Rats are able to detect whether a child has tuberculosis (TB), and are much more successful at doing this than a commonly used basic microscopy test. These are the results of research led by Georgies Mgode of the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania. The study, published by Springer Nature in Pediatric Research, shows that...
How birds can detect Earth’s magnetic field
Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have made a key discovery about the internal magnetic compass of birds. Biologists have identified a single protein without which birds probably would not be able to orient themselves using the Earth's magnetic field.
The receptors that sense the Earth's magnetic field are probably located in the birds' eyes. Now,...
Climate change is wreaking havoc on delicate relationship between orchids and bees
The first definitive demonstration of climate change upsetting the vital interdependent relationships between species has been revealed, thanks to a study led by the University of Sussex.
Research led by Prof Michael Hutchings at the University of Sussex tracks how rising temperatures since the mid-17th century have wrecked a relationship, which relies on precision timing to...
Can we imitate organisms' abilities to decode water patterns for new technologies?
The shape of water. Can it tell us about what drives romance? Among fish, it might. Eva Kanso, a professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering studies fluid flows and almost like a forensic expert, Kanso, along with her team, is studying how aquatic signals are transported through the...
Tracking Aedes mosquito invasions in Panama
According to new research in the journal PLOS ONE by scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and Panama's government research institute, INDICASAT, mosquitoes in the genus Aedes, which carry a group of dangerous viruses causing yellow fever, chikungunya and Zika, invaded the crossroads of the Americas multiple times, by land and by sea.
"With...
Freezing breakthrough offers hope for African wild dogs
James Cook University researchers in Australia have helped develop a new way to save endangered African wild dogs.
Dr Damien Paris and PhD student Dr Femke Van den Berghe from the Gamete and Embryology (GAME) Lab at James Cook University, have successfully developed a sperm freezing technique for the species (Lycaon pictus).
The highly efficient pack hunters...