Extinct goat Myotragus balearicus

Extinct goat was cold-blooded

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (37) | comments 12

(PhysOrg.com) -- An extinct goat that lived on a barren Mediterranean island survived for millions of years by reducing in size and by becoming cold-blooded, which has never before been discovered in mammals.


Ancient penguin DNA raises doubts about accuracy of genetic dating techniques

Ancient penguin DNA raises doubts about accuracy of genetic dating techniques

Biology / Evolution

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (23) | comments 15

Penguins that died 44,000 years ago in Antarctica have provided extraordinary frozen DNA samples that challenge the accuracy of traditional genetic aging measurements, and suggest those approaches have been ...


First-ever blueprint of a minimal cell is more complex than expected

First-ever blueprint of a minimal cell is more complex than expected

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 26, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (19) | comments 4

What are the bare essentials of life, the indispensable ingredients required to produce a cell that can survive on its own? Can we describe the molecular anatomy of a cell, and understand how an entire organism ...


Bigger not necessarily better, when it comes to brains

Bigger not necessarily better, when it comes to brains

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (19) | comments 12

(PhysOrg.com) -- Tiny insects could be as intelligent as much bigger animals, despite only having a brain the size of a pinhead, say scientists at Queen Mary, University of London.


Antarctic lake

Antarctic lake home to diverse community of viruses

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 11, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (17) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- A study of the genetic structure of viruses in an Antarctic lake has revealed an astonishing genetic richness in the large number of viral families discovered.


Bioengineers succeed in producing plastic without the use of fossil fuels

Biology / Biotechnology

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (17) | comments 0

A team of pioneering South Korean scientists have succeeded in producing the polymers used for everyday plastics through bioengineering, rather than through the use of fossil fuel based chemicals. This groundbreaking research, ...


Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss

Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss (w/ Video)

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 22, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (15) | comments 0

Census of Marine Life scientists have inventoried an astonishing abundance, diversity and distribution of deep sea species that have never known sunlight - creatures that somehow manage a living in a frigid ...


Jellyfish swarm northward in warming world (AP)

Jellyfish swarm northward in warming world

Biology / Ecology

created Nov 15, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (15) | comments 1

(AP) -- A blood-orange blob the size of a small refrigerator emerged from the dark waters, its venomous tentacles trapped in a fishing net. Within minutes, hundreds more were being hauled up, a pulsating ...


Laser etching safe alternative for labeling grapefruit

Laser etching safe alternative for labeling grapefruit

Biology / Other

created Nov 03, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (14) | comments 8

Laser labeling of fruit and vegetables is a new, patented technology in which a low-energy carbon dioxide laser beam is used to label, or "etch" information on produce, thereby eliminating the need for common ...


Red Sea coral seen to feed on jellyfish

Red Sea coral seen to feed on jellyfish

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (12) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Corals depends on the products of photosynthetic algae for most of their food, but they also eat tiny plankton. Now, for the first time, there is evidence of a coral eating jellyfish.


Scientists visualize how bacteria talk to one another

Scientists visualize how bacteria talk to one another

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 08, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (11) | comments 1

Using imaging mass spectrometry, researchers at the University of California, San Diego have developed tools that will enable scientists to visualize how different cell populations of cells communicate. Their ...


Rasberry crazy ant

Rapacious Rasberry ants march north

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 13, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (10) | comments 10

Poor Texas. First it was killer bees, then fire ants. Now, it's the Rasberry ants.


Computational microscope peers into the working ribosome

Computational microscope peers into the working ribosome (w/ Video)

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (9) | comments 2

Two new studies reveal in unprecedented detail how the ribosome interacts with other molecules to assemble new proteins and guide them toward their destination in biological cells. The studies used molecular ...


Ice Cold: Cooler Than Being Cool

Ice Cold: Cooler Than Being Cool

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 24, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (10) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Water expands when it freezes. Anyone who has ever left a can of soda or bottle of water in the freezer too long has witnessed this first hand. So how do plants and animals survive severe ...


Water Striders Mating

Mom was right: Why nice guys usually get the girls

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (9) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Female water striders often reject their most persistent and aggressive suitors and prefer the males who aren't so grabby, according to new research. Water striders are insects commonly seen ...