Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Microbiology Biology: Zoology Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
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.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Sea Life Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
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.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
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.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
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.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
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.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Lost giants: New study reveals the abundance decline of African megafauna      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A groundbreaking new paper focuses on the size and abundance of living and fossil African large mammals, shedding light on the ecological dynamics behind the decline of these iconic creatures. The findings challenge previous assumptions about the causes of megafaunal extinctions in Africa and provide new insights into the restructuring of ecosystems over millions of years.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Ecology: Animals Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
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.

Archaeology: General Ecology: Nature Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: General
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.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Microbiology Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
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.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Zoology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
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.

Biology: Biochemistry Environmental: Ecosystems Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
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.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

A protein mines, sorts rare earths better than humans, paving way for green tech      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Rare earth elements, like neodymium and dysprosium, are a critical component to almost all modern technologies, from smartphones to hard drives, but they are notoriously hard to separate from the Earth's crust and from one another. Scientists have discovered a new mechanism by which bacteria can select between different rare earth elements, using the ability of a bacterial protein to bind to another unit of itself, or 'dimerize,' when it is bound to certain rare earths, but prefer to remain a single unit, or 'monomer,' when bound to others.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Geneticists discover hidden 'whole genome duplication' that may explain why some species survived mass extinctions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Geneticists have unearthed a major event in the ancient history of sturgeons and paddlefish that has significant implications for the way we understand evolution. They have pinpointed a previously hidden 'whole genome duplication' (WGD) in the common ancestor of these species, which seemingly opened the door to genetic variations that may have conferred an advantage around the time of a major mass extinction some 200 million years ago.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Endangered Species Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Plants can distinguish when touch starts and stops, study suggests      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Even without nerves, plants can sense when something touches them and when it lets go, a study has found. In a set of experiments, individual plant cells responded to the touch of a very fine glass rod by sending slow waves of calcium signals to other plant cells, and when that pressure was released, they sent much more rapid waves. While scientists have known that plants can respond to touch, this study shows that plant cells send different signals when touch is initiated and ended.

Biology: Biochemistry Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

107-million-year-old pterosaur bones: Oldest in Australia      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of researchers have confirmed that 107-million-year-old pterosaur bones discovered more than 30 years ago are the oldest of their kind ever found in Australia, providing a rare glimpse into the life of these powerful, flying reptiles that lived among the dinosaurs.