Wednesday, 22 May, 2013

In many environments, ants know the tricks of survival, even domination. Skeptical? Ask the fire ant. Ask the army ant. A series of studies is revealing the genetic basis for survival and domination. What genes are active, and which have disappeared after prolonged unemployment?

Fast genomic analysis could open the door to breakthroughs in health, ecology and genetics. How do these machines work, and what have they taught about obesity, microbial diversity, and drug treatment?

Giant Australian cuttlefish cross-dresses to mate. Small males temporarily look like females, mating right under the noses of the big boys!

Like a chamberful of pork-barreling legislators, cicadas are on the wing in Washington, D.C. Voracious. Unstoppable. A force of nature: 17-year cicadas are back!

Studies of mitochondria show that polar people evolved greater ability to create heat; study has health implications for energy-deficiency diseases, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

Genes of giant tortoises reflect ancient volcanic eruption in Galapagos Islands.

A new study reveals rapid evolution of white-footed mice in Chicago, in just 150 years.

Sexual motivation for birdsong involves hormones, the medial preoptic brain area and environment in European starlings.

Mechanisms of evolution uncovered with stickleback fish research.

Single gene determines number of queens in fire ant nest.

Evolution is going on all around us. Evolution and everyday life.

Natural love: Hermaphroditic snails dart each other during sex. Just before mating, hydraulic pressure builds around the dart. When the second animal touches the darter’s genitals, it shoots.

New report says we don’t get genes directly from bacteria.

How accurate is DNA fingerprinting, and how does it work? What are the standards for a solid identification?

Are the Galapagos islands the birthplace of evolution theory and evolution science? What did Darwin learn there, and how are they being preserved nowadays?