Throwing light on the dark side of the Universe
Although we may believe humans know a lot about the Universe, there are still a lot of phenomena to be explained. A team of cosmologists from the University of the Basque Country are searching for the model that best explains the evolution of the Universe. view more (2008-10-22)
Revealing the evolutionary history of threatened sea turtles
It's confirmed: Even though flatback turtles dine on fish, shrimp, and mollusks, they are closely related to primarily herbivorous green sea turtles. view more (2008-10-16)
Gene expression in alligators suggests birds have 'thumbs'
The latest breakthrough in a 120 year-old debate on the evolution of the bird wing was published in the open-access journal PLoS ONE. view more (2008-10-06)
Mysterious snippets of DNA withstand eons of evolution, Stanford study
Small stretches of seemingly useless DNA harbor a big secret, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. There's one problem: We don't know what it is. view more (2008-10-02)
Short RNAs show a long history
MicroRNAs, the tiny molecules that fine-tune gene expression, were first discovered in 1993. But it turns out they've been around for a billion years. view more (2008-10-02)
Meat-eating dinosaur from Argentina had bird-like breathing system
The remains of a 30-foot-long predatory dinosaur discovered along the banks of Argentina's Rio Colorado is helping to unravel how birds evolved their unusual breathing system. view more (2008-09-30)
Primordial fish had rudimentary fingers
Tetrapods, the first four-legged land animals, are regarded as the first organisms that had fingers and toes. Now researchers at Uppsala University can show that this is wrong. Using medical x-rays, they found rudiments of fingers in the fins in fossil Panderichthys, the "transitional animal," which indicates that rudimentary fingers... view more... (2008-09-22)
Luck gave dinosaurs their edge
T. rex and Triceratops: In the popular imagination, dinosaurs are extraordinary reptiles that ruled the world for over 160 million years. But Steve Brusatte, a doctoral student at Columbia University who is an affiliate of the American Museum of Natural History, and colleagues are challenging this idea with new fossil data and math. view more (2008-09-12)
In spiders, size matters: Small males are more often meals
Female spiders are voracious predators and consume a wide range of prey, which sometimes includes their mates. view more (2008-09-11)
MU Anthropologist Develops New Approach to Explain Religious Behavior
Without a way to measure religious beliefs, anthropologists have had difficulty studying religion. Now, two anthropologists from the University of Missouri and Arizona State University have developed a new approach to study religion by focusing on verbal communication, an identifiable behavior, instead of speculating about alleged beliefs in the... view more... (2008-09-10)
Molecular evolution is echoed in bat ears
Bats' ability to echolocate may have evolved more than once, according to research published this week by Queen Mary, University of London scientists. view more (2008-09-05)
Trichoplax genome sequenced -- 'rosetta stone' for understanding evolution
Yale molecular and evolutionary biologists in collaboration with Department of Energy scientists produced the full genome sequence of Trichoplax, one of nature's most primitive multicellular organisms, providing a new insight into the evolution of all higher animals. view more (2008-09-04)
Characterization of grapevine transposons furthers understanding of in vino variety
The grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is a widely cultivated crop that has been subjected to intensive breeding since the Neolithic period (from ~10,500 to ~6,000 years ago). The domestication of grapevine has undergone a selection for traits important for its cultivation and usage. view more (2008-09-03)
Sticks and Stones: A New Study on Social and Physical Pain
We all know the famous saying: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me," but is this proverb actually true? view more (2008-08-28)
Molecular sleuths track evolution through the ribosome
A new study of the ribosome, the cell's protein-building machinery, sheds light on the oldest branches of the evolutionary tree of life and suggests that differences in ribosomal structure between the three main branches of that tree are "molecular fossils" of the early evolution of protein synthesis. view more (2008-08-19)
Study reveals surprising details of the evolution of protein translation
A new study of transfer RNA, a molecule that delivers amino acids to the protein-building machinery of the cell, challenges long-held ideas about the evolutionary history of protein synthesis. view more (2008-08-13)
Human brains pay a price for being big
Metabolic changes responsible for the evolution of our unique cognitive abilities indicate that the brain may have been pushed to the limit of its capabilities. Research published today in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology adds weight to the theory that schizophrenia is a costly by-product of human brain evolution. view more (2008-08-05)
Survival of the fittest: even cancer cells follow the laws of evolution
Scientists from The Institute of Advanced Studies at Princeton and the University of California discovered that the underlying process in tumor formation is the same as for life itself-evolution. view more (2008-08-04)
Evolution of skull and mandible shape in cats
In a new study published in the online-open access journal PLoS ONE, Per Christiansen at the Zoological Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark, reports the finding that the evolution of skull and mandible shape in sabercats and modern cats were governed by different selective forces, and the two groups evolved very different adaptations to killing. view more (2008-07-30)
Caltech astronomers describe the bar scene at the beginning of the universe
Bars abound in spiral galaxies today, but this was not always the case. A group of 16 astronomers, led by Kartik Sheth of NASA's Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology, has found that bars tripled in number over the past seven billion years, indicating that spiral galaxies evolve in shape. view more (2008-07-30)
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