Biology News

Actinobacteria, Other Microorganisms Thrive on International Space Station

The International Space Station is featured in this image photographed by an STS-132 crew member on space shuttle Atlantis after the station and shuttle began their post-undocking relative separation. Undocking of the two spacecraft occurred on May 23, 2010, ending a seven-day stay that saw the addition of a new station module, replacement of batteries and resupply of the orbiting outpost. Image credit: NASA.
Oct 27, 2015 by News Staff

A team of scientists from the United States and Sweden used state-of-the-art molecular analysis to explore the microbial environment on the International Space Station (ISS). The International Space Station is featured in this image photographed by an STS-132 crew member on space shuttle Atlantis after the station and shuttle began their post-undocking relative separation. Undocking of the two spacecraft occurred on May 23, 2010, ending a seven-day...

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Archaea were first found in extreme environments, such as volcanic hot springs; pictured here is Grand Prismatic Spring of Yellowstone National Park. Image credit: Jim Peaco / National Park Service.

Bathyarchaeota: New Deep-Sea Methane-Consuming Microorganisms Discovered

Oct 26, 2015 by News Staff

An international team of biologists from Australia and the United States has discovered two new species of methane-metabolizing archaea. Archaea were first...

Bacillus subtilis. Image credit: Josef Reischig / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Bacteria Communicate Like Neurons in Human Brain, New Study Finds

Oct 23, 2015 by News Staff

Bacteria communicate with one another through similar electrical signaling mechanisms as neurons in the human brain, a new study published in the journal...

Brazilian stingless bees (Scaptotrigona depilis). Image credit: Cristiano Menezes.

Entomologists: Brazilian Stingless Bee Must Cultivate Special Type of Fungus to Survive

Oct 23, 2015 by News Staff

A team of entomologists has discovered that a stingless bee species from Brazil feeds its larvae on a special type of fungus grown in the nest. Brazilian...

This image shows a group of black and gold howler monkeys roaring. This species commonly has several adult males (black fur) and adult females (golden fur) in a group. Image credit: Mariana Raño.

Howler Monkeys with More Deep Roars Produce Less Sperm, Study Finds

Oct 23, 2015 by News Staff

Male howler monkeys (Alouatta spp.) with the most impressive howling roars have paid for those abilities in sperm, according to a study led by University...

Eastern Santa Cruz Tortoise: New Subspecies of Galapagos Giant Tortoise Discovered

Oct 21, 2015 by News Staff

There are two subspecies of the Galapagos giant tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra) – not just one, as had been long believed – living on the island...

Musa nanensis: male inflorescence. Image credit: P. Srisanga.

Musa nanensis: New Species of Wild Banana Discovered in Thailand

Oct 18, 2015 by News Staff

A team of Thai botanists has announced the discovery of what they say is a new species of wild banana. Musa nanensis: male inflorescence. Image credit:...

A honeybee foraging on a citrus flower, which is one of the flowers whose nectar contains caffeine. Image credit: Jon Sullivan.

Plants Use Caffeine-Laced Nectar to Trick Honeybees into Pollination

Oct 17, 2015 by News Staff

According to a new paper in the journal Current Biology, honeybees may select caffeinated nectar over an uncaffeinated but otherwise equal-quality alternative....

Sommera cusucoana: tip of shoot with flower, developing fruits, and leaf pair emerging between pair of stipules. Image credit: A.C. Dietzsch.

Scientists Uncover New Coffee Tree Species in Honduras

Oct 15, 2015 by News Staff

A new species of coffee tree has been described from the Cusuco National Park, a national park in Honduras. Sommera cusucoana: tip of shoot with flower,...

This image shows the structure of DNA calculated with the supercomputer simulations (in color) superimposed upon the electron cryo-tomography data (in white or yellow); one can see that the familiar double helix has been either simply bent into a circle or twisted into a figure-8. Image credit: Thana Sutthibutpong.

Research Casts New Light on 3D Structure of DNA

Oct 13, 2015 by News Staff

Using a multidisciplinary approach, an international team of scientists has revealed in never-before-seen detail the 3D structure of biologically active...

The Montagne d’Ambre dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus andysabini) in its natural habitat. The population of this new species is found in and just outside the boundaries of Montagne d’Ambre National Park, Madagascar. Image credit: Edward E. Louis, Jr.

Montagne d’Ambre Dwarf Lemur: New Species Found

Oct 12, 2015 by News Staff

In northern Madagascar’s Montagne d’Ambre National Park, Dr Runhua Lei of the Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium and his colleagues from Australia,...

Phylogeny of birds. Image credit: Richard O. Prum et al., doi: 10.1038/nature15697.

Ornithologists Publish Most Comprehensive Avian Tree of Life

Oct 9, 2015 by News Staff

The most comprehensive and accurate avian tree of life has been published in the current issue of the journal Nature. Phylogeny of birds. The five major,...

Scydosella musawasensis. Image credit: Alexey Polilov.

Scydosella musawasensis: World’s Tiniest Beetle Lives in Colombia

Oct 9, 2015 by News Staff

The smallest known beetle – and the smallest non-parasitoid insect – has a body length of 0.325 mm, according to entomologist Dr Alexey Polilov...

Cophixalus rajampatensis. Image credit: Günther R et al.

Two New Species of Narrow-Mouthed Frogs Discovered in Western New Guinea

Oct 7, 2015 by News Staff

Dr Rainer Günther, a German herpetologist at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, and his colleagues from Australia and Indonesia have described two new...

Cacti in the Sonoran Desert. Image credit: Bob Wick / Bureau of Land Management / CC BY 2.0.

Study: Almost One Third of All Cactus Species on Verge of Extinction

Oct 6, 2015 by News Staff

Nearly 30 percent of 1,478 known cactus species are on the verge of extinction, according to a new report published yesterday in the journal Nature Plants. Cacti...

The Sulawesi snouter (Hyorhinomys stuempkei). Image credit: Jake Esselstyn / Louisiana State University.

Hyorhinomys stuempkei: New Genus, Species of Shrew Rat Discovered in Indonesia

Oct 6, 2015 by News Staff

Dr Jake Esselstyn of Louisiana State University and his colleagues from Indonesia and Australia have discovered a new genus and species of shrew rat in...

A family of moose roams free in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Image credit: Valeriy Yurko / Polesie State Radioecological Reserve.

Researchers Discover Abundant Populations of Wildlife in Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Oct 6, 2015 by News Staff

In 1986, after a catastrophic nuclear accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Soviet Union released radioactive particles into the environment,...

Dendrochilum hampelii. Image credit: Lubbert Westra / Sulistyo B et al.

‘Big Pink’ Orchid Turns Out To Be New Species

Oct 2, 2015 by News Staff

In 2013, a rare and beautiful variety of orchid appeared in cultivation under the commercial trade name ‘Big Pink.’ Now, research by Dutch and Australian...

Mealworms (larvae of the darkling beetle) munch on Styrofoam, a hopeful sign that solutions to plastics pollution exist. Image credit: Yu Yang.

Common Mealworms Can Live on Diet of Polystyrene, Scientists Say

Oct 1, 2015 by News Staff

Mealworms, which are the larvae of the darkling beetle (Tenebrio molitor), can subsist on a diet of Styrofoam and other forms of polystyrene, according...

Pandoravirus salinus (© IGS CNRS-AMU)

Study: Viruses Are Living Entities, Not Machines

Sep 30, 2015 by News Staff

Viruses are fully-alive organisms that share a long evolutionary history with cells, according to a new study published last week in the journal Science...

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