes the ability to strongly detect food flavors such as bitter and sweet, and it can affect a person's food preferences. For example, supertasters are often averse to green vegetables because their bitter ...
Biochemistry
Jun 21, 2012
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In Israel's Negev Desert, a plant called sweet mignonette or taily weed uses a toxic "mustard oil bomb" to make the spiny mouse spit out the plant's seeds when eating the fruit. Thus, the plant has turned a seed-eating rodent ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 14, 2012
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