Biology Current Events - Biology News

Biology Current Events is the biology news section of Macroevolution.net. It offers recent biology articles and news about scientific discoveries and current events in biology. Topics covered range from evolution to marine biology news. From time to time, this page also provides links to interesting biology news stories on other websites. BIOLOGY NEWS PAGES ON THIS SITE:  Health   Biology   Marine Biology   Environment   Astrobiology   Animals   Fossils   Earth Science   Molecular   Biotechnology  Invasive animals and plants Scientists point out that trade policies need to take larger account of invasive organisms. Read on >> New scientific information site for U.S. oceans and waters A wide array of biogeographic information on U.S. waters and oceanic regions is now available at the new OBIS-USA website. Read on >> Chagas Disease: Diagnostic Breakthrough A team of researchers at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal has reported a new and effective method of diagnosing Chagas Disease that will revolutionize the protection of blood banks from contamination with this deadly disease. Read on >> Big Bang Theory — Flawed? Carnegie astronomers have just found the most distant cluster of galaxies known. They appear to us as they did nearly 11 billion years ago. But they look like closer, ancient galaxies. So what's up? Read on >> Aetodactylus halli — Another first for Texas! Texan paleontologist Timothy S. Myers has just described a previously unknown pterosaur on the basis of a 95-million-year-old jaw found near Dallas in a roadside cut. Read on >> Least Sea Ice in 800 years A new study says there is less ice today in the Fram Strait between Svalbard Island and Greenland than at any time since the 13th century. Read on >> Eruptions in Iceland Icelandic eruptions are unpredictable and deadly says Texas A&M volcanologist Jay Miller. Read on >> Australopithecus sediba A new hominid, Australopithecus sediba, has just been announced. Found in a South African cave by a nine-year-old boy, the new fossils have paleoanthropologists agog. Read on >> Bubonic plague threatening western wildlife The effects of bubonic, or black plague on wildlife may be underestimated, according to recent research. Read on >> VHSV: Virulent fish virus found for first time in Lake Superior For the first time, the presence of an exceptionally virulent fish virus (viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus or VHSV) has been identified in fish from Lake Superior by researchers at the Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and confirmed by scientists at the USGS Western Fisheries Research Center in Seattle. Read on >> Water Striders - It pays to be polite How does the typical male water strider manage to be fruitful and multiply? Not by being pushy, says a new study. Read on >> Savanna elephants: 2,000 dead Since 2006, 2,000 savanna elephants have been killed in and around Chad's Zakouma National Park. Read on >> DNA analysis for ancient manuscripts Thousands of manuscripts produced in medieval times still exist today, but scholars have long bickered over when and where most of these works came into being. Now North Carolina State University's Timothy Stinson is revealing their origins with DNA. Read on >> Dust Bunnies - A new study reveals their source Where do dust bunnies come from? Mostly from outside your house — and despite their friendly name, they're often laden with toxins. Read on >> Male dinosaurs: Super dads? Study says male dinosaurs were super dads and possibly polygamists. Read on >> Fast balls: Bad Calls! When fast balls graze the tennis baseline, how can referees see whether they're in or out? Well, in fact, they can't, says a study published in the journal Current Biology. Read on >> Fish Oil and Fish Extinction According to a new report, claims that fish oil is great for your health are not well established. And yet, widespread belief in the benefits of fish oil is helping push wild fish populations to the brink. Read on >> Biology Current Events - Biology News Dinosaurs may soon show true colors A new study has determined the colors of 40-million-old feathers, opening up the possibility of decoding the pigments of dinosaurs. Read on >> Reefer Madness - Not! - Study says pot won't drive you nuts The reefer madness hypothesis has had a setback — A new study has shown you would have to stop thousands of marijuana users in order to prevent a single case of schizophrenia. Read on >> New insights into extinct Tasmanian tiger In 1902, the National Zoo in Washington D.C. arranged to have a unique and endangered doglike animal called the thylacine, or Tasmanian Tiger, brought to the United States from Tasmania. By the mid-1930s, the thylacine was extinct, leaving behind only preserved museum specimens. In a study published online in Genome Research, researchers sequenced DNA from thylacine museum specimens, including the one brought to the National Zoo more than a century ago. Read on >> Alien life on Earth? Scientists are looking for alien life right here on Earth. They are also wondering how organisms from our planet would fare if transferred to other worlds. Read on >> European earthworm invasion An earthworm invasion, spawned by agriculture and fishing, is engulfing forests in the formerly glaciated part in North America — forests that evolved without native earthworms. Read on >> Jellyfish populations mushroom Massive jellyfish swarms are transforming fisheries and tourist destinations into veritable jellytoriums, intermittently jammed with these stinging, pulsating, gelatinous creatures. Read on >> Polar bears eating goose eggs As polar bears adjust to a warming Arctic — a frozen seascape that thaws sooner each spring — they are finding relief in an unlikely source: snow goose eggs. Read on >> Giant stingray: Not so giant afterall? If you couldn't believe your eyes when you saw the recent photo of a purported record-breaking 771-pound stingray, you might have been on to something. Read on >> New hydrogen production method may cut use of fossil fuels University of Aberdeen scientists have created an entirely natural and renewable method of hydrogen production to generate electricity which could drastically reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Read on >> Magnetic Nanoparticles - A bright future in medicine Whether it's magnetic nanoparticles (mNPs) commanding an army of white blood cells to invade a deadly tumor's territory, or their use to target specific nerve channels and induce a heartbeat, mNPs have come a long way in the last decade. Read on >> New super-efficient power system A super-efficient micro-power system that has the potential to power, heat and cool homes is being developed in the UK. Read on >> Measuring gene activity in real time In a new study researchers have invented a system for monitoring fruit fly gene expression even while the flies are zipping around inside their cages. Read on >> Mexican beaded lizard shares venom source with shrew A new study says similar molecular changes have converted the same harmless digestive enzyme into a venom in two very different types of animals — a lizard and a shrew — giving both a venomous bite. Read on >> Ozone stunting trees Tree growth is seven percent slower today than the late 1800s, and is expected to decrease another ten percent by the end of the century. A new study says modern-day ground level ozone pollution is the culprit. Read on >> Oetzi's mossy eatsies Oetzi the Iceman ate moss. No one has ever found moss in the gut of any other glacier mummy. So this is one Tyrolean iceman who has some explaining to do! Read on >> Tired of Biology News? Read a Biologist's Biography: Carolus Linnaeus - Featured Scientist People unfamiliar with Linnaeus' work often describe him as a creationist. In reality, he was one of the first scientists to propose a theory of evolution. Read on >> Biology Current Events - Biology News