ScienceDaily: Plants & Animals News

CO2 increase can intensify future droughts in tropics, study suggests Posted: 09 Mar 2015 12:55 PM PDT A new article discusses the importance of research that suggests increases in atmospheric CO2 could intensify extreme droughts in tropical and subtropical regions. "This is the first study that suggests a possible intensification of droughts in the tropic-subtropical margins in warmer climate. The finding is critical to understanding what the world will be like as the climate continues to change," the lead investigator said.

Progeny of old parents have fewer offspring, sparrow study finds Posted: 09 Mar 2015 12:55 PM PDT Reproduction at old age involves risks that may impact one's own life and may impose reduced biological fitness on the offspring. Such evidence, previously obtained in humans and other taxa under laboratory conditions, has now been confirmed by researcher for the first time in free-living animals. In a long-term study on a population of house sparrows they found that offspring of older parents themselves produced fewer young. Such a transgenerational effect is important for the understanding of the evolution of longevity.

Amphibians, already threatened, face increased susceptibility to disease from environmental stress Posted: 09 Mar 2015 11:58 AM PDT New research supports the hypothesis that environmental stressors increase salamanders’ susceptibility to infection, based on chronic exposure to corticosterone, a stress hormone.

Biofuel proteomics: Researchers use proteomics to profile switchgrass Posted: 09 Mar 2015 11:57 AM PDT Researchers used an advanced proteomic techniques to identify 1,750 unique proteins in shoots of switchgrass, a native prairie grass viewed as one of the most promising of all the plants that could be used to produce advanced biofuels.

New class of drugs dramatically increases healthy lifespan, mouse study suggests Posted: 09 Mar 2015 11:48 AM PDT Scientists have identified a new class of drugs that in animal models dramatically slows the aging process -- alleviating symptoms of frailty, improving cardiac function and extending a healthy lifespan.

Teens, adults hazy on Washington marijuana law, study shows Posted: 09 Mar 2015 10:51 AM PDT Only 57 percent of Washington parents surveyed knew the legal age for recreational marijuana use and just 63 percent knew that homegrown marijuana is illegal under the law, a new study demonstrates.

After 60 million years apart, two fern genera form hybrid in the mountains of France Posted: 09 Mar 2015 10:51 AM PDT A fern discovered in the French Pyrenees is a recently formed intergeneric hybrid between parental lineages that diverged from each other approximately 60 million years ago, scientists say.

Vegetarian diet linked to lower risk of colorectal cancers Posted: 09 Mar 2015 09:41 AM PDT Eating a vegetarian diet was associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancers compared with nonvegetarians in a study of Seventh-Day Adventist men and women, according to a new article.

Strawberry fields forever — a Texas possibility Posted: 09 Mar 2015 09:39 AM PDT Having fresh, local strawberries within reach across Texas is getting closer to reality, though growers and researchers alike say producing the popular fresh fruit is a new field altogether. “Our goal was to add 5 percent to the acreage and we’ve done that,” said one researcher. “There are a lot of interested people. We have revitalized the Texas strawberry industry and gotten people thinking."

Supplemental feeding for endangered avian species Posted: 09 Mar 2015 08:09 AM PDT Reproductive benefits and hidden costs of supplemental feeding for endangered avian species have been explored in a new study. The research examined the successful recovery of the once critically endangered Mauritius parakeet using more than twenty years of data spanning several generations.

Love, love me do: Male beetles that have more sex are more insecure, study shows Posted: 09 Mar 2015 07:28 AM PDT Males that mate more often are more insecure about their social status than those mating less, according to new research on the behavior of burying beetles. The study provides new evidence that the social sensitivity of male behaviour is linked to how often male beetles mate.

Bioengineers put human hearts on a chip to aid drug screening Posted: 09 Mar 2015 05:30 AM PDT Researchers have created a 'heart-on-a-chip' that effectively uses human cardiac muscle cells derived from adult stem cells to model how a human heart reacts to cardiovascular medications. The system could one day replace animal models to screen for the safety and efficacy of new drugs.

Bioelectrochemical processes have the potential to one day replace petrochemistry: Lysine production as example Posted: 09 Mar 2015 05:28 AM PDT Researchers have found that the electrification of the white biotechnology is not merely a green dream, but an alternative to petrochemistry with realistic economical potential. Compared to classical sugar based bio-processes, bioelectrochemical processes promise improved yields, which could turn out to be a real game changer. The next generation of bio-production facilities may not only become more environmentally friendly, but also more economically competitive.

Go meta: New technique expands possibilities for molecular designers Posted: 09 Mar 2015 05:28 AM PDT Chemists have developed a broadly useful technique for building new drug molecules and other chemical products.

Early herders' grassy route through Africa: Old teeth show Lake Victoria wasn't tsetse fly habitat Posted: 09 Mar 2015 05:26 AM PDT A new study of nearly 2,000-year-old livestock teeth show that early herders from northern Africa could have traveled past Kenya's Lake Victoria on their way to southern Africa because the area was grassy -- not tsetse fly-infested bushland, as previously believed.

Experimental drug turns 'bad' white fat into 'good' brown-like fat Posted: 07 Mar 2015 06:59 AM PST An experimental drug causes loss of weight and fat in mice, a new study has found. Known as GC-1, the drug reportedly speeds up metabolism, or burning off, of fat cells.

Mapping 'switches' that shaped the evolution of the human brain Posted: 05 Mar 2015 12:21 PM PST Thousands of genetic 'dimmer' switches, regions of DNA known as regulatory elements, were turned up high during human evolution in the developing cerebral cortex, according to new research.