Despite their important ecological role as decomposers, termites are often overlooked in research. Evolutionary biologists have constructed a new family tree for this unassuming insect brood, shedding unexpected light on its evolutionary history.
Read moreAn engineering professor and her former Ph.D. student share a new, more accurate method for modeling evolutionary change.
Read moreScientists who are trying to save species at the brink of extinction are finding help in an unexpected place. Researchers increasingly are embracing the power of ancient DNA from old museum specimens to answer questions about climate change, habitat loss and other stresses on surviving populations.
Read moreBiologists have described a new species of praying mantis that displays the first documented example of conspicuous mimicking of a wasp among praying mantises.
Read moreThe roots of plants can do a lot of things: They grow in length to reach water, they can bend to circumvent stones, and they form fine root hairs enabling them to absorb more nutrients from the soil. A team of researchers has now identified an important regulator of this process.
Read moreResearchers studied fossilized Moroccan Ampyx trilobites, which lived 480 million years ago and showed that the trilobites had probably been buried in their positions — all oriented in the same direction. Scientists deduced that these Ampyx processions may illustrate a kind of collective behavior adopted in response to cyclic environmental disturbances.
Read moreBiologists have documented, for the first time, the widespread presence of the notorious chytrid fungus in 80 species of frogs from lowland rain forest sites in the Peruvian Amazon.
Read moreSince its invention during the Second World War for soldiers stationed in countries where malaria transmission rates were high, researchers have worked to pinpoint precisely how DEET actually affects mosquitoes.
Read moreA new approach to the 3D printing of chocolate using cold extrusion instead of conventional hot-melt extrusion method eliminates the need for stringent temperature controls, offering wider potential for 3D printing temperature-sensitive food.
Read moreChemists have invented an efficient method for making a synthetic version of the plant compound bilobalide, which is naturally produced by gingko trees. It's a significant feat because bilobalide — and closely related compounds — hold potential commercial value as medicines and 'green' insecticides.
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