The discovery of a gruesome feeding frenzy that played out 73 million years ago in Northwestern Alberta may also lead to the discovery of new dinosaur species there. Paleontologists found a nesting site and the remains of baby, plant-eating dinosaurs and the teeth of a predator.
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When bees collect nectar, how do they hold onto the flower? Scientists have s now shown that it is down to small cone-shaped cells on the petals that act like Velcro on the bees’ feet.
Biologists have long wondered why the embryonic heart begins beating so early, before the tissues actually need to be infused with blood. Two new articles show that the mechanical stresses of a beating heart and blood flow are required for the blood system to develop, and offer clues that may help in developing cell-based therapies [...]
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Surgical removal of a tissue sample is now the standard for diagnosing cancer. Such procedures, known as biopsies, are accurate but only offer a snapshot of the tumor at a single moment in time. Monitoring a tumor for weeks or months after the biopsy, tracking its growth and how it responds to treatment, would be [...]
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Excessive drinking can damage the brain, especially the frontal and parietal cortices. Some of this damage is reversible with abstinence from alcohol. New findings show that chronic cigarette smoking is associated with poor recovery of brain blood flow during abstinence from long-term heavy drinking.
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An ingenious new method of obtaining marine microbe samples while preserving the microbes’ natural gene expression has yielded an unexpected boon: the presence of many varieties of small RNAs — snippets of RNA that act as switches to regulate gene expression in these single-celled creatures. Before now, small RNA could only be studied in lab-cultured [...]
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Researchers have shown that past experience really does help when we have to make complex decisions based on uncertain or confusing information. They show that learning from experience actually changes the circuitry in our brains so that we can quickly categorize what we are seeing and make a decision or carry out appropriate actions.
The analysis of a termite entombed for 100 million years in an ancient piece of amber has revealed the oldest example of “mutualism” ever discovered between an animal and microorganism, and also shows the unusual biology that helped make this one of the most successful, although frequently despised insect groups in the world.
Avian influenza viruses do not thrive in humans because the temperature inside a person’s nose is too low, according to new research. The authors of the study say this may be one of the reasons why bird flu viruses do not cause pandemics in humans easily.
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Scientists have developed a new polymer that reduces the amount of radioactive waste produced during routine operation of nuclear reactors.
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