Showing 20 articles starting at article 581
< Previous 20 articles Next 20 articles >
Categories: Mathematics: General, Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published 'We're all Asgardians': New clues about the origin of complex life
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source According to a new study, eukaryotes -- complex life forms with nuclei in their cells, including all the world's plants, animals, insects and fungi -- trace their roots to a common Asgard archaean ancestor. That means eukaryotes are, in the parlance of evolutionary biologists, a 'well-nested clade' within Asgard archaea, similar to how birds are one of several groups within a larger group called dinosaurs, sharing a common ancestor.
Published Do hummingbirds drink alcohol? More often than you think
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Animals that eat fruit or sip nectar often ingest alcohol because naturally occurring yeasts turning sugar into ethanol. But how do animals feel about that? A new study details an experiment to determine whether hummingbirds are turned off by alcohol in sugar water. At 1% by volume, no. At 2% by volume, they consume much less. The implication is that hummingbirds have adjusted to small amounts of alcohol likely present in flowers and backyard feeders.
Published DNA can fold into complex shapes to execute new functions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source DNA can mimic protein functions by folding into elaborate, three-dimensional structures, according to a new study.
Published Worms use electricity to jump
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In nature, smaller animals often attach themselves to larger ones to 'hitch a ride' and save energy migrating large distances. Researchers show how microscopic Caenorhabditis elegans worms can use electric fields to 'jump' across Petri plates or onto insects, allowing them to glide through the air and attach themselves, for example, onto naturally charged bumblebee chauffeurs.
Published These long-necked reptiles were decapitated by their predators, fossil evidence confirms
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In the age of dinosaurs, many marine reptiles had extremely long necks compared to reptiles today. While it was clearly a successful evolutionary strategy, paleontologists have long suspected that their long-necked bodies made them vulnerable to predators. Now, after almost 200 years of continued research, direct fossil evidence confirms this scenario for the first time in the most graphic way imaginable.
Published New dinosaur discovered: Ankylosaurs may have been far more diverse than originally thought
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source First armoured dinosaur to be described from the Isle of Wight in 142 years, shows Ankylosaurs may have been far more diverse than originally thought
Published High-quality child care contributes to later success in science, math
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Children who receive high-quality child care as babies, toddlers and preschoolers do better in science, technology, engineering and math through high school, and that link is stronger among children from low-income backgrounds, according to new research.
Published Ants have a specialized communication processing center that has not been found in other social insects
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Have you ever noticed an ant in your home, only to find that a week later the whole colony has moved in? The traps you set up catch only a few of these ants, but soon, the rest of the colony has mysteriously disappeared. Now, a study explores how certain danger-signaling pheromones -- the scent markers ants emit to communicate with each other -- activate a specific part of the ants' brains and can change the behavior of an entire nest.
Published The life below our feet: Team discovers microbes thriving in groundwater and producing oxygen in the dark
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A survey of groundwater samples drawn from aquifers beneath more than 80,000 square miles of Canadian prairie reveals ancient groundwaters harbor not only diverse and active microbial communities, but also unexpectedly large numbers of microbial cells. Strikingly, some of these microbes seem to produce 'dark oxygen' (in the absence of sunlight) in such abundance that the oxygen may nourish not only those microbes, but may leak into the environment and support other oxygen-reliant microbes that can't produce it themselves.
Published First side-necked turtle ever discovered in UK
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The first side-necked turtle ever to be found in the UK has been discovered by an amateur fossil collector and palaeontologists.
Published Skipping evolution: Some kangaroos didn't hop
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Extinct kangaroos used alternative methods to their famous hop according to comprehensive analysis.
Published A step toward safe and reliable autopilots for flying
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers developed a machine-learning technique that can autonomously drive a car or fly a plane through a very difficult 'stabilize-avoid' scenario, in which the vehicle must stabilize its trajectory to arrive at and stay within some goal region, while avoiding obstacles.
Published Octopuses rewire their brains to adapt to seasonal temperature shifts
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Octopuses don't thermoregulate, so their powerful brains are exposed to -- and potentially threatened by -- changes in temperature. Researchers report that two-spot octopuses adapt to seasonal temperature shifts by producing different neural proteins under warm versus cool conditions. The octopuses achieve this by editing their RNA, the messenger molecule between DNA and proteins. This rewiring likely protects their brains, and the researchers suspect that this unusual strategy is used widely amongst octopuses and squid.
Published New dino, 'Iani,' was face of a changing planet
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A newly discovered plant-eating dinosaur may have been a species' 'last gasp' during a period when Earth's warming climate forced massive changes to global dinosaur populations.
Published Water molecules define the materials around us
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new paper argues that materials like wood, bacteria, and fungi belong to a newly identified class of matter, 'hydration solids.' The new findings emerged from ongoing research into the strange behavior of spores, dormant bacterial cells.
Published To groom or not to groom: 'Triage' in the ant kingdom
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Social ants are masters of cooperative disease defense. They collectively take care of each other to prevent the spread of infections within a colony. But how does an individual ant know whom it should groom? A multidisciplinary team of researchers combined experimental and theoretical approaches to get a detailed look into ants' sanitary decision-making.
Published When pigeons dream
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Dreams have been considered a hallmark of human sleep for a long time. Latest findings, however, suggest that when pigeons sleep, they might experience visions of flight. Researchers studied brain activation patterns in sleeping pigeons, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The study revealed that similar to mammals, most of the brain is highly active during REM sleep. However, this wake-like state might come at a cost of reduced waste removal from the brain.
Published Robot 'chef' learns to recreate recipes from watching food videos
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have trained a robotic 'chef' to watch and learn from cooking videos, and recreate the dish itself.
Published Reading between the cracks: Artificial intelligence can identify patterns in surface cracking to assess damage in reinforced concrete structures
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers are trying to make the process more efficient and definitive by using artificial intelligence, combined with a classic mathematical method for quantifying web-like networks, to determine how damaged a concrete structure is, based solely on its pattern of cracking.
Published Desert ant increase the visibility of their nest entrances in the absence of landmarks
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers report that in the absence of visible landmarks, desert ants increase the likelihood that foraging nest mates will find their way home quickly and safely by elevating their nest entrance. Ant colonies whose nests are found deep in the Tunisian saltpan are particularly reliant on the self-made landmarks. If the mound at the nest entrance was removed, they immediately began building a new hill, unless the researchers provided artificial landmarks. This phenomenon adds yet another fascinating facet to the amazing navigation skills of these tiny desert animals.