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duck

Researchers reveal secrets of duck sex: It's all screwed up

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 23, 2009 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (11) | comments 0

Female ducks have evolved an intriguing way to avoid becoming impregnated by undesirable but aggressive males endowed with large corkscrew-shaped penises: vaginas with clockwise spirals that thwart oppositely ...


Christmas Carol Talk

Other Sciences / Other

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

Even without the lyrics, the tunes of some Christmas carols -- such as "Jingle Bells" or "Deck the Halls" -- sound uplifting. But the melodies of other songs like "We Three Kings" have a different, somber sound.


The COROT satellite

Astronomers discover 'tilted planets'

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 22, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (15) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Exeter, UK, research has added to a growing evidence that several giant planets have orbits so tilted that their orbits can be perpendicular or even backwards relative to their ...


Wiggling and waggling: Study sheds light on amazing bee brain

Wiggling and waggling: Study sheds light on amazing bee brain

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (10) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Their brains are tiny - about the size of sesame seeds - and yet the behaviour of the humble honey bee is so advanced it has scientists scratching their heads in disbelief.


Dental delight! Tooth of sea urchin shows formation of biominerals

Dental delight! Tooth of sea urchin shows formation of biominerals

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Some of the most common minerals in biology, including those in bones and shells, have a mysterious structure: Their crystals are positioned in the same orientation, making them behave as ...


Kidney injury in hospital increases long-term risk of death

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Patients with sudden loss of kidney function, called acute kidney injury (AKI), are more likely to die prematurely after leaving the hospital—even if their kidney function has apparently recovered, according to an upcoming ...


Giant Planet Set for a Cataclysmic Show

Giant Planet Set for a Cataclysmic Show

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (16) | comments 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of Chinese astronomers have discovered a giant planet close to the exotic binary star system QS Virginis. Although dormant now, in the future the two stars will one day erupt in a violent ...


Black Holes in Star Clusters stir up Time and Space

Black Holes in Star Clusters stir up Time and Space (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (16) | comments 6

(PhysOrg.com) -- Within a decade scientists could be able to detect the merger of tens of pairs of black holes every year, according to a team of astronomers at the University of Bonn’s Argelander-Institut ...


Sucker-footed bats don't use suction after all

Sucker-footed bats don't use suction after all (w/ Video)

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

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 ...


Kidney disease patients benefit from surgery to prevent stroke

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Physicians should be comfortable referring some patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) for effective stroke prevention surgery, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of ...


Climate change turns up heat on mushrooms

Climate change turns up heat on mushrooms

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 09, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have discovered that spring-fruiting fungi, including the morel and St George’s mushroom are fruiting nearly three weeks earlier than they did 50 years ago.


Brooding fishes take up nutrients from their own children

Brooding fishes take up nutrients from their own children

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

In the pipefish, the male cares for the offspring. Apart from the ones he sucks the life out of. The discovery of filial cannibalism in the pipefish is now creating a stir in the research world.


Creativity in mathematics

Other Sciences / Mathematics

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

"Mathematics links Art and Science in one great enterprise, the human attempt to make sense of the universe." So writes Abel Prizewinner and Fields Medalist Sir Michael F. Atiyah in the January 2010 Notices of the American Ma ...


List of 'unsung' wildlife affected by climate change released

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 07, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

The Wildlife Conservation Society today released a list of animals facing new impacts by climate change, some in strange and unexpected ways.


Scientists think 'killer petunias' should join the ranks of carnivorous plants

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 04, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Natural History Museum believe that carnivorous behaviour in plants is far more widespread than previously thought, with many commonly grown plants - such as petunias ...