Biology

New Sex Hormone Discovered: Secretoneurin A large protein called secretogranin-2 is important for the normal functioning of brain cells and other cells that secrete hormones to control body functions such as growth and reproduction. However, secretogranin-2 can get chopped up by special enzymes and an international team of researchers found …

Leaves of Flowerless Plants to Stimulate Earlier Flowering Bumblebees rely heavily on pollen resources for essential nutrients as they build their summer colonies. Therefore, annual differences in the availability of these resources must simply be tolerated, but a team of researchers from ETH Zürich and the Universite Paris-Saclay made observations …

Researchers Map Green Snow Algae Blooms in Antarctica Using data from ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission and two field campaigns, a team of UK scientists has identified 1,679 blooms of Antarctic green snow algae, seasonally covering 1.95 km2 and equating to 1,300 tons total dry biomass. A photograph showing a snow …

Cosmic Rays May Have Played Key Role in Origin of Life’s Handedness Living organisms comprise a system of molecules organized with specific handedness. Handedness — or chirality — is the geometric property of an object that cannot be superimposed on its mirror image. In a paper published in the Astrophysical …

Seven New Species of Australian Peacock Spiders Discovered Museums Victoria arachnologist Joseph Schubert has described seven new species of the peacock spider genus Maratus from Australia. Maratus azureus. Image credit: Joseph Schubert. Maratus is a relatively large genus of jumping spiders in the family Salticidae. Members of this genus are …

Study: Single Gene Causes ‘Virgin Births’ in Cape Honeybees A protein-coding gene called GB45239 is responsible for thelytokous parthenogenesis — the ability to produce daughters asexually — in the Cape honeybee (Apis mellifera capensis), a subspecies of honeybee found in the two southern provinces of South Africa, according to a …

Hunger is Main Driver of Stone Juggling in Otters, New Study Shows A team of researchers from the University of Exeter has studied potential drivers of ‘rock juggling’ in two species of otters in zoo environments. Asian small-clawed otters (Aonyx cinereus). Image credit: Neil McIntosh / CC BY 2.0. Although …

New Species of Moray Eel Discovered A team of researchers from South Africa has discovered that the Indo-Pacific undulated moray eel (Gymnothorax undulatus), first described by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1803, is in fact two genetically and morphologically distinct species. Gymnothorax elaineheemstrae. Image credit: Dennis King. …

Scientists Catch Elusive Metabolons in Action A team of researchers at Pennsylvania State University has directly observed functional metabolons — long-hypothesized clusters of enzymes — involved in generating purines (building blocks of DNA and RNA), the most abundant cellular metabolites. P-HeLa cells grown on a Si substrate. Image credit: Pareek …

New Species of Pit Viper Discovered in India A team of scientists in India has discovered a new species of the viper genus Trimeresurus living in the lowlands of western Arunachal Pradesh state and named it the Salazar’s pit viper (Trimeresurus salazar) after Salazar Slytherin, J.K. Rowling’s fictional Hogwarts School’s …