ScienceDaily: Plants & Animals News

Muscle physiologist sought an alternative energy source to replace the body's usual one, adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Such a source could control muscle activity, and might lead to new muscle spasm-calming treatments in cerebral palsy, for example, or activate or enhance skeletal muscle function in MS, ALS and chronic heart failure. They report this month that they have made a series of synthetic compounds to serve as alternative energy sources for the muscle protein myosin.

A compound commonly found in pickled capers has been shown to activate proteins required for normal human brain and heart activity, and may even lead to future therapies for the treatment of epilepsy and abnormal heart rhythms.

Calling in the ultrasonic range enables small bats to orient themselves in the dark and track down insects. Louder calls travel farther, improving a bat's ability to detect their prey. It was long assumed that echolocation does not contribute much to energy expenditure in flight because individuals couple their calls with the beat of their wings. Scientists have now shown that high intensity echolocation calls substantially contribute to energy expenditure.

Engineers analyze the droppings of urban birds and show persistent levels of antibiotic-resistant genes and bacteria that may be transferred to humans through the environment.

Step aside, skeletons -- a new world of biochemical ''signatures'' found in all kinds of ancient fossils is revealing itself to paleontologists, providing a new avenue for insights into major evolutionary questions.

The current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has a likely connection to bats, and the next viral outbreak probably will too. A recent review calls for more research into bats' molecular biology and their ecology, to help predict, and hopefully prevent, the next pandemic.

Blood-feeding livestock mites can be detected with wearable sensor technology nicknamed ''Fitbits for chickens.'' To help farmers detect mite infestations, a team of entomologists, computer scientists, and biologists has created a new insect detection system.

Antibodies derived from llamas have been shown to neutralise the SARS-CoV-2 virus in lab tests, researchers have found. They hope the antibodies -- known as nanobodies due to their small size -- could eventually be developed as a treatment for patients with severe COVID-19.

A genetic analysis of the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) has re-established our understanding of its population structure, aiding its conservation.