Backyard
Nature's Direct Feed from |
Backyard
Nature's Direct Feed from |
Last updated on May 23rd, 2013
| Thinking 'big' may not be best approach to saving large-river fish: Click here |
| Large-river specialist fishes -- from giant species like paddlefish and blue catfish, to tiny crystal darters and silver chub -- are in danger, but researchers say there is greater hope to save them if major tributaries become a focus of conservation efforts. |
| Fetch, boy! Study shows homes with dogs have more types of bacteria: Click here |
| New research shows that households with dogs are home to more types of bacteria -- including bacteria that are rarely found in households that do not have dogs. The finding is part of a larger study to improve our understanding of the microscopic life forms that live in our homes. |
| Scientists develop worm EEG to test the effects of drugs: Click here |
| Scientists have developed a device which records the brain activity of worms to help test the effects of drugs. NeuroChip is a microfluidic electrophysiological device, which can trap the microscopic worm Caenorhadbitis elegans and record the activity of discrete neural circuits in its 'brain' - a worm equivalent of the EEG. |
| Top 10 new species of 2012: Click here |
| An amazing glow-in-the-dark cockroach, a harp-shaped carnivorous sponge and the smallest vertebrate on Earth are just three of the newly discovered top 10 species selected by a global committee of taxonomists. |
| Small, speedy plant-eater extends knowledge of dinosaur ecosystems: Click here |
| Dinosaurs are often thought of as large, fierce animals, but new research highlights a previously overlooked diversity of small dinosaurs. Paleontologists have now described a new dinosaur, the smallest plant-eating dinosaur species known from Canada. |
| Mosquito behavior may be immune response, not parasite manipulation: Click here |
| Malaria-carrying mosquitoes appear to be manipulated by the parasites they carry, but this manipulation may simply be part of the mosquitoes' immune response, according to entomologists. |
| Fast new, one-step genetic engineering technology: Click here |
| A new, streamlined approach to genetic engineering drastically reduces the time and effort needed to insert new genes into bacteria, the workhorses of biotechnology, scientists are reporting. The method paves the way for more rapid development of designer microbes for drug development, environmental cleanup and other activities. |
| First genomic survey of human skin fungal diversity: Click here |
| In the first study of human fungal skin diversity, researchers sequenced the DNA of fungi at skin sites of healthy adults to define the normal populations across the skin and to provide a framework for investigating fungal skin conditions. |
| Slowing the aging process -- only with antibiotics: Click here |
| Scientists reveal the mechanism responsible for aging hidden deep within mitochondria -- and dramatically slow it down in worms by administering antibiotics to the young. |
| Norway spruce genome sequenced: Largest ever to be mapped: Click here |
| Scientists have mapped the gene sequence of Norway spruce (the Christmas tree) -- a species with huge economic and ecological importance -- and that is the largest genome to have ever been mapped. The genome is complex and seven times larger than that of humans. |
| How immune system peacefully co-exists with 'good' bacteria: Click here |
| The human gut is loaded with helpful bacteria microbes, yet the immune system seemingly turns a blind eye. Now, researchers know how this friendly truce is kept intact. Innate lymphoid cells directly limit the response by inflammatory T cells to commensal bacteria in the gut of mice. Loss of this ILC function effectively puts the immune system on an extended war footing against the commensal bacteria a condition observed in multiple chronic inflammatory diseases. |
| Vast methane-based ecosystem uncovered: Click here |
| A marine research expedition has led to the discovery of perhaps the world's largest methane cold seep. The seep lies deep in the western North Atlantic Ocean, far from the life-sustaining energy of the sun. Mussels blanketing the the seep rely on bacteria that use the methane to make energy. The process, known as chemosynthesis, forms the basis for life in the harsh environment and could help scientists better understand how organisms can survive under these types of extreme conditions. |
| Eyes on the prey: Researchers analyse the hunting behaviour of fish larvae in virtual reality: Click here |
| Moving objects attract greater attention -- a fact exploited by video screens in public spaces and animated advertising banners on the Internet. For most animal species, moving objects also play a major role in the processing of sensory impressions in the brain, as they often signal the presence of a welcome prey or an imminent threat. Scientists have now investigated how the brain uses the information from the visual system for the execution of quicker movements. |
| Life scientists present new insights on climate change and species interactions: Click here |
| Life scientists provide important new details on how climate change will affect interactions between species in newly published research. This knowledge, they say, is critical to making accurate predictions and informing policymakers of how species are likely to be impacted by rising temperatures. |
| Two miniature spider species discovered in Giant Panda Sanctuaries of China: Click here |
