http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (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 temperatures? http://www.physorg.com/news178307122.html Biology Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:45:47 EST news178307122 The mysterious Monarch butterfly, which migrates en masse annually between Canada and Mexico, is now facing a new peril: another insect thriving in Western Mexican forests. http://www.physorg.com/news178046357.html Biology Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:19:43 EST news178046357 (PhysOrg.com) -- Cornell researchers released a well-studied beetle predator to test its ability to ward off a hemlock-killing aphid-like insect. http://www.physorg.com/news177151741.html Biology Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:20:02 EST news177151741 Genetically modified squash plants that are resistant to a debilitating viral disease become more vulnerable to a fatal bacterial infection, according to biologists. http://www.physorg.com/news175791854.html Biology Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:50:05 EST news175791854 The great diversity of male sexual traits, ranging from peacock's elaborate train to formidable genitalia of male seed beetles, is the result of female choice. But why do females choose among males? In a new study published today in Current Biology, researchers from Uppsala University found no support for the theory that the female choice is connected to "good genes". http://www.physorg.com/news175439685.html Biology Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:30:02 EST news175439685 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new species of parasitoid wasp that feeds on a common whitefly pest has been discovered in the UK by a Natural History Museum scientist. http://www.physorg.com/news175274627.html Biology Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:40:11 EST news175274627 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of scientists funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have implanted miniature neural and muscle stimulation systems into beetles to enable their flight to be remotely controlled. http://www.physorg.com/news174812133.html Technology Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:00:02 EST news174812133 (PhysOrg.com) -- Whether for introduced muskrats in Europe or oak trees in the United Kingdom, zebra mussels in United States lakes or agricultural pests around the world, scientists have tried to find new ways of controlling invasive species by learning how these animals and plants take over in new environs. http://www.physorg.com/news172429473.html Biology Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:08:33 EST news172429473 UBC researchers have helped developed a cheaper, faster way to compile draft genome sequences that could advance the fight against mountain pine beetle (MPB) infestation and improve cancer research. http://www.physorg.com/news172247541.html Biology Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:33:41 EST news172247541 Many people worry about the link between rising bark-beetle infestations and an increase in western wildfires. But Dr. Susan Prichard, a Research Scientist at the University of Washington, adds another concern: what happens after the fires go out? http://www.physorg.com/news172152165.html Space & Earth Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:20:01 EST news172152165 (PhysOrg.com) -- The Great Tit is an aggressive songbird found in Britain, continental Europe, parts of Northern Africa, and much of Asia. It is believed to survive mostly on seeds, nuts, fruit, insects, beetles, and spiders, but scientists studying a cave in Hungary have now discovered a population of Great Tits that kill and eat hibernating bats. http://www.physorg.com/news171788817.html Biology Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:10:02 EST news171788817 (AP) -- A veil of smoke settled over the forest in the shadow of the St. Elias Mountains, in a wilderness whose spruce trees stood tall and gray, a deathly gray even in the greenest heart of a Yukon summer. http://www.physorg.com/news170250227.html Space & Earth Sun, 23 Aug 2009 12:47:23 EST news170250227 "Jewel beetles" are widely known for their glossy external skeletons that appear to change colors as the angle of view changes. Now they may be known for something else--providing a blueprint for materials that reflect light rather than absorbing it to produce colors. http://www.physorg.com/news167585862.html Chemistry Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:38:56 EST news167585862 Contrary to predictions, males of high genetic quality are not very successful when it comes to fertilizing eggs. A new study on seed beetles by Swedish and Danish scientists Göran Arnqvist and Trine Bilde shows that when a female mates with several males, the males of low genetic quality are the most successful in fertilizing eggs. The study is published in this week's issue of Science. http://www.physorg.com/news165158293.html Biology Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:10:06 EST news165158293 For the first time, Cornell researchers have reported the sighting of the emerald ash borer - an ash-destroying beetle - in New York state. http://www.physorg.com/news164557994.html Biology Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:34:00 EST news164557994 An obscure species of beetle has shown how brilliant white paper could be produced in a completely new way. A team from Imerys Minerals Ltd. and the University of Exeter has taken inspiration from the shell of the Cyphochilus beetle to understand how to produce a new kind of white coating for paper. http://www.physorg.com/news163851198.html Biology Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:40:01 EST news163851198 New research documents a surprising chemical weapon used by some Amazonian