8,095 results
- Paleontology
Mosasaurs were born at sea, not in safe harbors
Newly discovered fossils of prehistoric aquatic reptiles known as mosasaurs suggest that the creatures gave birth in midocean rather than in near-shore sanctuaries as previously suspected.
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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.
- Health & Medicine
Puffer Fish Genomes Swim into View
The tightly packed genomes of two puffer fish species have been deciphered.
- Health & Medicine
Making the optic nerve sprout anew
A compound made during inflammation, a natural reaction to injury, can induce optic nerve regeneration in a lab-dish concoction including rat retinal ganglion cells.
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How whales, dolphins, seals dive so deep
The blue whale, bottlenose dolphin, Weddell seal, and elephant seal cut diving energy costs 10 to 50 percent by simply gliding downward.
- Animals
It’s a snake! No, a fish. An octopus?
An as-yet-unnamed species of octopus seems to be protecting itself by impersonating venomous animals from sea snakes to flatfish.
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Glacial warming’s pollutant threat
Some Arctic wildlife are being exposed to high amounts of toxic wastes as glacial melting releases pollutants that had been buried in ice for decades.
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Do oxpeckers help or mostly just freeload?
A textbook example of mutualism—birds that ride around picking ticks off big African mammals—may not be mutually beneficial at all.
- Health & Medicine
Academic Impacts of Vegetarian Childhoods
Teens are always looking for creative excuses for late homework, low test scores, and waning attention in class. Any who stumbled onto a copy of the September American Journal of Clinical Nutrition may have uncovered the basis for a particularly novel rationalization: “My parents made me a vegetarian.” Plants do not make vitamin B-12, also […]
- Ecosystems
Spring Forward
Scientists who study biological responses to seasonal and climatic changes have noted that the annual cycles for many organisms are beginning earlier on average, as global temperatures rise.
- Animals
Lamprey Allure: Females rush to males’ bile acid
An unusual sex attractant has turned up in an analysis of sea lampreys, and it may inspire new ways to defend the Great Lakes against invasive species.
- Health & Medicine
The right fats: Omega-3 fatty acids soothe inflamed colons
A diet containing fish oil, which is rich in healthful omega-3 fatty acids, reduces symptoms of a colitis-like condition in rats.
