News tagged with biology
Soap opera in the marsh: Coots foil nest invaders, reject impostors
Dec 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The American coot is a drab, seemingly unremarkable marsh bird common throughout North America. But its reproductive life is full of deception and violence.
Wide heads give hammerheads exceptional stereo view
Nov 27, 2009 |
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Hammerhead sharks are some of the Ocean's most distinctive residents. 'Everyone wants to understand why they have this strange head shape,' says Michelle McComb from Florida Atlantic University. One possible ...
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.
Study reveals lack of diversity in embryonic stem cell lines
Dec 16, 2009 |
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The most widely used human embryonic stem cell lines lack genetic diversity, a finding that raises social justice questions that must be addressed to ensure that all sectors of society benefit from stem cell advances, according ...
Biologist Shows Female Birds of a Feather Compete Together
Dec 15, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- With its flamboyantly decorated plumage, the peacock is a classic example of how males among many bird species are more visually eye-catching than their female partners. But new research, ...
Ancient pygmy sea cow discovered
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Dec 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The discovery of a Middle Eocene (48.6-37.2 million years ago) sea cow fossil by McGill University professor Karen Samonds has culminated in the naming of a new species. This primitive "dugong" ...
DNA needs a good editor: Researchers unravel the mysteries of DNA packaging
Dec 14, 2009 |
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Imagine a huge spool of film containing thousands of sequences of random scenes. Without a talented editor, a screening would have no meaning.
I think step to the left, you think step to the east
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Dec 14, 2009 |
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Even the way people remember dance moves depends on the culture they come from, according to a report in the December 14th issue of Current Biology. Whereas a German or other Westerner might think in terms of "step to the ...
Tool use in an invertebrate: The coconut-carrying octopus
Dec 14, 2009 |
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Scientists once thought of tool use as a defining feature of humans. That's until examples of tool use came in from other primates, along with birds and an array of other mammals. Now, a report in the December 14th issue ...
Sucker-footed bats don't use suction after all (w/ Video)
Dec 14, 2009 |
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There are approximately 1,200 species of bats worldwide. Of that total, only six are known to roost with their heads pointed upward. Investigators did not know why, because they knew next to nothing about ...
Scientists crack mystery of protein's dual function
Dec 13, 2009 |
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Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have solved a 10-year-old mystery of how a single protein from an ancient family of enzymes can have two completely distinct roles in the body. In addition to providing guidance ...
Old math reveals new thinking in children's cognitive development
Dec 11, 2009 |
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Five-year-olds can reason about the world from multiple perspectives simultaneously, according to a new theory by researchers in Japan and Australia. Using an established branch of mathematics called Category Theory, the ...
Killer catfish? Venomous species surprisingly common, study finds
Dec 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Name all the venomous animals you can think of and you probably come up with snakes, spiders, bees, wasps and perhaps poisonous frogs. But catfish?
Scientists find way to catalog all that goes wrong in a cancer cell
Dec 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of Princeton University scientists has produced a systematic listing of the ways a particular cancerous cell has "gone wrong," giving researchers a powerful tool that eventually could make possible ...
Flies like us: They can act like addicts, too
Dec 10, 2009 |
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When given the chance to consume alcohol at will, fruit flies behave in ways that look an awful lot like human alcoholism. That's according to a study published online on December 10th in Current Biology that is one of the ...
