Biology: Earth and Astro-
Stories on biological science near and far
The origin and development of life on earth
The search for extraterrestrial life
Interesting stories on biological science
Jun 12, 2011
"Fossils in ancient carbonate from samples in a remote region on the Alaska-Canada border are providing new information about the evolution of life. The fossils look like tiny, shield-like plates that may have been produced by single-celled organisms as armor."
Jun 11, 2011
"The kea, a New Zealand parrot, and the New Caledonian crow are members of the two most intelligent avian families. Researchers have investigated their problem solving abilities as well as their innovative capacities."
Jun 4, 2011
"A bench-top genetic experiment demonstrates a big, quirky and still-hazily-understood evolutionary principle called pre-adaptation: how mutations accumulate that individually do nothing, but combine to produce radical adaptation."
Jun 2, 2011
"A tiny nematode from a shaft of the Beatrix mine in South Africa is the first known multicellular organism to dwell at such depths."
May 26, 2011
"A new study shows that random introduction of errors into
May 23, 2011
"Ancient rocks are shedding new light on the timeline for life's emergence on Earth. The rocks contain carbon-based minerals that may be much younger than the rocks they inhabit, indicating that the carbon was mixed with the rock later than the rock's actual formation."
May 19, 2011
"Scientists have known for a while that if you put harmful bacteria into outer space, they tend to get even more harmful. Since that discovery, researchers have been itching to know if the zero gravity and radiation of space will have similar effects on beneficial bacteria."
May 12, 2011
"When they dive together, sperm whales make patterns of clicks to each other known as 'codas.' Recent findings suggest that not only do different codas mean different things, but that whales can also tell which member of their community is speaking based on the sound properties of the codas. Just as we can tell our friends apart by the sounds of their voices and the way they pronounce their words, different sperm whales make the same pattern of clicks, but with different accents."
May 11, 2011
"When the solar system was very young and still very hot, could medium-sized asteroids have been habitable abodes for life?"
May 10, 2011
"A newfound abundance of water in the solar system has inspired scientists who hope to find traces of life."
