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5,060 articles

Bonn to house top UN panel on biodiversity
Apr 20, 2012 (AFP)
The former West German capital of Bonn has been chosen for the secretariat of a UN expert panel on biodiversity, the organisation announced on Thursday. The dec...
Marine worm feeds on carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulphide with the help of symbiotic bacteria
Apr 19, 2012 (SPX)
In a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen a...
Possum pest feeds thriving fur industry in New Zealand
Apr 19, 2012 (AFP)
The brushtail possum, a cuddly-looking marsupial protected in its native Australia, has become a reviled feral pest in New Zealand, its fur providing a lucrativ...
Endangered Philippine raptor bred in captivity
Apr 19, 2012 (AFP)
A Philippine hawk-eagle feared to be heading for extinction has been bred in captivity for the first time, its breeders said Thursday. Hand-fed with ground quai...
China 'river pig' deaths raise extinction fears
Apr 19, 2012 (AFP)
China says 16 endangered finless porpoises have been found dead since the beginning of the year and experts blame water pollution and climate change for pushing...
New study traces the evolutionary history of what mammals eat
Apr 19, 2012 (SPX)
The feeding habits of mammals haven't always been what they are today, particularly for omnivores, finds a new study. Some groups of mammals almost exclusively ...
Spanish king sorry after Africa hunting trip
Apr 18, 2012 (AFP)
Spanish King Juan Carlos apologised Wednesday for a hunting trip to Botswana that sparked indignation in recession-hit Spain, as he emerged on crutches from hos...
Discovery reveals chromosomes organize into 'yarns'
Apr 18, 2012 (SPX)
Chromosomes, the molecular basis of genetic heredity, remain enigmatic 130 years after their discovery in 1882 by Walther Flemming. New research published onlin...
Promiscuous queen bees maintain genetic diversity
Apr 18, 2012 (SPX)
By mating with nearly 100 males, queen bees on isolated islands avoid inbreeding and keep colonies healthy. The results, published in the current issue of PLoS ...
Pigeons' homing skill not down to iron-rich beak cells
Apr 17, 2012 (SPX)
The theory that pigeons' famous skill at navigation is down to iron-rich nerve cells in their beaks has been disproved by a new study published in Nature. The s...
Two new frog species found in Philippine forests
Apr 17, 2012 (AFP)
Two new species of frog have been discovered in fast-disappearing forests in the Philippines, boosting hopes for the survival of the country's rich but threaten...
Rat thought extinct found in Philippines
Apr 17, 2012 (UPI)
A species of rat living on one tiny Philippine island and thought extinct has been rediscovered after a search that lasted more than 20 years, scientists say. T...
Spain's king, wildlife patron, slammed for hunting
Apr 16, 2012 (AFP)
Spain's King Juan Carlos, patron of a wildlife charity, faced fire Monday for making an expensive hunting trip to Botswana while his country struggles with a re...
Ant queens lay more eggs as they age
Apr 16, 2012 (SPX)
Ant queens get better at laying eggs as they get older, researchers report in the open access journal PLoS ONE. Furthermore, this high egg-laying rate did not s...
Loss of predators affecting ecosystem health
Apr 13, 2012 (SPX)
A survey on the loss in the Northern Hemisphere of large predators, particularly wolves, concludes that current populations of moose, deer, and other large herb...
Black flies may have a purpose after all
Apr 12, 2012 (SPX)
Black flies drink blood and spread disease such as river blindness-creating misery with their presence. A University of Georgia study, however, proves that the ...
Why letting salmon escape could benefit bears and fishers
Apr 12, 2012 (SPX)
New research suggests that allowing more Pacific salmon to spawn in coastal streams will not only benefit the natural environment, including grizzly bears, but ...
Darwin in the genome
Apr 10, 2012 (SPX)
A current controversy raging in evolutionary biology is about whether adaptation to new environments is the result of many genes, each of relatively small effec...
Scientists study the catalytic reactions used by plants to split oxygen from water
Apr 10, 2012 (SPX)
Splitting hydrogen and oxygen from water using conventional electrolysis techniques requires considerable amounts of electrical energy. But green plants produce...
A University of Tennessee professor's hypothesis may be game changer for evolutionary theory
Apr 10, 2012 (SPX)
A new hypothesis posed by a University of Tennessee, Knoxville, associate professor and colleagues could be a game changer in the evolution arena. The hypothesi...
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