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living world archive: Apr-Jun
2007
Living world news archive: April-June 2007
Team claims synthetic life feat
(Jun 29, 2007)
Scientists in the US say they have taken a major step towards
producing life from scratch in the laboratory. Dr Craig Venter
says in the Science journal that his team successfully transplanted
an entire genome from one bacterium cell to another. He says he
hopes eventually to use the technique to create designer microbes,
which could produce artificial fuel or help clean up toxic waste.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
'Altruistic' chimps act for the benefit
of others
(Jun 26, 2007)
Chimps happily help out unrelated chimps and unfamiliar humans,
even if it means exerting themselves for no reward, a new study
shows. True altruism – unselfish acts for another's benefit
– was until recently considered uniquely human. Usually
when animals cooperate, they either help relatives – thereby
increasing chances of passing shared genes to the next generation
– or they count on having favours returned in the future.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Robot sub explores giant canyon
(Jun 19, 2007)
Scientists have begun the first detailed exploration of a vast
underwater valley the size of the Grand Canyon – just off
the coast of Portugal – and it's yielded a series of surprises.
Using Britain's ISIS robot submarine – a van-sized bundle
of high-technology – researchers are for the first time
able to view previously hidden features up to 5km (three miles)
deep in the Nazare Canyon.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Japan tunes in to birth of giant manta
ray
(Jun 18, 2007)
A giant manta ray, measuring more than 1.8m (6ft) wide, has become
the first of its kind to be born in captivity, scientists have
claimed. The baby, a female, was born on Saturday in a huge fish
tank at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, Japan. Footage of the birth
shows the youngster unfolding like a carpet from her mother before
spreading her fins and swimming around.
Read
more. Source: Guardian |
Gecko's gravity-defying trick explained
(Jun 14, 2007)
The secret behind the gecko's extraordinary wall-climbing ability
is a unique quick-release mechanism that allows it to adhere strongly
to a surface, but then detach with ease. Researchers in the US
say that the mechanism could be used to make advanced glues or
even car braking systems.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Cogitating monkeys can calculate statistics
(Jun 4, 2007)
Rhesus monkeys turn out to be pretty good statisticians, a study
reveals. They can accurately assess which of two behaviours is
more likely to bring them a reward by summing together a series
of probabilistic clues. And their reasoning is reflected in the
firing rate of individual neurons in their brain.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Blue whales 'making a comeback'
(Jun 1, 2007)
The blue whale, possibly the largest animal ever to live on Earth,
is making a comeback, scientists have said. Data shows that the
population of marine mammal in the Southern Hemisphere have increased
from a few hundred to a few thousand. Before the commercial hunting
era, there would have been hundreds of thousands in the oceans.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Singing whales like a big audience
(May 28, 2007)
Sing and attract females, or keep quiet and eat? It's a tricky
dilemma for a male, to be sure, but one that humpback whales must
wrestle with as they migrate to their summer feeding grounds.
Males that sing swim more slowly than those that don't, possibly
ending up with less time in the feeding grounds to fatten up for
the next winter. On the other hand, singers may attract more mates.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
'Living plugs' smooth ant journey
(May 27, 2007)
A scientific study of the teamwork of army ants has discovered
how they are prepared to let their fellow ants walk all over them
to get the job done. Scientists from the University of Bristol
observed that, when ants were foraging on rough terrain, some
of them used their own bodies to plug potholes. They even chose
which of them was the best fit to lie across each hole.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Goose smashes sea-crossing record
(May 26, 2007)
A barnacle goose from south west Scotland has smashed the record
time for crossing the North Sea to Norway. Barbow – named
by a school on the Solway Firth – made the trip from Caerlaverock
in just five hours. A satellite tracking device clocked the speedy
bird at an average speed of over 75mph from the Wildfowl and Wetlands
Trust's Dumfries and Galloway reserve.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Captive shark had 'virgin birth'
(May 24, 2007)
Female hammerhead sharks can reproduce without having sex, scientists
confirm. The evidence comes from a shark at Henry Doorly Zoo in
Nebraska which gave birth to a pup in 2001 despite having had
no contact with a male. Genetic tests by a team from Belfast,
Nebraska and Florida prove conclusively the young animal possessed
no paternal DNA, Biology Letters journal reports.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
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