Plants & Animals News

September 9, 2016

The Adorable Thing Bats Do to Catch Prey

Not One, but Four Giraffe Species

A Tenth of World's Wilderness Lost Since 1990s

New Reptile Species from 212 Million Years Ago

Latest Headlines

updated 1:10am EDT

Ginger, Chili Peppers Could Work Together to Lower Cancer Risk

Sep. 7, 2016 — For many people, there's nothing more satisfying than a hot, spicy meal. But some research has suggested that capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their kick, might cause cancer. Now ... read more

Bacteria Supply Their Allies With Munitions

Sep. 8, 2016 — Bacteria fight their competitors with molecular spear guns, the so-called Type VI secretion system. When firing this weapon they also unintentionally hit their own kind. ... read more

The History of Beer Yeast

Sep. 8, 2016 — Today's industrial yeast strains are used to make beer, wine, bread, biofuels, and more, but their evolutionary history is not well studied. Researchers have now described a ... read more

Cover Crop Mixtures Increase Agroecosystem Services, First-of-Kind Study Suggests

Sep. 8, 2016 — Planting a multi-species mixture of cover crops -- rather than a cover crop monoculture -- between cash crops, provides ... read more

Yellow or Black, Large or Small? Ant Color and Body Size Respond Strongly to Environment

Sep. 8, 2016 — A study of ants across three continents has revealed that their color and size is strongly influenced by their environment, ... read more

Injecting Citrus Tree Trunks With Bactericide May Help Stem Greening

Sep. 8, 2016 — A chemical treatment known as a bactericide could help preserve citrus trees from the potentially deadly and costly greening disease, a new ... read more

Newly Described Amphipod Species Already Under Threat

Sep. 8, 2016 — Biologists have described a new amphipod species which is endemic to the Alps. While alpine lakes provide relatively undisturbed habitats for Gammarus alpinus, this species ... read more

Pet Therapy Can Combat Homesickness

Sep. 8, 2016 — The expression "dog is man's best friend" might have more weight in the case of first-year university students suffering from homesickness, according to a new study. The ... read more

How Chinese Medicine Kills Cancer Cells

Sep. 8, 2016 — Researchers have shown how a complex mix of plant compounds derived from ancient clinical practice in China -- a Traditional Chinese Medicine -- works to kill cancer ... read more

Why Moths Are Attracted to Light

Sep. 8, 2016 — Light at night changes animals’ behavior. A new study shows that moths are attracted to street lamps within a radius of approximately 23 meters. The number of specimens ... read more

Tiger Sounds Could Help Save Population

Extreme Weather Threatens Mexico's Monarchs

Swimming With Dolphins In The Wild Could Soon Be Banned In Hawaii

London Zoo's Animals Have Annual Weigh in

Linking RNA Structure and Function

Sep. 8, 2016 — Several years ago, biologists discovered a new type of genetic material known as long noncoding RNA. This RNA does not code for proteins and is copied from sections of the genome once believed to be ... read more

Measuring Forces in the DNA Molecule

Sep. 8, 2016 — DNA, our genetic material, normally has the structure of a twisted rope ladder. Experts call this structure a double helix. Among other things, it is stabilized by stacking forces between base pairs. ... read more

Deriving Inspiration from the Dragon Tree

Sep. 8, 2016 — Could dragon trees serve as a source of inspiration for innovations in lightweight construction? A team of researchers has laid the groundwork for designing technical fiber-reinforced lightweight ... read more

Stealth Pig Cells May Hold the Key to Treating Diabetes in Humans

Sep. 8, 2016 — In preclinical work begun this year, stealth insulin-producers — pancreatic islets from pigs or mice coated with thin bilayers of biomimetic material — are being tested in vivo in a mouse model ... read more

Mechanical Engineering in Hot Pursuit of Creeping Bacteria

Sep. 7, 2016 — The growth of bacterial biofilm is problematic when you think of all the liquid flowing through all those miles of tubing at your local hospital or Medi-Centre. The movement of bacteria with flow can ... read more

Picky Ants Maintain Color Polymorphism of Bugs They Work With

Sep. 7, 2016 — Researchers have found that ants have a particular preference for aphid colonies with certain colors, which could be why these bugs are able to keep their colors across ... read more

