Life Sciences

Groovy Giraffes- How Do Those Spindly Legs Support All That Weight?

Researchers at the Royal Veterinary College have identified a highly specialized ligament structure that is thought to prevent giraffes' legs from collapsing under the immense weight of these animals. "Giraffes are heavy animals (around 1000 kg) ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 6 2014 - 3:26am

Learning New Skills: It's All About Flexing The Brain

Learning a new skill is easier when it is related to an ability we already have. For example, a trained pianist can learn a new melody easier than learning how to hit a tennis serve. Scientists from the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC) have ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 29 2014 - 2:22pm

We're All Going To Die: Knowing When May Just Be A Matter Of Chromosomes

Tiny biological clocks attached to our chromosomes can't tell us the exact moment of our death, but they can narrow it down. These DNA end caps, called telomeres, are the great predictors of life expectancy: the shorter your telomeres, the shorter you ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 6 2015 - 2:12pm

Not Aliens After All: Mysterious Mounds In South America Created By Earthworms

Mysterious spectacular mounds found in the earth in tropical wetlands in South America are created by earthworms, researchers have found. The densely packed, regularly spaced mounds cover large areas of the Orinoco Llanos in Columbia and Venezuela. Until ...

Article - News Staff - May 12 2016 - 6:56am

Fat- The Sixth Taste

a perception, it must be independent of all the other tastes. In other words, it can’t just be a combination of ...

Article - The Conversation - Feb 12 2015 - 6:02pm

COVID-19: The Immune Systems Of The Overwhelming Majority Do Quite Well

were still present nine months after infection. So what does this all mean going forward? It would seem ...

Article - The Conversation - Dec 1 2020 - 6:01am

5 Ways To Stop The World’s Wildlife From Vanishing

all, keep caring These are five starting points for discussion rather than prescriptions. Perhaps the ...

Article - The Conversation - Oct 2 2014 - 8:00am

COVID-19: What Do Viral Shedding And Reinfection Mean? What's The Difference?

People begin shedding SARS-CoV-2 before they develop symptoms. Shutterstock Not all shedding is equal In ...

Article - The Conversation - Nov 30 2020 - 7:08pm

Happy Octopus Day!

spelling of all right, and octopi is an acceptable plural of octopus. But I don't have to like it. ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Oct 8 2009 - 5:12pm

A Discussion With George Church On His New Book Regenesis And Synthetic Biology

reprogramming viruses. Q: How does this work? How can we possibly reprogram all viral genomes? Is the work on ...

Article - Randall Mayes - Nov 12 2012 - 9:49pm