News tagged with biology
Major insights into evolution of life reported
Aug 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Humans might not be walking the face of the Earth were it not for the ancient fusing of two prokaryotes -- tiny life forms that do not have a cellular nucleus. UCLA molecular biologist James ...
Evolution of the appendix: A biological 'remnant' no more
Aug 20, 2009 |
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The lowly appendix, long-regarded as a useless evolutionary artifact, won newfound respect two years ago when researchers at Duke University Medical Center proposed that it actually serves a critical function. ...
Great Tit Turns Out to be a Killer
Sep 10, 2009 |
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(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, ...
First-ever blueprint of a minimal cell is more complex than expected
Nov 26, 2009 |
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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
Nov 17, 2009 |
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(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.
Aesop's fable 'the crow and the pitcher' more fact than fiction (w/ Video)
Aug 06, 2009 |
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In Aesop's fable 'The crow and the pitcher' a thirsty crow uses stones to raise the level of water in a pitcher to quench its thirst. A new study published online today (06 August) in the journal Current Bi ...
Dead Ahead: Similar Early Warning Signals of Change in Climate, Ecosystems, Financial Markets, Human Health
Sep 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- What do abrupt changes in ocean circulation and Earth's climate, shifts in wildlife populations and ecosystems, the global finance market and its system-wide crashes, and asthma attacks and ...
One word: bioplastics
Nov 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Every year, more than 250 billion pounds of plastic are produced worldwide. Much of it ends up in the world's oceans, a fact that troubles MIT biology professor Anthony Sinskey.
Why sex with a partner is better (w/ Video)
Oct 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- OK, it takes two for human reproduction, and now it seems that plants and animals that can rely on either a partner or go alone by self-fertilization give their offspring a better chance for ...
Robots Reveal Insights into Evolution
Sep 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In an ironic twist to our understanding of life, robots may offer a greater degree of realism for studying some of the intricacies of natural selection and evolution than real organisms offer. ...
Why leave it to nature? Chemistry professor wants to understand, simplify, photosynthesis
Sep 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Amid calls for transformative change in the world’s energy supply, Harvard chemist Ted Betley is taking a back-to-basics approach and examining the mother of all energy supplies -- photosynthesis ...
Scientists visualize how bacteria talk to one another
Nov 08, 2009 |
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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 ...
Facial expressions show language barriers too
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Aug 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- People from East Asia tend to have a tougher time than those from European countries telling the difference between a face that looks fearful versus surprised, disgusted versus angry, and ...
No such thing as 'junk RNA,' say Pitt researchers
Oct 13, 2009 |
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Tiny strands of RNA previously dismissed as cellular junk are actually very stable molecules that may play significant roles in cellular processes, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine ...
Comprehensive understanding of bacteria could lead to new insights into many organisms
Sep 25, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research, University of California, San Diego, The Scripps Research Institute, Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation and other ...
