News tagged with natural

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Past regional cold and warm periods linked to natural climate drivers

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 26, 2009 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (17) | comments 25

Intervals of regional warmth and cold in the past are linked to the El Nińo phenomenon and the so-called "North Atlantic Oscillation" in the Northern hemisphere's jet stream, according to a team of climate scientists. These ...


Rare Charles Darwin book found on toilet bookshelf (AP)

Rare Charles Darwin book found on toilet bookshelf

Biology / Other

created Nov 22, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (6) | comments 2

(AP) -- An auction house says it is selling a rare first edition of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" found in a family's guest lavatory in southern England.


Destruction spreads 'like a disease'

Biology / Ecology

created Nov 25, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- People have cleared more than a quarter of the world’s forests and half of its grasslands, according to a paper published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society by researchers from The University of Que ...


Researchers develop virtual streams to help restore real ones

Physics / General Physics

created Nov 24, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have developed a unique new computer model called the Virtual StreamLab, designed to help restore real streams to a healthier state. The Virtual StreamLab, which demonstrates the ...


"Walky" Project (Keio University in Tokyo)

iPhone Software That Controls Robot Movements (w/ Video)

Electronics / Robotics

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- At the graduate school of media design at Keio University in Tokyo, a project called "Walky" is under developed. Researchers have developed specifically designed software for the iPhone that ...


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 ...


Caught in the act: Butterfly mate preference shows how 1 species can become 2

Caught in the act: Scientists find butterflies splitting into two species

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (8) | comments 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- Breaking up may actually not be hard to do, say scientists who've found a population of tropical butterflies that may be on its way to a split into two distinct species.


Prime Numbers

New Pattern Found in Prime Numbers

Other Sciences / Mathematics

created May 08, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (82) | comments 41

(PhysOrg.com) -- Prime numbers have intrigued curious thinkers for centuries. On one hand, prime numbers seem to be randomly distributed among the natural numbers with no other law than that of chance. But ...


Energy-saving powder

Energy-saving powder: Converting methane to methanol

Chemistry / Other

created Nov 11, 2009 | popularity 3.4 / 5 (7) | comments 2

It is currently estimated that natural gas resources will be exhausted in 130 years; however, those reserves where extraction is cost-effective will only flow for another 60 years or so.


Can a plant be altruistic?

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 11, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 0

The concept of altruism has long been debated in philosophical circles, and more recently, evolutionary biologists have joined the debate. From the perspective of natural selection, altruism may have evolved because any ...


Robots Reveal Insights into Evolution

Robots Reveal Insights into Evolution

Electronics / Robotics

created Sep 16, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (13) | comments 22

(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. ...


Darwin's mockingbirds DNA research may help species recovery

Darwin's mockingbirds DNA research may help species recovery

Biology / Evolution

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- New research could help protect the future of a rare bird in the Galapagos Islands that was an inspiration for Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, scientists report in a paper ...


Cornell releases predator beetle to battle hemlock pest

Cornell releases predator beetle to battle hemlock pest

Biology / Ecology

created Nov 11, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Cornell researchers released a well-studied beetle predator to test its ability to ward off a hemlock-killing aphid-like insect.


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.


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 ...