News tagged with biology
Study helps advance heart-related research
Dec 04, 2009 |
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Using a new mathematical model of heart cells, University of Iowa investigators have shown how activation of a critical enzyme, calmodulin kinase II (CaM kinase), disrupts the electrical activity of heart cells.
Nature's fine designs: Scientists find modern lessons in ancient creations
Dec 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Nature and its bottom-up processes for creating robust and responsive materials are inspiring new generations of synthetic materials and creative design.
Poisonous Poisson
Dec 04, 2009 |
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In contrast to the exhaustive research into venom produced by snakes and spiders, venomous fish have been neglected and remain something of a mystery. Now, a study of 158 catfish species, published in the ...
Greenhouse gas carbon dioxide ramps up aspen growth
Dec 04, 2009 |
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The rising level of atmospheric carbon dioxide may be fueling more than climate change. It could also be making some trees grow like crazy.
Researchers discover how a brain hormone controls insect metamorphosis
Dec 03, 2009 |
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A team of University of Minnesota researchers have discovered how PTTH, a hormone produced by the brain, controls the metamorphosis of juvenile insects into adults.
Stopping MRSA before it becomes dangerous is possible, researchers find
Dec 03, 2009 |
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Most scientists believe that staph infections are caused by many bacterial cells that signal each other to emit toxins. The signaling process is called quorum sensing because many bacteria must be present ...
It's all in your head. No, really: How mental imagery training aids perceptual learning
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Dec 03, 2009 |
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Practice makes perfect. But imaginary practice? Elisa Tartaglia of the Laboratory of Psychophysics at Switzerland's Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) and team show that perceptual learning—learning ...
By feeding the birds, you could change their evolutionary fate
Dec 03, 2009 |
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Feeding birds in winter is a most innocent human activity, but it can nonetheless have profound effects on the evolutionary future of a species, and those changes can be seen in the very near term. That's ...
Researchers find long awaited key to creating drought resistant crops
Dec 03, 2009 |
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Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) researchers have determined precisely how the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) works at the molecular level to help plants respond to environmental stresses such as drought and cold. ...
Scent signals stop incest in lemurs
Dec 02, 2009 |
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Chemical identifiers secreted from the genital glands of lemurs, allow them to avoid incest and also to engage in nepotism. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology have identified the smells ...
Can cleft palate be healed before birth?
Dec 01, 2009 |
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In a study newly published in the journal Development, investigators at the USC School of Dentistry describe how to non-surgically reverse the onset of cleft palate in fetal mice - potentially one step in the journey to a b ...
New forensic technique gives clues about sharks from bite damage
Dec 01, 2009 |
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Hit-and-run attacks by sharks can be solved with a new technique that identifies the culprits by the unique chomp they put on their victims, according to a University of Florida researcher and shark expert.
Researchers create first transgenic prairie voles
Dec 01, 2009 |
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Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, have successfully generated the first transgenic prairie voles, an important step toward unlocking the genetic secrets of pair bonding. The future ...
Researchers discover biological basis of 'bacterial immune system'
Nov 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Bacteria don’t have easy lives. In addition to mammalian immune systems that besiege the bugs, they have natural enemies called bacteriophages, viruses that kill half the bacteria on Earth every two days.
'The pill' for him: Scientists find a hormonal on-and-off switch for male fertility
Nov 30, 2009 |
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A new research report published in the December 2009 print issue of The FASEB Journal could one day give men similar type of control over their fertility that women have had since the 1960s. That's because scientists have f ...
