Latest Biology Stories
WASHINGTON, May 16, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- U.S. Representatives Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-CA) and Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) today introduced (H.R.1998) the Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act. The bill, spearheaded by IFAW and other animal welfare groups, is aimed at prohibiting private possession and breeding of captive big cats in the United States. "No matter how many times people try, big cats such as lions, tigers and cheetahs are impossible to domesticate for personal...
Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online For years, scientists have been on the trail of a slippery culprit responsible for a deadly fungus, and they’ve finally found the culprit. The fungus, called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or ‘Bd’ for short, has played a role in the recent decline or extinction of 200 frog species worldwide. According to a new report in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, long-suspected African clawed frogs have finally been confirmed as the...
[WATCH VIDEO: Stanford's Wearable Heart Monitor] Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online A team from Stanford University writing in the journal Nature Communications say they have developed a wearable heart monitor that is thinner than a dollar bill. The engineers combined layers of flexible materials into pressure sensors to create the new skin-like heart monitor. They said their device could be used to continuously track heart health and provide doctors with a safer...
[WATCH VIDEO: Contracting Cardiomyocystes] redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University (OSHU) and the Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) have successfully reprogrammed human skin cells to become embryonic stem cells capable of transforming into any other cell type in the body, a breakthrough that marks the first time human stem cells have been produced via nuclear transfer. Stem cell therapies are...
Michael Harper for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Emissions from car and truck exhaust have already been proven to have negative and lasting effects on the earth’s atmosphere and our overall environment. This week, academic researchers are suggesting the same emissions could have direct negative effects on human beings, transforming the “good” cholesterol in our bodies to bad. Bad cholesterol has been linked to cardiovascular diseases and can wreak havoc on the body’s...
Michael Harper for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online When looking to decrease cholesterol levels, many doctors prescribe a treatment regimen of diet, exercise and a cholesterol lowering medicine. Researchers from the University of Missouri (Mizzou) have now found that statins, or drugs used to lower cholesterol, may diminish any good done by exercise in obese adults. The researchers looked at one statin in particular, simvastin, better known as “Zocor” in their study. The...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online New research into the incubation behavior of modern birds is shedding new light on the type of parental care carried out by their extinct ancestors. Geoff Birchard from the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University, along with Charles Deeming and Marcello Ruta from the University of Lincoln's School of Life Sciences, wanted to test the theory that data from modern birds could be used to predict the...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Texas Biomedical Research Institute scientists have identified four genes in baboons that influence levels of “bad cholesterol,” which could lead to the development of new drug therapies to reduce the risk of heart disease. The findings will be published in the Journal of Lipid Research. "Our findings are important because they provide new targets for the development of novel drugs to reduce heart disease risk in humans," said...
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Women's immune systems age more slowly than men's, which may contribute to their longer average lifespans, according to new research published Wednesday in the journal Immunity & Ageing. The study by Japanese researchers found that levels of key white blood cells responsible for fighting off infections decline faster in ageing men than they do in women. The average life expectancy in the US is 76.0 years for men and 80.9...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online City-states in ancient Greece that waited until their own harvest was in before attacking and destroying a rival community’s crops often experienced better long-term success. Ant colonies that show similar selectivity when gathering food have similar results, according to a new study from Stanford University. Deborah M. Gordon, Stanford biology professor, conducted a long-term study of harvester ants. Her findings, published in the...
Latest Biology Reference Libraries
Seed saving is the preserving of seeds from mature vegetables, herbs, and flowers used in subsequent years along with bulbs and tubers. Home gardeners have saved seeds for generations and the practice is now becoming common with organic farmers as well as permaculturists. Growers will clone plants so as not to produce seeds keeping the plant “true to type” to the parent plant. True to type refers to the characteristics of the parent plant such as large fruit/blooms. Plants...
The Variable bushy feather star is commonly found concealed on shallow water reefs in the western Pacific Ocean. The parts that will be most often seen are the fern-like arms. The arms start at the base with five rays then begin to divide from there. The arms are flexible due to the multiple calcium filled joints, also called ossicle; therefore if needed these arms could coil up and provide protection to the main body. Interestingly, if one arm should fall off, or perhaps pulled off, then two...
The noble feather star (also known as the yellow feather star) reaches up to 15.75 inches in diameter with a cup-shaped body. There can be 35-40 arms extending out of the central part of the body. The arms are primarily yellow with the underside having a variation to include black, green, or white. The noble feather star feeds on food debris, phytoplankton and zooplankton. Phytoplankton and zooplankton are microscopic organisms that are present mainly in the layer of the oceans that is...
The Mediterranean feather star is a filter feeder that obtains food by straining suspended matter and food particles from water. The star has a stalk that has up to forty tendrils, (threadlike organs) which help the star cling to hard surfaces. The “body” of the star is called a calyx and is shaped like a small cup. This calyx is surrounded by feathery pinnules bearing arms. These arms are quite unique in the fact that they can regenerate if one should get broken off; these arms extend to...
The cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) is an extinct species that was found in Europe during the Pleistocene. Its range was large and included areas from Great Britain to Spain, Italy, Poland, the Balkans, areas of Germany, Russia, the Caucuses, Romania, and northern areas of Iran. Large numbers of skeletons have been found in Switzerland, southern Germany, Austria, northern Spain, Hungary, Croatia, and Romania. Because so many fossils have been found throughout Europe, some experts assert that there...
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![The Secret of a Snake\](/media/gallery/national-science-foundation-gallery/thumbs/thumbs_pf3292_cover_jacket_h.jpg "The Secret of a Snake\")
![The Secret of a Snake\](/media/gallery/national-science-foundation-gallery/thumbs/thumbs_pf3292_cover1_h1.jpg "The Secret of a Snake\")
