Plants & Animals news

Prized mushroom collection returns to China

Biology / Plants & Animals

7 hours ago | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

(AP) -- A Chinese scholar persecuted during the Cultural Revolution for smuggling a rare collection of mushrooms out of China before World War II was honored Saturday when the collection was returned more than 70 years later.

Ants are friendly to some trees, but not others

Biology / Plants & Animals

Nov 06, 2009 | 4.7 / 5 (6) | 0

Tree-dwelling ants generally live in harmony with their arboreal hosts. But new research suggests that when they run out of space in their trees of choice, the ants can get destructive to neighboring trees.

GPS to track blue sheep and snow leopard

Biology / Plants & Animals

Nov 06, 2009 | 1 / 5 (1) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists hope to improve the survival odds of the endangered snow leopard in Nepal by venturing into the remote Himalayas to study its main prey, the Bharal or blue sheep.

Orphan army ants join nearby colonies

Biology / Plants & Animals

Nov 04, 2009 | 4.9 / 5 (7) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Colonies of army ants, whose long columns and marauding habits are the stuff of natural-history legend, are usually antagonistic to each other, attacking soldiers from rival colonies in border ...

Scientists are first to 'unlock' the mystery of creating cultured pearls from the queen conch

Biology / Plants & Animals

Nov 04, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (3) | 0

For more than 25 years, all attempts at culturing pearls from the queen conch (Strombus gigas) have been unsuccessful—until now. For the first time, novel and proprietary seeding techniques to produce beaded ...

Common plants can eliminate indoor air pollutants

Biology / Plants & Animals

Nov 04, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (6) | 1

Air quality in homes, offices, and other indoor spaces is becoming a major health concern, particularly in developed countries where people often spend more than 90% of their time indoors. Surprisingly, indoor ...

Breeding better broccoli

Biology / Plants & Animals

Nov 04, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

Carotenoids—fat-soluble plant compounds found in some vegetables—are essential to the human diet and reportedly offer important health benefits to consumers. Plant carotenoids are the most important source of vitamin A in ...

Hybrid bluegrasses analyzed for use in transition zone

Biology / Plants & Animals

Nov 04, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

The transition zone can be one of the most challenging places to maintain high-quality turfgrass; changeable growing conditions in these regions often prove too hot for some grasses and too cold for others. Finding turfgrass ...

Plentiful poinsettias without PGRs

Biology / Plants & Animals

Nov 04, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

Poinsettias can be a lucrative crop for ornamental plant growers, particularly during the Christmas season. In the temperate regions of the southern hemisphere, where poinsettias are grown for both export ...

Frog embryos associate the smell of predators with danger

Biology / Plants & Animals

Nov 03, 2009 | 3 / 5 (1) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study in the US and Canada has found that frogs can learn to associate the smell of predators with danger, even as embryos.

Tags reveal white sharks have neighborhoods in the north Pacific

Biology / Plants & Animals

Nov 03, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (5) | 1

The white shark may be the ultimate loner of the ocean, cruising thousands of miles in a solitary trek, but a team of researchers has discovered that the sharks have maintained such a consistent pattern of ...

Drunken fruit flies help scientists find potential drug target for alcoholism

Biology / Plants & Animals

Nov 03, 2009 | 3.7 / 5 (3) | 0

A group of drunken fruit flies have helped researchers from North Carolina State and Boston universities identify entire networks of genes—also present in humans—that play a key role in alcohol drinking behavior. This discovery, ...

For African violets, 'hands off' means healthier

Biology / Plants & Animals

Nov 03, 2009 | 3 / 5 (1) | 0

African violets have a mixed reputation. Their delicate, colorful flowers and furry, soft leaves make them a favorite among home gardeners and growers. But the striking plants are often regarded as temperamental: ...

New clues to the Falklands wolf mystery

Biology / Plants & Animals

Nov 02, 2009 | 4.7 / 5 (3) | 0

Ever since the Falklands wolf was described by Darwin himself, the origin of this now-extinct canid found only on the Falkland Islands far off the east coast of Argentina has remained a mystery. Now, researchers ...

Spider mite predators serve as biological control

Biology / Plants & Animals

Nov 02, 2009 | 5 / 5 (2) | 0

The control of spider mites, which damage tree leaves, reduce fruit quality and cost growers millions of dollars in the use of pesticide and oil spraying, is being biologically controlled in Pennsylvania apple ...

New insights into Australia's unique platypus

Biology / Plants & Animals

Nov 02, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (2) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- New insights into the biology of the platypus and echidna have been published, providing a collection of unique research data about the world's only monotremes.

Why do animals, especially males, have so many different colors?

Biology / Plants & Animals

Oct 31, 2009 | 4.4 / 5 (5) | 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- In new research, UCLA scientists claim that "secondary sexual traits" like coloring may let animals know which species to avoid fighting.

Venomous bite: Harmless digestive enzyme evolved into venom in two species

Biology / Plants & Animals

Oct 29, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Biologists have shown that independent but similar molecular changes turned a harmless digestive enzyme into a toxin in two unrelated species -- a shrew and a lizard -- giving each a venomous ...