Bats Prey On Nocturnally Migrating Songbirds:
It was until now believed that nocturnally migrating songbirds, while venturing into the unfamiliar night sky for accomplishing their long, challenging trans-continental migrations, could at least release anti-predator vigilance thanks to the concealment of darkness. A new study by Spanish and Swiss scientists -- published this week in PLoS ONE -- shows that migration at night is not without predation risk for passerines.
New DNA Method Helps Explain Extinction Of Woolly Mammoth, Other Ice Age Mammals:
What caused the extinction of the woolly rhinoceros ten thousand years ago from an area in Europe covering the coasts of the Arctic Ocean in the north to the coasts of the Mediterranean in the south? What caused the extinction of the mammoth while other ice age mammals like the musk ox just barely survived to present day? A new scientific methodological approach to detect genetic material will help researchers to solve the many mysteries of the past.
Ready When You Are: First Evidence That Visual Cues Affect Timing Of Sexual Maturation:
Scientists from the Universities of Exeter and Glasgow today reveal how some females become sexually mature more quickly if they see attractive males. Research published today in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters shows for the first time how the sight of physical ornamentation on another member of the group determines when an individual is ready to mate.
New Protein Super-family Discovered With Critical Functions For Animal Life:
Biologists have discovered a new super-family of developmental proteins that are critical for cell growth and differentiation and whose further study is expected to benefit research on cancer and the nerve-cell repair. The protein super-family, which existed before the emergence of animals about 850 million years ago, is of major importance for understanding how life evolved in primordial times. The discovery will be described in the 14 February 2007 issue of the journal PLoS ONE.
Researchers from University of Bergen have found that trees, which are a main resource for desert people and their flocks, are in significant decline in the hyper-arid Eastern Desert of Egypt.
Nagging Spouse? You May Have An Excuse For Not Responding:
New research findings now appearing online in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology began with a professor's desire to understand why her husband often seemed to ignore her requests for help around the house. "My husband, while very charming in many ways, has an annoying tendency of doing exactly the opposite of what I would like him to do in many situations," said Tanya L. Chartrand, an associate professor of marketing and psychology at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.
Students Set To Fly Fire Balls In Space:
Fires don't break out very often on board orbiting spacecraft, but when they do, standard fire extinguishers aren't necessarily the best way to put them out. Oddly enough -- after decades of spaceflight and a few fires along the way -- nobody really knows yet what is the best way to put them out.
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