Nature : Science World Report

May 08, 2012 10:34 AM EDT

Taking America's Rarest Snake Back to the Woods

On May 1, USDA Forest Service, U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Memphis Zoo, and other partners released seven young Louisiana pine snakes on a restored longleaf pine stand in the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana. The release is the fourth in 2...

May 07, 2012 05:14 PM EDT

NOAA Discovers Way to Detect low-level Exposure to Seafood Toxin in Marine Animals

NOAA scientists and their colleagues have discovered a biological marker in the blood of laboratory zebrafish and marine mammals that shows when they have been repeatedly exposed to low levels of domoic acid, which is potentially toxic at high levels.

May 07, 2012 04:39 PM EDT

Anthropologist Finds Explanation for Hominin Brain Evolution in Famous Fossil

One of the world's most important fossils has a story to tell about the brain evolution of modern humans and their ancestors, according to Florida State University evolutionary anthropologist Dean Falk.

May 07, 2012 03:54 PM EDT

Mystery of the Domestication of the Horse Solved

New research indicates that domestic horses originated in the steppes of modern-day Ukraine, southwest Russia and west Kazakhstan, mixing with local wild stocks as they spread throughout Europe and Asia. The research was published today, 07 May, in the journal PNAS.

May 07, 2012 02:28 PM EDT

MSU Plan Would Control Deadly Tsetse Fly

For the first time, scientists have created a satellite-guided plan to effectively control the tsetse fly - an African killer that spreads "sleeping sickness" disease among humans and animals and wipes out $4.5 billion in livestock every year.

May 07, 2012 02:20 PM EDT

European Mountain Plant Population Shows Delayed Response to Climate Change

A modeling study from the European Alps suggests that population declines to be observed during the upcoming decades will probably underestimate the long-term effects of recent climate warming on mountain plants. A European team of ecologists around Stefan Dullinger from the Department of Conservati...

May 07, 2012 01:16 PM EDT

Gaseous Emissions from Dinosaurs May Have Warmed Prehistoric Earth

Sauropod dinosaurs could in principle have produced enough of the greenhouse gas methane to warm the climate many millions of years ago, at a time when the Earth was warm and wet. That's according to calculations reported in the May 8th issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.

May 07, 2012 12:59 PM EDT

LSU Research Finds Orangutans Host Ancient Jumping Genes

LSU's Mark Batzer, along with research associate Jerilyn Walker and assistant professor Miriam Konkel, have published research determining that modern-day orangutans are host to ancient jumping genes called Alu, which are more than 16 million years old. The study was done in collaboration with the Z...

May 07, 2012 11:52 AM EDT

Scientists "Switch off" Brain Cell Death in Mice

Scientists have figured out how to stop brain cell death in mice with brain disease and say their discovery deepens understanding of the mechanisms of human neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

May 02, 2012 02:14 PM EDT

Oldest Human Blood Cells Found in 'Iceman Mummy'

Scientists have now found what they believe is are the oldest blood sample, scraped from 5,300 year old Ã–tzi the Iceman, whose body was uncovered by trekkers in the Italian Alps in 1991.

Apr 27, 2012 11:19 AM EDT

Oldest Human Ancestor Found in Lake Sludge

Mankind's remotest relative is a very rare micro-organism from south-Norway. The discovery may provide an insight into what life looked like on earth almost one thousand million years ago.

Apr 27, 2012 09:54 AM EDT

Smalleye Pigmy Sharks' Bellies Shine

Some sharks deserve a blood curdling reputation, but not the diminutive smalleye pigmy shark (Squaliolus aliae). Reaching a maximum length of only 22cm, the tiny animals are more likely to be on someone else's menu. Silhouetted against weak light penetrating from the surface, the tiny sharks should ...