ScienceDaily: Plants & Animals News

A new study maps out areas of the ocean most affected by light pollution, and shows that up to 1.9 million km2 of the world's coastal waters are being exposed to biologically significant levels of artificial light at night.

Ion channels in the nervous system are among the most important targets for insecticides. Understanding the structure of the channels is key for the identification of novel species-specific binding sites of agrochemicals. Researchers have revealed the structure and function of a potassium ion channel in fruit flies. Their newly obtained insights reveal the differences between human and insect channels, explain how known compounds affect the channel and propose new target sites for drugs. The research could help pesticide manufacturers design new drugs apt to specifically kill pest insects and parasites without affecting other animals like bees and mammals.

In November 2019, visitors to Joshua Tree National Park in California encountered a strange sight. Joshua trees and closely related Mojave yuccas, which normally remain reproductively dormant until late spring, were in full bloom at the tail end of autumn. In a new study, researchers used citizen-science data to determine the cause of the anomalous bloom and predict when similar events might occur.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds use the same energy-conserving strategy to survive overnight fasts and build the fat stores they need to fuel long migrations, shows a new study.

With numerous recent studies demonstrating that antibiotics work as well as surgery for most uncomplicated appendicitis cases, the non-surgical approach can now be considered a routine option, according to a review article.

Efforts to eradicate a human parasitic disease are being hampered by dogs eating infected fish, new research shows.

Whether it's warm outside or cold, people generally eat about the same amount. But a fish's appetite can vary enormously with the temperature. As coldblooded animals, their metabolism is governed by external conditions: It's slow going for a cold fish, but high temperatures kick them into high gear.

New research shows that physics measurements of just a small portion of reef can be used to assess the health of an entire reef system. The findings may help scientists grasp how these important ecosystems will respond to a changing climate.

An international team of researchers explored how focusing either on the short- or long-term warming effects of methane can affect climate mitigation policies and dietary transitions in agriculture.

A new high-throughput platform screens for drug compounds that hit a target found in human and bat coronaviruses and could be used to develop future treatments.

Researchers have discovered the genetic basis for a quirk of the animal kingdom -- how ant queens produce broods that are entirely male or female.

OneZoom is a one-stop site for exploring all life on Earth, its evolutionary history, and how much of it is threatened with extinction.

The number of microbial enzymes with the ability to degrade plastic is growing, in correlation with local levels of plastic pollution. That is the finding of a new study that measured samples of environmental DNA from around the globe. The results illustrate the impact plastic pollution is having on the environment, and hint at potential new solutions for managing the problem.

In recent years, polar bears in the Beaufort Sea have had to travel far outside of their traditional arctic hunting grounds which has contributed to an almost 30% decrease in their population. The bears' home range, or the amount of space they need for food and other resources, was around 64% larger from 1999-2016 than it was in 1986-1998, according to a recent study.

Scientists discovered a way to transform millions of predatory bacteria into swirling flash mobs reminiscent of painter Vincent Van Gogh's 'The Starry Night' as the unexpected result of experiments on a genetic circuit the creatures use to discern friend from foe.

New research demonstrates how using airflow can keep black soldier fly larvae, an important animal protein source, from overheating while feeding as a collective.

Sophisticated CT scanning of the cranium of an Australian fish fossil has given new insights to explain how fish first left the water to invade land about 370 million years ago. Palaeontologists studied Cladarosymblema narrienense, a 330 million-year-old fish from the Carboniferous Period found in Queensland, which is an ancestor of the first land animals or four-limbed vertebrate tetrapods.