Plants & Animals news
Scientists show that plants have measure of the shortest day
10 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- It is not only people who feel the effects of short winter days - new research by the University of Edinburgh and the University of Warwick has shed light on how plants calculate their own winter solstice. ...
Bees show off the perfect landing
14 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Honey bees undergo a sudden transition from speeding aircraft to hovering helicopter as they perform the delicate art of landing on a flower.
Researchers reveal secrets of duck sex: It's all screwed up
22 hours ago |
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Female ducks have evolved an intriguing way to avoid becoming impregnated by undesirable but aggressive males endowed with large corkscrew-shaped penises: vaginas with clockwise spirals that thwart oppositely ...
Meddling in mosquitoes' sex lives could help stop the spread of malaria, says study
Dec 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Stopping male mosquitoes from sealing their sperm inside females with a 'mating plug' could prevent mosquitoes from reproducing, and offer a potential new way to combat malaria, say scientists ...
Wiggling and waggling: Study sheds light on amazing bee brain
Dec 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Their brains are tiny - about the size of sesame seeds - and yet the behaviour of the humble honey bee is so advanced it has scientists scratching their heads in disbelief.
Study sheds light on microscopic flower petal ridges
Dec 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Microscopic ridges contouring the surface of flower petals might play a role in flashing that come-hither look pollinating insects can't resist. Michigan State University scientists and colleagues ...
Fungal footage fosters foresight into plant, animal disease (w/ Video)
Dec 22, 2009 |
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Mold and mildew may be doomed. Researchers are closer to understanding how these and other fungi grow. "Fungi have a big impact on our dinner plate," said Dr. Brian Shaw, Texas AgriLife Research plant pathologist. "We tend ...
The past matters to plants
Dec 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- It's commonly known that plants interact with each other on an everyday basis: they shade each other out or take up nutrients from the soil before neighboring plants can get them. Now, researchers ...
Kew botanists discover more than 250 new plant species in 250th anniversary year
Dec 22, 2009 |
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Giant rainforest trees, rare and beautiful orchids, spectacular palms, minute fungi, wild coffees and an ancient aquatic plant are among more than 250 new plant and fungi species discovered and described by botanists from ...
Limestone leaf warbler: New bird species discovered
Dec 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A diminutive, colorful bird living in the rocky forests of Laos and Vietnam has been discovered by a team of scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, Lao PDR Department of Forestry, Swedish University ...
Soap opera in the marsh: Coots foil nest invaders, reject impostors
Dec 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The American coot is a drab, seemingly unremarkable marsh bird common throughout North America. But its reproductive life is full of deception and violence.
How the daisy got its spots... and why
Dec 18, 2009 |
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Dark spots on flower petals are common across many angiosperm plant families and occur on flowers such as some lilies, orchids, and daisies. Much research has been done on the physiological and behavioral ...
The how and why of freezing the common fruit fly
Dec 18, 2009 |
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Using a microscope the size of a football field, researchers from The University of Western Ontario are studying why some insects can survive freezing, while others cannot.
Wild chimps have near human understanding of fire, study says
Dec 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The use and control of fire are behavioral characteristics that distinguish humans from other animals. Now, a new study by Iowa State University anthropologist Jill Pruetz reports that savanna ...
New research explains orchids' sexual trickery
Dec 17, 2009 |
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A new study reveals the reason why orchids use sexual trickery to lure insect pollinators. The study, published in the January issue of The American Naturalist, finds that sexual deception in orchids leads to a more effici ...
