Human-made light sources can alter natural light cycles, causing animals that rely on light cues to make mistakes when moving through their environment. In the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, a collaboration of ecologists, biologists and biophysicists has now shown that in addition to direct light, cues from polarized light can trigger animal behaviors leading to injury and often death.
Male Crickets With Bigger Heads Are Better Fighters, Study Reveals, Echoing Ancient Chinese Text:
Observing and betting on cricket fights has been part of Chinese cultural tradition since at least the Sung Dynasty (A.D. 960-1278). This ancient practice has resulted in quite a detailed list of characteristics that Chinese practitioners think make for champion fighters. "Because money was involved, there was a strong incentive for the practitioners of this sport to observe their cricket fighters closely," says Kevin Judge, a biology postdoctoral researcher at University of Toronto Mississauga.
Spookfish Uses Mirrors For Eyes:
A remarkable new discovery shows the four-eyed spookfish to be the first vertebrate ever found to use mirrors, rather than lenses, to focus light in its eyes.
Testes Stem Cells Can Change Into Other Body Tissues:
Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine and at UC-San Francisco have succeeded in isolating stem cells from human testes. The cells bear a striking resemblance to embryonic stem cells -- they can differentiate into each of the three main types of tissues of the body -- but the researchers caution against viewing them as one and the same.
You Can Look -- But Don't Touch:
Consumers are often told that if they break an item, they buy it. But a new study suggests that if they just touch an item for more than a few seconds, they may also end up buying it.
'It Takes Two To Know One': Shared Experiences Change Self-recognition:
Looking at yourself in the mirror every morning, you never think to question whether the person you see is actually you. You feel familiar--at home with your own unique self image. After all, you have been sporting the same old face for years. An innovative study by Dr Manos Tsakiris, Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, challenges this common-sense notion about our own self image.
Life Science
Brain & Behavior
