PHYSorg

A 10-year-old Amur tiger with arthritis underwent hip replacement surgery at a zoo outside Chicago on Wednesday, and her surgical team is confident the procedure will add years to her life.

When you think of fungi, what comes to mind may be a crucial ingredient in a recipe or their amazing ability to break down dead organic matter into vital nutrients. But new research by Shuhai Xiao, a professor of geosciences with the Virginia Tech College of…

When a post on social media exposed animal traffickers who planned to illegally sell two young jaguars abroad, Nicaragua zookeeper Eduardo Sacasa had a narrow chance to save the cubs.

If you look deep into the eyes of a fish, it will tell you its life story.

An improved extraction method involving chia seeds may provide new options for nutritional foods, medicine capsules and anti-aging products.

Cells don't express all the genes they contain all the time. The portion of our genome that encodes eye color, for example, doesn't need to be turned on in liver cells. In plants, genes encoding the structure of a flower can be turned off in cells that will…

For centuries, humans have blamed the moon for our moods, accidents and even natural disasters. But new research indicates that our planet's celestial companion impacts something else entirely—our sleep.

A study has revealed for the first time the ancient origins of one of the world's most important ecosystems by unlocking the mechanism which determined the evolution of its mountains and how they shaped the weather there as well as its flora and fauna.

Organelles continue to thrive after the cells within which they exist die, a team of University of Bristol scientists have found, overturning previous assumptions that organelles decay too quickly to be fossilized.

For at least a century, ecologists have wondered at the tendency for populations of different species to cycle up and down in steady, rhythmic patterns.

RNAi-based biocontrol is a great alternative to hazardous pesticides and can contribute towards reversing the alarming decline in farmland birds and beneficial insects (especially pollinating ones).

When marine biologist Stuart Sandin talks about sharks, it sounds like he's describing Jedis of the ocean. "They are terrific predators, fast swimmers and they have amazing senses—they can detect any disturbance in the ocean from great distance," such as…

A research group led by Prof. Hiroyasu Nakano at the Department of Biochemistry, Toho University Faculty of Medicine, identified Mind bomb-2 (MIB2) as an enzyme that ubiquitinates and modifies the protein cFLIP, which plays a central role in suppressing cell…

A research group from Kumamoto University (Japan) has developed an automated measurement system to assess healthy lifespans using nematodes (C. elegans). Based on qualitative differences in lifespans, this system can classify populations of nematodes that are,…

Birds play an underrecognized role in spreading tickborne disease due to their capacity for long-distance travel and tendency to split their time in different parts of the world—patterns that are shifting due to climate change. Knowing which bird species are…

A newly discovered trace fossil of an ancient burrow has been named after University of Alberta paleontologist Murray Gingras. The fossil, discovered by a former graduate student, has an important role to play in gauging how salty ancient bodies of water were,…

Researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKSUST) and the University of Hong Kong (HKU) recently demonstrated that the selectivity determinant of Origin Recognition Complex (ORC) for DNA binding lies in a 19-amino acid insertion…

Biologists believe they are one step closer to a long-held goal of making a cheap, widely available plant a source for energy and fuel, meaning one of the next big weapons in the battle against climate change may be able to trace its roots to the side of a…

The inner ear of a 400 million-year-old 'platypus fish' has yielded new insights into early vertebrate evolution, suggesting this ancient creature may be more closely related to modern-day sharks and bony fish than previously thought.

Nigeria has seized pangolin scales and tusks and bones from endangered species allegedly bound for export to Vietnam, a senior customs official said Wednesday.

A chemical probe molecule—a "first gen" molecule that can be used for drug development—that targets a host cell's protein quality control pathways can dramatically reduce infection by Dengue and Zika viruses. The research led by Lars Plate, assistant…

3-D printing is a universal process in the sense that pretty much any part that can be drawn up in a CAD program can be printed, at least within a certain resolution. Machining a part on a mill or lathe, while having the advantage of greater accuracy and…

This summer's wetter conditions have created great conditions for flowering plants. Flowers provide sweet nectar and protein-rich pollen, attracting many insects, including bees.

Plants and other organisms can adapt their phenotypes to fluctuating environmental conditions within certain limits. The leaves of the dandelion, for example, are much more small in sunny locations than in shady places. In the sun, less leaf area is adequate…

How cells develop and the diseases that arise when development goes wrong have been a decades-long research focus in the laboratory of Distinguished Professor of Biology Ellen Rothenberg. In particular, the lab studies the development of immune cells known as…

A new method of identifying molecular targets to fight disease could help accelerate future drug development new Griffith University research published in Scientific Reports has found.

Ribosomes are complex molecular machines in the cell that catalyze the production of proteins. Ahmed Badran, a Broad Fellow at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and his lab aim to engineer new kinds of ribosomes that generate proteins with novel…

A characteristic feature of all stem cells is their ability to self-renew. But how is this potential maintained throughout life? Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Heidelberg Institute for Stem Cell Technology and Experimental…

Tomatoes are one of the most popular types of fresh produce consumed worldwide, as well as being an important ingredient in many manufactured foods.

The tree species in the Dipterocarpaceae family dominate many tropical forest formations in Southeast Asia (see Figure 1). The Philippines is home to more than 50 dipterocarp tree species, of which 25 cannot be found anywhere else on Earth. About 97% of the…