Hemp cannabinoids may have evolved to deter insect pests
Cannabinoids, naturally occurring compounds found in hemp plants, may have evolved to deter pests from chewing on them, according to experiments that showed higher cannabinoid concentrations in hemp leaves led to proportionately less damage from inse.....»»
Fossil find in California shakes up the natural history of cycad plants
Cycads, a group of gymnosperms which can resemble miniature palm trees (like the popular sago palm houseplant) were long thought to be "living fossils," a group that had evolved minimally since the time of the dinosaurs. Now, a well-preserved 80-mill.....»»
Enigmatic human fossil jawbone may be evidence of an early Homo sapiens presence in Europe
Homo sapiens, our own species, evolved in Africa sometime between 300,000 and 200,000 years ago. Anthropologists are pretty confident in that estimate, based on fossil, genetic and archaeological evidence......»»
Example of tool use by an insect found in Australian assassin bugs
A pair of natural scientists at Macquarie University in Australia, has found an example of tool use by an insect in Australian assassin bugs. In their paper published in the journal Biology Letters, Fernando Soley and Marie Herberstein, describe how.....»»
Researchers uncover new mechanisms regulating plant response to temperature
Have you ever wondered why you get tired when the sun goes down? Why some flower petals open during the day and close at night? Or even how monarch butterflies know when to migrate south? Life on Earth has evolved to predict what time it is. This mec.....»»
Exploring the evolution of cannabinoid biosynthesis in a non-cannabis plant
A South African plant called a wooly umbrella is completely unrelated to the cannabis plant, yet it makes a slew of the active compounds found in cannabis—cannabinoids—including some that may have new medical uses......»»
Study: Caterpillar traces repel spider mites and may help agriculture
Competition for resources is everywhere in nature. It is a much riskier life for an animal whose competitor is hundreds' of times larger than itself. Tiny herbivorous pests such as spider mites are no strangers to this fate......»»
Worldwide insect decline: Causes, consequences and potential countermeasures
Throughout the world, we are witnessing not just a decline in the numbers of individual insects, but also a collapse of insect diversity. Major causes of this worrying trend are land-use intensification in the form of greater utilization for agricult.....»»
Math unlocks molecular interactions that open window to how life evolved
A "window to evolution" has opened after mathematicians uncovered the universal explanatory framework for how molecules interact with one another to adapt to new and variable conditions while maintaining tight control over key survival properties......»»
Brain circuits for locomotion evolved long before appendages and skeletons, finds new study
Hundreds of millions of years before the evolution of animals with segmented bodies, jointed skeletons or appendages, soft-bodied invertebrates like sea slugs ruled the seas. A new study finds parallels between the brain architecture that drives loco.....»»
A blinking fish reveals clues to how our ancestors evolved from water to land
An unusual blinking fish, the mudskipper, spends much of the day out of the water and is providing clues as to how and why blinking might have evolved during the transition to life on land in our own ancestors. New research shows that these amphibiou.....»»
Automated counting and measuring method for efficient maize trichome identification
Plant trichomes are highly specialized structures that develop from the epidermal pavement cells of different plant tissues. They are known to defend plants from biotic and abiotic stresses such as water loss, insect-inflicted damage, pathogen attack.....»»
Autophagy mediates a direct synergistic interaction during co-transmission of two arboviruses by insect vectors
Multiple viral infections in insect vectors with synergistic effects are common in nature, but the underlying mechanism remains elusive. A new study, published in Science China Life Sciences and led by Dr. Taiyun Wei (Institute of Vector-borne Virus.....»»
How New Zealand’s Pesky Pigs Turned Into a Cash Cow
The animals evolved into ultra-resilient, disease-free predators while isolated on Auckland Island. Now people want to breed them for organ transplants......»»
The best air quality monitors
Toxic particles can wreak havoc on your indoor air, but an air quality monitor can alert you to these unseeable pests. Here are our favorite monitors for 2023......»»
Neuroptera: Greater insect diversity in the Cretaceous period
Human activity is currently driving a loss of natural diversity that some experts describe as the sixth major mass extinction event in the history of the Earth. The decline in insects is particularly alarming: Insects are not just a highly diverse gr.....»»
Biologists discover bees are the brew masters of the insect world
Scientists at the University of California, Irvine have made a remarkable discovery about cellophane bees—their microbiomes are some of the most fermentative known from the insect world. These bees, which are named for their use of cellophane-like.....»»
Study determines criteria for differentiating a pollinating insect from a presumed pollinator in the fossil record
Insect pollination is a decisive process for the survival and evolution of angiosperm (flowering) plants and, to a lesser extent, gymnosperms (without visible flower or fruit). There is a growing interest in studies on the origins of the relationship.....»»
Metallophiles and their bioremediation applications
Certain species of microbes have evolved to survive in harsh environments, even those that were previously thought to be too extreme to support life. These include environments, such as mines and industrial sewage, that are rich in heavy metals. On t.....»»
Apes may have evolved upright stature for leaves, not fruit, in open woodland habitats
Anthropologists have long thought that our ape ancestors evolved an upright torso in order to pick fruit in forests, but new research from the University of Michigan suggests a life in open woodlands and a diet that included leaves drove apes' uprigh.....»»
James Webb Space Telescope images challenge theories of how universe evolved
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) appears to be finding multiple galaxies that grew too massive too soon after the Big Bang, if the standard model of cosmology is to be believed......»»