| Two tiny, bizarre shaped spider species have been discovered in the Sichuan province and Chongqing city of China. The two species belong to the understudied Mysmenidae family, which prove difficult to find due to their small size (under 2 mm in total) and their cryptic lifestyle habits. |
| Addiction to unhealthy foods could help explain the global obesity epidemic, research suggests: Click here |
| New research shows that high-fructose corn syrup can cause behavioral reactions in rats similar to those produced by drugs of abuse such as cocaine. These results suggest food addiction could explain, at least partly, the current global obesity epidemic. |
| Bee and wild flower biodiversity loss slows: Click here |
| Declines in the biodiversity of pollinating insects and wild plants have slowed in recent years, according to a new study. Researchers found evidence of dramatic reductions in the diversity of species in Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands between the 1950s and 1980s. But the picture brightened markedly after 1990, with a slowdown in local and national biodiversity losses among bees, hoverflies and wild plants. |
| Drought makes Borneo's trees flower at the same time: Click here |
| Tropical plants flower at supra-annual irregular intervals. In addition, mass flowering is typical for the tropical forests in Borneo and elsewhere, where hundreds of different plant timber species from the Dipterocarpaceae family flower synchronously. This phenomenon is all the more puzzling because both temperature and day length are relatively constant all year round due to geographical proximity to the equator. |
| Polymer breakthrough inspired by trees and ancient celtic knots: Click here |
| A new slow-motion method of controlling the synthesis of polymers, which takes inspiration from both trees and Celtic knots, opens up new possibilities in areas including medical devices, drug delivery, elastics and adhesives. |
| DNA damage: The dark side of respiration: Click here |
| Adventitious changes in cellular DNA can endanger the whole organism, as they may lead to life-threatening illnesses like cancer. Researchers now report how byproducts of respiration cause mispairing of subunits in the double helix. |
| Mechanism discovered which aids Legionella to camouflage itself in the organism: Click here |
| The feared Legionella pneumophilabacteria is responsible for legionellosis, an infectious disease that can lead to pneumonia. In order to infect us, this pathogen has developed a complex method enabling it to camouflage itself and go unnoticed in our cells, thus avoiding these acting against the infectious bacteria. |
| Lost in translocation? How bird song could help save species: Click here |
| Translocation -- or moving animals to safer places -- is a vital tool for saving species from extinction. Many factors influence the success of these new populations, including habitat quality, predators, capture and release techniques, the number and sex of individuals, and their genetic diversity. Now new research, the first of its kind suggests bird song could also be important. |
| Study reveals how fishing gear can cause slow death of whales: Click here |
| Using a "patient monitoring" device attached to a whale entangled in fishing gear, scientists showed for the first time how fishing lines changed a whale's diving and swimming behavior. The monitoring revealed how fishing gear hinders whales' ability to eat and migrate, depletes their energy as they drag gear for months or years, and can result in a slow death. |
| Minus environment, patterns still emerge: Computational study tracks E. coli cells' regulatory mechanisms: Click here |
| Random mutations and genetic drift, rather than design principles, may explain the emergence of regulatory network properties in E. coli. |
| Bird's playlist could signal mental strengths and weaknesses: Click here |
| Having the biggest playlist doesn't make a male songbird the brainiest of the bunch, a new study shows. In a series of problem-solving tests with the birds, researchers found that the male song sparrows that sang the most songs learned to solve food-finding puzzles more slowly than the birds singing fewer songs. The results are the first to show that a larger song repertoire links to cognitive deficits in other mental processes. |
| Bacterium uses natural 'thermometer' to trigger diarrheal disease, scientists find: Click here |
| How does the bacterium Shigella -- the cause of a deadly diarrheal disease -- detect that it's in a human host? Scientists have found that a biological "RNA thermometer" monitors whether the environment is right for the bacterium to produce the factors it needs to survive within the body, according to a new study. |
| Allosaurus fed more like a falcon than a crocodile: Engineering, anatomy work reveals differences in dinosaur feeding styles: Click here |
| The mighty T. rex may have thrashed its massive head from side to side to dismember prey, but a new study shows that its smaller cousin Allosaurus was a more dexterous hunter and tugged at prey more like a modern-day falcon. |
| Going green: U.S. equipped to grow serious amounts of pond scum for fuel: Click here |
| A new analysis shows that the nation's land and water resources could likely support the growth of enough algae to produce up to 25 billion gallons of algae-based fuel a year in the United States, one-twelfth of the country's yearly needs. For the best places to produce algae for fuel, think hot, humid and wet. Especially promising are the Gulf Coast and the Southeastern seaboard. |
| Single-cell transfection tool enables added control for biological studies: Click here |
