June 27, 2008
For humans, sight is the most important of senses but only after we are born. Within the womb, surrounded by fluid, muscle and darkness, vision is of limited use and our eyes remain closed. But not all animals are similarly kept in the dark.
Cuttlefish develop inside eggs that are initially…
June 26, 2008
I've written two news stories in this week's New Scientist. One is on the different tactics of four-year-old boys and girls as they compete for animal puppets. The other is on the webs spun by black widow spiders. The article on the venomous, evil, little critters is longer so I'm going to use this…
June 25, 2008
If you listen to the egg of a crocodile, you can tell when it's going to hatch by the small squeaks coming out of it. The squeaks come from the unborn babies and sound like "umph! umph! umph!". These calls are common to all crocodilians and while zoologists have always suspected that they serve a…
June 24, 2008
In 1994, a third of the lions in the Serengeti were killed off by a massive epidemic of canine distemper virus (CDV), an often fatal infection that affects a wide range of carnivorous mammals. Seven years later, a similar epidemic slashed the lion population in the nearby Ngorongoro Crater. While…
June 23, 2008
In 2004, the Australian Government turned a third of the Great Barrier Reef into the largest network of no-fishing zones in the world. All fishing was banned in an area of sea just smaller than England. It was a bold and controversial political move - jobs and livelihoods, it was said, were on the…
June 21, 2008
The world's nations are stockpiling two drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza, to counter the threat of a bird flu pandemic. These drugs work by blocking a key protein that allows the virus to spread. But two years ago, a study revealed the structure of this protein and in doing so, shown that both…
June 20, 2008
The differences between heterosexual and homosexual people are as much the subject of fascinating science as they are a source of social debate. And in many cases, the former can help to inform the latter. There is now plenty of research which shows that a person's sexual orientation, far from…
June 18, 2008
In my last post, I wrote about how chimpanzees console one another to reduce the stress of violent confrontations. Conflict and competition are clearly important parts of chimp life and never more so than when sex is involved. The second study this week on the social lives of chimps demonstrates…
June 17, 2008
Humans are intelligent and social animals. We are devious in fending off competition, we use guile and strategy to attract partners, and we extend acts of kindness towards friends in need. Many people suffer through the inanity of reality TV for the odd glimpse of these social interactions. But…
June 16, 2008
Jellyfish may seem like simple blobs of goo, but some are surprisingly sophisticated. The box jellyfish (Tripedelia cystophora), for example, is a fast and active hunter and stalks its prey with the aid of 24 fully functioning eyes. These are grouped into four clusters called rhopalia, which lie on…
June 15, 2008
Show someone a piece of rotting food and their reaction will be visibly similar the world over. Their eyes will close, their noses will wrinkle and their mouths will tighten, all part of a universal expression of disgust. Darwin himself was struck by the universal nature of human facial expressions…
June 14, 2008
We've all found gems hidden among junk before - the great album you own but never listened to, the book on your shelf that you never read, or the boot sale item that's worth a fortune. Geneticists are no different. Two years ago, Katherine Pollard and Sofie Salama discovered that one of the…
June 13, 2008
Many groups of animals, from humans to dinosaurs to kangaroos, have evolved the ability to stand and walk on two legs. In all of these cases, the move from four legs to two has provided clear advantages. Kangaroos save energy because their hopping is so efficient, birds have freed their front pair…
June 12, 2008
On an isolated rock plateau in southern Israel, surrounded by steep cliff-faces, stands the imposing fortress of Masada. The site was built by King Herod as a pleasure palace and became famous for the alleged mass suicide of its Jewish inhabitants, who chose death over capture by Roman invaders…
June 11, 2008
A Canadian spruce and a Caribbean pine couldn't live in more different environments. One sits amid freezing tundra and the other basks in tropical heat. But despite their wildly different habitats, both trees have something in common - the temperature inside their leaves. Over the course of a year…
June 7, 2008
Few creatures, living or dead, can capture our imaginations like dinosaurs. But those of us who were mesmerised by these creatures as children may find today's cast strange and unfamiliar. Our well-known mainstays like Tyrannosaurus have been joined by Hollywood-sponsored favourites like…
June 5, 2008
On Wednesday, I posted about a parasitic wasp that turns a caterpillar into both a living incubator and a zombie-like bodyguard for its larvae. Well, it seems to be a bumper week for wasp research; today, we have yet another demonstration of the amazing tactics used by these macabre parents to…
June 3, 2008
Bodyguards have a tough and risky job but they usually get paid for their trouble. But not the caterpillar of the geometer moth. Against its will, it is recruited to defend the developing young of a parasitic wasp, and the only 'reward' it gets for its trouble is to be eaten inside out by the…
June 2, 2008
When it comes to evolution, a species' past has a massive bearing on what it might become. That's the latest message from a 20-year-long experiment in evolution, which shows how small twists of fate can take organisms down very different evolutionary paths.
The role of history in evolution is a…
June 1, 2008
You inherited your genes from your parents, half from your father and half from your mother. Almost all other animals contend with the same hand-me-down processes, but not the bdelloid rotifers. This intriguing group of small freshwater creatures are not content with their genetic hand-me-downs;…
May 31, 2008
Children can be fed with good food but they will only become productive members of society if they're raised in a rich, nurturing environment. Now scientists have shown that the same is true for stem cells.
Our bodies are made up of hundreds of different types of cells, but stem cells can…
May 29, 2008
Think of celery, an airplane or a dog. Each of these words, along with the thousands of others in the English language, create a different and unique pattern of activity in your brain. Now, a team of scientists has developed the first computer programme that can predict these patterns for concrete…
May 28, 2008
The realm of science-fiction has just taken a big stride towards the world of science fact, with the creation of a prosthetic arm that can be moved solely by thought. Two monkeys, using only electrodes implanted in their brains, were able to feed themselves with the robotic arm complete with…
May 27, 2008
In the X-Men comics, the superhero Wolverine is armed with three sharp claws on each arm. They extend through the skin of his hand, and the resulting wounds are closed by up his superhuman ability to heal. Now, in a bizarre case of life imitating art, scientists from Harvard University have…
May 24, 2008
The prisoner was plucked from a free-living existence and plunged, without trial, into a cell from which it will never leave. It will be provided with food but will have to cater to the needs of its jailer, bereft of its own independence. And yet, this apparent injustice will go unchallenged. No…
May 22, 2008
Our bodies are rife with genes and the majority of them aren't even ours. We all have a strong sense of our own individuality, but the truth is that our bodies are hotels for a diverse array of microbes including bacteria and fungi. The numbers are simultaneously creepy and humbling. Tot up all the…
May 21, 2008
The era of genetic sequencing has revealed as much about the ties that bind us to other animals as the differences that set us apart. Often, comparing the genomes of different species shows that large changes in body size, shape and form are not mirrored by similar changes at a genetic level. New…
May 20, 2008
In the late 19th century, asbestos became a building material of choice. Resistant to heat, electricity and corrosion, it found many uses including home insulation, brake pads and ship-building. By the time that the first health problems were reported, the material was commonplace. In the UK, the…
May 19, 2008
Feeling powerless is no fun. A lack of control can make the difference between contented and unhappy employees. But new research shows that a lack of power doesn't just make people feel disgruntled. It has a more fundamental effect on their mental skills.
In a series of experiments, Pamela Smith…
May 17, 2008
As far as humans are concerned, sexually-transmitted infections are things to avoid. But imagine if these infections didn't cause death and disease, but gave you superpowers instead. It may sound like a bizarre fantasy, but it's just part of life for aphids.
Aphids mostly reproduce without sex,…
