The local boy with the most bling is a good choice in the spring, but as summer progresses a girl bird’s best bet is a stranger.
Who’s chosen by whom in the mating game is determined by seasonal changes in the genetic diversity of available mates, according to new research based on a 10-year study of wild finches.
The finding helps explain a long-standing evolutionary biology paradox.
Previous research has shown that female birds often go for the fl
Researchers at the Forsyth Institute have discovered a new mechanism responsible for early left/right patterning, the process by which organs locate themselves on the left or right side of the body. The discovery of this novel mechanism, garnered through the study of three different vertebrates (frogs, chickens and zebrafish), marks the first time that a single common mechanism has been identified in left-right patterning in three distinct species. Such a discovery may have far-reaching implicatio
Scientists in the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center say that just one, single, malfunctioning microRNA is sufficient to cause cancer in mice. The discovery offers new insight into the development of some forms of leukemia and lymphoma and at the same time underscores the powerful role that these tiny snippets of non-coding RNA play in cell signaling pathways active in carcinogenesis.
“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first direct evidence that overexpression of a
In the latest issue of the journal Nature, scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) describe a new understanding about how long-term immunity works–findings that may lead to new ways of thinking about how to enhance certain immune responses and how to improve vaccines.
Led by immunologist Ronald Germain, M.D., Ph.D., the scientists took videos through a microscope to document what happens inside the lymph
Scripps-led Project Achieves Milestone in Analyzing Pollutants Dimming the Atmosphere
Technology behind unmanned aerial vehicles proves successful for flying beneath, above and through clouds to trace pollution particles
A scientific research consortium led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, has reached an important milestone in the tracking of pollutants responsible for dimming Earth’s atmosphere.
Scripps O
Laser that could save computer industry from ’interconnect bottleneck’ uses quantum paint — and a hairdryer
Researchers at the University of Toronto have created a laser that could help save the $200-billion dollar computer chip industry from a looming crisis dubbed the “interconnect bottleneck.”
But this isn’t a laser in the stereotypical sense — no corded, clunky boxes projecting different coloured lights. In fact, Professor Ted Sargent, of the Edward S. Rogers Sr. De
Using data from ESA’s XMM-Newton X-ray observatory, an international group of astrophysicists discovered that one spinning neutron star doesn’t appear to be the stable rotator scientists would expect. These X-ray observations promise to give new insights into the thermal evolution and finally the interior structure of neutron stars.
Spinning neutron stars, also known as pulsars, are generally known to be highly stable rotators. Thanks to their periodic signals, emitted either i
The first MetOp meteorological satellite arrived yesterday at its launch site, the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, following shipment from the industrial prime contractor, EADS Astrium in Toulouse, on board an Antonov-124 transport plane.
MetOp-A is the first in a series of three EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS) satellites developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) for EUMETSAT, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites.
After undergoing a mecha
The EUREKA E! 2692 MOLECULAR TESTS project has developed a simple, fast and easy-to-apply test to assess the robustness of the immune system in poultry. The test can be performed in two days on blood samples from poultry houses, using equipment already available in poultry diagnostic laboratories. Current immune system tests are imprecise, expensive and take weeks – providing information too late to be useful. Combining this test with new immune-system boosting drugs would improve poultry welfar
Scientists have long known that the social insects in the order Hymenoptera–which includes ants, bees, and wasps–have an unusual mechanism for sex determination: Unfertilized eggs develop into males, while fertilized eggs become females. But the development of an unfertilized egg into an adult (called parthenogenesis) remains a mysterious process.
One mystery has been the origin of the centrosome, an essential cellular component that is ordinarily derived from the sperm after fertiliz
Bilingual search for long-term preservation resources available free of charge
Access to German and international sources of information
The “nestor” network of expertise in long-term preservation of digital resources has just put into practice an agreement made in April 2005 between the Australian colleagues working on the PADI (Preserving Access to Digital information) portal at the National Library of Australia and the nestor partner, Goettingen State and University
The burden of malnutrition in Africa continues to rise and it is costing the continent billions of dollars in lost productivity as a direct consequence of the effects of lack of essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals in particular.
It is estimated that about 40% of people in Sub-Sahara Africa are affected by vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin A deficiency raises the risk of severe illness and death in children by as much as 23-40%, and is a major cause of blindness in many count
Three years ago, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad submitted a negotiating proposal to the World Trade organization (WTO). In particular, the proposal, entilted “Poverty Reduction: Sectorial Initiative in Favour of Cotton”, called for a ban on the massive subsidies the United States, Europe and China grant their cotton producers. To gain a clearer understanding of the issues surrounding subsidies, a team from CIRAD decided to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the American, Brazilian and
At the Institut Curie, CNRS and Inserm researchers have shown that cysteamine, which is already used to treat a rare disease called cystinosis, prevents the death of neurons in Huntington’s disease. Like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, Huntington’s disease, is characterized by the abnormal death of neurons.
Cysteamine raises neuronal levels of BDNF protein, a trophic factor which is depleted in Huntington’s disease, and by assaying BDNF in the blood it is possible to evaluate the eff
New research led by economists at the University of Warwick reveals that many Western societies that pride themselves on being lands of opportunity are anything but. The reality is that most countries show a strong connection between a father and son’s earnings and this factor is more important in the United States than in any of the other country studied.
The new research led by Professor Robin Naylor, an economist at the University of Warwick, shows a strong link between the earnings of
Dutch researcher Maarten de Rijke and his co-workers Gilad Mishne and Krisztian Balog have developed a new programme that can trace and explain significant changes in mood patterns on the Internet. MoodViews is a collection of instruments that maps the mood of bloggers as they write their message.
Internet diaries, blogs, are an increasingly common phenomenon on the Internet. The opinions and experiences of tens of millions of people can be followed every day. Researchers from the P
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