Researchers at Oregon State University have learned that a specific wavelength range of blue fluorescent light set bees abuzz.
The research is important because bees have a nearly $15 billion dollar impact on the U.S. economy -- almost 100 commercial crops would vanish without bees to transfer the pollen grains needed for reproduction.
"The blue fluorescence just...
Human immune response in the fruit fly
Washington State University researchers have seen how both humans and fruit flies deploy a protein that plays a critical role in their immune responses to invading bacteria. The discovery gives scientists a model organism with which to explore ways to boost the human immune system and create infection-fighting medicines.
Naturally, there are enormous differences between humans...
Lion conservation research can be bolstered by input from a wide-range of professionals
The conservation of lions, while maintaining the well-being of people that live around them, is a complex problem that should be addressed by a wide-range of professionals working together, suggests a new review published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. Rather than focusing solely on human-lion interaction, factors such as the environment,...
Factor important for ZIKA Virus host species restriction
Princeton University researchers Qiang Ding, Alexander Ploss, and colleagues have identified one of the mechanisms by which ZIKA virus (ZIKV) circumvents immune control to replicate in human cells. The paper detailing this work appears June 18, 2018 in PNAS.
In 2013, and again in 2015, the world witnessed devastating outbreaks of ZIKV, a hitherto obscure member...
22,000-year-old panda from cave in Southern China belongs to distinct, long-lost lineage
Researchers who've analyzed ancient mitochondrial (mt)DNA isolated from a 22,000-year-old panda found in Cizhutuo Cave in the Guangxi Province of China -- a place where no pandas live today -- have revealed a new lineage of giant panda. The report, published in Current Biology on June 18, shows that the ancient panda separated from present-day...
Are smarter animals are bigger troublemakers?
You have probably encountered a raccoon raiding the trash in your neighborhood, seen a rat scurrying through the subway or tried to shoo away birds from your picnic. But have you ever wondered what makes these animals so good at living in suburbs and cities, and whether these same traits also make them such a...