Biology

Deep-Sea Worms

An international team of marine biologists has described two new species of the polychaete worm genus Melinnopsis from deep waters off the east coast of Australia. Light microscope images of Melinnopsis gardelli: (A) holotype, lateral view of complete specimen; (B) holotype, dorsal view of anterior region, arrow indicates postbranchial dorsal …

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Grasshoppers Explosives Smells

In a new study published this month in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics: X, a team of scientists at Washington University in St. Louis showed how they were able to hijack the olfactory system of the American grasshopper (Schistocerca americana) to both detect and discriminate between different explosive scents — …

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Taste Receptor Cells

Scientists have discovered a new population of taste cells that can detect multiple types of stimuli, including chemicals from different taste qualities. Most taste cells selectively respond to a specific stimulus type while broadly responsive cells respond to multiple taste qualities. Image credit: Jhanna Flora / Kathryn Medler. Taste buds …

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Emperor Penguins

Using images from ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite, a team of researchers from the British Antarctic Survey has spotted 8 new colonies of emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) and confirmed the discovery of three previously identified but never confirmed breeding sites. This discovery, described in a paper in the journal Remote Sensing …

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Truffle Species Discovered

A team of mycologists from Oregon State University, the USDA Forestry Sciences Laboratory and Michigan State University has discovered a new species of spiny-spored truffle in the United States. Spores of Tuber luomae. Image credit: Joyce Eberhart. Truffles are the fruiting bodies of subterranean ascomycete fungi, predominantly one of the …

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Honey of Stingless Bees

Chemists Find Biologically Active Sugar in Honey of Stingless Bees An unusual bioactive disaccharide called trehalulose is a major component of stingless bee honeys from Malaysia, Australia and Brazil, according to a new study led by researchers from the University of Queensland and the Universiti Putra Malaysia. Tetragonula carbonaria. Image …

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Pollinating Bumblebees

Study: Floral Vibrations by Buzz-Pollinating Bumblebees More Powerful Than Their Flight or Defensive Buzzes Buzzing by buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris audax) workers during pollen foraging is much more powerful than that used for defense or flight, according to new research from the University of Stirling. The buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris). …

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Key Enzyme In Human

Key Enzyme behind Human Underarm Malodor Identified A team of researchers from the University of York, the University of St Andrews and Unilever RD has discovered a unique enzyme responsible for the characteristic human odor. Overview of bacterial biotransformation of the odorless physiological malodor precursor Cys-Gly-3M3SH, which is secreted onto …

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Biologists Revive Microbes

101.5-Million-Year-Old Microbes A team of biologists from Japan and the United States has successfully revived aerobic microbes found in 101.5-million-year-old sediments from the abyssal plain of the South Pacific Gyre, the part of the ocean with the lowest productivity and fewest nutrients available to fuel the marine food web. Magnified …

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Active Methane Seep

Scientists Discover Antarctica’s First Active Methane Seep A team of marine ecologists from Oregon State University has described the formation and development of a new methane seep — a location where methane escapes from an underground reservoir and into the ocean — in the Ross Sea, the High Antarctic. The …

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