Nature : Science World Report

Mar 02, 2012 11:11 AM EST

Flying Jewels Spell Death for Baby Spiders

Spider flies are a rarely collected group of insects. Adults are considered important pollinators of flowers, while larvae live as internal parasitoids of juvenile spiders. Eight genera are recorded in Australasia, including four genera in the subfamily Panopinae, a group of large, hairy, often meta...

Mar 02, 2012 10:54 AM EST

Protecting Living Fossil Trees

Scientists are working to protect living fossil trees in Fiji from the impact of climate change with cutting-edge DNA sequencing technology. Dr Peter Prentis, from QUT's Science and Engineering Faculty, said the findings would enable researchers to understand how biological diversity is generated...

Mar 02, 2012 10:31 AM EST

Nearby Chimpanzee Populations Show Much Greater Genetic Diversity than Distant Human Populations

Chimpanzee populations living in relatively close proximity are substantially more different genetically than humans living on different continents, according to a study published today in PLoS Genetics. The study suggests that genomics can provide a valuable new tool for use in chimpanzee conservat...

Mar 02, 2012 08:12 AM EST

UC Davis Research Shows How the Body Senses a Range of hot Temperatures

The winter sun feels welcome, but not so a summer sunburn. Research over the past 20 years has shown that proteins on the surface of nerve cells enable the body to sense several different temperatures. Now scientists have discovered how just a few of these proteins, called ion channels, distinguish ...

Mar 02, 2012 08:02 AM EST

Leading Evolutionary Scientist to Discuss How Genome of Bacteria has Evolved

Nancy A. Moran, an internationally renowned expert on evolution, will give the 2012 Alfred M. Boyce Lecture at the University of California, Riverside on Monday, March 5. The lecture, titled "Genome evolution in endosymbiotic bacteria," will take place at 4 p.m. in the Genomics Auditorium, Room 1...

Mar 01, 2012 04:07 PM EST

IU Biologists Offer Clearer Picture of How Protein Machine Systems Tweak Gene Expression

Indiana University biologists have found that specific types of RNA polymerase enzymes, the molecular machines that convert DNA into RNA, can differ in function based on variation in the parts -- in this case protein subunits -- used to assemble those machines.

Mar 01, 2012 01:55 PM EST

Leatherback Turtle Migration Study Identifies Pacific Danger Zones for Endangered Species

The majestic leatherback turtle is the largest sea turtle in the world, growing to more than 6 feet in length. It is also one of the most threatened. A major new study of migration patterns has identified high-use areasâ€”potential danger zonesâ€”in the Pacific Ocean for this critically en...

Mar 01, 2012 01:40 PM EST

When One Side does Not Know about the Other One

Whenever we are doing something, one of our brain hemispheres is more active than the other one. However, some tasks are only solvable with both sides working together. PD Dr. Martina Manns and Juliane RÃ¶mling of the Ruhr-UniversitÃ¤t Bochum are investigating, how such specializations and co-op...

Mar 01, 2012 11:02 AM EST

Why Spiders Do Not Stick to Their Own Sticky Web Sites

Researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and University of Costa Rica asked why spiders do not stick to their own sticky webs. Repeating old, widely quoted but poorly documented studies with modern equipment and techniques, they discovered that spiders' legs are protected by a cove...

Mar 01, 2012 07:32 AM EST

Pecan Weevil Biology, Management and Control Strategies

The pecan weevil, Curculio caryae (Horn), is a major pest of pecans throughout the southeastern United States, as well as portions of Texas and Oklahoma. In "Biology and Management of the Pecan Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)," (http://bit.ly/xrqS3d) a new article appearing in the Journal of I...

Feb 29, 2012 03:53 PM EST

Why Birds of a Feather Lek Together

Certain kinds of male birds gather into small clusters of land called leks to perform their courtship dances, and according to science, who they choose to associate with matters. A new study by University of Miami Evolutionary Biologist J. Albert Uy and his collaborators finds that some male birds a...

Feb 29, 2012 03:47 PM EST

Scientists Learn how Insects 'Remodel' Their Bodies between Life Stages

It's one of life's special moments: a child finds a fat caterpillar, puts it in a jar with a twig and a few leaves, and awakens one day to find the caterpillar has disappeared and an elegant but apparently lifeless case now hangs from the twig.