PHYSorg

While the microbes in a single drop of water could outnumber a small city's population, the number of viruses in the same drop—the vast majority not harmful to humans—could be even larger. Viruses infect bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes, and they range in…

A group of University of Chicago scientists has uncovered a previously unknown way that our genes are made into reality.

Certain types of domesticated wheat have complicated origins, with genetic contributions from wild and cultivated wheat populations on opposite sides of the Fertile Crescent. Terence Brown and colleagues at the University of Manchester report these findings in…

According to a new study led by Steeve Bonneville from the Université libre de Bruxelles, the first mushrooms evolved on Earth between 715 and 810 million years ago, 300 million years earlier than the scientific community had believed until now. The results,…

Allowing the carcasses of dead deer to remain in the Oostvaardersplassen Nature Reserve has a positive effect on biodiversity in the area. Not only do the carcasses attract many more insects and other arthropods in the short term, but also in the long term,…

If you indulge in truffles, or porcini and chanterelle mushrooms, you have enjoyed a product of ectomycorrhizal fungi. Forming symbiotic relationships with plants—including pine, birch, oak and willow tree species—these fungi have existed for millions of…

New findings from University of Exeter researchers reveal how bacterial immune systems can be harmful for their hosts and explain why they are not found in many bacteria.

The planarian flatworm is a simple animal with a mighty and highly unusual ability: it can regenerate itself from nearly every imaginable injury, including decapitation. These tiny worms can regrow any missing cell or tissue—muscle, neurons, epidermis, eyes,…

It is estimated that around 114,000 people disappeared throughout Spain during the Spanish Civil War and subsequent dictatorship. Unfortunately, eight decades on, only a small percentage of these people have been found or identified, with around 9,000 victims…

Your choice of clothing could affect the behavioral habits of wildlife around you, according to a study conducted by a team of researchers, including faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York.

Experts' interest in utilizing gene editing for breeding crops has seen revolutionary growth. Meanwhile, people's awareness of food safety has also been increasing. To understand the attitudinal difference among experts and public towards gene-edited crops, a…

Candida auris is capable of forming high burden biofilms, which may help explain why this fungal pathogen is spreading in hospitals worldwide, according to a study published this week in mSphere, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.…

Caused by a herpesvirus, fibropapillomatosis (FP) is the most significant infectious disease affecting sea turtle populations worldwide. It is widespread in warmer climates like Florida, where almost 70 percent of sea turtles in a population have FP in some…

The intestinal commensal microbial community (or microbiota) is composed of several microorganisms that, among other functions, are beneficial for the protection against infectious agents. When the microbiota is altered many bacteria are lost, compromising the…

Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) have developed a powerful tool that will streamline and accelerate the development of disease therapies, transforming a multi-year process into just a few days.

Did the chicks of dinosaurs from the group oviraptorid hatch from their eggs at the same time? This question can be answered by the length and arrangement of the embryo's bones, which provide information about the stage of development. But how do you look…

Bioengineers have shown great promise in creating complex multicellular kidney organoids (tiny, self-organized tissues) in the lab using pluripotent stem cells . They can further improve the procedure for different outcomes, including patterning and…

Developing new medicines and understanding how they target specific organs often gives a crucial advantage in the fight against human diseases. An international team led by researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and Cellzome, a GSK company,…

A team of researchers from Yncréa Hauts-de-France and Université de Tours, has found that the ranging behavior of free-range chickens can impact their motor self-regulation. In their paper published in the journal Biology Letters, the group describes their…

Researchers have discovered a method to control biomolecular machines over a wide temperature range using deep-sea osmolyte trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO). This finding could open a new dimension in the application of artificial machines fabricated from…

Small fish use light for active sensing to detect potential predators. The yellow black-faced triplefin (Tripterygion delaisi) can reflect downwelling sunlight sideways with its iris, illuminating its immediate surroundings. A team headed by Professor Nico…

Inbreeding in the global thoroughbred population has risen significantly over the last 45 years and if left unchecked may compromise the future sustainability of the breed, according to research published in Scientific Reports.

Using a 22-year dataset of plant-caterpillar-parasitoid interactions collected within a patch of protected Costa Rican lowland Caribbean forest, scientists report declines in caterpillar and parasitoid diversity and density that are paralleled by losses in an…

As more and more large-scale human genome sequencing projects get completed, scientists have been able to trace with increasing confidence both the geographical movements and underlying genetic variation of human populations.

In the Pacific Northwest, the range expansion of Barred Owls has contributed to a conservation crisis for Northern Spotted Owls, which are being displaced from their old-growth forest habitat. How will this interaction between species play out in the Sierra…

Animal pollinators support the production of three-quarters of the world's food crops, and many flowers produce nectar to reward the pollinators. A new study using bumblebees has found that the sweetest nectar is not necessarily the best: too much sugar slows…

Without their keen sense of smell, mosquitoes wouldn't get very far. They rely on this sense to find a host to bite and spots to lay eggs.

Scientific and public appreciation for microbes—and the key role their communal actions play in environmental health, food production, and human wellness—has grown in recent years. While initially considered to be static, uniform entities, microbial…

Have I got a fish story for you. Any angler beginning a yarn like that usually ends up spinning a tall tale, an exaggeration or bald-faced lie.

Opposing desires to congregate and maintain some personal space drive fruit flies to form orderly clusters, according to a study published today in eLife.