Biology News

Jan 19, 2018 by News Staff

Viruses are the most abundant and one of the least understood biological entities on modern Earth. They might also exist in space, but as of yet scientists have done almost no research into this possibility. Portland State University’s Professor Ken Stedman and co-authors hope to inspire integration of virus research into astrobiology. Berliner et al review current virology research pertinent to astrobiology and propose ideas for future astrovirology...

Jan 18, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of researchers from Ecuador and Peru has discovered two new frog species living in the tropical rainforests of the Amazon basin —...

Jan 17, 2018 by News Staff

Chameleons are small to mid-size tree-dwelling reptiles that are famous for their ability to change colors. A team of researchers from Germany has now...

Jan 11, 2018 by News Staff

There are approximately 42 million protein molecules in a simple cell, according to University of Toronto’s Professor Grant Brown and co-authors. Yeast...

Jan 10, 2018 by News Staff

The common treeshrew (Tupaia glis) — a small mammal native to Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia — defies two widely tested rules that describe...

Jan 9, 2018 by News Staff

Using 3D images, biologists at Imperial College London, UK, have shown how bacteria have evolved their ‘flagellar’ motors of different powers to optimize...

Jan 9, 2018 by News Staff

A small coastal shark called the bonnethead shark (Sphyrna tiburo) eats copious amounts of seagrass (Thalassia testudinum) and has adaptations in its digestive...

Jan 5, 2018 by News Staff

While humans generally prefer individuals who are nice to others, a new study finds bonobos (Pan paniscus) — our closest relatives in the animal...

Jan 4, 2018 by News Staff

Though calcium taste doesn’t fit into the five established tastes the tongue’s receptors can identify, humans describe it as slightly bitter and sour....

Jan 3, 2018 by News Staff

A team of scientists at the College of Engineering (CoE) in Pune, India, is developing an efficient method for monitoring and recognizing bird species...

Jan 2, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of large Pacific octopus has been discovered in the waters of Prince William Sound, Alaska. The frilled giant Pacific octopus. Image credit:...

Dec 27, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of ornithologists has revealed that a rare Amazonian bird called the golden-crowned manakin (Lepidothrix vilasboasi) — first...

Dec 26, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of marine biologists has described a new species of intertidal spider from tropical Queensland, Australia, and named it after the...

Dec 21, 2017 by News Staff

An international team led by University of York researchers has directly observed microbial activity in Antarctic and Arctic snow — an environment...

Dec 20, 2017 by News Staff

A wide range of flowers produce not just signals that we can see and smell, but also ones that are invisible such as heat. According to new research from...

Dec 19, 2017 by News Staff

Viruses can transfer genes to organisms they are not known to infect, including organisms in different domains (superkingdoms) of life, according to a...

Dec 15, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

A distinctive new species of antbird has been discovered in the humid montane forests of the San Martin region in north-central Peru. The Cordillera Azul...

Dec 14, 2017 by News Staff

A team of scientists from the University of California and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has found a way to infuse plants with the luminescence...

Dec 12, 2017 by Natali Anderson

The silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus) has previously been recognized to be a single species divided into several sub-species. But a new genetic analysis,...

Dec 10, 2017 by News Staff

A team of researchers at the University of St Andrews has discovered how New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides) make one of their most sophisticated...