News tagged with natural


Water Striders Mating

Mom was right: Why nice guys usually get the girls

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (9) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Female water striders often reject their most persistent and aggressive suitors and prefer the males who aren't so grabby, according to new research. Water striders are insects commonly seen ...


Plentiful poinsettias without PGRs

Plentiful poinsettias without PGRs

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Poinsettias can be a lucrative crop for ornamental plant growers, particularly during the Christmas season. In the temperate regions of the southern hemisphere, where poinsettias are grown for both export ...


New evidence supports 19th century idea on formation of oil and gas

New evidence supports 19th century idea on formation of oil and gas

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Scientists in Washington, D.C. are reporting laboratory evidence supporting the possibility that some of Earth's oil and natural gas may have formed in a way much different than the traditional process described ...


Over 1,000 fish species 'threatened with extinction'

Biology / Ecology

created Nov 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

More than 1,000 freshwater fish species are threatened with extinction, reflecting the strain on global water resources, an updated global "Red List" of endangered species showed Tuesday.


Spider mite predators serve as biological control

Spider mite predators serve as biological control

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

The control of spider mites, which damage tree leaves, reduce fruit quality and cost growers millions of dollars in the use of pesticide and oil spraying, is being biologically controlled in Pennsylvania apple ...


Colorado county copes with methane mystery (AP)

Colorado county copes with methane mystery

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 7

(AP) -- Bernice and Jerry Angely like to show visitors the singed T-shirt a friend was wearing when their water well exploded and shot flames 30 feet high.


Culture, not just genes, can drive evolutionary outcomes

Genes drive behaviour, but culture can select genes: study

Biology / Evolution

created Oct 28, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Culture, not just genes, can drive evolutionary outcomes, according to a study released Wednesday that compares individualist and group-oriented societies across the globe.


A silo fire doesn't have to ruin all stored silage

A silo fire doesn't have to ruin all stored silage

Other Sciences / Other

created Oct 27, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Sometimes, when harvest conditions are less than ideal, silage with lower-than-optimum moisture levels is put into a silo, potentially leading to excessive heating and a spontaneous-combustion ...


Scientist shines laser light on methane in pursuit of clean fuel

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

created Oct 22, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

An abundant greenhouse gas could someday help clean up the earth. Converting methane to liquid methanol could produce clean, low-cost fuel and prevent the potent greenhouse gas from entering the atmosphere. Exploiting methane ...


New artificial enzyme safer for nature

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Oct 22, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Perilous and polluting industrial processes can be made safer with enzymes. But only a short range of enzymes have been available for the chemical industry.


Biochemical 'On-Switch' Could Solve Protein Purification Challenge

Biochemical 'On-Switch' Could Solve Protein Purification Challenge

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Oct 20, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Drugs based on engineered proteins represent a new frontier for pharmaceutical makers. Even after they discover a protein that may form the basis of the next wonder drug, however, they have ...


Diverting Sediment-rich Water Below New Orleans Could Lead to Extensive New Land

Diverting Sediment-rich Water Below New Orleans Could Lead to Extensive New Land

Space & Earth / Environment

created Oct 20, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Diverting sediment-rich water from the Mississippi River below New Orleans could generate new land in the river's delta in the next century.


Are humans still evolving? Absolutely, says new analysis of long-term survey of human health

Biology / Evolution

created Oct 19, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (21) | comments 36

Although advances in medical care have improved standards of living over time, humans aren't entirely sheltered from the forces of natural selection, a new study shows.


Tsunami evacuation buildings: another way to save lives in the Pacific Northwest

Tsunami evacuation buildings: another way to save lives in the Pacific Northwest

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Oct 19, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Some time soon, a powerful earthquake will trigger a massive tsunami that will flood the Pacific Northwest, destroying homes and threatening the lives of tens of thousands of people, says Yumei Wang, a geotechnical ...


Time in a bottle: Scientists watch evolution unfold

Time in a bottle: Scientists watch evolution unfold

Biology / Evolution

created Oct 18, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (42) | comments 13

A 21-year Michigan State University experiment that distills the essence of evolution in laboratory flasks not only demonstrates natural selection at work, but could lead to biotechnology and medical research ...