Bell-bottoms… Designer jeans… Disco… Big hair… Gas shortages.

Some icons of the 1970s are emblazoned in the memories of those old enough to remember. A few styles, to the dismay of many, have come back in vogue—oil-related crises among them. Broad anxiety over fuel manifested again in 2008, illuminating the dark side of the nation’s […]

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Concern about increasing ocean acidification has often focused on its potential effects on coral reefs, but broader disruptions of biological processes in the oceans may be more significant, according to Donald Potts, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an expert in coral reef ecology and marine […]

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Farming of fish in ocean cages is fundamentally harmful to wild fish, according to an essay in this week’s Conservation Biology.

Using basic physics, Professor Neil Frazer of the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa explains how farm fish cause nearby wild fish to decline. The foundation of his paper […]

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Biologists have known for decades that cells use tiny molecular motors to move chromosomes, mitochondria, and many other organelles within the cell, but no one has been able to understand what "steers" these engines to their destinations. Now, researchers at the University of Rochester have shed new light on how cells accomplish this feat, and […]

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With their sedentary lifestyles and filter-feeding habits, clams have been silent witnesses to the changes that humans have inflicted upon their waters. These clams are silent no more, as Dr. Ruth H. Carmichael of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and her colleagues have reported in their recent paper in the prestigious journal Aquatic Biology.

Using stable […]

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A new study highlights how the exploration of the ocean depths can benefit humankind. This is the story of a voyage of discovery, starting with marine animals that glow, the identification of the molecules responsible and their application as marker in living cells.

Many marine organisms such as sea anemones and corals produce fluorescent proteins, which […]

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Hydrological changes over the past 24 years in the Mar Menor, including increased irrigation, are altering habitats and biological communities of the wetland area. Researchers from the University of Murcia and the Miguel Hernández University have studied tenebrionid beetles and how their numbers have declined as a result of increased ground moisture and salinity.

Researchers from […]

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A species of fruit fly from the Seychelles Islands often lays larvae instead of eggs, UC San Diego biologists have discovered. Clues to how animals switch from laying eggs to live birth may be found in the well-studied species’ ecology and genes.

The fly is one of a dozen species of Drosophila to have recently had […]

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Colugos (aka flying lemurs)—the closest living relatives of primates most notable for their ability to glide from tree to tree over considerable distances—are more diverse than had previously been believed, according to a new report published in the November 11th issue of Current Biology.

Primates are most familiarly represented by monkeys and apes, the group including […]

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Evidence that global warming is causing the worldwide declines of amphibians may not be as conclusive as previously thought, according to biologists.
(Credit: iStockphoto)

Findings, which contradict two widely held views, could help reveal what is killing the frogs and toads and aid in their conservation.

"We are currently in the midst of a sixth mass extinction […]

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