Mystery Of A Third Olfactory System Unlocked:
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have found a "nose within the nose," a unique olfactory system within the noses of mice that is able to "smell" hormones involved in regulating water and salt balance in the body. This research may lead to new insights into the complex system of "chemical communication" between individuals.
First Orchid Fossil Puts Showy Blooms At Some 80 Million Years Old:
Biologists at Harvard University have identified the ancient fossilized remains of a pollen-bearing bee as the first hint of orchids in the fossil record, a find they say suggests orchids are old enough to have co-existed with dinosaurs.
Amber Specimen Captures Ancient Chemical Battle:
It appears that chemical warfare has been around a lot longer than poison arrows, mustard gas or nerve weapons -- about 100 million years, give or take a little.
Household Mold Linked To Depression:
A groundbreaking public health study has found a connection between damp, moldy homes and depression. The study, led by Brown University epidemiologist Edmond Shenassa, is the largest investigation of an association between mold and mood and is the first such investigation conducted outside the United Kingdom.
Social Parasites Of The Smaller Kind:
Cooperation is widespread in the natural world but so too are cheats -- mutants that do not contribute to the collective good but simply reap the benefits of others' cooperative efforts. In evolutionary terms, cheats should indeed prosper, so how cooperation persists despite the threat of cheat takeover is a fundamental question. Recently, biologists at the Universities of Edinburgh and Oxford have found that in bacteria, cheats actually orchestrate their own downfall.
Cats Do Suffer From Arthritis, Study Shows:
New research at the University of Glasgow has found that arthritis in cats is far more common than previously thought.
Life Science
