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This colorized scanning electron micrograph shows Mycobacterium tuberculosis, gram-positive bacteria that cause tuberculosis. Image credit: Ray Butler / Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Biologists Estimate that Earth is Inhabited by One Trillion Microbial Species

May 3, 2016 by News Staff

Our planet could contain roughly 1 trillion microbial species, with only 0.001% now identified, says a duo of scientists at Indiana University. This colorized...

The Hispaniolan solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus). Image credit: Solenodon Joe / CC BY 3.0.

Scientists Sequence Mitochondrial Genome of Hispaniolan Solenodon

May 3, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of scientists has completely sequenced the mitochondrial genome of the Hispaniolan solenodon (a venomous, insectivorous mammal that...

The central bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps). Image credit: George Chernilevsky.

Bearded Dragons Share Sleep Patterns with Mammals, Study Reveals

Apr 29, 2016 by News Staff

A new study led by Dr. Gilles Laurent from the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt, Germany, reveals slow-wave (SW) and rapid eye movement...

Adult female Pseudouroctonus maidu in life, dorsal view. Image credit: Savary W.E. & Bryson Jr. R.W.

Pseudouroctonus maidu: New Scorpion Species Discovered in California

Apr 28, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of entomologists has described a new species of scorpion — Pseudouroctonus maidu — from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in northeastern...

Scientific biofluorescent imaging camera and lighting system developed to obtain 4 K imagery shown underwater in Scripps Canyon, San Diego, CA. Image credit: Kyle McBurnie.

Biofluorescent Catsharks Increase Light Contrast Deep Underwater, Study Reveals

Apr 26, 2016 by News Staff

Marine scientists have found that biofluorescent catsharks, such as the swell shark from the eastern Pacific and the chain catshark from the western Atlantic,...

The Amazon River meets the Atlantic Ocean and creates a plume where freshwater and salt water mix. Image credit: Lance Willis.

Massive New Reef System Found at Amazon River Mouth

Apr 25, 2016 by News Staff

A new reef system has been found at the mouth of the Amazon River by an international group of researchers from Brazil and the United States. The Amazon...

A pack of gray wolves visits a scent station in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The photograph was taken by one of the remote camera stations and was triggered by the wolves’ movement. Image credit: Sarah Webster / Jim Beasley / National Geographic.

Camera Study Reveals Wildlife Abundance in Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Apr 19, 2016 by News Staff

New research published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment documents animal species prevalent in the human-free Chernobyl Exclusion...

Asiagomphus reinhardti. Image credit: Oleg E. Kosterin / Naoto Yokoi / TU Dresden.

Asiagomphus reinhardti: New Species of Dragonfly Discovered

Apr 18, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of entomologists has described a new species of dragonfly from Annamense Mountains in eastern Cambodia and southern Laos. Asiagomphus...

The Ganzhorn’s mouse lemur (Microcebus ganzhorni). Image credit: Giuseppe Donati.

Three New Species of Mouse Lemurs Found in Madagascar

Apr 15, 2016 by Natali Anderson

Three new species of the genus Microcebus (mouse lemurs) have been discovered by an international team of scientists from the German Primate Center, the...

The binturong (Arctictis binturong). Image credit: Carolina Tiger Rescue.

Researchers Explain Why Binturongs Smell Like Popcorn

Apr 15, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists led by Prof. Christine Drea of Duke University has identified a chemical compound that gives binturongs (Arctictis binturong) their...

Postnatal maturation of pancreatic beta cells necessary for maximal glucosestimulated insulin secretion is coordinated by the estrogen-related receptor g (ERRg). ERRg drives a transcriptional program promoting mitochondrial oxidative metabolism, and its expression in iPSC-derived beta-like cells generates functional beta cells in vitro. Image credit: Eiji Yoshihara et al.

Scientists Create Insulin-Producing Beta Cells in a Dish

Apr 14, 2016 by News Staff

Generating functional pancreatic β (beta) cells in the lab has been a challenge for diabetes researchers. When human stem cells develop into beta cells...

Marine Scientists Capture Rare Video of Swarming Red Crabs

Apr 12, 2016 by News Staff

A team of marine scientists has captured a rare video of thousands of pelagic red crabs (Pleuroncodes planipes) swarming in hypoxic (low-oxygen) waters...

The Chinese skullcap (Scutellaria baicalensis). Image credit: Dalgial / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Study Reveals How Chinese Skullcap Makes Anti-Cancer Compounds

Apr 11, 2016 by News Staff

A new study, published in the journal Science Advances, has revealed how the popular Chinese herbal remedy Huang-Qin (Scutellaria baicalensis) —...

Spider Mecysmauchenius sp. uses power-amplified high-speed predatory strikes. Image credit: H. Wood.

Mecysmaucheniid Spiders Strike Prey with Lightning Speed, Scientists Find

Apr 8, 2016 by News Staff

Mecysmaucheniid spiders — which occur only in New Zealand and southern South America — have a remarkable ability to strike their prey at very...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Image credit: Janice Haney Carr / Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Researchers Find New Way to Inhibit Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Apr 7, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Scientists from the United States and Australia claim they have found a new way to inhibit the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a bacterium that is...

Fungi use reverse photosynthesis to access sugars and nutrients in plants. This image shows the rust fungus Aecidium magellanicum growing on the bush Berberis microphylla. Image credit: Jason Hollinger / CC BY-SA 3.0.

‘Reverse Photosynthesis’ Process Discovered

Apr 5, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden has discovered a natural process it describes...

A representation of the surface of Zika virus with protruding envelope glycoproteins (red) shown. Image credit: Devika Sirohi et al / Purdue University.

New Study Reveals Structure of Zika Virus

Apr 1, 2016 by News Staff

A team of researchers led by Purdue University scientists Michael Rossmann and Richard Kuhn is the first to determine the structure of the Zika virus,...

Brown skuas (Stercorarius antarcticus). Image credit: B. Navez / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Brown Skuas Can Recognize Individual Humans, New Study Shows

Mar 28, 2016 by Natali Anderson

Ornithologists from South Korea and Poland have shown for the first time that Antarctic brown skuas (Stercorarius antarcticus), a species that typically...

The waterfall climbing cave fish (Cryptotora thamicola): dorsal view, resting on the bottom of glass tank. Image credit: Daphne Soares.

Cryptotora thamicola: Cavefish Walks Like Four-Legged Creature

Mar 25, 2016 by Natali Anderson

An international team of scientists, led by Dr. Brooke Flammang from New Jersey Institute of Technology, has identified unique anatomical features in a...