Historical Coexistence With Dingoes May Explain Bandicoot Avoidance of Domestic Dogs

Sep. 7, 2016 — Domestic dogs and cats were introduced to Tasmania two centuries ago, but bandicoots still fail to recognize these introduced predators as threats, according a new ... read more

Antimicrobial Chemicals Found With Antibiotic-Resistance Genes in Indoor Dust

Sep. 7, 2016 — University of Oregon researchers have found links between the levels of antimicrobial chemicals and antibiotic-resistance genes in the dust of an aging building used for athletics and academics. One ... read more

Life History of the 360-Million-Year-Old Tetrapod Acanthostega Rewrites the Tetrapod Move to Land

Sep. 7, 2016 — Researchers have shown that fossils of the 360 million-year-old tetrapod Acanthostega, one of the iconic transitional forms between fishes and land animals, are not adults but all juveniles. This ... read more

Fruit Flies Yield Clues on Cancerous Tumor Hotspots

Sep. 7, 2016 — Scientists have found that the epithelial tissues that line the surfaces of organs throughout the body intrinsically have hot spots for cancerous tumors.They discovered this by examining a common ... read more

Crab from the Chinese Pet Market Turns out to Be a New Species of a New Genus

Sep. 7, 2016 — Shimmering carapaces make crabs attractive to pet owners. To answer the growing demand, fishermen collect and trade crustaceans, often not knowing what exactly they have handed over to their clients. ... read more

Seeing the Forest for the Trees: World's Largest Reforestation Program Overlooks Wildlife

Sep. 7, 2016 — New research found that China's reforestation program, the world's largest, overwhelmingly leads to the planting of monoculture forests that fall short of restoring the biodiversity of ... read more

Six New Groups of Molecules Could Be the Key to Delaying Aging

Sep. 7, 2016 — Researchers assess how six previously identified plant extracts can delay aging by affecting different signalling pathways that set the pace of growing ... read more

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Sep. 7, 2016 — Want to help mitigate global climate change? Grow some veggies. According to a new study, turning lawn into a vegetable garden can reduce greenhouse gas ... read more

Probing a Mosquito Protein for Clues in the Fight Against Zika

Sep. 7, 2016 — As health departments around the United States boost efforts to combat Zika, scientists are working on new ways to kill the mosquitoes that carry the virus. One approach involves understanding the ... read more

Elucidating Structure of Bacterial Flagellar Motor Protein

Sep. 7, 2016 — Researchers used biochemical techniques and electron microscopy to uncover the structure of the bacterial MotA protein, which forms part of the propeller motor (flagellum). Three-dimensional analysis ... read more

Risk to Small Children from Family Dog Often Underestimated

Sep. 7, 2016 — Dog bites suffered by young children are often inflicted by the family dog. Such incidents frequently occur despite the presence of an adult. A survey of dog owners shows that people underestimate ... read more

Future Fisheries Can Expect $10 Billion Revenue Loss Due to Climate Change

Sep. 7, 2016 — Global fisheries stand to lose approximately $10 billion of their annual revenue by 2050 if climate change continues unchecked, and countries that are most dependent on fisheries for food will be the ... read more

How Fungi Help Trees Tolerate Drought

Sep. 7, 2016 — Specific adaptations in the transcriptome of the most common ectomycorrhizal fungus could help their hosts be more resistant to drought stress, a finding that could be useful in developing more plant ... read more

Snake Eats Lizard Eats Beetle: Fossil Food Chain from the Messel Pit Examined

Sep. 7, 2016 — Scientists have examined a spectacular discovery from the UNESCO World Heritage site Messel Pit: A fossil snake in whose stomach a lizard can be seen, which in turn had consumed a beetle. The ... read more

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Monday, September 5, 2016

Sunday, September 4, 2016

Four out of six great apes one step away from extinction, experts say

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Critically endangered whales in Russia recovering

Sunday, September 4, 2016

Beyond sushi wrap: Experts warn booming seaweed industry

Friday, September 2, 2016

Thursday, September 1, 2016