Monitoring dairy calves with precision technologies based on the 'internet of things,' or IoT, leads to the earlier diagnosis of calf-killing bovine respiratory disease, according to a new study. The novel approach -- a result of crosscutting -- will offer dairy producers an opportunity to improve the economies of their...
Multiple uses of tropical mosaic landscapes
Many landscapes in the tropics consist of a mosaic of different types of land use. How people make use of these different ecosystems, with their particular plant communities, was unclear until now. Researchers, many of them from Madagascar, have now investigated this. When considering biodiversity, forests often get the most...
Colonization influences worldwide distribution of plant specimens
Plant diversity in nature is generally highest in tropical regions around the equator, with decreasing diversity closer to the poles. Researchers now show that the plant specimens housed in herbaria in Europe and North America are more comprehensive and diverse than the collections housed in the countries with more natural...
Fear is in the eye of the beholder
Averting our eyes from things that scare us may be due to a specific cluster of neurons in a visual region of the brain, according to new research. Researchers found that in fruit fly brains, these neurons release a chemical called tachykinin which appears to control the fly's movement to...
Small-winged and lighter colored butterflies likely to be at greatest threat from climate change
Small-winged and lighter colored butterflies likely to be at greatest threat from climate change. The family, wing length and wing colour of tropical butterflies all influence their ability to withstand rising temperatures, say ecologists. The researchers believe this could help identify species whose survival is under threat from climate change.
Researchers’ sweeping discovery shows how kidney cells self-renew
Scientists have discovered a previously unknown 'housekeeping' process in kidney cells that ejects unwanted content, resulting in cells that rejuvenate themselves and remain functioning and healthy. The self-renewal process, which is fundamentally different from how other bodily tissues are thought to regenerate, helps explain how, barring injury or disease, the...
Analogous to algae: Scientists move toward engineering living matter by manipulating movement of microparticles
A team of scientists has devised a system that replicates the movement of naturally occurring phenomena, such as hurricanes and algae, using laser beams and the spinning of microscopic rotors.
Multiple ecosystems in hot water after marine heatwave surges across the Pacific
Rising ocean temperatures are sweeping the seas, breaking records and creating problematic conditions for marine life. Unlike heatwaves on land, periods of abrupt ocean warming can surge for months or years. Around the world these 'marine heatwaves' have led to mass species mortality and displacement events, economic declines and habitat...
Titanium oxide material lets sunlight drive green hydrogen production
As part of ongoing efforts to develop materials that could enable alternative energy sources, researchers have produced a titanium oxide nanofilament material that can harness sunlight to unlock the ubiquitous molecule's potential as a fuel source.
Salinity changes threatening marine ecosystems
A groundbreaking study reveals the critical yet severely understudied factor of salinity changes in ocean and coastlines caused by climate change.