How Insect Brains Melt and Rewire During Metamorphosis
Do fruit flies remember their larval lives? To find out, scientists made the neurons inside larvae glow, then tracked how they reshuffled as they formed adult brains......»»
Building bionic jellyfish for ocean exploration
Jellyfish can't do much besides swim, sting, eat, and breed. They don't even have brains. Yet, these simple creatures can easily journey to the depths of the oceans in a way that humans, despite all our sophistication, cannot......»»
Ecologist cautions researchers to look more closely at apparent mismatches between birds and their prey
Climate change may speed up the emergence of insects in northern countries at the end of winter. This may cause breeding birds migrating from the south to come too late to benefit from the insect peak if they do not adjust their travel schedules to t.....»»
Unlocking the potential of protease inhibitors for enhanced pest resistance in tea plants
Protease inhibitors are a promising strategy for enhancing herbivore resistance in plants, which is crucial for addressing the significant yield losses in crops such as tea plants due to insect herbivores. Serine protease inhibitors (SERPIN) are one.....»»
Protecting the peppers: Unlocking the potential of the sterile insect technique
For the first time, researchers in Canada have investigated the use of the sterile insect technique for controlling populations of the pepper weevil, Anthonomus eugenii, an economically significant crop pest in North America......»»
Ice melt barriers disappearing at twice the rate compared to 50 years ago, study finds
Undersea anchors of ice that help prevent Antarctica's land ice from slipping into the ocean are shrinking at more than twice the rate compared with 50 years ago, research shows......»»
New study shows similarities and differences in human and insect vision formation
Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have discovered profound similarities and surprising differences between humans and insects in the production of the critical light-absorbing molecule of the retina, 11-cis-retinal, also known as th.....»»
New method for marking neurotransmitter receptors in living animal brains
Researchers have developed a new method of labeling naïve neurotransmitter receptor proteins in living animal brains......»»
Indigenous Colombians fret as sacred mountain glaciers melt
In the shade of a sacred tree, Indigenous wise men chew coca leaves as they mull the threats to their home among the melting, snow-capped peaks of Colombia's Sierra Nevada mountains......»»
Ancient retroviruses played a key role in the evolution of vertebrate brains, suggest researchers
Researchers report in the journal Cell that ancient viruses may be to thank for myelin—and, by extension, our large, complex brains......»»
Changing the color of commonly used agricultural nets lessens insect damage to Kujo leek fields
Red nets are better at keeping away a common agricultural insect pest than typical black or white nets, according to a new study. Researchers have experimented with the effect of red, white, black and combination-colored nets on deterring onion thrip.....»»
Desert ants: Earth"s magnetic field calibrates their navigation system
They are only a few centimeters tall and their brains have a comparatively simple structure with less than 1 million neurons. Nevertheless, desert ants of the Cataglyphis genus possess abilities that distinguish them from many other creatures: The an.....»»
New research describes how ADHD gives entrepreneurs an edge
The brains of people with ADHD function in ways that can benefit them as entrepreneurs, according to research from the West Virginia University John Chambers College of Business and Economics......»»
Smells like evolution: Fruit flies reveal surprises in chemical sensing
A new study in Nature Communications unveils the hidden world of sensory evolution in fruit flies. By delving into the genes and cells behind their delicate noses and tongues, researchers have discovered surprising secrets about how these tiny insect.....»»
Currently stable parts of East Antarctica may be closer to melting than anyone has realized
In a warming climate, meltwater from Antarctica is expected to contribute significantly to rising seas. For the most part, though, research has been focused on West Antarctica, in places like the Thwaites Glacier, which has seen significant melt in r.....»»
Scientists pinpoint growth of brain"s cerebellum as key to evolution of bird flight
Evolutionary biologists at Johns Hopkins Medicine report they have combined PET scans of modern pigeons along with studies of dinosaur fossils to help answer an enduring question in biology: How did the brains of birds evolve to enable them to fly?.....»»
One in five Colorado bumblebees are endangered, new report says
On a cliffside at Mesa Verde National Park in southern Colorado, a fuzzy bee was industriously gnawing at the red sandstone. Making a loud grinding sound, the insect used its powerful jaws to drill tunnels and holes in rocks, where it would build a n.....»»
Insect populations flourish in the restored habitats of solar energy facilities
Bumblebees buzz from flower to flower, stopping for a moment under a clear blue Minnesota sky. Birds chirp, and tall grasses blow in the breeze. This isn't a scene from a pristine nature preserve or national park. It is nestled between photovoltaic (.....»»
Space travel taxes astronauts" brains. But microbes on the menu could help in unexpected ways
Feeding astronauts on a long mission to Mars goes well beyond ensuring they have enough nutrients and calories to survive their multi-year journey......»»
AI is changing the cockpit as well as the brains of the car
Intel, Nvidia, Qualcomm highlighted new forms of this consolidated vehicle architecture at CES this year, combining many of the microprocessors into two or three system-on-chips......»»
Glaciers rise, fall and melt with tides
Glaciers that extend off the edges of landmasses move much more than scientists anticipated, R. Gadi and colleagues have found. The boundary between the grounded part of a glacier and the point at which the glacier extends past the landmass to float.....»»