Effect of Weak Broadband EM

Biologists studying migratory birds accidentally discovered that the effects of low-level broadband electromagnetic fields common in cities and a thousand times below the range that affects human health can disrupt the behavior and magnetic migratory sense of urban songbirds.

Rembrandt's First Elephant

Results from a DNA and anatomy study of the remains of the type specimen for the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) reveal it to actually be an African elephant (Loxodonta spp.), and biologists searching for a new type specimen settled on a description published in 1693 of what is now the preserved skeleton of an individual elephant named Hansken -- an animal who's likeness was captured in sketches by Rembrandt in 1637.

Evolution Through Exaptation

A new quantitative study gives further support to the new biological concept of exaptation, an evolutionary phenomenon introduced in 1982 by Stephen Jay Gould and Elisabeth Vrba as a counterpart to adaptation by which existing traits are co-opted for new and advantageous uses unrelated to their biological origin.

Starfish Lose Arms to Heat

Scientists have found that cold-blooded (ectotherm) starfish can regulate their internal body temperatures to a degree, diverting heat away from their vital organs at the center core and into their arms to dissipate heat more efficiently even at the cost of losing that appendage to tissue damage.

Testing Cope's Rule

Scientists using statistical modeling methods to compare dinosaur femurs have verified Cope's Rule that smaller animals always evolve into larger sizes with no upper limit, with exceptions for structural function between clades such as theropods (two legs) versus sauropods and ornithopods (four legs).

Mouse Eggs From Stem Cells

Researchers have produced lab-made viable egg cells from mouse stem cells, capable of being fertilized and growing individuals to birth, maturity and being successfully reproductive themselves.

New "Glymphatic System" in Brain

Neuroscientists have discovered a previously unknown system that rapidly drains waste away from the brain, a waste clearance network named the "glymphatic system" that shadows the blood vessels and operates much the same way as the lymphatic system in the rest of the body.

New Uncategorized Protozoan

Genetic analysis of a new protozoan species (unnamed, simply referred to as the protozoan) discovered in a lake in Norway show the organism does not fit into any known branch of the tree of life and may provide insight into ancient life from 1 billion years ago.

Taste Loss in Obligate Carnivores

Researchers have established a correlation between obligate carnivores (animals subsisting only on meat) and the inability to taste sweet compounds, with the gene that controls the sweet taste receptor lost through the species' evolution and demonstrating the importance of an animal's dietary needs in shaping their sensory systems.

Panda Poop Analyzed

In an attempt to discover how pandas live on an all-bamboo diet without the physiological or enzymatic traits common to most herbivores, zoologists have identified thirteen species of bacteria known to break down cellulose present in their feces, with seven of those species unique to pandas.

Superfast Muscles in Bats

Researchers have found bats to be the first mammals known to possess superfast muscles in their throat used for echoloation, a type of tissue previously only known to exist in songbirds and some snake species.

Potatoes and Blood Pressure

Researchers have found that purple potatoes can reduce blood pressure in patients with high blood pressure due to natural phytochemicals with effects similar to those of prescribed ACE-inhibitor medications.

Majority of Species Unknown

A new study estimates the number of individual species of life found on Earth at 8.7 million, which means with 1.2 million species catalogued that about 86% of species are presently unknown to science and risk extinction before ever being recorded.

Humans Sense Earth's Magnetism

Researchers have found a protein in the human retina (cryptochrome 2, hCRY2) that allows Drosophilia to sense a magnetic field once implanted into the flies, raising the question and field of research of human sensory magnetoreception similar to migratory birds.

Bacteria and Extreme Gravity

Using an ultracentrifuge to duplicate hypergravity conditions such as found with massive stars or cosmic events, researchers have found that four ordinary strains of soil bacteria can survive and grow under as much as 400,000 times Earth's gravity.

Sperm Grown from Scratch

For the first time, mouse germ cells have been grown into viable sperm cells outside the testes and successfully fertilized eggs to produce healthy embryos, a development that could lead to new treatments for infertility.

Self-Healing Mammal Hearts

Researchers have discovered that newborn mice have the capacity to regenerate large amounts of lost or damaged cardiac tissue through proliferation of cells called cardiomyocytes and eventually regaining full normal function, an ability that is lost mere days after birth.

Dollo's Law and Frog Teeth

One tree frog species (Gastrotheca guentheri) has redeveloped teeth in its lower jaw whereas all frog species lost similar teeth about 200 million years ago, a contradiction of Dollo's law which claims that species' traits lost to evolution are never regained.

Evolution of Limb/Fin Gene

Researchers have identified two specific genes of zebrafish embryos that encodes for development of the fins, marking a significant evolutionary artifact as it is believed that the loss of this gene began the transition into limb development for higher animals.

Synthetic Cell Created

Scientists have synthesized an entirely artificial genome and replicated it by inserting it into a live bacterium, taking one step closer to creating artificial or laboratory-designed life.