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. 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 mechanisms for how these spots attract pollinators. But have you ever wondered what these spots are composed of, how they develop, or how they only appear on some but not all of the ray florets? http://www.physorg.com/news180376920.html Biology Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:43:21 EST news180376920 Craig Benzine had weathered almost 10 years with his band, Chicago-based indie rockers Driftless Pony Club -- self-releasing two albums along the way -- with no luck. http://www.physorg.com/news180292177.html Technology Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:50:04 EST news180292177 (PhysOrg.com) -- Female birds in species that breed in groups can find themselves under pressure to sexually show off and evolve the same kinds of embellishments - like fanciful tail feathers or chest-puffing courtship dances - as males, according to new research in the latest issue of Nature (Dec. 10, 2009). http://www.physorg.com/news179586770.html Biology Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:13:22 EST news179586770 For many people "rural" is synonymous with low incomes, limited economic opportunity, and poor schools. However, a recent study at the University of Illinois found that much of rural America is actually prosperous, particularly in the Midwest and Plains. http://www.physorg.com/news178983147.html Other Sciences Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:50:02 EST news178983147 (PhysOrg.com) -- Baby Einstein videos have become a staple in many American households until recently when the Walt Disney Company decided to refund the product, acknowledging that these ever-popular videos were not intended to be educational or promote better brain development among young children. http://www.physorg.com/news176624111.html Medicine & Health Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:20:00 EST news176624111 Christine Bergeron of Old Orchard Beach, Maine, a doctoral student in Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources, received a fellowship from the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Center for Environmental Research for her research on the reproductive success of American toads. http://www.physorg.com/news175192370.html Biology Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:50:01 EST news175192370 (AP) -- Worldwide shipments of personal computers edged back up in the third quarter, according to industry researchers, a promising sign for the industry as it heads into the holiday shopping season. http://www.physorg.com/news174763429.html Technology Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:40:01 EST news174763429 Just like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown, kicking a football through goal posts can be an elusive task, according to Purdue University research. http://www.physorg.com/news174051941.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:30:02 EST news174051941 (PhysOrg.com) -- Staying at home may have given the very first termite youngsters the best opportunity to rule the colony when their parents were killed by their neighbors. This is according to new research supported by the National Science Foundation and published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://www.physorg.com/news173976128.html Biology Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:20:13 EST news173976128 The team led by Denis Reale, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at UQAM and Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Ecology, recently completed a study showing the link between personality, survival and reproductive success in male bighorn sheep. http://www.physorg.com/news172246873.html Biology Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:40:02 EST news172246873 About 10% of all couples hoping for a baby have fertility problems. Environmentalists say pollution is to blame and psychiatrists point to our stressful lifestyles, but evolutionary biologist Dr. Oren Hasson of Tel Aviv University's Department of Zoology offers a different take. The reproductive organs of men and women are currently involved in an evolutionary arms race, he reports in a new study. And the fight isn't over yet. http://www.physorg.com/news171637280.html Biology Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:15:05 EST news171637280 Genetic evidence is revealing that human populations began to expand in size in Africa during the Late Stone Age approximately 40,000 years ago. A research team led by Michael F. Hammer (Arizona Research Laboratory's Division of Biotechnology at the University of Arizona) found that sub-Saharan populations increased in size well before the development of agriculture. http://www.physorg.com/news168072172.html Biology Wed, 29 Jul 2009 07:43:30 EST news168072172 Why are so many students deep in debt before they finish college, only to take on more debt as they begin their careers? The answer may be found by looking at the social forces that shape the attitudes and behaviors of today's youth - forces influencing them in ways that will determine their financial success or failure as adults. http://www.physorg.com/news167911998.html Other Sciences Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:13:52 EST news167911998 (PhysOrg.com) -- UQ research has found when it comes to camels, staying cool may be the key to reproductive success. http://www.physorg.com/news166853020.html Biology Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:14:31 EST news166853020 Male seahorses have a clear agenda when it comes to selecting a mating partner: to increase their reproductive success. By being choosy and preferring large females, they are likely to have more and bigger eggs, as well as bigger offspring, according to Beat Mattle and Tony Wilson from the Zoological Museum at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Their findings have just been published online in Springer's journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. http://www.physorg.com/news166187324.html Biology Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:30:01 EST news166187324 Charles Darwin and his contemporaries postulated that food consumption in birds and mammals was limited by resource levels, that is, animals would eat as much as they could while food was plentiful and produce as many offspring as this would allow them to. However, recent research has shown that, even when food is abundant, energy intake reaches a limit, even in animals with high nutrient demands, such as lactating females. Scientists at the Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology in Vienna suggest that this is due to active control of maternal investment in offspring in order to maintain long-term