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.
When driving across country, people can only make it so far before stopping off to rest. Likewise, most migratory songbirds must make stops during their long-distance journeys to sleep along the way. Now, researchers have evidence that songbirds tuck themselves in differently depending on just how worn out they really are. As reported in the … Read more
Why do languages sound so different, when people across the world have roughly the same speech organs (mouth, lips, tongue and jaw)? Does the shape of our vocal tract explain some of the variation in speech sounds? In extreme individual cases, it clearly does: when children are born with a cleft palate, the roof of … Read more
Dr Antony Dodd, Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences and senior author of the paper, said: “This proof of concept research suggests that, in future, we might be able to refine the use of some chemicals that are used in agriculture by taking advantage of the biological clock in plants. Approaches of this … Read more
Scientists have found how to relieve a bottleneck in the process by which plants transform sunlight into food, which may lead to an increase in crop production. They discovered that producing more of a protein that controls the rate in which electrons flow during photosynthesis, accelerates the whole process. “We tested the effect of increasing … Read more
Researchers have discovered that the numbers of plant species recorded by botanists have increased in locations where the climate has changed most rapidly, and especially in relatively cold parts of the world. Human activity has been responsible for substantial declines in biodiversity at the global level, to such an extent that there are calls to … Read more
A new study, published in Nature, reveals that the ancestors of mammals benefitted in the evolutionary race owing to their ability to adapt their metabolism beyond the constraints imposed by body temperature. They were able to colonise colder environments or high latitudes, allowing them to thrive when the Earth’s climate cooled. The basal metabolic rate … Read more
The emotive warnings were made because of global reports that its precursor ‘Finding Nemo’ had inspired a surge in purchases of clown fish, which in turn caused environmental and animal harm. This became known as “the Nemo effect”. The most high profile of the warnings came from the voice of ‘Little Dory’ herself – Ellen … Read more
Mice scurry around while foraging for food, but genetics may be the unseen hand controlling these meandering movements. Researchers at University of Utah Health are using machine learning to draw links between genetic controls that shape incremental steps of instinctive and learned behaviors. The results are available online in Cell Reports on August 13. “Patterns of complex … Read more
For centuries, the mental world of the mind and the physical world were treated as utterly distinct. While the movement of inanimate objects could be measured and ultimately predicted with the help of mathematics, the movement of organisms – their behavior – appeared to be shaped by different forces, under the control of the will. … Read more
Asian carp are capable of surviving and growing in much larger portions of Lake Michigan than scientists previously believed and present a high risk of becoming established, according to a new modeling study from University of Michigan researchers and their colleagues. Some previous studies suggested that low food levels in Lake Michigan could be a … Read more