Ecology & Zoology

To Guppies, Death Is Better Than Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment from male guppies is so bad that long-suffering females will risk their lives to escape it, according to new research from Dr. Safi Darden and Dr. Darren Croft from Bangor University. Male guppies spend most of their time displaying their ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 6 2008 - 7:21pm

Pet Food…Enhanced!

For dogs, just as for people, the saying “you are what you eat” applies. But modern pet foods are a far cry from the old fashioned chicken-bone based foods of yesterday. Many of today’s pet foods are a combination of meat protein mixed with grains and most ...

Article - Audrey Amara - Aug 8 2008 - 9:04am

The No-Stick Feet Of Mirid Bugs

South Africans don't use bug zappers or commercial flypaper to ward off pesky flies, but instead hang up a bunch of Roridula gorgonias leaves. Attracted to the shiny adhesive droplets on the leaf's hairs, the flies are soon trapped by this ' ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 8 2008 - 12:48am

Of snakes and wives

I guess the residents of Barbados are not as amused as we are about some fame-whoring scientist tripping over a snake they have seen their whole lives and naming it after his spouse. "How dare this man come in here and name a snake after his wife?&quo ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Oct 22 2008 - 11:10pm

The Disappearance Of Bees

The unexplained bee disappearance known as Colony Collapse Disorder, CCD, is a problem that affects more than just honey producers. It may not seem like it, but bees play a big role in ice cream making. The domino-like process begins with the pollination o ...

Article - Audrey Amara - Aug 11 2008 - 8:57pm

Strigolactones- New Plant Hormone Discovered

Scientists from the Wageningen University Laboratory of Plant Physiology and an international team of scientists have discovered a new group of plant hormones, the so-called strigolactones. This group of chemicals is known to be involved in the interaction ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 12 2008 - 3:22pm

DNA Reveals New Species Of 1000 Pound Goliath Grouper, E. Quinquefasciatus

Researchers from the University of Hawaii, the Wildlife Conservation Society, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, National Marine Fisheries Service and Projecto Meros do Brazil discovered a new species of fish; a grouper that reaches more than six fee ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 21 2008 - 9:41am

Golden Oldies- Keeping Pet Fish Alive (Because They're Smarter Than You Think)

Five years ago, Edith had a problem: Her goldfish of 25 years, Mr. Fish, had dropsy, a disease characterized by a swollen or hollow abdomen and in most cases fatal. In her last attempt to save her pet, on a whim, Edith wrote a message on GoldfishConnection ...

Article - Audrey Amara - Aug 26 2008 - 11:32am

'Untouched' Southern Amazon Region Once Had Urban Cities

There are no lost cities containing aliens and otherworldly technology but ancient settlements in the Amazon, now almost entirely obscured by tropical forest, were once large and complex enough to be considered "urban" as the term is commonly app ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 28 2008 - 2:45pm

Darwin's Natural Selection Gets An Affirmation From Armored Stickleback Fish

Shedding some genetically induced excess baggage may have helped the tiny Indostomus paradoxus fish thrive in freshwater and outsize its marine ancestors, according to a University of British Columbia study published in Science Express. Measuring three to ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 28 2008 - 6:14pm