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Sweet bribes for ants are key to crops bearing fruit, study shows
Jun 23, 2017 | 16:05 pmSome flowering crops, such as beans and cotton, carefully manage the amount and sweetness of nectar produced on their flowers and leaves, to recruit colonizing ants which deter herbivores. This strategy balances their needs for defense and reproduction.
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Scientists work to develop heat-resistant 'cow of the future'
Jun 23, 2017 | 15:07 pmMore than half the cattle in the world live in hot and humid environments, including about 40 percent of beef cows in the United States. By using genomic tools, researchers aim to produce an animal with superior ability to adapt[…]
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Tropical viruses: Coming soon to Europe?
Jun 23, 2017 | 15:06 pmThe mosquito-borne viral disease Chikungunya is usually found in tropical areas. Researchers have now discovered how climate change is facilitating the spread of the Chikungunya virus. Even if climate change only progresses moderately – as scientists are currently observing –[…]
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Turtle 'go-slow zone' extensions needed
Jun 23, 2017 | 15:04 pmMarine scientists are calling for an extension of go-slow zones in turtle habitats to reduce boat strikes on the threatened creatures.
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Snake fungal disease identified in wild British snakes for first time
Jun 22, 2017 | 20:32 pmEurope's wild snakes could face a growing threat from a fungal skin disease that has contributed to wild snake deaths in North America, according to an international collaborative study.
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How pheromones trigger female sexual behavior
Jun 22, 2017 | 19:31 pmA new study showed how a male pheromone in mice enhances sexual behaviors in females -- and how it may enhance a different behavior, aggression, in males -- by identifying distinct neural circuits and neurons that generate a particular behavioral[…]
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How do genes get new jobs? Wasp venom offers new insights
Jun 22, 2017 | 19:30 pmA new study describes how four closely related species of parasitic wasps change their venoms rapidly in order to adapt to new hosts, and proposes that co-option of single copy genes may be a common but relatively understudied mechanism of[…]
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Satellite data to map endangered monkey populations on Earth
Jun 22, 2017 | 17:19 pmUsing a combination of satellite and ground data, a research team can map multiple indicators of monkey distribution, including human activity zones as inferred from roads and settlements, direct detections from mosquito-derived iDNA, animal sound recordings, plus detections of other[…]
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Lessons from whale population collapse could help future species at risk
Jun 22, 2017 | 15:40 pmThere were warning signs that populations of commercially harvested whales were heading for global collapse up to 40 years before the event, a study of historic whaling records has revealed.
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'Star dust' wasp is a new extinct species named after David Bowie's alter ego
Jun 22, 2017 | 15:40 pmDuring her study on fossil insects at China's Capitol Normal University, a student visited the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, USA, carrying two unidentified wasp specimens that were exceptionally well-preserved and 100 million years old. Close examination revealed that[…]
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