Bats are known to harbor highly pathogenic viruses like Ebola, Marburg, Hendra, Nipah, and SARS-CoV, and yet they do not show clinical signs of disease. In a paper published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe on February 22, scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China find that in bats, an antiviral immune...
Low-calorie diet enhances intestinal regeneration after injury
Dramatic calorie restriction, diets reduced by 40 percent of a normal calorie total, have long been known to extend health span, the duration of disease-free aging, in animal studies, and even to extend life span in most animal species examined. Further research has shown that animals fed restricted-calorie diets are also better able to regenerate...
Disease-bearing mosquitoes gain from shrinkage of green spaces
Urbanization and the resulting shrinkage of green spaces in cities can be considered a boon for mosquitoes that transmit diseases, such as Aedes aegypti (dengue) and Culex quinquefasciatus (lymphatic filariasis). More adapted to urban areas, they benefit from the decline in populations of other mosquito species.
In Brazil's biggest city, São Paulo, this relationship is no...
Locomotion of bipedal dinosaurs might be predicted from that of ground-running birds
A new model based on ground-running birds could predict locomotion of bipedal dinosaurs based on their speed and body size, according to a study published February 21, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Peter Bishop from the Queensland Museum, Australia and colleagues.
Previous research has investigated the biomechanics of ground-dwelling birds to better understand...
Movement behavior of an anole species surprisingly dynamic
Anolis lizards have a thing or two to teach humans about love -- or in scientific speak, sexual selection -- at least when it comes to territoriality.
Decades of behavioral research on the lizard's mating systems have resulted in near-unanimous agreement among scientists that the males maintain restricted, static territories to defend exclusive mating access to...
Asian elephants have different personality traits just like humans
Researchers of the University of Turku, Finland, have studied a timber elephant population in Myanmar and discovered that Asian elephant personality manifests through three different factors. The personality factors identified by the researchers are Attentiveness, Sociability and Aggressiveness.
As is commonly known, people have different personalities, and the structure of human personality can be divided into...