poison frogs. The study identified for the first time a family of poisons never before known to exist in these brightly colored creatures or elsewhere in Nature, the N-methyldecahydroquinolines. The authors then speculated on its origin in the frogs` diet, most likely ants. The report is scheduled for the June 26 issue of ACS` Journal of Natural Products. http://www.physorg.com/news163350366.html Chemistry Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:06:34 EST news163350366 A popular view among evolutionary biologists that fundamental genes do not acquire new functions was challenged this week by a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://www.physorg.com/news161280793.html Biology Mon, 11 May 2009 17:13:54 EST news161280793 "What has six legs and is way cooler than a spider?" asks a riddle on the cover of a birthday card sent to Stephen Colbert by entomologists Quentin Wheeler at Arizona State University and Kelly Miller at the University of New Mexico. http://www.physorg.com/news160851126.html Biology Wed, 06 May 2009 17:52:42 EST news160851126 U.S. Forest Service scientists have completed a study on a beetle that was first detected in California in 2004, but has now attacked 67 percent of the oak trees in an area 30 miles east of San Diego. http://www.physorg.com/news160409155.html Biology Fri, 01 May 2009 15:06:49 EST news160409155 (PhysOrg.com) -- Female seed beetles are known for their promiscuity, a surprising fact given that the males of the species have dangerously sharp spikes on their sex organs. Now a U of T Mississauga team led by an undergraduate student has discovered that this perplexing hunger for sex may in fact be driven by a thirst for water. http://www.physorg.com/news155490031.html Biology Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:41:07 EST news155490031 Researchers at Uppsala University can now show that what is good for one sex is not always good for the other sex. In fact, evolutionary conflicts between the two sexes cause characteristics and behaviors that are downright injurious to the opposite sex. The findings are being published in the scientific journal Current Biology. http://www.physorg.com/news154350679.html Biology Fri, 20 Feb 2009 11:11:46 EST news154350679 As the popularity of organic produce increases with consumers, growers need more options to manage pests naturally. http://www.physorg.com/news154101583.html Biology Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:59:58 EST news154101583 (PhysOrg.com) -- On the eve of Charles Darwin`s 200th birthday, researchers at the University of New Mexico and University of Montana report a new twist in sexual selection theory - the realm of evolutionary science that Darwin founded alongside his more generally known theory of natural selection. This news, which appears in the February 6th issue of Science Magazine, is particularly propitious because the discovery was made during studies of some of the same species that Darwin used to develop his ideas. http://www.physorg.com/news153150994.html Biology Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:57:52 EST news153150994 Mountain pine beetles devastating lodgepole pine stands across the West might best be kept in check with aerial application of flakes containing a natural substance used in herbal teas that the insects release to avoid overcrowding host trees, according to a team of scientists. http://www.physorg.com/news152808979.html Space & Earth Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:56:56 EST news152808979 In the summer of 1968, Dave Kavanaugh set off on a hike that would change the course of his life. As a second-year medical student at the University of Colorado, he had joined a climbing club with a few members of the biophysics department, and the group had set their sights on Gray's Peak -the ninth highest mountain in Colorado. Kavanaugh, who has never been able to do anything slowly, scampered up to the top of the peak in record time and sat down to wait for the rest of the group. As he peeled an orange and gazed out at the surrounding terrain, a sudden movement caught his eye. http://www.physorg.com/news147448016.html Biology Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:46:56 EST news147448016 Research published today reveals for the first time that the different roles of mothers and fathers are influenced by genetics. The study, by the Universities of Exeter and Edinburgh, shows how variation in where males and females put their parenting effort reflects different genetic influences for each sex. http://www.physorg.com/news144951765.html Biology Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:22:45 EST news144951765 (PhysOrg.com) -- Farmers can be both mean and green when protecting their canola fields from a pesky insect that poses a chronic threat, says a University of Alberta researcher. http://www.physorg.com/news142860965.html Biology Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:36:05 EST news142860965 Researchers from Harvard Medical School and the University of Madison-Wisconsin have discovered how beetles and bacteria form a symbiotic and mutualistic relationship -one that ultimately results in the destruction of pine forests. In addition, they've identified the specific molecule that drives this whole phenomenon. http://www.physorg.com/news142173172.html Biology Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:32:52 EST news142173172 (PhysOrg.com) -- Cerambycid beetles, also known as long-horned beetles, can cause severe damage to standing trees, logs and lumber. How then might they be promptly detected and their numbers swiftly controlled? Two entomologists have devised a solution based on how male and female cerambycid beetles communicate with, and attract, each other. http://www.physorg.com/news137168471.html Biology Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:21:11 EST news137168471