Nature News Articles Archive Page 14 from Thu 29 Sep 2011 to Thu 13 Oct 2011

Birds like it sweet, bees like it sweeter

Posted Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:16:00 GMT by Dale Kiefer

MIT mathematicians delved into the arena of biology recently to explore optimization in nature. It turns out, bees are 'dippers' who feed by probing flowers with their tongues. For them, a thicker, sweeter fluid is best. But birds and butterflies draw nectar through thin tubes, and that's easier when flowers supply a thinner, less sugary fluid.

Birds like it sweet, bees like it sweeter

Release the 'Kraken', well the Artistic Triassic Cephalopod

Posted Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:07:00 GMT by Dave Collier

A strange explanation is given for a puzzling arrangement of Triassic era fossils. It could seem strange to apply the word 'artistic' to a Triassic creature but an in-depth examination of Ichthyosaur fossils has renewed the general confusion about what happened to the animals on display at Nevada's Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park.

Release the 'Kraken', well the Artistic Triassic Cephalopod

Polar photography exhibition by Earth Times writer Louise Murray

Posted Sat, 08 Oct 2011 17:55:00 GMT by Louise Murray

The Earth Times environmental writer and award-winning photographer Louise Murray has a new exhibition of her polar photography at the Lacock Photography Gallery in the UK from October 15th 2011 to 31st January 2012.

Polar photography exhibition by Earth Times writer Louise Murray

Jumping like a fish out of water

Posted Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:20:00 GMT by Dave Armstrong

Prof. Alice Gibb watched the catch jump from the net back into the water. It had jumping skills and knew what it wanted to do. Her study of feeding behaviour was abandoned and 'studies of stranding' became the new research aim. By now, she has achieved unbelievable results relevant to the (possibly frequent) evolution of land vertebrates from the fish, more than 300 million years ago.

Jumping like a fish out of water

Acrocanthosaurus atokensis dino tracks discovered in Arkansas

Posted Thu, 06 Oct 2011 09:29:00 GMT by Dave Armstrong

Discovery of giant tracks from the Cretaceous in Arkansas from 120 million years ago. Acrocanthosaurus atokensis is one of the largest carnivores that ever existed. It is likely that the 60 cm x 30 cm footprint fit its profile, perfectly preserved in the desert-like Cretaceous mud.

Acrocanthosaurus atokensis dino tracks discovered in Arkansas

Largest ever butterfly map completed

Posted Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:37:00 GMT by Colin Ricketts

A European atlas recording the distribution of all of Europe's 441 butterfly species will be a vital tool to record how climate change is affecting these lovely creatures. The work of 272 field volunteers, say the publishers, has been vital to this grand new publication project.

Largest ever butterfly map completed

Tasmanian Devils fight hardest battle yet

Posted Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:21:00 GMT by Colin Ricketts

The Tasmanian Devil, an animal with a ferocious reputation is fighting for its life against an infectious cancer that is now beyond culling control according to a new study. While culling of diseased livestock is a relatively common agricultural practice, it remains controversial where wild animals are concerned.

Tasmanian Devils fight hardest battle yet

Chick attacks highlighted in study on the Nazca booby

Posted Wed, 05 Oct 2011 07:26:00 GMT by Dave Armstrong

Nazca Boobies, related to other ocean travellers such as the famous wandering albatross, live in the Galapagos. Unfortunately, parents have to leave nestlings frequently to fish long-distance. On the islands, such as this booby colony on Isla Espanola, there is an intense interest by certain adults in unrelated chicks, especially when its parents are necessarily absent for long periods.

Chick attacks highlighted in study on the Nazca booby

Video documents tool use by wild fish

Posted Sun, 02 Oct 2011 18:02:00 GMT by Dale Kiefer

A new video documents, for the first time, tool use by a fish. The video shows an orange-dotted tuskfish - a type of Wrassedigging a clam out of the sand, carrying it in its mouth and swimming some distance to an appropriate location, before repeatedly flinging the bivalve against a reef rock to break its hard shell and expose the tasty flesh within.

Video documents tool use by wild fish

Elephants can take the heat

Posted Sun, 02 Oct 2011 16:11:01 GMT by Dale Kiefer

New research shows how elephants have adapted to extreme heat in a manner similar to desert mammals such as camels. Elephants have evolved a novel strategy for regulating body temperature, which allows them to endure soaring temperatures during the day without succumbing to heat stress.

Elephants can take the heat

First Usain Bolt, and now, Bats

Posted Sat, 01 Oct 2011 18:25:00 GMT by Dave Armstrong

The unique audio reception of the bats is aided by this truly freaky muscle that contracts 100X faster than normal muscle and 20X faster than the fastest human muscle, surrounding the eye. Weep ye who admire Mr. Bolts 100 metres: this bat could do it a little better, in 0.1 seconds!

First Usain Bolt, and now, Bats

Beetles keeping it bottled-up

Posted Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:17:05 GMT by Dave Armstrong

The resemblance of a beer bottle to a female has been mooted in the past, but rarely remembered the morning after. An Australian (beetle) has now confirmed that 'stubbies' are better! The male Buprestid (jewel) beetle, Julodimorpha bakewelli, is often noticed lolling around near brown beer bottles (stubbies) in Australia.

Beetles keeping it bottled-up

A Frog's tale

Posted Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:06:00 GMT by Dave Armstrong

Australian researchers have found that green tree frogs Litoria spp. use condensation in the same way as windows on frosty mornings. During the dry season from June to September, Ozzy water is a precious commodity. These enterprising Amphibia expose themselves in such a way as to gather the air's excess moisture when temperatures plummet.

A Frog's tale

The call of the koala may have some hidden tricks

Posted Thu, 29 Sep 2011 21:31:00 GMT by Dave Collier

The koala has a unusually deep bellow, but we may now have a better understanding of why this is. The bellowing sound of a koala might suggest an animal the size of a hippo. In humans, the size and depth of our voice box, or larynx, directly corresponds to our ability to produce deeper sounds.

The call of the koala may have some hidden tricks

A Variety of Fruit Selections

Posted Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:04:00 GMT by Dave Armstrong

Botanists have used perennial plants for thousands of years in the same way as the Earth's major annual food crops. In the beginning, forest trees were little modified by their human 'allies' as exploited wild plants, but this study by Drs. Allison J. Miller and Briana L. Gross assigns an intermediate period to the woody plants bred and modified extensively for domestication.

A Variety of Fruit Selections

Singing Cousins

Posted Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:38:00 GMT by Dave Armstrong

Birds and humans are related, but most people would regard that relationship as you would a distant cousin you don't talk about any more. Singing is a different kettle of fish, it seems. While common patterns in music include phrases that rise then descend (melodic arches), or just have their final note elongated, constraints on the vocal system are likely to have affected them.

Singing Cousins

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