Genetic Underpinnings of Wood Digestion by Termite Gut Microbes Revealed November 21, 2007 | User rating: 4.6 / 5 after 47 vote(s)
| User comments: 2
When termites are chewing on your home, your immediate thought probably isn't "I wonder how they digest that stuff?" But biologists have been gnawing on the question for more than a century. The key is not just the termite, ... | |
 Plants live, die according to their size October 22, 2007 | User rating: 4.4 / 5 after 40 vote(s)
| User comments: 2
Plants self-regulate their populations to maintain stability and optimize their lives, with the lengths of their lives directly related to their mass, a recent study has found. Further, a single scaling power ... | |
Oral pill turns slacker mice into marathonists: study August 03, 2008 | User rating: 4.5 / 5 after 21 vote(s)
| User comments: 3
US researchers have come up with a pill that promises to give a typical junk-food snacking couch potato the silhouette of an athlete and the endurance of a marathon runner. | |
 Scientists identify cells for spinal-cord repair July 22, 2008 | User rating: 4.7 / 5 after 29 vote(s)
| User comments: 1
A researcher at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory has pinpointed stem cells within the spinal cord that, if persuaded to differentiate into more healing cells and fewer scarring cells following ... | |
 Rare polar bear sighting on Iceland June 17, 2008 | User rating: 3.6 / 5 after 18 vote(s)
| User comments: 13
A polar bear has been discovered on Iceland, which is hundreds of kilometres from the threatened species' natural habitat, a local photographer said Tuesday. | |
 Global warming affects world's largest freshwater lake May 01, 2008 | User rating: 3.5 / 5 after 33 vote(s)
| User comments: 10
Russian and American scientists have discovered that the rising temperature of the world's largest lake, located in frigid Siberia, shows that this region is responding strongly to global warming. | |
Huge owl moves into English village April 18, 2008 | User rating: 4.1 / 5 after 10 vote(s)
| User comments: 1
A large eagle owl has moved into a village in Northern England, scaring some residents and fascinating others. | |
New twist on life's power source March 11, 2008 | User rating: 4.7 / 5 after 35 vote(s)
| User comments: 2
A startling discovery by scientists at the Carnegie Institution puts a new twist on photosynthesis, arguably the most important biological process on Earth. Photosynthesis by plants, algae, and some bacteria supports nearly ... | |
Language of a fly proves surprising March 08, 2008 | User rating: 4.2 / 5 after 24 vote(s)
| User comments: 1
A group of researchers has developed a novel way to view the world through the eyes of a common fly and partially decode the insect’s reactions to changes in the world around it. The research fundamentally alters earlier ... | |
Researchers make first direct observation of 3-D molecule folding in real time February 14, 2008 | User rating: 4.2 / 5 after 14 vote(s)
| User comments: 1
All the crucial proteins in our bodies must fold into complex shapes to do their jobs. These snarled molecules grip other molecules to move them around, to speed up important chemical reactions or to grab onto our genes, ... | |
Plants see the light to help beat the big freeze December 07, 2007 | User rating: 4.4 / 5 after 11 vote(s)
| User comments: 1
Plants use changes in light quality to make their own ‘antifreeze’, a new University of Leicester study has shown. | |
Simple reason helps males evolve more quickly November 14, 2007 | User rating: 4.2 / 5 after 30 vote(s)
| User comments: 3
The observation that males evolve more quickly than females has been around since 19th century biologist Charles Darwin noted the majesty of a peacock’s tail feather in comparison with the plainness of the peahen’s. | |
Scientists warn that species extinction could reduce productivity of plants on Earth by half November 05, 2007 | User rating: 4.3 / 5 after 26 vote(s)
| User comments: 3
An international team of scientists has published a new analysis showing that as plant species around the world go extinct, natural habitats become less productive and contain fewer total plants –– a situation that could ... | |
Brightness and darkness as perceptual dimensions October 19, 2007 | User rating: 4.8 / 5 after 14 vote(s)
| User comments: 1
A common-sense assumption concerning visual perception states that brightness and darkness cannot coexist at a given spatial location. One corollary of this assumption is that achromatic colors, or perceived grey shades, ... | |
The genetics of the white horse unraveled July 20, 2008 | User rating: 4.6 / 5 after 12 vote(s)
| User comments: 2
The white horse is an icon for dignity which has had a huge impact on human culture across the world. An international team led by researchers at Uppsala University has now identified the mutation causing this spectacular ... | |
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