ScienceDaily: Strange Science News |
- Microbes help hyenas communicate via scent
- 'Promiscuous' enzymes still prevalent in metabolism: Challenges fundamental notion of enzyme specificity and efficiency
- Monogamy and the immune system: Differences in sexual behavior impact bacteria hosted and genes that control immunity
- Human and soil bacteria swap antibiotic-resistance genes
- 'Weird chemistry' by microbe is prime source of ocean methane
- Uncoiling the cucumber's enigma: Biological mechanism for coiling, and unusual type of spring discovered
- People merge supernatural and scientific beliefs when reasoning with the unknown, study shows
- Five new species of cuckoo bees from the Cape Verde Islands
- Can blue tits can save our conker trees?
- A whisker-inspired approach to tactile sensing
| Microbes help hyenas communicate via scent Posted: 30 Aug 2012 12:23 PM PDT Bacteria in hyenas' scent glands may be the key controllers of communication. New research shows a clear relationship between the diversity of hyena clans and the distinct microbial communities that reside in their scent glands.  |
| Posted: 30 Aug 2012 12:23 PM PDT Open an undergraduate biochemistry textbook and you will learn that enzymes are highly efficient and specific in catalyzing chemical reactions in living organisms, and that they evolved to this state from their "sloppy" and "promiscuous" ancestors to allow cells to grow more efficiently. This fundamental paradigm is being challenged in a new study by bioengineers who reported in the journal Science what a few enzymologists have suspected for years: many enzymes are still pretty sloppy and promiscuous, catalyzing multiple chemical reactions in living cells, for reasons that were previously not well understood.  |
| Posted: 30 Aug 2012 11:14 AM PDT Researchers examined the differences between two species of mice -- one monogamous and one promiscuous -- on a microscopic and molecular level. They discovered that the lifestyles of the two mice had a direct impact on the bacterial communities that reside within the female reproductive tract. These differences correlate with enhanced diversifying selection on genes related to immunity against bacterial diseases.  |
| Human and soil bacteria swap antibiotic-resistance genes Posted: 30 Aug 2012 11:13 AM PDT Soil bacteria and bacteria that cause human diseases have recently swapped at least seven antibiotic-resistance genes, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report Aug. 31 in Science.  |
| 'Weird chemistry' by microbe is prime source of ocean methane Posted: 30 Aug 2012 11:13 AM PDT Up to four percent of the methane on Earth comes from the ocean's oxygen-rich waters, but scientists have been unable to identify the source of this potent greenhouse gas. Now researchers report that they have found the culprit: A bit of "weird chemistry" practiced by the most abundant microbes on the planet.  |
| Posted: 30 Aug 2012 11:12 AM PDT In the creeping plant's tendrils, researchers discover a biological mechanism for coiling and stumble upon an unusual type of spring.  |
| People merge supernatural and scientific beliefs when reasoning with the unknown, study shows Posted: 30 Aug 2012 10:53 AM PDT A new psychology study finds adults are more likely than children to find supernatural explanations for existential questions.  |
| Five new species of cuckoo bees from the Cape Verde Islands Posted: 30 Aug 2012 07:54 AM PDT Researchers have documented a remarkable diversity of cuckoo bees in the Cape Verde Islands. All five discovered species are entirely new to science and highlight the unique biota of this isolated archipelago.  |
| Can blue tits can save our conker trees? Posted: 30 Aug 2012 03:57 AM PDT Blue tits, a familiar garden bird in the U.K., could be the salvation of our imperiled conker trees (horse-chestnut trees), which are under severe attack by a tiny non-native moth that has spread from continental Europe.  |
| A whisker-inspired approach to tactile sensing Posted: 30 Aug 2012 03:57 AM PDT Inspired by the twitching whiskers of common rats and Etruscan shrews, researchers have developed rodent-like robots and an innovative tactile sensor system that could be used to help find people in burning buildings, make vacuum cleaners more efficient and eventually improve keyhole surgery.  |
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