Ecology & Zoology

A York University research team has tracked the migration of songbirds, the most common type of bird in our skies, by outfitting them with tiny geolocator backpacks – a world first and interesting because they are too small for conventional satellite trac ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 13 2009 - 10:02am

Natchez- This New Blackberry Doesn't Make Phone Calls But It's Big And Thornless

Introducing 'Natchez', the twelfth release in a series of erect-growing, high-quality, productive, floricane-fruiting blackberry (Rubus L. subgenus Rubus Watson) cultivars developed by the University of Arkansas. According to John R. Clark and Ja ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 23 2012 - 11:42pm

The Big & Small Of Symbiosis

Ever wonder why the slow moving sloth has a slightly greenish hue? Ever consider the sloth at all? Well, perhaps not. Location, location, location, is the mantra for many of us in our macro world, but it is also true for the small world of algae. ...

Article - Heidi Henderson - Nov 14 2009 - 2:01am

A Fish Wash? Seriously?

"Wash that for you?" If you were a fish living in the warm turquoise waters off the coast of Bonaire, you may not hear those words, but you'd see the shrimp sign language equivalent. It seems Periclimenes yucatanicus or Spotted Cleaner Shri ...

Article - Heidi Henderson - Apr 13 2009 - 8:01am

Finding Osama bin Laden with Biogeography

I saw the coolest thing ever on the Rachel Maddow Show tonight. Ever. Thomas Gillespie of the Geography Department at UCLA was on the show discussing his attempt to predict bin Laden's location using satellite imagery and biogeographic theory! It was ...

Blog Post - Ian Ramjohn - Feb 18 2009 - 3:15am

Shark Attacks Impacted By Economic Recession Too

The world economy is an elaborate, complex system so a recession can have unforeseen effects all along the food chain- even among sharks, though that is a good thing for people. Shark attacks worldwide in 2008 dipped to their lowest level in five years, a ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 19 2009 - 12:31pm

Gene Modification Provides Fungal Disease Resistance, Reduces Wheat Yield Losses

A new gene that provides resistance to a fungal disease responsible for millions of hectares of lost wheat yield has been discovered by scientists from the US and Israel. Resistance to stripe rust has previously been achieved using genes that are specific ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 20 2009 - 12:22am

Seed Beetles And Rough Sex

Like sweet, tender romance? Don't date a sand beetle. Researchers at Uppsala University say what is good for one sex is not always good for the other sex and evolutionary conflicts between the two sexes cause characteristics and behaviors that are ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 20 2009 - 9:42am

Are you sitting down? There's a fish with a TRANSPARENT HEAD!

You guys....this is SO COOL! Apparently this fish, which has a TRANSPARENT HEAD, has been known since the 1930's, but scientists just got video and photos of it for the first time. It's scientific name is Macropinna microstoma. ...

Blog Post - Mrs. H. - Feb 24 2009 - 6:43pm

Macropinna Microstoma Mystery Solved- The Transparent Head And Tubular Eyes Of The Barreleye Fish

Researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute recently solved the half-century-old mystery of a fish with tubular eyes and a transparent head. Ever since the "barreleye" fish Macropinna microstoma was first described in 1939, marin ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 25 2009 - 10:07pm