'Alien' Jaws Help Moray Eels Feed:
Moray eels have a unique way of feeding reminiscent of a science fiction thriller, researchers at UC Davis have discovered. After seizing prey in its jaws, a second set of jaws located in the moray's throat reaches forward into the mouth, grabs the food and carries it back to the esophagus for swallowing.
More here and here (you can see the video on both places).
Migrating Squid Drove Evolution Of Sonar In Whales And Dolphins, Researchers Argue:
Behind the sailor's lore of fearsome battles between sperm whale and giant squid lies a deep question of evolution: How did these leviathans develop the underwater sonar needed to chase and catch squid in the inky depths? Now, two evolutionary biologists at the University of California, Berkeley, claim that, just as bats developed sonar to chase flying insects through the darkness, dolphins and other toothed whales also developed sonar to chase schools of squid swimming at night at the surface.
Higher Social Skills Are Distinctly Human, Toddler And Ape Study Reveals:
Apes bite and try to break a tube to retrieve the food inside while children follow the experimenter's example to get inside the tube to retrieve the prize, showing that even before preschool, toddlers are more sophisticated in their social learning skills than their closest primate relatives, according to a report published in the 7 September issue of the journal Science.
Human-Animal Hybrid Embryos Approved For Research In Britain:
The following is the statement by the Human Fertilisation and Embryo Authority, the body which oversees human embryo research in Britain. The group will allow the creation of part-human, part-animal hybrid embryos for research purposes. British regulations already require that human embryos for research purposes are destroyed within 14 days of their creation.
Failing Protection Of Africa's National Parks:
For years, biologists in Africa have known that large mammals - including antelopes and their predators - were disappearing outside reserves. Now a raft of studies, published in the September 2007 issue of the African Journal of Ecology, show that we have moved beyond this. We are losing species from national parks, bastion of biodiversity conservation. Worryingly, this includes the continent's crown jewels such as Tanzania's Serengeti National Park.
Specific Neurons Involved In Memory Formation Identified:
In a remarkable new study, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have unlocked one of the secrets of how memory is formed. Working with a unique breed of transgenic mice, the new study has shown for the first time that the same neurons activated during fear conditioning are, in fact, reactivated during memory retrieval.
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