Showing 20 articles starting at article 981

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Ecology: Animals, Physics: Optics

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Phytosterols are good for your health, but humans and other animals are not able to make them themselves, only plants can. To acquire phytosterols, humans are increasingly turning to supplements, green smoothies, or a Mediterranean diet with plenty of plant-based foods. Researchers have now discovered that tiny gutless worms from the Mediterranean can synthesize phytosterols on their own. Their study provides evidence that many other animals also have the genes needed to make their own phytosterols.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

With glaciers melting at unprecedented rates due to climate change, invertebrates that live in the cold meltwater rivers of the European Alps will face widespread habitat loss, warn researchers. Many of the species are likely to become restricted to cold habitats that will only persist higher in the mountains, and these areas are also likely to see pressures from the skiing and tourism industries or from the development of hydroelectric plants.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a new high-speed way to detect the location, size and category of multiple objects without acquiring images or requiring complex scene reconstruction. Because the new approach greatly decreases the computing power necessary for object detection, it could be useful for identifying hazards while driving.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Like animals, many plant species are struggling to adapt to a human-dominated planet. However, plants are often overlooked in conservation efforts, even though they are cheaper and easier to protect than animals and play a pivotal role in bolstering our food, fuel, and medical systems. A plant ecologist suggests an approach for preventing all future land plant extinctions across the globe which includes training more plant experts, building an online 'metaherbarium,' and creating 'microreserves.'

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using a "spooky" phenomenon of quantum physics, researchers have discovered a way to double the resolution of light microscopes.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Innovating, i.e. the ability to find solutions to new problems or innovative solutions to known problems, it provides crucial benefits for the adaptation and the survival of human beings as well as for animals. What are the characteristics that make specific species or animals to be innovative? A study has analyzed this cognitive skill in ungulates, a group of mammals such as dromedaries, horses and goats, characterized by walking on the tip of their toes or hooves. The results show that those individuals that are less integrated in the group and those that are more afraid of new objects were the best at solving a challenge posed by the researchers: opening a food container.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers are investigating the causes and consequences of the worldwide insect decline as well as considering potential countermeasures.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Each year approximately 10 million waterfowl fly north to their breeding grounds in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, but the landscape that greets them has changed. Weather patterns and agricultural practices have significantly transformed the pothole-dotted native grasslands that waterfowl have used for thousands of years.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Global space for Asian elephant habitats has been in rapid decline since the 1700s, a new report reveals. More than 3 million square kilometers of the Asian elephant's historic habitat range has been lost in just three centuries and may underlie present-day conflicts between elephants and people.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The ant mounds on the heath, in the forest and in your garden are oases for life. The heat and nutrients from ant mounds make them the perfect home for unique plant and animal species, according to new research.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

California sea lions have managed to maintain -- and, in the case of males, increase -- their average body size as their population grows and competition for food becomes fiercer. This is in contrast to other marine mammals, whose average body size tends to decrease as their numbers increase. Researchers report that sexual selection was a strong driving force for males to grow bigger and to strengthen muscles in their neck and jaw that help them fight for mates. Both male and female sea lions evaded food shortages by diversifying their diets and, in some cases, foraging further from the shore.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Studies show that some species may require breeding in captivity within the next 200 years to avoid extinction. This reality places heavy importance on the reintroduction practices used to successfully transfer species from captivity to the wild. A new study looks at some of the most popular conservation techniques and identifies which have the highest likelihood of success for the reintroduction of bird species back into the wild.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

By superimposing two laser fields of different strengths and frequency, the electron emission of metals can be measured and controlled precisely to a few attoseconds. Physicists have shown that this is the case. The findings could lead to new quantum-mechanical insights and enable electronic circuits that are a million times faster than today.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Fungal spores found in dung have revealed that large animals went extinct in two 'waves' in the Colombian Andes.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Physicists are using nanoparticles to develop new sources of light that will allow us to 'peel back the curtain' into the world of extremely small objects -- thousands of times smaller than a human hair -- with major gains for medical and other technologies.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Nature documentaries will tell you that lions, cheetahs, wolves and other top predators target the weakest or slowest animals and that this culling benefits prey herds, whether it's antelope in Africa or elk in Wyoming. This idea has been widely accepted by biologists for many years and was formalized in 2003 as the healthy herds hypothesis. It proposes that predators can help prey populations by picking off the sick and injured and leaving healthy, strong animals to reproduce.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers argue that the rapid growth in urban honeybee-keeping over the past decade may be negatively impacting nearby wild bee populations. Small bees with limited foraging ranges may be especially at risk, they write.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists found parallels between the neural circuitry that guides locomotion in sea slugs and in more complex animals like mammals.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

What's good for the Black-backed Woodpecker is good for restoration of burned California forests. The birds' unique relationship with fire underpins the latest research into improved post-fire management. A study describes a new tool that factors in how fires burn into forest management decisions and turns science into action for wildlife conservation.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of researchers has demonstrated the ultimate sensitivity allowed by quantum physics in measuring the time delay between two photons. This breakthrough has significant implications for a range of applications, including more feasible imaging of nanostructures, including biological samples, and nanomaterial surfaces, as well as quantum enhanced estimation based on frequency-resolved boson sampling in optical networks.