6,698 results
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Lady-killing genes offer pest control
Two new fruit fly lines—with females that die on cue—could lead to changes in pest control.
- Animals
Flight puts the fight back into crickets
Researchers are just discovering what gamblers in China have known for centuries—flying can make a losing cricket fight again.
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Corn Defenses: Bitten plants deploy gut-rotting enzyme
Some corn varieties that arose on the Caribbean island of Antigua defend themselves with chemical attacks that leave insect gut linings in tatters.
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Bacteria, this spud’s for you
A compound in potato extracts stops bacteria from sticking to their targeted cells.
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Brain wiring depends on multifaceted gene
A single gene may produce 38,000 unique proteins that guide the growth of the developing brain.
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Tree pollination needs male-only rot
A fungus that attacks only the male flowers on the chempedak fruit tree seems to be the edible reward for pollinators—the first fungus discovered to play such a role in pollination.
- Earth
Greenhouse Gassed
Scientists are discovering that more carbon dioxide in the air could spell disaster for plants and the animals that love to eat them.
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Fly naps inspire dreams of sleep genetics
Researchers have discovered a sleep-like state in the fruit fly.
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Bad Dancers: Childhood chills give bees six left feet
Honeybees kept just a bit cool when young grow up looking normal but dancing badly, which impedes their ability to communicate with other bees.
- Animals
Slavemaker Ants: Misunderstood Farmers?
A test of what once seemed too obvious to test—whether ant colonies suffer after being raided by slavemaker ants—suggests that some of the raiding insects have been getting unfair press.
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Biodiversity may lessen Lyme disease
A survey of Lyme disease rates suggests that a greater diversity of small mammals and lizards may help keep the rates down.
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It’s a tough job, but native bees can do it
An organic watermelon field in California near remnants of wild land still had enough bees of North American species to pollinate a commercial crop, but habitat-poor farms didn't.
