Nature News

Elephants can take the heat

Elephants can take the heat

Posted Sun, 02 Oct 2011 16:11:01 GMT by Dale Kiefer

New research shows how elephants have adapted to extreme heat in a manner similar to desert mammals such as camels. Elephants have evolved a novel strategy for regulating body temperature, which allows them to endure soaring temperatures during the day without succumbing to heat stress.

Elephants can take the heat

First Usain Bolt, and now, Bats

First Usain Bolt, and now, Bats

Posted Sat, 01 Oct 2011 18:25:00 GMT by Dave Armstrong

The unique audio reception of the bats is aided by this truly freaky muscle that contracts 100X faster than normal muscle and 20X faster than the fastest human muscle, surrounding the eye. Weep ye who admire Mr. Bolts 100 metres: this bat could do it a little better, in 0.1 seconds!

First Usain Bolt, and now, Bats

Beetles keeping it bottled-up

Beetles keeping it bottled-up

Posted Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:17:05 GMT by Dave Armstrong

The resemblance of a beer bottle to a female has been mooted in the past, but rarely remembered the morning after. An Australian (beetle) has now confirmed that 'stubbies' are better! The male Buprestid (jewel) beetle, Julodimorpha bakewelli, is often noticed lolling around near brown beer bottles (stubbies) in Australia.

Beetles keeping it bottled-up

A Frog's tale

A Frog's tale

Posted Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:06:00 GMT by Dave Armstrong

Australian researchers have found that green tree frogs Litoria spp. use condensation in the same way as windows on frosty mornings. During the dry season from June to September, Ozzy water is a precious commodity. These enterprising Amphibia expose themselves in such a way as to gather the air's excess moisture when temperatures plummet.

A Frog's tale

The call of the koala may have some hidden tricks

The call of the koala may have some hidden tricks

Posted Thu, 29 Sep 2011 21:31:00 GMT by Dave Collier

The koala has a unusually deep bellow, but we may now have a better understanding of why this is. The bellowing sound of a koala might suggest an animal the size of a hippo. In humans, the size and depth of our voice box, or larynx, directly corresponds to our ability to produce deeper sounds.

The call of the koala may have some hidden tricks

A Variety of Fruit Selections

A Variety of Fruit Selections

Posted Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:04:00 GMT by Dave Armstrong

Botanists have used perennial plants for thousands of years in the same way as the Earth's major annual food crops. In the beginning, forest trees were little modified by their human 'allies' as exploited wild plants, but this study by Drs. Allison J. Miller and Briana L. Gross assigns an intermediate period to the woody plants bred and modified extensively for domestication.

A Variety of Fruit Selections

Singing Cousins

Singing Cousins

Posted Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:38:00 GMT by Dave Armstrong

Birds and humans are related, but most people would regard that relationship as you would a distant cousin you don't talk about any more. Singing is a different kettle of fish, it seems. While common patterns in music include phrases that rise then descend (melodic arches), or just have their final note elongated, constraints on the vocal system are likely to have affected them.

Singing Cousins

Shrink-wrapped Shrimps

Shrink-wrapped Shrimps

Posted Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:50:00 GMT by Dave Armstrong

If you've reared tadpoles or caterpillars (haven't we all), you may have noticed they tend to grow more quickly in warmer water. It's double the rate for every 10°C. rise in temperature, if you measure it. Dr Andrew Hirst and his team have now discovered more about this growth and temperature mechanism.

Shrink-wrapped Shrimps

Invasions from 'above' worse than those from 'below'

Invasions from 'above' worse than those from 'below'

Posted Wed, 28 Sep 2011 06:08:00 GMT by Dale Kiefer

New research shows that invasive species introduced 'upstream' spread more rapidly and colonize more successfully than species that are introduced downrange within a given habitat.

Invasions from 'above' worse than those from 'below'

The Beetles Hit (on Amphibian prey)

The Beetles Hit (on Amphibian prey)

Posted Tue, 27 Sep 2011 17:08:58 GMT by Dave Armstrong

Israeli beetles turning the tables on five spp. of Amphibian. The classic instance of predators stalking their live and not-so-innocent food supply is reversed with the prey waiting to be stalked by the naive predator. They then turn the tables by killing the villain - but just where would the observers' sympathies lie?

The Beetles Hit (on Amphibian prey)

Penguins smell good - who knew?

Penguins smell good - who knew?

Posted Thu, 22 Sep 2011 20:34:00 GMT by Dale Kiefer

New research shows for the first time that penguins use scent to tell one another apart and avoid interbreeding. Scientists at the University of Chicago and the Chicago Zoological Society report that penguins use a highly-developed sense of smell to identify their kin, thus avoiding interbreeding with relatives.

Penguins smell good - who knew?

