ScienceDaily: Plants & Animals News

Retrofitting existing masonry cavity walled buildings with a green or living wall could be a game-changer in helping countries achieve net-zero commitments.

New research shows how switching from a restricted diet to eating as much as you like could be beneficial for reproduction in later life. Researchers studied the eating and mating habits of the small fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. They found that those that switched from a restricted diet to unlimited food, started mating and reproducing more.

Good news for those of us who can't face the day without their morning flat white: a long-term study has revealed drinking higher amounts of coffee may make you less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease.

A little-known species of tropical bee has evolved an extra tooth for biting flesh and a gut that more closely resembles that of vultures rather than other bees.

The recovery of new lumbar vertebrae from the lower back of a single individual of the human relative, Australopithecus sediba, and portions of other vertebrae of the same female from Malapa, South Africa, together with previously discovered vertebrae, form one of the most complete lower backs ever discovered in the early hominid record and give insight into how this ancient human relative walked and climbed.

Methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, can be captured and transformed into protein-rich feed for farmed fish -- an increasingly important food sector. A new analysis shows how to make the approach more cost-effective than current fish feeds.

Obesity, diabetes and gastrointestinal cancer are frequently linked to an unhealthy diet. However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for this are not fully understood. Researchers have gained some new insights that help to better understand this connection. These findings provide an important basis for the development of non-invasive therapies.

Phages are viruses that infect bacteria and can also be used to treat human infections. However, as with antibiotics, bacteria can readily evolve resistance to phage attack, highlighting a key limitation to the use of phages as therapeutics. Now, researchers have shown that the naturally occurring phage A1-1 kills Shigella flexneri, a major cause of dysentery in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia and selects for phage-resistant mutants with reduced virulence.

Puppyhood dietary factors may affect the onset of canine allergy and atopy related skin symptoms in adulthood, according to a new study.

Among their many extraordinary feats, some planarian flatworms reproduce by tearing off pieces of themselves to regenerate new worms. Now, researchers have discovered that this process is controlled by Hox genes, a family of genes known to orchestrate important aspects of early development.