Searching for signs of picky, competitive mating in a whole other kingdom

Searching for signs of picky, competitive mating in a whole other kingdom

The term “bar fight” does not actually appear in Saila Varis’ recent paper in the journal Trees or in her Ph.D. dissertation on the Scots pine. But she’s a good sport about discussing whether her research suggests that tree pollen grains have their own versions of nose-punching brawls over female favor. After all, pollen grains from genetically different trees of the same species appear to be able to sabotage each other’s race to a mate, says Varis, of the Finnish Forest Research Institute near Helsinki. Though it is not exactly like a bar fight, she says, there are hints of male-versus-male competition

Study of flower petals shows evolution at the cellular level

Study of flower petals shows evolution at the cellular level

A new study of flower petals shows evolution in action, and contradicts more that 60 years of scientific thought.

The findings are reported by a scientist from UC Santa Barbara and a research team from Harvard University in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B this week. Columbine flowers, known as Aquilegia, evolved several lengths of petal spurs that match the tongue lengths of their pollinators, including bees, hummingbirds, and hawkmoths. The petal spurs are shaped like a tubular pocket and contain nectar at the tip. The spurs grow from 1 to 16 centimeters in length, depending on the species.

Sequence is a good way to waste your time and stimulating too!

Seaquence

Seaquence is an experiment in musical composition. Adopting a biological metaphor, you can create and combine musical lifeforms resulting in an organic, dynamic composition.

Brain study explores what makes colors and numbers collide

Brain study explores what makes colors and numbers collide

Someone with the condition known as grapheme-color synesthesia might experience the number 2 in turquoise or the letter S in magenta. Now, researchers reporting their findings online in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on November 17 have shown that those individuals also show heightened activity in a brain region responsible for vision.

The first hairy microbes: New fossils reveal oldest known ciliates

The first hairy microbes: New fossils reveal oldest known ciliates

MIT researchers have found hundreds of tiny fossils of the first known ciliates. The ciliates, named tintinnids, resided in hard, flask-shaped shells with bubbled exteriors that likely help them float. Image: Tanja Bosak

Stunning Images Under the Microscope Capture the Lives of the Tiniest Creatures [Slide Show]

Stunning Images Under the Microscope Capture the Lives of the Tiniest Creatures [Slide Show]

The Olympus BioScapes International Imaging Competition provides a selection of photographs that flame off our pages each December in riotous color. A good portion of the magazine would have to be given over to the contest to give every photo its due. We’re bringing you an additional selection here of worthy stills and videos that we’re sure will fascinate and amaze.

Non-coding RNA relocates genes when it's time to go to work

Link: Non-coding RNA relocates genes when it's time to go to work

Cells develop and thrive by turning genes on and off as needed in a precise pattern, a process known as regulated gene transcription. In a paper published in the Nov. 9 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say this process is even more complex than previously thought, with regulated genes actually relocated to other, more conducive places in the cell nucleus.

BioVisions: Beautiful Award Winning Science Animation from Harvard (videos)

Link: BioVisions: Beautiful Award Winning Science Animation from Harvard (videos)

Research in the biological sciences often depends on the development of new ways of visualizing important processes and molecules. Indeed, the very act of observing and recording data lies at the foundation of all the natural sciences. The same holds true for the teaching and communication of scientific ideas; to see is to begin to understand. The continuing quest for new and more powerful ways to communicate ideas in biology is the focus of BioVisions at Harvard University.

Miraculous Microbes: They Make Holy Statues "Bleed"--and Can Be Deadly, Too

Link: Miraculous Microbes: They Make Holy Statues "Bleed"--and Can Be Deadly, Too

The Killer Bacteria Hall of Fame no doubt houses the usual suspects: Yersinia pestis,perpetrator of the Plague; Treponema pallidum, the spiral-shaped culprit insyphilis; and Vibrio cholerae, the swimmer that causes cholera. But you have probably never heard of one of the inductees.

Conservation scientists 'unanimous' in expectations of serious loss of biological diversity

Link: Conservation scientists 'unanimous' in expectations of serious loss of biological diversity

The number of species being recognised as endangered is ever increasing and a new study, published in Conservation Biology, reveals the unanimity among conservation scientists of expectations of a major loss of biological diversity. The survey also shows a growing acceptance of controversial strategies such as triage, a decision to prioritise resources and not to intervene to save some highly threatened species.

First brain image of a dream created Feat opens the door to probing the stuff of nocturnal dramas

Link: First brain image of a dream created Feat opens the door to probing the stuff of nocturnal dramas

The contents of a person’s dream have been revealed by brain scan for the first time, scientists report in the Nov. 8 Current Biology. By monitoring the brain of a man who has unusual control over his dreaming, the accomplishment brings researchers closer to understanding how the brain spins its nightly yarns.

“It’s really exciting that people have done this,” says sleep researcher Edward Pace-Schott at Massachusetts General Hospital in Charlestown and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. “And it also brings back lucid dreaming as a very powerful scientific tool.”

The Ghost in Your Genes (video)

Link: The Ghost in Your Genes (video)

(thanks, Klint)

Biology stands on the brink of a shift in the understanding of inheritance. The discovery of epigenetics – hidden influences upon the genes – could affect every aspect of our lives.

At the heart of this new field is a simple but contentious idea – that geneshave a ‘memory’. That the lives of your grandparents – the air they breathed, the food they ate, even the things they saw – can directly affect you, decades later, despite your never experiencing these things yourself. And that what you do in your lifetime could in turn affect your grandchildren.

Thawing microbes could control the climate

Link: Thawing microbes could control the climate

As the Arctic permafrost melts over the coming decades, long-frozen microorganisms will thaw out and start feasting on the soil. The first have already begun to wake up – and early signs are that they will have a major impact on how Earth’s climate changes.

Super Cool Interactive Earth Evolution Timeline

Link: Super Cool Interactive Earth Evolution Timeline

well, this is pretty darn neat. and aesthetically pleasing too. (thanks, ally).

Nerve Protein Linked to Learning and Memory

Link: Nerve Protein Linked to Learning and Memory

Can the nerve signaling inhibitor tomosyn help retain long-term memory? A new study by two University of Illinois at Chicago biologists points to the link.

BIO101 – Current Biological Diversity

Link: BIO101 – Current Biological Diversity

In this lecture, as well as in the previous one and the next one, I tackle areas of Biology where I am really weak: origin of life, diversity of life, and taxonomy/systematics. These are also areas where there has been a lot of change recently (often not yet incorporated into textbooks), and I am unlikely to be up-to-date, so please help me bring these lectures up to standards…. This post was originally written in 2006 and re-posted a few times, including in 2010.