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.....»»
NASA capsule flies over Apollo landing sites, heads home
NASA's Orion capsule and its test dummies swooped one last time around the moon Monday, flying over a couple Apollo landing sites before heading home......»»
Drive male stalk-eyed flies found to avoid fertility reduction by increasing size of testes
A team of researchers at University College London's Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment has found that drive male, stalk-eyed flies do not suffer fertility reduction, despite losing half their sperm, by increasing the size of their tes.....»»
Orion flies far beyond the Moon, returns an instantly iconic photo
"It’s really hard to articulate what the feeling is." Enlarge / Orion, the Moon, and Earth in one photo. (credit: NASA) NASA's Orion spacecraft reached the farthest outbound point in its journey from Earth on Monday, a.....»»
Scientists Reexamine Why Zebra Stripes Mysteriously Repel Flies
While biologists still aren't exactly sure how it works, a new study closes in on why the insects that pester Savannah animals zig when anything zags......»»
Artificial neural networks learn better when they spend time not learning at all
Depending on age, humans need 7 to 13 hours of sleep per 24 hours. During this time, a lot happens: Heart rate, breathing and metabolism ebb and flow; hormone levels adjust; the body relaxes. Not so much in the brain......»»
Fruit flies use corrective movements to maintain stability after injury
Fruit flies can quickly compensate for catastrophic wing injuries, researchers found, maintaining the same stability after losing up to 40% of a wing. This finding could inform the design of versatile robots, which face the similar challenge of havin.....»»
Children"s songs: A link to one"s inner self and to others
Singing can be a real health boost. Song involves your emotions, thoughts and body; the feelgood hormone oxytocin surges and the stress hormone cortisol declines. Singing accompanies us from the cradle to the grave, and binds us together as human bei.....»»
Flies smell the motion of odors and use it to navigate, study finds
The survival of all animals and insects, from wolves to bees, depends upon their ability to find the source of odors, which is a challenge when wind disperses and obscures their source. Past research has shown that animals and insects navigate their.....»»
Tiger sharks that interact with tourists are larger and have higher hormone levels, study shows
Tiger Beach in the Bahamas is famous for its paradisiacal beauty and for being frequented by an animal that might scare most people away but is actually an outstanding diving tourism attraction: the Tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier). The sea is crystal.....»»
More than meets the fly: Related species share space by (mostly) staying apart
Most people probably think of fruit flies as just an annoyance around the fruit bowl. Now, researchers from Japan have discovered that these tiny flies could help to answer some big questions about ecology and evolution......»»
Learning about human cancer from fruit flies
Scientists in Singapore and Spain have gained new insights into the activity of a tumor-suppressor protein in fruit flies that could aid the understanding of some human cancers. The study, published in PLOS Biology, might eventually lead researchers.....»»
Search-and-rescue jetpack flies like a dream in lousy weather
A paramedic in England recently strapped a jetpack to his back and tested it for the first time in rough weather conditions......»»
Watching plants switch on genes using a fluorescent protein
Biologists often use green fluorescent protein (GFP) to see what happens inside cells. GFP, which scientists first isolated in jellyfish, is a protein that changes light from one color into another. Attaching it to other proteins allows researchers t.....»»
Bright and photostable green fluorescent protein derived from Japanese jellyfish
Fluorescence imaging of biological samples stands to benefit greatly by a RIKEN discovery of a fluorescent protein derived from a Japanese jellyfish that maintains its brightness even when illuminated by strong light......»»
"Love hormone" is revealed to have heart healing properties
The neurohormone oxytocin is well-known for promoting social bonds and generating pleasurable feelings, for example from art, exercise, or sex. But the hormone has many other functions, such as the regulation of lactation and uterine contractions in.....»»
Coral genome reveals cysteine surprise
Model animals, such as mice and fruit flies, have provided scientists with powerful insights into how cellular biology works. However, model animals are really just a guide, and it can be risky to generalize findings across animals from studying a se.....»»
Discovering sirtuin longevity proteins in early branches of animal life
Animals on the early branches of the tree of life, such as jellyfish and sea sponges, defy the usual conventions of aging. Some show abilities to regenerate damaged or missing tissues, halt or reverse aging, and in the case of at least one jellyfish.....»»
Examining molecular components that are responsible for generating the action potential in the Venus flytrap
To hunt flies and other small animals, the Venus flytrap has to be faster than its prey. To do so, it has developed a catching organ that can snap shut in a fraction of a second and is controlled by the fastest signaling networks known in plants. An.....»»
Why you should pay attention to fly vomit
New research from the University of Massachusetts Amherst concerning "synanthropic" flies—or the non-biting flies that live with us—argues that we need to pay far more attention to them as disease carriers. While epidemiologists have focused thei.....»»
A Hormone May Boost Cognition in Down Syndrome
The hormone GnRH may have potential for improving language, memory and other intellectual functions in people with Down syndrome, according to a pilot study.....»»