'Zebra' tribal bodypaint cuts fly bites 10-fold: study

Traditional white-striped bodypainting practiced by indigenous communities mimics zebra stripes to reduce the number of potentially harmful horsefly bites a person receives by up to 10-fold, according to new research published ...

Protein for deeper insights into the brain

To be able to examine the function of individual cells or structures in intact tissue, these need to be visible. This may sound trivial, but it is not. To achieve this, researchers implant fluorescent proteins into cells. ...

Traffic noise may make birds age faster

Traffic noise may be associated with an increased rate of telomere loss in Zebra finches that have left the nest, according to a study published in Frontiers in Zoology. Telomeres are caps on the ends of chromosomes that ...

How birds learn

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 ...

Creating a (synthetic) song from a zebra finch's muscle

Birds create songs by moving muscles in their vocal organs to vibrate air passing through their tissues. While previous research reported that each of the different muscles controls one acoustic feature, new research shows ...

Big cats in evolutionary arms race with prey: study

Lions and cheetah are faster, stronger and no less agile than their prey, but zebras and impalas compensate with a surprising tactic, researchers said Wednesday: slow down, and keep the big cats guessing.

Hot weather is bad news for bird sperm

A new study led by Macquarie University and spanning Sydney and Oslo has shown that exposure to extreme temperatures, such as those experienced during heatwave conditions, significantly reduces sperm quality in zebra finches, ...

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