How Do Birds Know When to Migrate?
Lengthening days set off a cascade of events in migratory birds that culminates in the birth of a clutch of chicks.....»»
Circadian rhythm research could turn early birds into night owls
How body clocks work could lead to science that can turn an early bird into a night owl or vice versa as well as other advances, like helping crops grow all year long......»»
The product-led growth behind edtech’s most downloaded app
Duolingo CEO and co-founder Luis von Ahn was tired of the gray and dreary design aesthetic edtech companies used to emulate universities. Instead, he and the company’s early team sought inspiration from games like Angry Birds and Clash Royale, look.....»»
How one naughty bird cheats with fancy feather structures
Male tanager birds have more than way to make their colors really pop for the ladies Enlarge / A Brazilian Tanager (Ramphocelus bresilius) with his cheating red feathers looking up at the sky. (credit: Rogerio Peccioli | Getty) Female tanager.....»»
How One Naughty Bird Cheats With Fancy Feather Structures
For male tanager birds, carotenoid feather pigments just aren't flashy enough. They have another way to make their colors really pop......»»
Want to save an island’s coral reefs? Get rid of invasive rats
Rats drive off birds, setting off a cascade of ecosystem damages that spread offshore. Enlarge / The stark surface of Redonda Island is turning green again. (credit: Invertzoo) Hundreds of years ago, Europeans were sailing the globe and “dis.....»»
ITRI-developed intelligent machinery cloud platform to start operation
The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) will start operation of an in-house-developed intelligent machinery cloud computing platform in July 2021 to help companies migrate to smart manufacturing......»»
Citizen science data tracks battle of birds vs bacteria
House finches are locked in a deadly cycle of immunity and new strains of bacterial infection in battling an eye disease that halved their population when it first emerged 25 years ago, according to new research from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology......»»
The intricate dance between waves, wind, and gliding pelicans is worked out for the first time
It's a common sight: pelicans gliding along the waves, right by the shore. These birds make this kind of surfing look effortless, but actually the physics involved that give them a big boost are not simple......»»
Decades after the oil spill that inspired Earth Day, are we prepared for the next one?
The year was 1969. A blow-out from Union Oil's offshore platform just six miles from the city of Santa Barbara leaked an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 barrels of crude oil into the Santa Barbara Channel, killing approximately 3,500 sea birds and marine.....»»
Gaps in genetic knowledge affect kiwi conservation efforts
Kiwi are iconic birds that have been severely impacted by deforestation and predation from invasive mammals since the arrival of humans in New Zealand. The remaining kiwi can be split into 14 clusters that are now treated as separate conservation man.....»»
What does the study of domesticated birds tell us about the evolution of human language?
Language is one of the most notable abilities humans have. It allows us to express complex meanings and transmit knowledge from generation to generation. An important question in human biology is how this ability ended up being developed, and researc.....»»
Study of marten genomes suggests coastal safe havens aided peopling of Americas
How did the first humans migrate to populate North America? It's one of the great scientific puzzles of our day, especially because forbidding glaciers covered most of Canada, Alaska and Pacific Northwest during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). These.....»»
eBird data used to shape eagle management
Millions of people donate billions of dollars' worth of their time to citizen-science projects each year. While these efforts have broadened our understanding of everything from birds to bees to bracken ferns, rarely has citizen-science data informed.....»»
Birds take tRNA efficiency to new heights
Birds have been shaped by evolution in many ways that have made them distinct from their vertebrate cousins. Over millions of years of evolution, our feathered friends have taken to the skies, accompanied by unique changes to their skeleton, musculat.....»»
Megafauna extinction mystery unlocked
The rapid extinction of giant animals including wombat-like creatures as big as cars, birds more than two meters tall, and lizards more than seven meters long that once roamed the Australian continent is a puzzle that has long engaged researchers......»»
Researchers uncover how cells control the physical state of embryonic tissues
In the earliest stage of life, animals undergo some of their most spectacular physical transformations. Once merely blobs of dividing cells, they begin to rearrange themselves into their more characteristic forms, be they fish, birds or humans. Under.....»»
Picking up baby birds can do more harm than good
After hatching in spring, baby birds sometimes end up on the ground, but that doesn't necessarily mean they need help......»»
Birds" blood functions as heating system in winter
Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have discovered that bird blood produces more heat in winter, when it is colder, than in autumn. The study is published in The FASEB Journal......»»
Transforming crop and timber production could reduce species extinction risk by 40%
Ensuring sustainability of crop and timber production would mitigate the greatest drivers of terrestrial wildlife decline, responsible for 40% of the overall extinction risk of amphibians, birds and mammals, according to a paper published today in Na.....»»
Weather radar for ecological forecasting can lessen hazards for migratory birds
Forecasts aren't just for the weather. Scientists can use weather radar and related technology to chart the journeys of billions of migratory birds, which can help protect these global travelers from a growing array of threats......»»