SciGlow | All Science News In One Place
SciGlow is a newsletter of science stories from the major research labs. Headlines link to in-depth articles and editorials. SciGlow keeps scientists and others up-to-date on current research.
Reproduction is one of the most relevant processes in nature. However, not all organisms present the same patterns of reproduction. In many plants species, a bizarre reproductive phenomenon has been described: mast seeding. These plant species tend to alternate between years of massive production of seeds with years of very low production. Why this reproductive … Read more
In contrast to most other species, reef-dwelling parrotfish populations boom in the wake of severe coral bleaching. The surprise finding came when researchers led by Perth-based Dr Brett Taylor of the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) looked at fish populations in severely bleached areas of two reefs – the Great Barrier Reef in the … Read more
New UBC research suggests restoring habitat may not be enough to save threatened woodland caribou—an iconic animal that’s a major part of boreal forests in North America and a key part of the culture and economy of many Indigenous peoples in Canada. Caribou populations have declined rapidly in recent decades across much of western Canada, … Read more
The study may help researchers better understand the evolution of colour vision in the animal kingdom. UQ Queensland Brain Institute’s Professor Justin Marshall said mantis shrimp have the most complex visual system of any living animal. “Mantis shrimp have four times as many colour receptors as we humans do: we have three – red, green, and … Read more
Young fish can be drawn to degraded coral reefs by loudspeakers playing the sounds of healthy reefs, according to new research published today in Nature Communications. An international team of scientists from the UK’s University of Exeter and University of Bristol, and Australia’s James Cook University and Australian Institute of Marine Science, say this “acoustic enrichment” … Read more
For species trying to boost their chances of avoiding predation, it could be a classic case of ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know that matters,’ according to new research. Seeing groups of different wild animals hanging out together on the plains of Africa is not unusual, but why and how these social … Read more
If you took a careful look at the feathers on a chicken, you’d find many different forms within the same bird – even within a single feather. The diversity of feather shapes and functions expands vastly when you consider the feathers of birds ranging from ostriches to penguins to hummingbirds. Now, researchers reporting in the … Read more
Wind energy holds great promise as a source of renewable energy, but some have wondered if measures taken to address climate change have taken precedence over conservation of biodiversity. Wind turbines, for example, kill some birds, and the fatality rate for bats is even higher. Since bats are a crucial part of the ecosystem, helping … Read more
Fire ants build living rafts to survive floods and rainy seasons. Georgia Tech scientists are studying if a fire ant colony’s ability to respond to changes in their environment during a flood is an instinctual behavior and how fluid forces make them respond. Hungtang Ko and David Hu will present the science behind this insect behavior, focusing … Read more
Encased in a neon orange plastic shell, a collection of electronic sensors bobbed along the surface of the Monterey Bay, waiting to be retrieved by Stanford University researchers. A lunchbox-sized speck in the vast waters, it held cargo of outsized importance: the first-ever recording of a blue whale’s heart rate. This device was fresh off … Read more