Jellyfish and flies use the same hormone when they’ve had enough to eat
The regulation of hunger may go back to the base of the animal family tree. Enlarge / A Moon jellyfish. (credit: Dan Kitwood / Getty Images) The sensation of hunger seems pretty simple on the surface, but behind the sce.....»»
Drone deployed to fight mosquitoes in Southern California
A drone flies over a peaceful Southern California marsh and unleashes a rain of larvae-killing bacterial spore pellets. Its target: a surging population of mosquitoes that can spread diseases to humans......»»
Branson’s Virgin Galactic flies its first commercial mission
It hasn't been an easy road for Virgin Galactic, and more hurdles are ahead. Enlarge / A camera aboard Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity rocket plane captured this view from the edge of space Thursday. (credit: Virgin Galactic).....»»
Artificial neural network study explains why biting flies are attracted to blue objects
A small international team of life scientists has discovered why biting flies are attracted to things that are blue. In their study, reported in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group used an artificial neural network (ANN) to mimic the proces.....»»
Scientists Are Gene-Editing Flies to Fight Crop Damage
The spotted-wing drosophila is a threat to fruit growers across the US and Europe. Crispr could thwart the pest’s numbers......»»
Training AI to recognize fly mating identifies a gene that controls mating positions
A research group at the Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University in Japan has used artificial intelligence to determine that piezo, a channel that receives mechanical stimuli, plays a role in controlling the mating posture of male fruit flies (D.....»»
Rocket Report: Electron scoops up Virgin launch, ULA flies first 2023 mission
"In microlaunchers that balance is on a knife’s edge." Enlarge / United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy rocket takes flight early on Thursday morning carrying the NROL-68 mission. (credit: Trevor Mahlmann) Welcome to.....»»
Developing a jellyfish-inspired ocean sensor
Using a design inspired by one of the ocean's best sailors, a team of scientists at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory is developing a low-cost sensor for ocean observations. The sensors are modeled after Velella velella, which are floating.....»»
To fight berry-busting fruit flies, researchers focus on sterilizing the bugs
Paul Nelson is used to doing battle with an invasive fruit fly called the spotted wing drosophila, a pest that one year ruined more than half the berries on the Minnesota farm he and his team run. In recent years, they've cut their losses closer to 5.....»»
Study provides insight into miscarriages in tsetse flies
Tsetse are biting flies that transmit the parasites causing sleeping sickness in humans and Nagana in animals. Female tsetse flies, which give birth to enormous, adult-sized live young, can experience miscarriages and these are more likely as they ge.....»»
CRISPR/Cas9-based gene drive could suppress agricultural pests
Researchers have developed a "homing gene drive system" based on CRISPR/Cas9 that could be used to suppress populations of Drosophila suzukii vinegar flies—so-called "spotted-wing Drosophila" that devastate soft-skinned fruit in North America, Euro.....»»
Space Farmers of the Future May Grow Fungi, Flies and Microgreens
Here’s how the winners of NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge are making food out of thin air.....»»
Hubble image of the week shows an unusual jellyfish galaxy
This week's image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows an unusual type of galaxy named for its aquatic look-alike: a jellyfish......»»
Image: Hubble observes jellyfish galaxy JO206
The jellyfish galaxy JO206 trails across this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, showcasing a colorful star-forming disk surrounded by a pale, luminous cloud of dust. A handful of foreground bright stars with crisscross diffraction spike.....»»
Speaking up for the annoying fruit fly
Fruit flies can be truly annoying when they are buzzing around your living room or landing in your wine. But we have much to thank these tiny nuisances for—they revolutionized biological and medical science......»»
Hubble captures jellyfish galaxy JW39
The jellyfish galaxy JW39 hangs serenely in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This galaxy lies over 900 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices and is one of several jellyfish galaxies Hubble has been studying.....»»
Theoretical biologists uncover novel mechanism for flight control in fruit flies
Researchers at the Institute for Theoretical Biology at Humboldt Universität have solved a long-standing mathematical puzzle about the emergence of electrical activity patterns during insect flight. Together with colleagues at the Johannes Gutenberg.....»»
Examining puppeteer fungus" targeted takeover of zombie flies
In a new study published in eLife, lead author Carolyn Elya, postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard, reveals the molecular and cellular underpinnings behind the parasitic fungus, Entomophthora musc.....»»
Tiny proteins found across the animal kingdom may play a key role in cancer spread
Phosphatases of regenerating liver (PRLs) are a family of enigmatic proteins involved in cell growth and metabolism present in various species. From humans to fruit flies, they play a unique role in the growth of cancerous tumors and the spread of ca.....»»
"Sayonara" gene: Scientists uncover a protein in fruit flies that many textbooks say shouldn"t exist
RIKEN geneticists have uncovered a protein in fruit flies that many textbooks say doesn't exist. The protein detects stress in cells and sets them on a pathway to self-destruction when they are overly stressed......»»
Drones offer more efficient way to survey vital oyster reefs
Skimming 100 feet above the Gulf waters at 13 miles per hour and blasting out 700,000 laser pulses every second, a drone flies over this oyster reef off the Big Bend coast of western Florida in early 2021. A few minutes later, the drone lands on shor.....»»