1,501 results
- Health & Medicine
2009 Science News of the Year: Nutrition
Natural vanilla extract comes from pods (shown), but most vanillin is synthesized in the lab. Credit: De-Kay/istockphoto That yeast smells good Yeast has long been pressed into service for making beer and bread. Now the fungus has been tapped for a loftier flavor: vanillin, vanilla’s dominant compound (SN: 5/23/09, p. 9). Natural vanilla comes from […]
- Life
Molecular Evolution
Investigating the genetic books of life reveals new details of 'descent with modification' and the forces driving it.
- Life
Honeybees play follow-the-leaders
Avert your eyes, Margaret, it's a streaker bee! High definition cameras have caught streaker honeybees flying fast above the swarm, leading the crowd to a new home.
- Life
Giant honeybees do the wave
Giant bees coordinate and make waves that would rival those in any football stadium. Predators of the bees don’t find it cheering.
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Book Review: An Orchard Invisible: A Natural History of Seeds by Jonathan Silvertown
Review by Susan Milius.
- Plants
Fugitives spread bumblebee diseases
Pathogens hitchhike on commercial bees that escape from greenhouses. These escapees bring disease to wild bumblebees.
- Chemistry
Flowerless plants make fancy amber
A new analysis suggests that ancient seed plants made a version of the fossilized resin credited to more modern relatives
- Psychology
How to walk in circles without really trying
People walk in circles when landmarks and other directional cues are not available.
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- Ecosystems
Better than a local lady
Orchids lure male pollinators by mimicking the scent of out-of-town female bees.
- Life
Mosquito fish count comrades to stay alive
New experiments indicate that mosquito fish can count small numbers of companions swimming in different groups, an ability that apparently evolved to assist these fish in avoiding predators.
