ScienceDaily: Plants & Animals News


Energycane produces more biodiesel than soybean at a lower cost

Posted: 07 Jul 2021 11:07 AM PDT

Bioenergy from crops is a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. New crops such as energycane can produce several times more fuel per acre than soybeans. Yet, challenges remain in processing the crops to extract fuel efficiently. Four new studies explore chemical-free pretreatment methods, development of high-throughput phenotyping methods, and commercial-scale techno-economic feasibility of producing fuel from energycane in various scenarios.

Arctic seabirds are less heat tolerant, more vulnerable to climate change

Posted: 07 Jul 2021 10:30 AM PDT

The Arctic is warming at approximately twice the global rate. A new study finds that cold-adapted Arctic species, like the thick-billed murre, are especially vulnerable to heat stress caused by climate change.

Changes in Earth's orbit enabled the emergence of complex life

Posted: 07 Jul 2021 08:24 AM PDT

'Snowball Earth' is the most extreme climate event in Earth's history, when it was completely engulfed in ice. The theory of its existence has faced two challenges - how life survived and variations in rock formations from the time implying changes to the climate cycle. New study shows that changes to Earth's orbit caused the ice sheets to advance and retreat, providing ice-free 'oases' for animal life and explaining variations in rock formations.

For female vampire bats, an equal chance to rule the roost

Posted: 07 Jul 2021 08:24 AM PDT

Female vampire bats establish an egalitarian community within a roost rather than a society based on a clear hierarchy of dominance that is often seen in animal groups, a new study suggests.

Oil spill in Canadian Arctic could be devastating for environment and indigenous peoples, study finds

Posted: 07 Jul 2021 08:22 AM PDT

As melting sea ice brings more ships through the Northwest Passage, new research shows that Canada must prepare for the costs and consequences of an Arctic oil spill.

Canine feces reveal more about 17th century working sled dogs

Posted: 06 Jul 2021 04:16 PM PDT

Proteins from frozen canine faeces have been successfully extracted for the first time to reveal more about the diets of Arctic sled dogs.

Predicting the future of cod

Posted: 06 Jul 2021 12:30 PM PDT

Until now, fisheries have set catch levels a year in advance. Long-term influences such as changes in water temperatures are not taken into account. Researchers have now developed a computational model that can estimate the future of cod a full ten years in advance - taking into both account fishing and climate. The fishing industry has a completely new planning tool at its disposal.

Loss of biodiversity in streams threatens vital biological process

Posted: 06 Jul 2021 12:30 PM PDT

The fast-moving decline and extinction of many species of detritivores -- organisms that break down and remove dead plant and animal matter -- may have dire consequences, an international team of scientists suggests in a new study.

Keeping bacteria under lock and key

Posted: 06 Jul 2021 12:30 PM PDT

A chemical and biomolecular engineer with biosecurity expertise in teaching cells to create and harness chemical building blocks not found in nature. New research describes progress on the stability of a biocontainment strategy that uses a microbe's dependence on a synthetic nutrient to keep it contained.

Acid sensor discovered in plants

Posted: 06 Jul 2021 12:30 PM PDT

If plants are flooded, they lack oxygen and their cells over-acidify. A sensor protein detects this and triggers a stress response.

Lab analysis finds near-meat and meat not nutritionally equivalent

Posted: 06 Jul 2021 12:30 PM PDT

A research team's deeper examination of the nutritional content of plant-based meat alternatives, using metabolomics, shows they're as different as plants and animals. Beef contained 22 metabolites that the plant substitute did not. The plant-based substitute contained 31 metabolites that meat did not. The greatest distinctions occurred in amino acids, dipeptides, vitamins, phenols, and types of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids found in these products.

To understand ecology, follow the connections

Posted: 06 Jul 2021 12:30 PM PDT

New research argues that it's not enough for ecological modelling to focus on the landscape. If we want the best-possible ecological management, we should consider when and where individuals are located.

The evolution of vinegar flies is based on the variation of male sex pheromones

Posted: 06 Jul 2021 10:31 AM PDT

By analyzing the genomes of 99 species of vinegar flies and evaluating their chemical odor profiles and sexual behaviors, researchers show that sex pheromones and the corresponding olfactory channels in the insect brain evolve rapidly and independently. The new study is a valuable basis for understanding how pheromone production, their perception and processing in the brain, and ultimately the resulting behavior drive the evolution of new species.

How an unfolding protein can induce programmed cell death

Posted: 06 Jul 2021 10:31 AM PDT

The death of cells is well regulated. If it occurs too much, it can cause degenerative diseases. Too little, and cells can become tumors. Mitochondria, the power plants of cells, play a role in this programmed cell death. Scientists have obtained new insights in how mitochondria receive the signal to self-destruct.

Developing new techniques to build biomaterials

Posted: 06 Jul 2021 10:28 AM PDT

Scientists have developed an approach that could help in the design of a new generation of synthetic biomaterials made from proteins. The biomaterials could eventually have applications in joint repair or wound healing as well as other fields of healthcare and food production.  

Vaccines grown in eggs induce antibody response against an egg-associated glycan, study finds

Posted: 01 Jul 2021 04:53 PM PDT

Researchers have found that viral vaccines grown in eggs, such as the H1N1 flu vaccine, produce an antibody response against a sugar molecule found in eggs, which could have implications for the effectiveness of these vaccines.