http://www.sciencenewsline.com/ ScienceNewsline - Biology en-US Thu, 23 May 2013 22:48:31 GMT Thu, 23 May 2013 22:48:31 GMT http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052313180008.html Thu, 23 May 2013 13:18:00 GMT MADISON, Wis. – In an age when microbial pathogens are growing increasingly resistant to the conventional antibiotics used to tamp down infection, a team of Wisconsin scientists has synthesized a potent new class of compounds capable of curbing the bacteria that cause staph infections. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052313180005.html Thu, 23 May 2013 13:18:00 GMT Publishing in Neuron, the team reveal the interplay of brain chemicals which help us pay attention in work funded by the Wellcome Trust and BBSRC. By changing the way neurons respond to external stimuli we improve our perceptual abilities. While these changes can affect the strength of a neuronal response, they can also affect the fidelity of that response. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052313180001.html Thu, 23 May 2013 13:18:00 GMT Tempe, Ariz. — An amazing glow-in-the-dark cockroach, a harp-shaped carnivorous sponge and the smallest vertebrate on Earth are just three of the newly discovered top 10 species selected by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University. A global committee of taxonomists — scientists responsible for species exploration and classification — announced its list of top 10 species from 2012 today, May 23. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052223459000.html Wed, 22 May 2013 23:45:00 GMT Swedish scientists have mapped the gene sequence of Norway spruce (the Christmas tree) – a species with huge economic and ecological importance - and that is the largest genome to have ever been mapped. The genome is complex and seven times larger than that of humans. The results have been published in the prestigious journal Nature. This major research project has been led by Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC) in Umeå and the Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab) in Stockholm. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052223250022.html Wed, 22 May 2013 23:25:00 GMT Scientists from the University of Southampton have developed a device which records the brain activity of worms to help test the effects of drugs. NeuroChip is a microfluidic electrophysiological device, which can trap the microscopic worm Caenorhadbitis elegans and record the activity of discrete neural circuits in its 'brain' - a worm equivalent of the EEG. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052223250016.html Wed, 22 May 2013 23:25:00 GMT Two new species of cave-dwelling short-tailed whipscorpions have been discovered in northeastern Brazil, and are described in research published May 22 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Adalberto Santos, from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil) and colleagues. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052223250015.html Wed, 22 May 2013 23:25:00 GMT Endangered brush-tail rock wallabies raised in captive breeding programs carry antibiotic resistance genes in their gut bacteria and may be able to transmit these genes into wild populations, according to research published May 22 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Michelle Power and colleagues from Macquarie University in New South Wales, Australia. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052223250014.html Wed, 22 May 2013 23:25:00 GMT An insect-eating pitcher plant teams up with ants to prevent mosquito larvae from stealing its nutrients, according to research published May 22 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Mathias Scharmann and colleagues from the University of Cambridge and the University Brunei Darussalam. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052223250008.html Wed, 22 May 2013 23:25:00 GMT New research from North Carolina State University and the University of Colorado shows that households with dogs are home to more types of bacteria – including bacteria that are rarely found in households that do not have dogs. The finding is part of a larger study to improve our understanding of the microscopic life forms that live in our homes. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052223250004.html Wed, 22 May 2013 23:25:00 GMT Radically different viruses share genes and are likely to share ancestry, according to research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Virology Journal this week. The comprehensive phylogenomic analysis compares giant viruses that infect amoeba with tiny viruses known as virophages and to several groups of transposable elements. The complex network of evolutionary relationships the authors describe suggests that viruses evolved from non-viral mobile genetic elements and vice versa, on more than one occasion. … http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052218530041.html Wed, 22 May 2013 18:53:00 GMT Swedish scientists have mapped the gene sequence of Norway spruce (the Christmas tree) – a species with huge economic and ecological importance - and that is the largest genome to have ever been mapped. The genome is complex and seven times larger than that of humans. The results have been published in the prestigious journal Nature. This major research project has been led by Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC) in Umeå and the Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab) in Stockholm. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052218530028.html Wed, 22 May 2013 18:53:00 GMT Dinosaurs are often thought of as large, fierce animals, but new research highlights a previously overlooked diversity of small dinosaurs. In the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, a team of paleontologists from the University of Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, Cleveland Museum of Natural History and University of Calgary have described a new dinosaur, the smallest plant-eating dinosaur species known from Canada. Albertadromeus syntarsus was identified from a partial hind leg, and other skeletal elements, that indicate it was a speedy runner. Approximately 1.6 m… http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052218530024.html Wed, 22 May 2013 18:53:00 GMT Malaria-carrying mosquitos appear to be manipulated by the parasites they carry, but this manipulation may simply be part of the mosquitos' immune response, according to Penn State entomologists. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052218530021.html Wed, 22 May 2013 18:53:00 GMT While humans have harnessed the power of yeast to ferment bread and beer, the function of yeast or other types of fungi that live in and on the human body is not well understood. In the first study of human fungal skin diversity, National Institutes of Health researchers sequenced the DNA of fungi at skin sites of healthy adults to define the normal populations across the skin and to provide a framework for investigating fungal skin conditions. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052218530017.html Wed, 22 May 2013 18:53:00 GMT Moving objects attract greater attention – a fact exploited by video screens in public spaces and animated advertising banners on the Internet. For most animal species, moving objects also play a major role in the processing of sensory impressions in the brain, as they often signal the presence of a welcome prey or an imminent threat. This is also true of the zebrafish larva, which has to react to the movements of its prey. