No Scent, No Sex For The Japanese Beetle
00:47 26-06-2008; source: www.sciencedaily.com
Having a good nose is essential to a Japanese beetle's survival. The beetle's sense of smell helps it avoid enemies and zero in on a mate. Meanwhile, the potential mate is programmed to release sex pheromones in exactly the right proportions. Like cheap perfume, there is such a thing as too much: Excessive pheromones can get the attention of a passing fly, leading her to the beetle.
Food Scientists Confirm Commercial Product Effectively Kills Bacteria In Vegetable Washwater
21:47 25-06-2008; source: www.sciencedaily.com
Research conducted by food science faculty at the University of Idaho and Washington State University indicate that a commercially available fruit and vegetable wash, when used in a food-manufacturing setting, can dramatically decrease the number of disease-causing organisms in produce-processing washwater. That could reduce by manyfold the potential for cross-contamination within the water by such "gram-negative" bacteria as Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7.
Census Of Marine Life Lists 122,500 Known Species, Over Halfway To Complete Inventory By Oct. 2010
21:47 25-06-2008; source: www.sciencedaily.com
Census of Marine Life-affiliated scientists consolidating world databases of ocean organisms have demoted to alias status almost one-third of all names culled so far from 34 regional and highly specialized inventories. Experts will complete the World Register of Marine Species by October 2010 as part of the first Census of Marine Life.
Estimation Of Isolation Times In The Drosophila Simulans Complex
21:47 25-06-2008; source: www.sciencedaily.com
The Drosophila simulans species complex continues to serve as an important model system for the study of new species formation. The complex is comprised of the cosmopolitan species, D. simulans, and two island endemics, D. mauritiana and D. sechellia. A substantial amount of effort has gone into reconstructing the natural history of the complex, in part to infer the context in which functional divergence among the species has arisen. Researchers now provide evidence that both island species were isolated at about the same time, estimated at ~250,000 years ago.
Closing The Gap Between Fish And Land Animals
21:47 25-06-2008; source: www.sciencedaily.com
New exquisitely preserved fossils from Latvia cast light on a key event in our own evolutionary history, when our ancestors left the water and ventured onto land. Scientists have reconstructed parts of the animal and explain the transformation in the new issue of Nature.
Biologists Show How Eye's Neurons Switch Functions During Metamorphosis
21:47 25-06-2008; source: www.sciencedaily.com
Researchers report that the photoreceptors in an insect's eye can change their traditional functions during metamorphosis. The researchers found that when photoreceptors responsible for detecting the color green die off during metamorphosis a second class of photoreceptors -- those responsible for detecting the color blue -- then fill the role of detecting the color green. These rare switches, the authors speculate, are likely the result of changing life patterns.
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