Oldest North American Beaver Remains Found in the Beaver State

Oldest North American Beaver Remains Found in the Beaver State

Posted Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:23:01 GMT by Dale Kiefer

Paleontologists working in northern Oregon's Rattlesnake Formation have identified fossilized beaver teeth believed to be about 7 million years old, which is at least 2 million years older than any previously discovered beaver remains. The finding sheds new light on our understanding of when modern beavers first came to North America and diverged from the Eurasian beaver.

Oldest North American Beaver Remains Found in the Beaver State

Visiting mosquitoes threaten Galapagos with deadly virus

Visiting mosquitoes threaten Galapagos with deadly virus

Posted Sat, 17 Sep 2011 16:09:27 GMT by Colin Ricketts

Scientists are worried that a disease that has caused damage to wildlife in North and South America could travel to the Galapagos Islands via mosquitoes hitching a ride with visiting boats and planes.

Visiting mosquitoes threaten Galapagos with deadly virus

Why slow-and-steady jellyfish beat fish in oceanic contest

Why slow-and-steady jellyfish beat fish in oceanic contest

Posted Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:00:01 GMT by Martin Leggett

A new paper in Science has gone a long way to clearing-up why primitive jelly-fish are often able to out-compete hard-pressed fish. The inclusion of their low-energy use into the modeling equations used by ecologists, shows that jellyfish and fish are on more of an equal footing than previously believed - and so jellyfish may carry on winning-out whilst over-fishing continues.

Why slow-and-steady jellyfish beat fish in oceanic contest

Mountain butterflies provide rare glimpse of hybrid speciation

Mountain butterflies provide rare glimpse of hybrid speciation

Posted Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:21:00 GMT by Dale Kiefer

Observant scientists have discovered a rare example of animal hybrid speciation, in the forests of the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States. The creature in question, the Appalachian tiger swallowtail butterfly (Papilio appalachiensis), is the genetically unique result of the union of two related butterflies.

Mountain butterflies provide rare glimpse of hybrid speciation

In the crowded canopy, fruit bats get flexible with sonar

In the crowded canopy, fruit bats get flexible with sonar

Posted Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:01:01 GMT by Martin Leggett

Fruit bats have the ability to vary the scope of their sonar probings, to match up with the complexity of the feeding ground they are flying through, according to scientists. This flexible adaptation of the senses could be a first, say the research team, who are publishing their paper on the PLoS ONE website today.

In the crowded canopy, fruit bats get flexible with sonar

Nature News Archives Page : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 

Bowhead whales rock- all winter long.

Posted Wed, 04 Apr 2018 08:39:22 GMT by Dave Armstrong

Untamed Travel Possibilities for your imagination or your future plans.

Posted Tue, 26 Sep 2017 09:34:49 GMT by Dave Armstrong

Sneeze to leave, and wild dogs vote for a hunt!

Posted Wed, 06 Sep 2017 07:15:00 GMT by JW.Dowey

Sheep hunted before domestication in the Middle East.

Posted Wed, 23 Aug 2017 09:25:00 GMT by JW. Dowey

Stream insects live well in Yorkshire

Posted Fri, 21 Jul 2017 10:55:00 GMT by JW.Dowey

Bees that buzz and those that help the economy!

Posted Fri, 23 Jun 2017 08:15:00 GMT by JW. Dowey

Climate Change drives early laying/hatching, but not only Temperature!

Posted Thu, 27 Apr 2017 07:16:00 GMT by Dave Armstrong

Bees succeed against the odds, even when solitary.

Posted Tue, 18 Apr 2017 08:16:55 GMT by JW. Dowey

Fascination in rocky pools and their invertebrate inhabitants

Posted Thu, 23 Mar 2017 11:25:01 GMT by JW. Dowey

Army ants tolerate multiple evolutions of beetle mimics

Posted Wed, 15 Mar 2017 09:50:00 GMT by JW. Dowey

Singing Cousins

Posted Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:38:00 GMT by Dave Armstrong

Look out for the little guys - smaller fish more vulnerable than thought

Posted Mon, 02 May 2011 19:00:01 GMT by Martin Leggett

Navigating the Atlantic as a giant turtle.

Posted Wed, 11 Mar 2015 05:00:00 GMT by JW Dowey

Could flirting make males age faster?

Posted Fri, 05 Aug 2011 12:41:00 GMT by Kieran Ball

Wild Horses from America

Posted Mon, 01 Jul 2013 09:27:00 GMT by Dave Armstrong

Trunks a lot pal! Elephants learn to work together says new test

Posted Tue, 08 Mar 2011 19:50:00 GMT by Colin Ricketts

Liu Pu discovers the 'new' snub nosed monkey in China

Posted Mon, 30 Jul 2012 12:40:32 GMT by Dave Armstrong

March Of The King Crabs

Posted Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:09:00 GMT by Kieran Ball

New bird discovery raises profile of Madagascar's endangered dry forests

Posted Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:26:00 GMT by Martin Leggett

Fire-scarred oaks reveal how Illinois changed under Native and settler Americans

Posted Wed, 16 Mar 2011 18:08:01 GMT by Martin Leggett