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research… http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052218530015.html Wed, 22 May 2013 18:53:00 GMT Researchers at Johns Hopkins have unraveled the molecular foundations of cocaine's effects on the brain, and identified a compound that blocks cravings for the drug in cocaine-addicted mice. The compound, already proven safe for humans, is undergoing further animal testing in preparation for possible clinical trials in cocaine addicts, the researchers say. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052216050025.html Wed, 22 May 2013 16:05:00 GMT A new method of sourcing the origins of artefacts in high definition is set to improve our understanding of the past. Dr Ellery Frahm at the University of Sheffield developed the new technology to better study Mesopotamian obsidian tools unearthed in Syria, where cultural heritage is threatened by the ongoing conflict. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052216050020.html Wed, 22 May 2013 16:05:00 GMT UCLA life scientists provide important new details on how climate change will affect interactions between species in research published online May 21 in the Journal of Animal Ecology. This knowledge, they say, is critical to making accurate predictions and informing policymakers of how species are likely to be impacted by rising temperatures. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052216050017.html Wed, 22 May 2013 16:05:00 GMT Two new minute spider species have been discovered from the Sichuan and Chongqing, China. The tiny new spiders are both less than 2 mm in length, with Trogloneta yuensis being as little as 1.01 mm and Mysmena wawuensis measured to be the even tinier 0.75 mm, which classes it among the smallest spiders known. The two species described in the open access journal Zookeys both have a bizarre body shape with disproportionately big spherical posterior body. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052201380025.html Wed, 22 May 2013 01:38:00 GMT Using a "patient monitoring" device attached to a whale entangled in fishing gear, scientists showed for the first time how fishing lines changed a whale's diving and swimming behavior. The monitoring revealed how fishing gear hinders whales' ability to eat and migrate, depletes their energy as they drag gear for months or years, and can result in a slow death. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052201380013.html Wed, 22 May 2013 01:38:00 GMT ATHENS, Ohio (May 21, 2013)—How does the bacterium Shigella—the cause of a deadly diarrheal disease—detect that it's in a human host? Ohio University scientists have found that a biological "RNA thermometer" monitors whether the environment is right for the bacterium to produce the factors it needs to survive within the body, according to a study published May 21 in the journal PLOS ONE. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052201380008.html Wed, 22 May 2013 01:38:00 GMT DURHAM, N.C. -- Having the biggest playlist doesn't make a male songbird the brainiest of the bunch, a new study shows. "For songbirds, singing a lot of songs indicates a bird is smart, but that signal is not necessarily indicative of intelligence for everything," said Duke biologist Steve Nowicki. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052120040029.html Tue, 21 May 2013 20:04:00 GMT ANN ARBOR—You're standing near an airport luggage carousel and your bag emerges on the conveyor belt, prompting you to spring into action. How does your brain make the shift from passively waiting to taking action when your bag appears? http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052120040017.html Tue, 21 May 2013 20:04:00 GMT Environment is not the only factor in shaping regulatory patterns -- and it might not even be the primary factor, according to a new Rice University study that looks at how cells' protein networks relate to a bacteria's genome. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052120040016.html Tue, 21 May 2013 20:04:00 GMT Scientists discovered a new enigmatic species of ant coming from the Philippines. Cardiocondyla pirata or the pirate ant engages the imagination with a bizarre pigmentation pattern that has no equivalent worldwide. The female castes in the colonies of these species can be recognized by a distinctive dark stripe across the eyes that resembles a pirate eye patch, which inspired the authors to choose the name of the species. The study was published in the open access journal Zookeys. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052120040014.html Tue, 21 May 2013 20:04:00 GMT ATHENS, Ohio (May 21, 2013)—The mighty T. rex may have thrashed its massive head from side to side to dismember prey, but a new study shows that its smaller cousin Allosaurus was a more dexterous hunter and tugged at prey more like a modern-day falcon. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052116080025.html Tue, 21 May 2013 16:08:00 GMT (Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– In a remote fishing community in Venezuela, a lone fisherman sits on a cliff overlooking the southern Caribbean Sea. This man –– the lookout –– is responsible for directing his comrades on the water, who are too close to their target to detect their next catch. Using abilities honed by years of scanning the water's surface, he can tell by shadows, ripples, and even the behavior of seabirds, where the fish are schooling, and what kind of fish they… http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052116080022.html Tue, 21 May 2013 16:08:00 GMT Durham, NC — Biologists have known for a long time that some creatures evolve more quickly than others. Exactly why isn't well understood, particularly for plants. But it may be that height plays a role, says Robert Lanfear of Australian National University and the U. S. National Evolutionary Synthesis Center. In a study to be published 21 May in the journal Nature Communications, Lanfear and colleagues report that shorter plants have faster-changing genomes. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052116080015.html Tue, 21 May 2013 16:08:00 GMT Australian scientists have charted the path of insulin action in cells in precise detail like never before. This provides a comprehensive blueprint for understanding what goes wrong in diabetes. The breakthrough study, conducted by Sean Humphrey and Professor David James from Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research, is now published in the early online edition of the prestigious journal Cell Metabolism. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052116080013.html Tue, 21 May 2013 16:08:00 GMT Researchers at Emory University have identified a protein that stimulates a pair of "orphan receptors" found in the brain, solving a long-standing biological puzzle and possibly leading to future treatments for neurological diseases. The results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Early Edition. http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013052110270004.html Tue, 21 May 2013 10:27:00 GMT It is the first time scientists have decoded the genome of a plant pathogen and its plant host from dried herbarium samples. This opens up a new area of research to understand how pathogens evolve and how human activity impacts the spread of plant disease.