News tagged with natural

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Robots Reveal Insights into Evolution

Robots Reveal Insights into Evolution

Electronics / Robotics

created Sep 16, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (14) | 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. ...


Prime Numbers

New Pattern Found in Prime Numbers

Other Sciences / Mathematics

created May 08, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (83) | 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 ...


Tree of life

Evolution may take giant leaps

Biology / Evolution

created Dec 11, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (29) | comments 39

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study of thousands of species of plants and animals suggests new species may arise from rare events instead of through an accumulation of small changes made in response to changes in ...


Social scientists build case for 'survival of the kindest'

Social scientists build case for 'survival of the kindest'

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (36) | comments 61

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, are challenging long-held beliefs that human beings are wired to be selfish. In a wide range of studies, social scientists are amassing ...


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.


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 ...


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 ...


Nature Makes Us More Caring, Study Says (w/ Video)

Nature Makes Us More Caring, Study Says (w/ Video)

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Sep 30, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Want to be a better person? Commune with nature. Paying attention to the natural world not only makes you feel better, it makes you behave better, finds a new study to be published October ...


Ego City: Cities organized like human brains

Ego City: Cities organized like human brains

Medicine & Health / Research

created Sep 03, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (11) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Cities are organized like brains, and the evolution of cities mirrors the evolution of human and animal brains, according to a new study by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.


Late-Night Snacks: Worse Than You Think

Medicine & Health / Health

created Sep 03, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Eat less, exercise more. Now there is new evidence to support adding another "must" to the weight-loss mantra: eat at the right time of day.


Silk-based optical waveguides meet biomedical needs

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Aug 31, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

There is a growing need for biocompatible photonic components for biomedical applications - from in vivo glucose monitoring to detecting harmful viruses or the telltale markers of Alzheimer's. Optical waveguides are of ...


Mice living in sandy hills quickly evolved lighter coloration

Mice living in sandy hills quickly evolved lighter coloration

Biology / Evolution

created Aug 27, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 9

In a vivid illustration of natural selection at work, scientists at Harvard University have found that deer mice living in Nebraska's Sand Hills quickly evolved lighter coloration after glaciers deposited ...


Researchers find first-ever 'wanderlust gene' in tiny bony fish

Researchers find first-ever 'wanderlust gene' in tiny bony fish

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Aug 05, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A gene previously associated with physical traits is also dictating behaviour in a tiny fish widely regarded as a living model of Darwin's natural selection theory, according to a University ...


After dinosaurs, mammals rise but their genomes get smaller

Biology / Evolution

created Jul 27, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Evidence buried in the chromosomes of animals and plants strongly suggests only one group -- mammals -- have seen their genomes shrink after the dinosaurs' extinction. What's more, that trend continues today, ...