Biology News

Feb 14, 2018 by News Staff

Dr. Albert Erives, a biologist at the University of Iowa, has identified a virus family whose set of genes is similar to that of eukaryotes, an organism classification that includes all plants and animals. The finding is important because it helps clarify how eukaryotes evolved after branching from prokaryotes (single-celled organisms) about two billion years ago. Marseilleviridae particles; arrows indicate ‘large dense bodies.’ Image credit:...

Feb 9, 2018 by News Staff

Chimpanzees’ overall intelligence is correlated to their ability to exert self-control and delay gratification, according to a study published in the...

Feb 8, 2018 by News Staff

Angiosperms (flowering plants) are neither as old as suggested by previous molecular studies, nor as young as a literal interpretation of their fossil...

Feb 8, 2018 by News Staff

Viruses fall back to Earth via dust storms and precipitation, according to new research published in the International Society for Microbial Ecology Journal. Viruses...

Feb 7, 2018 by News Staff

Scientists have for the first time discovered which insects pollinate a rare carnivorous plant called the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) — and...

Feb 5, 2018 by News Staff

Woodpeckers experience forces up to 1,200-1,400 g while pecking. It is assumed due to evolutionary adaptations, the woodpecker is immune to brain injury....

Jan 31, 2018 by News Staff

Human skeletal muscles have an epigenetic memory of earlier encounters with growth, according to a Keele University-led study. According to Seaborne et...

Jan 29, 2018 by News Staff

Enterococci are hardy microbes that thrive in the gastrointestinal tracts of nearly all land animals, including our own, and generally cause no harm. So...

Jan 26, 2018 by News Staff

Bigger honeybee colonies actually have quieter combs than smaller ones, according to a team of researchers at Cornell University, Ithaca. Larger honeybee...

Jan 25, 2018 by News Staff

Non-tailed double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses infect bacteria and dominate water samples from the world’s oceans. They have long escaped analysis because...

Jan 24, 2018 by News Staff

Duke University Professor Jennifer Groh and co-authors have found that keeping the head still but shifting the eyes to one side or the other sparks vibrations...

Jan 23, 2018 by News Staff

Mining on the ocean floor could do irreversible damage to marine ecosystems, according to a new study from the University of Exeter and Greenpeace Research...

Jan 23, 2018 by News Staff

Female domestic cats are much more likely to use their right paw than males, according to a new study published in the journal Animal Behaviour. In the...

Jan 22, 2018 by News Staff

 A University of St Andrews-led study shows that New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides) acquire hidden food several times faster when using hooked...

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...

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...