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Tag Archives: biology

No high notes for these blind fish

By Stephen Ornes / April 5, 2013

This southern cavefish is blind and, new research suggests, partially deaf. But don’t feel sorry for the little fish; it may just be adapting to a dark and noisy habitat. Credit: Matthew Niemiller

Cave dwellers that can’t see are also partially deaf

Posted in Animals | Tagged Adaptation, biology, blind fish, blindness, brains, cave fish, cavefish, caves, College Park, Daphne Soares, deaf, deaf fish, evolution, getinvolved, Kentucky, Martina Bradic, neurology, neuromast, New York University, pitch, sounds, Tennessee, topstories, University of Maryland, waves

Flower power

By Stephen Ornes / March 11, 2013

Scientists report that bees and flowers appear to have a charged communication. In addition to a flower’s color and scent, its electric field may also bring in bees, a new study shows. Credit: Emily Krieger

Electric field around flowers may help bees find nutritious blooms

Posted in Animals, Plants | Tagged bees, biology, charge, Daniel Robert, electric field, electric potential, electricity, entomology, flowers, getinvolved, nectar, negative charge, Pollination, positive charge, sensory biology, Stephen Buchmann, University of Arizona at Tucson, University of Bristol

Whale of a lesson

By Eric Wagner / March 7, 2013

A North Atlantic right whale lifts its tail to dive in the Bay of Fundy. Credit: Eric Wagner

Once given up as all but extinct, the North Atlantic right whale is making a comeback

Posted in Animals | Tagged Amy Knowlton, baleen, biology, blubber, callosity, cetaceans, citizen science, conservation, ecology, entanglement, feature, fishing, genes, genetics, keratin, mammalogy, marine policy, marine science, Mark Baumgartner, Moira Brown, New England Aquarium, oceans, right whales, Saint Mary’s University, Scott Kraus, shipping, ships, Tim Frasier, whale oil, Whales, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Genetic memory

By Stephen Ornes / February 8, 2013

A DNA molecule looks like a twisted ladder. Scientists have found a way to use the rungs of that ladder to store data efficiently. Credit: NHGRI

The stuff of genes can be used to store digital data, too

Posted in Computers & Electronics, Technology & Engineering | Tagged bioengineering, biology, computer science, data storage, deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA, Drew Endy, engineering, England, European Bioinformatics Institute, genes, getinvolved, nature, Nick Goldman, nucleotides, Stanford, synthetic DNA

Killer cats

By Stephen Ornes / February 7, 2013

Cats kill between 1.4 billion and 3.7 billion birds every year in the United States, according to a new study. Credit: Emily Krieger

Puss may pose the single biggest threat to birds

Posted in Animals | Tagged biology, birds, cats, conservation, conservation biology, D.C., environment, felines, feral, Gary Langham, getinvolved, mammals, National Audubon Society, nonnative species, Peter Marra, pets, Smithsonian, Stanley Temple, topstories, Washington, wild

Home on the moon

By Stephen Ornes / February 1, 2013

Life on the moon — but not ours. This illustration shows two large moons orbiting a giant, gassy planet (in orange). Astronomers say the right type of moon could harbor alien life. Credit: R. Heller, AIP

Astronomers say rocky moons orbiting distant planets might support alien life

Posted in Space | Tagged aliens, astrobiology, astronomy, astrophysics, biology, exomoons, exoplanet, forces, Germany, getinvolved, gravitation, gravity, hot Jupiter, Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics, moon, Orbit, Potsdam, René Heller, Rory Barnes, solar system, stars, telescopes, topstories, University of Washington

Healthier mice, through X-rays

By Stephen Ornes / November 29, 2012

Scientists found that sickly agouti mice, which carry a gene that colors their coat yellow, benefit from a small dose of radiation. These benefits were blocked by vitamins, though, turning conventional ideas about radiation and vitamins upside down. Credit: The Transgenic Core Facility

In sickly mice, small doses of radiation helped while vitamins harmed

Posted in Body & Health | Tagged biology, cells, DNA, epigenetics, genetics, getinvolved, methylation, radiation, topstories, toxicology, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, University of Wisconsin–Madison, X-rays

Four-winged dinosaur

By Stephen Ornes / November 12, 2012

Hind wings helped a small dino make tight turns in midair

Posted in Dinosaurs & Fossils | Tagged Adaptation, aerodynamics, biology, dinosaurs, drag, evolution, fossils, getinvolved, Justin Hall, Luis Chiappe, Michael Habib, Microraptor gui, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, physics, topstories, University of Southern California, wings

Magnets that kill cancer cells

By Stephen Ornes / November 1, 2012

Magnets can be used to move types of metal from a distance. Scientists recently developed a technology that uses magnets to trigger a cell’s demise. Credit: istockphoto

Researchers devise a way to use magnets to make cells self-destruct

Posted in Body & Health | Tagged Andrew MacKay, biology, cancer, Cell, getinvolved, iron, magnet, magnetic field, magnetism, medicine, nanoparticle, protein, receptor, therapeutic, therapy, topstories, University of Southern California, Yonsei University

Bacteria learn new trick

By Stephen Ornes / October 12, 2012

A decades-long experiment growing E. coli bacteria showed the microbes evolved the ability to eat a new food. Flasks of the germs turned cloudy when the bacteria ate citrate. Credit: Brian Baer and Neerja Hajela

Scientists show evolution in action in decades-long E. coli study

Posted in Microbes, Fungi & Algae | Tagged Adaptation, bacteria, biology, Bruce Levin, citric acid, E. coli, Emory University, evolution, evolutionary biology, evolve, genes, germs, getinvolved, Massey University, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Michigan State University, mutate, mutations, Paul Rainey, Richard Lenski, Zachary Blount

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