Monthly Archives: March 2018

These tropical hummingbirds make cricket-like sounds other birds can't hear

Researchers reporting in Current Biology on March 5 have found that a tropical species of hummingbird called a black jacobin makes vocal sounds with an unusually high-frequency pitch that falls outside birds' normal hearing range. It's not yet clear whether the hummingbirds can even hear themselves, the researchers say.

"These vocalizations are fast and high pitched,...

Read more

Backyard chickens need more regulation

Historically, keeping backyard chickens was a response to economic hardship -- whether it was in the Depression or during wartime food rationing.

But a growing number of chickens today are roaming or are caged on small family farms and in backyards, as suburban and urban poultry gains more popularity among consumers. Many people prefer to raise...

Read more

Mammalian development: Blastocyst architecture

The mechanisms that underlie early embryonic development in humans and cattle are very similar. Therefore, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich researchers argue that bovine embryos might well be a better model for early human development than the mouse system.

Many fundamental aspects of the early stages of embryonic development in humans are found to be conserved in...

Read more