PHYSorg Headline News Reader

In their latest study about empathy, Yerkes National Primate Research Center researchers Matthew Campbell, PhD, and Frans de Waal, PhD, have shown chimpanzees exhibit flexibility in their empathy, just as humans do. These findings, which appear in the current…

A timid jumping spider uses the scent of ants as a secret weapon to save itself from becoming the somewhat soggy prey of the predatory spitting spider. The downside to this plan is that jumping spiders are also a favorite snack of its very own saviors. To…

The number of rhinos poached in Zimbabwe dropped sharply last year but decades of illegal killing have decimated the population and only 750 remain, a senior wildlife official said on Tuesday.

Perched high on the bluffs of the big river valleys in the Midwest are some of the last remnants of never-farmed prairie grasslands. These patches, edged by forest, are slowly being taken over by shrubs. A recent University of Illinois study examined the soil…

It is fair to say we belong to a species obsessed by sex. We are among the only species to have sex for fun, not just for reproduction. For some other species, though, sex is far from fun. In fact, as two recent review papers show, it is a war zone, involving…

Baboons learn from other baboons about new food sources – but only if they are bold or anxious – according to a new study published in the journal PeerJ. The results suggest that personality plays a key role in social learning in animals, something…

(Phys.org) —A new technique to fight crop insect pests may affect different insect populations differently, researchers report. They analyzed RNA interference (RNAi), a method that uses genetic material to "silence" specific genes – in this case genes…

Evolutionary distances that conservationists use to identify and target distinct species may be unreliable, Oxford University research suggests.

Who said that there is only sand in the deserts? Not quite desert roses, two new species of desert poppies from North America prove such statements wrong with their simple beauty. The newly described plants are found in the deserts of California and Arizona…

In their joint publication in the journal Ecology Letters German and American biologists have reported an increase in biomass production in ecosystems colonised by non-native plant species. In the face of climate change, these and other changes to ecosystems…

QUT scientists say a native Australian grass found around Charleville in Queensland could hold the key to ensuring the long-term viability of a crop critical to world food security.

The epithelium lines the organs of the human body. In the skin and the intestine as well as in the kidney, this cell layer forms a barrier that regulates the exchange of molecules like hormones and nutrients. The Freiburg biophysicist Dr. Roland Thünauer and…

Until now, biofilms—colonies of microbes like bacteria that grow together in a matrix produced by the cells themselves—have been poorly understood. Yet, they can be costly and dangerous. Infections related to hip- and knee-replacement surgery are often…

(Phys.org) —Too much garlic mustard in your neighborhood forest? Actually, the problem may be too many deer.

Seedling success sometimes depends on a good coverup, according to research at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant physiologist Russ Gesch has determined that sowing seeds protected by a thin polymer layer can…

The endangered northern hairy-nosed wombat has been losing a small piece of its hair - all in the name of research, monitoring and conservation of its small population.

A co-author of a Japanese study that promised a revolutionary way to create stem cells has called for the headline-grabbing research to be retracted over claims its data was faulty.

Washington State University researchers have documented dramatic differences in the swimming ability of domesticated trout and their wilder relatives. The study calls into question the ability of hatcheries to mitigate more than a century of disturbances to…

Increasing light pollution in tropical habitats could be hampering regeneration of rainforests because of its impact on nocturnal fruit-eating bats.

Anthropologists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and geneticists at University College London, working in collaboration with archaeologists from Berlin and Kiev, have analyzed ancient DNA from skeletons and found that selection has had a significant…

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery – especially in the predator/prey/poison cycle.

African elephants can differentiate between human languages and move away from those considered a threat, a skill they have honed to survive in the wild, researchers said Monday.

Climate change may even test lizards' famous ability to tolerate and escape the heat—making habitat protection increasingly vital—according to a new study by UBC and international biodiversity experts.

A team of Harvard researchers showed that the commonly found bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris can use natural conductivity to pull electrons from minerals located remotely in soil and sediment while remaining at the surface, where they absorb the sunlight…

South African conservationists on Monday announced that they have enlisted the help of a Belgian Shepherd dog to help track the country's most endangered land-based tortoise.

Plants that live in unusual soils, such as those that are extremely low in essential nutrients, provide insight into the mechanisms of adaptation, natural selection, and endemism. A seminal paper by Arthur Kruckeberg from 1951 on serpentine plant endemism has…

After a natural disaster like a big fire, countless helpers work together to get rid of debris, to build temporary shelters and to provide food for people in need. When a cell is exposed to dangerous environmental conditions such as high temperatures or toxic…

Potentially devastating plant pests and diseases are highlighted in a new report from EASAC, the European Academies' Science Advisory Council, the leading provider of independent scientific advice to Europe's policy-makers. In the detailed EU-wide study of…

An Australian-Japanese collaboration has explored whether organic acids can promote the formation of barriers in the roots of wetland plants, preventing radial oxygen loss.

Annual surveys investigating fish assemblages within Cockburn Sound over six years have led to two important findings that have enabled effective monitoring of fish ecology in the face of proposed developments.