| Researchers have developed a novel tool for single-cell transfection, in which they deliver molecules into targeted cells through temporary nanopores in the cell membrane created by a localized electric field. |
| The pirate ant: A new species from the Philippines with a bizarre pigmentation pattern: Click here |
| Scientists discovered and described a bizarre species of pirate ant. The new Cardiocondyla pirata has its name inspired by its strange pigmentation that consist of two eye-patch like dark stripes across the eyes of the female caste. Although it is supposed that this pattern has a protective function for disorienting the enemy, there are still many questions that will challenge the minds of biologists. |
| Scientists uncover how grapefruits provide a secret weapon in medical drug delivery: Click here |
| Researchers have uncovered how to create nanoparticles using natural lipids derived from grapefruit, and have discovered how to use them as drug delivery vehicles. |
| Low population immunity to new bird flu virus H7N9 in humans: Click here |
| The level of immunity to the recently circulating H7N9 influenza virus in an urban and rural population in Vietnam is very low, according to the first population level study to examine human immunity to the virus, which was previously only found in birds. The study has implications for planning the public health response to this pandemic threat. |
| Small but speedy: Short plants live in the evolutionary fast lane: Click here |
| Biologists have known for a long time that some creatures evolve more quickly than others. Exactly why isn't well understood, particularly for plants. But it may be that height plays a role. Shorter plants have faster-changing genomes. |
| Fourteen closely related crocodiles existed around 5 million years ago: Click here |
| Today, the most diverse species of crocodile are found in northern South America and Southeast Asia: As many as six species of alligator and four true crocodiles exist, although no more than two or three ever live alongside one another at the same time. It was a different story nine to about five million years ago, however, when a total of 14 different crocodile species existed and at least seven of them occupied the same area at the same time, paleontologists say. |
| Vitamin C can kill drug-resistant TB, researchers find: Click here |
| In a striking, unexpected discovery, researchers have determined that vitamin C kills drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) bacteria in laboratory culture. The finding suggests that vitamin C added to existing TB drugs could shorten TB therapy, and it highlights a new area for drug design. |
| Abundance and distribution of Hawaiian coral species predicted by model: Click here |
| Researchers have developed species distribution models of the six dominant Hawaiian coral species around the main Hawaiian Islands, including two species currently under consideration as threatened or endangered. |
| A tiny programmable fly's eye: Click here |
| A novel curved artificial compound eye (CurvACE) has been created. Compared to single-lens eyes, compound eyes offer lower resolution, but significantly larger fields of view, thin package, and with negligible distortion. |
| Over 80% of dogs suffer from hypothermia after surgery with anesthetic: Click here |
| Veterinarians have completed the first global study that clinically documents the prevalence of hypothermia in dogs after surgery and after diagnostic tests that require anesthetic. The 83.6% of the 1,525 dogs studied presented this complication, whereas in humans this percentage is between 30 and 60% of cases. |
| 'Whodunnit' of Irish potato famine solved: Click here |
| An international team of scientists reveals that a unique strain of potato blight they call HERB-1 triggered the Irish potato famine of the mid-19th century. |
| Resistance to last-line antibiotic makes bacteria resistant to immune system: Click here |
| Bacteria resistant to the antibiotic colistin are also commonly resistant to antimicrobial substances made by the human body, according to a new study. Cross-resistance to colistin and host antimicrobials LL-37 and lysozyme, which help defend the body against bacterial attack, could mean that patients with life-threatening multi-drug resistant infections are also saddled with a crippled immune response. |
| New NOAA report examines national oil pollution threat from shipwrecks: Click here |
| NOAA presented to the U.S. Coast Guard a new report that finds that 36 sunken vessels scattered across the U.S. seafloor could pose an oil pollution threat to the nation's coastal marine resources. Of those, 17 were recommended for further assessment and potential removal of both fuel oil and oil cargo. |
| The mammoth's lament: How cosmic impact sparked devastating climate change: Click here |
| Researchers have found evidence of a major cosmic event near the end of the Ice Age. The ensuing climate change forced many species to adapt or die. |
| Parasitic wasps use calcium pump to block fruit fly immunity: Click here |
| Parasitic wasps switch off the immune systems of fruit flies by draining calcium from the flies' blood cells, a finding that offers new insight into how pathogens break through a host's defenses. Researchers say their findings have uncovered an important component of cellular immunity, one that parasites have learned to take advantage of. |
| Do salamanders' immune systems hold the key to regeneration?: Click here |
| Salamanders' immune systems are key to their remarkable ability to regrow limbs, and could also underpin their ability to regenerate spinal cords, brain tissue and even parts of their hearts, scientists have found. In new research, scientists have found that when immune cells known as macrophages were systemically removed, salamanders lost their ability to regenerate a limb and instead formed scar tissue. |
