Biologists

As It Happens6:08This rare loon brought the Bellagio Hotel's famous Vegas fountain show to a haltWhile it's common to see crowds of people gathered outside the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, they're not usually there for birdwatching. But recently, a rare juvenile yellow-billed loon took up residence in the hotel's artificial lake, putting the Bellagio's famous fountain show on temporary hiatus. "He's been big news for the last week," Kurt Buzard, senior recreation assistant at the Henderson Bird Viewing…

Lake Tagimoucia as seen from Des Voeux Peak on Taveuni, Fiji. Both the lake and the peak have been the sites where new species were found. The Peak in particular is where the first Fijian Hylaeus were collected for this project. Credit: James Dorey PhotographyRecent scientific research conducted by Flinders University has led to the discovery of eight new bee species in the Pacific and has provided fresh insights into the behavior of birds in Fiji on Viti Levu Island.The studies, both funded by fieldwork supported by the…

Research on marine snails has demonstrated that significant evolutionary innovations occur gradually through small steps, challenging the notion of dramatic ‘monster’ leaps. This discovery, by elucidating the genetic basis of the snails’ shift from egg-laying to live birth, offers a new perspective on how major evolutionary changes unfold and highlights the importance of incremental progress in the course of evolution.Biologists have found that significant evolutionary transformations occur incrementally rather than…

Scientists have uncovered unexpected biodiversity in deep-sea environments, particularly around hydrothermal vents and manganese nodules, through detailed collection and DNA analysis of marine species. The findings, indicating isolated and unique species as well as potential reproductive habitats within nodules, underscore the ecological importance of these areas. Marine ecologist Sabine Gollner stresses the need for caution in considering deep-sea mining, given the high extinction risk to these unique species. Field of…

The 27th annual Great Backyard Bird Count started Friday morning, and throughout the weekend, bird enthusiasts across Canada will be looking to help biologists track bird movements this winter.While the effort put in by any individual can be minimal, as little as 15 minutes, the overall contribution of the event to science is huge, says Samantha Knight, Atlantic stewardship manager with Nature Conservancy of Canada."It takes a big community effort to gather the data needed to understand those population trends," said…

Green rhodopsin proteins inside the blue cell walls help these yeast grow faster when exposed to light. Credit: Anthony Burnetti, Georgia Institute of TechnologyYeast is often known for its ability to ferment carbohydrates into products such as bread and beer, typically requiring a dark environment. Exposure to light in these situations can disrupt or spoil the fermentation process.However, a recent study published in Current Biology by researchers from the School of Biological Sciences at Georgia Tech presents a…

There may be currently 3,782 emojis in the beloved Unicode library, yet a team of biologists has found its representation of the tree of life is significantly substandard.Scientists from Italy’s National Research Council have taken the current animals and nature emojis – from snake to shark – and mapped them on the phylogenic tree of life that links all organisms. They found that plants, fungi, invertebrates and microorganisms were all poorly covered in cute digital form. And while vertebrates – often the most recognized…

Biologists trying to create laboratory models of the early growth of a human embryo have taken a major step forward. In preprints posted online on Thursday and Friday, four research teams reported using various kinds of human stem cells, some genetically modified, to create ersatz embryos that closely resemble real embryos that are up to 14 days old, replicating a period in human development that is very difficult to study. The rush of papers was triggered when…

University of California, Irvine biologists have discovered that by eliminating the SAPS3 component of the AMPK protein complex, mice were able to maintain a normal energy balance even when consuming a high-fat diet. This finding, published in Nature Communications, reveals the potential for developing molecules that inhibit SAPS3 to help restore metabolic balance and combat metabolic disorders like obesity, diabetes, and fatty liver disease. As metabolic-related diseases continue to rise globally, this research could…

The University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University scientists solved a decades-old mystery regarding how cells control their volume.Crowded rooms: How Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh researchers solved a cell mystery.A surreal video of stressed cells under a microscope inspired a group of kidney physiologists and biologists from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University to investigate a mystery: how do cells control their volume?Their research, which was recently…