My picks from ScienceDaily

Climate Change And Human Hunting Combine To Drive The Woolly Mammoth Extinct:

Does the human species have mammoth blood on its hands? Scientists have long debated the relative importance of hunting by our ancestors and change in global climate in consigning the mammoth to the history books. A new paper uses climate models and fossil distribution to establish that the woolly mammoth went extinct primarily because of loss of habitat due to changes in temperature, while human hunting acted as the final straw.

Anne-Marie, Kambiz and artificialhabitat have more.

Study Questions 'Cost Of Complexity' In Evolution

Higher organisms do not have a "cost of complexity" -- or slowdown in the evolution of complex traits -- according to a report by researchers at Yale and Washington University in Nature. Biologists have long puzzled over the relationship between evolution of complex traits and the randomness of mutations in genes. Some have proposed that a "cost of complexity" makes it more difficult to evolve a complicated trait by random mutations, because effects of beneficial mutations are diluted.

More under the fold....

Global Warming Bringing Early Spring Seasons To Eurasian Forests:

With the help of satellite data, researchers from laboratories in France(1), the UK, Japan and Russia have completed the accurate and large-scale mapping of leaf appearance dates in boreal forests. Their work has revealed a remarkable trend towards earlier foliation, which occurred between 1987 and 1990, over a large part of northern Eurasia, caused by the unprecedented increase in spring temperatures since 1921. By comparing these results with the previous studies available, they were able to reconstruct the foliation trend over the whole 20th century. Their work, published the journal Global Change Biology, enables the effects of global warming on these forests to be measured.

Why The Flu Virus Is More Infectious In Cold Winter Temperatures:

A finding by a team of scientists at the National Institutes of Health may account for why the flu virus is more infectious in cold winter temperatures than during the warmer months. At winter temperatures, the virus's outer covering, or envelope, hardens to a rubbery gel that could shield the virus as it passes from person to person, the researchers have found. At warmer temperatures, however, the protective gel melts to a liquid phase. But this liquid phase apparently isn't tough enough to protect the virus against the elements, and so the virus loses its ability to spread from person to person.

Some Of Our Oxygen Is Produced By Viruses Infecting Micro-organisms In The Oceans:

Some of the oxygen we breathe today is being produced because of viruses infecting micro-organisms in the world's oceans, scientists heard April 2, 2008 at the Society for General Microbiology's 162nd meeting.

Coral Reefs And Climate Change: Microbes Could Be The Key To Coral Death:

Coral reefs could be dying out because of changes to the microbes that live in them just as much as from the direct rise in temperature caused by global warming, according to scientists speaking April 2, 2008 at the Society for General Microbiology's 162nd meeting.

The Bombardier Beetle, Power Venom, And Spray Technologies:

The bombardier beetle is inspiring designers of engines, drug-delivery devices and fire extinguishers to improve spray technologies.

Octopus Sex More Sophisticated Than Arm-wrestling:

For decades, scientists have viewed octopuses as unromantic loners, with mating habits nearly devoid of complex behavior. But new research from the University of California, Berkeley, has found that at least one species of octopus engages in such sophisticated lovemaking tactics as flirting, passionate handholding and keeping rivals at arms' length.

Researchers To Develop Ocean Sanctuary 'Noise Budget' To Evaluate Potential Impact On Marine Life:

Like sentinels at their posts, an array of buoys equipped with underwater microphones and other sensors will be on duty in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Massachusetts for the next 30 months, recording sounds from whales, fish, ships and other sources around the clock. NOAA marine mammal scientists will analyze the biological sounds to help develop a global monitoring network for ocean noise, an important step in effectively managing marine sanctuary resources and protecting endangered species like the North Atlantic right whale.

Global Warming Holds New Threats For Australian Wildlife:

Climate change is likely to transform many of Australia's natural landscapes. A new report, Implications of Climate Change for the National Reserve System, was prepared for the Federal Government in Australia, and released April 1 by the Environment Minister Peter Garrett. Report author Dr Michael Dunlop says climate change is forcing environmental scientists to rethink their approach.

Humans Have More Distinctive Hearing Than Animals, Study Shows:

Do humans hear better than animals? It is known that various species of land and water-based living creatures are capable of hearing some lower and higher frequencies than humans are capable of detecting. However, scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and elsewhere have now for the first time demonstrated how the reactions of single neurons give humans the capability of detecting fine differences in frequencies better than animals.

Which animals? Are humans not animals?