| Ant study could help future robot teams work underground: Click here |
| Future teams of subterranean search and rescue robots may owe their success to the lowly fire ant, a much-despised insect whose painful bites and extensive networks of underground tunnels are all-too-familiar to people living in the southern United States. |
| Compound in Mediterranean diet makes cancer cells 'mortal': Click here |
| New research suggests that a compound abundant in the Mediterranean diet takes away cancer cells' "superpower" to escape death. |
| Amazon River exhales virtually all carbon taken up by rainforest: Click here |
| Woody plant matter is almost completely digested by bacteria living in the Amazon River. This tough stuff plays a major part in fueling the river's breath. The finding has implications for global carbon models, and for the ecology of the Amazon and the world's other rivers. Until recently, people believed much of the rainforest's carbon floated down the Amazon River and ended up deep in the ocean. |
| Fastest measurements ever made of ion channel proteins: Click here |
| Engineers have used miniaturized electronics to measure the activity of individual ion-channel proteins with temporal resolution as fine as one microsecond, producing the fastest recordings of single ion channels ever performed. They designed a custom integrated circuit to perform these measurements, in which an artificial cell membrane and ion channel are attached directly to the surface of the amplifier chip. |
| Intestinal bacteria protect against E. coli O157:H7: Click here |
| A cocktail of non-pathogenic bacteria naturally occurring in the digestive tract of healthy humans can protect against a potentially lethal E. coli infection in animal models according to new research. |
| Advance in nanotech gene sequencing technique: Click here |
| The allure of personalized medicine has made new, more efficient ways of sequencing genes a top research priority. One promising technique involves reading DNA bases using changes in electrical current as they are threaded through a nanoscopic hole. Now, physicists has used solid-state nanopores to differentiate single-stranded DNA molecules containing sequences of a single repeating base. |
| Fossil brain teaser: New study reveals patterns of dinosaur brain development: Click here |
| A new study sheds light on how the brain and inner ear developed in dinosaurs. Using high-resolution CT scanning and 3D computer imaging, it was possible to reconstruct and visualise the brain and inner ear of Dysalotosaurus lettowvorbecki -- a small, plant-eating dinosaur, which lived 150 million years ago, in what is now Tanzania. |
| Archaeological genetics: It's not all as old as it at first seems: Click here |
| Genomic analyses suggest that patterns of genetic diversity which indicate population movement may not be as ancient as previously believed, but may be attributable to recent events. |
| Lovelorn frogs bag closest crooner: Click here |
| What lures a lady frog to her lover? Good looks, the sound of his voice, the size of his pad or none of the above? After weighing up their options, female strawberry poison frogs (Oophaga pumilio) bag the closest crooner they can. This seemingly short-sighted strategy turns out to be the optimal mate choice strategy for these colorful frogs. |
| Making ice-cream more nutritious with meat left-overs: Click here |
| Most of the animal proteins found in the meat industry waste have, until now, been underutilized. The challenge is to transform such waste into food of higher functionality and added value. |
| Echolocation: Blind people have the potential to use their 'inner bat' to locate objects, study finds: Click here |
| New research shows that blind and visually impaired people have the potential to use echolocation, similar to that used by bats and dolphins, to determine the location of an object. The study examined how hearing, and particularly the hearing of echoes, could help blind people with spatial awareness and navigation. |
| Why we need to put the fish back into fisheries: Click here |
| Overfishing has reduced fish populations and biodiversity across much of the world’s oceans. In response, fisheries are increasingly reliant on a handful of highly valuable shellfish. However, new research shows this approach to be extremely risky. |
| Engineered microbes grow in the dark: Click here |
| Scientists have engineered a strain of photosynthetic cyanobacteria to grow without the need for light. |
| Bacteria use hydrogen, carbon dioxide to produce electricity: Click here |
| Researchers have engineered a strain of electricity-producing bacteria that can grow using hydrogen gas as its sole electron donor and carbon dioxide as its sole source of carbon. |
| Computational tool translates complex data into simplified two-dimensional images: Click here |
| Researchers have developed a computational method that enables scientists to visualize and interpret "high-dimensional" data produced by single-cell measurement technologies such as mass cytometry. The method has particular relevance to cancer research and therapeutics. |
| Origins of life: In early Earth, iron helped RNA catalyze electron transfer: Click here |
| A new study shows how complex biochemical transformations may have been possible under conditions that existed when life began on the early Earth. The study shows that RNA is capable of catalyzing electron transfer under conditions similar to those of the early Earth. |