reproductive fitness. http://www.physorg.com/news165643460.html Biology Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:04:45 EST news165643460 Throughout the animal kingdom brilliant colors or elaborate behavioral displays serve as "advertisements" for attracting mates. But, what do the ads promise, and is there truth in advertizing? Researchers at Yale theorize that when males must provide care for the survival of their offspring, the males' signals will consistently be honest - and they may devote more of their energy to caring for their offspring than to being attractive. http://www.physorg.com/news164539008.html Biology Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:18:28 EST news164539008 An emerging form of the pathogenic yeast Candida is able to complete a full sexual cycle in a test tube, even though it's missing the genes for reproduction. And it may also do so while infecting us, according to Duke University Medical Center researchers. http://www.physorg.com/news162395184.html Biology Sun, 24 May 2009 14:47:12 EST news162395184 A new study challenges long-standing expectations that men are promiscuous and women tend to be more particular when it comes to choosing a mate. The research, published by Cell Press in the April issue of the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution, suggests that human mating strategies are not likely to conform to a single universal pattern and provides important insights that may impact future investigations of human mating behaviors. http://www.physorg.com/news159799620.html Biology Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:47:42 EST news159799620 Do personal traits predict success in school? If so, which dimension of one's outward appearance can tell the most about academic achievement? The answers to these questions are found in a new study by researchers from the University of Miami Health Economics Research Group. The study is the first to demonstrate that non-cognitive traits play an important role in the assignment of grades in high school. http://www.physorg.com/news159646011.html Other Sciences Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:07:25 EST news159646011 A newly released study by researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks offers evidence that in one breed of northern seabird, the size of males' feather crests may be more than simple ornamentation. http://www.physorg.com/news159126425.html Biology Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:48:05 EST news159126425 A new study published in the Journal of Personality reveals that personality at adolescence predicts reproductive success later in life. The study findings showed that male and female teens with socially dominant personalities were more likely to have children as adults. http://www.physorg.com/news157210693.html Medicine & Health Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:38:26 EST news157210693 Many couples who have trouble conceiving a child have turned to a process known as in vitro fertilization. The resulting embryos are then transferred back into the woman or placed in storage. More than 400,000 embryos are currently in storage in the United States. The quality of the egg is often the single greatest factor in the viability of the embryo, yet fertility experts lack a good method for assessing the eggs. http://www.physorg.com/news157037958.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:39:48 EST news157037958 Researchers have taken a first look at the broad genetic changes that accompany reproductive declines in inbred populations. Although scientists have known for more than a century that small populations of closely related plants or animals are likely to suffer from low reproductive success, the exact mechanism by which this "inbreeding depression" occurs is still the subject of debate. http://www.physorg.com/news156086725.html Biology Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:25:56 EST news156086725 UCSF researchers have found that examining levels of antiretroviral drugs in hair samples taken from HIV patients on therapy strongly predicts treatment success. http://www.physorg.com/news155324477.html Medicine & Health Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:42:11 EST news155324477 People with manic or bipolar tendencies have higher expectations of what they can achieve in terms of success, money and fame, a new study published Monday finds. http://www.physorg.com/news155191588.html Medicine & Health Mon, 02 Mar 2009 04:47:01 EST news155191588 A new study led by Duke University researchers finds that restoring degraded wetlands -- especially those that had been converted into farm fields -- actually decreases their soil bacterial diversity. http://www.physorg.com/news145708238.html Space & Earth Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:30:38 EST news145708238 From Barack Obama's controversial pastor to Sarah Palin's "secret religion", religious values have continued to play a dominant role in the presidential election since John F. Kennedy became the first Catholic elected to president in 1960. Hoping to answer the question of which political party has a monopoly on the "best" values and how religion affects these values, Kennon Sheldon, a University of Missouri professor, compared the "extrinsic" values (financial success, status, appearance) with "intrinsic" values (growth, intimacy, helping) of self-declared Democrats and Republicans in four different samples. http://www.physorg.com/news144339117.html Other Sciences Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:11:57 EST news144339117 From Barack Obama's controversial pastor to Sarah Palin's "secret religion", religious values have continued to play a dominant role in the presidential election since John F. Kennedy became the first Catholic elected to president in 1960. Hoping to answer the question of which political party has a monopoly on the "best" values and how religion affects these values, Kennon Sheldon, a University of Missouri professor, compared the "extrinsic" values (financial success, status, appearance) with "intrinsic" values (growth, intimacy, helping) of self-declared Democrats and Republicans in four different samples. http://www.physorg.com/news141396083.html Other Sciences Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:41:23 EST news141396083 It is known that the phonic structure of calls produced by males during the breeding season may signal quality-related characteristics in many different types of animals. Previous research on mammals has mainly focussed on the relationship between the acoustic components of vocalizations and one aspect of male quality: body size. http://www.physorg.com/news139625986.html Biology Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:59:46 EST news139625986