Why salamanders can regrow organs and lizards cannot
Aug 18, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
Researchers have found that neural stem cells in the spinal cord ensure that salamanders can regrow proper tails. When transplanting these cells into lizards, that can also regenerate the tail to some extent, these ani... Read more
Men take care of their spouses just as much as women do
Aug 13, 2018 Alexandru Ciobanu
A new study suggests that men respond to their spouse’s illness just as much as women do and as a result are better caregivers in later life than previous research suggests, according to a new Oxford University c... Read more
When rude to your co-workers their children suffer
Aug 13, 2018 Alexandru Ciobanu
According to a group of scientists, when people are rude to their co-workers or treat them badly, they don’t realize the unintended could be the coworkers’ children. Women who experience incivility in the w... Read more
A germinating seed has only 48 hours to become a plant and survive
Aug 05, 2018 Alexandru Ciobanu
A germinating seed has only two days to become a young seedling capable of photosynthesis otherwise, the plant will not survive. During these first 48 hours, it relies solely on its internal reserves, which are quickly... Read more
Want to know where a cell should go? Ask a mathematician!
Jul 23, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
Scientists have long puzzled over the question of how the position of each cell is correctly specified, so that limbs, arms and other organs grow at the correct place. Biologists and mathematicians have now joined forc... Read more
Religiosity decreases sexually aggressive and coercive behaviors in men
Jul 22, 2018 Alexandru Ciobanu
New research shows that college men involved in religious activities are less likely to be sexually aggressive and to engage in coercive behaviors. The researchers surveyed 795 men at a large public university in their... Read more
Barnacle geese adjust migration to global warming
Jul 20, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
Barnacle geese have been found to travel faster from their temperate wintering to their Arctic breeding grounds to be in time for the polar spring. The Arctic spring advances in time due to global warming, so that the ... Read more
Plant evolution: from simple 2D to complex 3D shapes with new proteins
Jul 20, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
Plants find their origin in water, in string-like (2D), aquatic green algae to be precise. Their transition to land has been made possible by a genetic novelty, genes that are not found in algae but only in modern, 3D ... Read more
Mother plants steer development of the embryo by the hormone auxin
Jul 19, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
Just as mammalian embryos develop on the basis of a whole battery of signals from the mother, plant embryos need a hormone, called auxin, to develop properly, a new study found. When researchers blocked the synthesis o... Read more
Discovery of natural herbicide
Jul 15, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
By studying the mechanisms microorganisms use to protect themselves from toxic effects of the chemicals it secretes to kill plants, researchers have found a compound that inhibits the function of an enzyme that is nece... Read more
Embryo’s first cell division keeps paternal and maternal chromosomes apart
Jul 13, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
Using the recently developed light-sheet microscopy technique, scientists have for the very first time observed that the fertilized egg cell forms two spindles one for the paternal, and one for the maternal chromoso... Read more
Evolution of same-species partner selection lies in the brain
Jul 12, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
As for most animals, mating in flies only occurs between individuals of the same species. But how do male flies discriminate between pheromones from females from the same and from a closely related species? New researc... Read more
Pesticides disturb learning and memory in honey bees
Jul 11, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
Even low doses of pesticides that occur in fields with crops reduce learning and memory abilities of honey bees, a new study reports. Learning and memory are crucial for these insects to communicate the whereabouts of ... Read more
Genes involved in aggressivity identified
Jul 10, 2018 Alexandru Ciobanu
Violent behavior is determined by multiple factors, including genetic ones. A new study has looked into this in detail and has identified 40 genes in humans, but also in mice, that are involved in aggressive behavior. ... Read more
Rising carbon dioxide levels are bad news for monarch butterflies
Jul 10, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
Rising carbon dioxide levels can threat life in more ways than just warming up global temperature, a new study found. Carbon dioxide lowers the amount of cardenolides in the milkweed plants the caterpillars eat. Carden... Read more
Genes jump from species to species
Jul 09, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
Genes are not only transferred from parent to child, but also at a large scale from species to species, a new study found. These genes are known as jumping genes, or transposable elements, and copy and paste themselves... Read more
New wasp species has a massive stinger
Jul 09, 2018 Alexandru Ciobanu
Amazonia is a region known for its diversity. Now, it has surprised scientists again, with the discovery of a new species of wasps that have an incredibly massive stinger. The stinger of the new parasitoid wasp called ... Read more
Genetics document amazing history of dogs in the Americas
Jul 06, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
Genetic studies on old dog skeletons have revealed that the first dogs to reach the Americas came from Siberia, together with ancient humans, over a land bridge that once connected Siberia with Alaska. These dogs were ... Read more
Beak size indicate the sex of Galapagos penguins
Jun 28, 2018 Alexandru Ciobanu
Researchers studying the Galapagos penguins must collect a blood sample in order to accurately determine the sex of an individual. This method is, of course, invasive and time-consuming, so scientists have looked for a... Read more
Why size matters
Jun 26, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
Why did life favor the development of big creatures? Researchers have addressed this question by studying fossil records of some of the earliest complex organisms on Earth, the rangeomorphs. These are probably some of ... Read more
