ScienceDaily: Plants & Animals News

Scientists report they have probed the atomic structure of proteins to add to evidence that the wobbles, shakes and quivers of proteins play a critical role in their ability to function. The findings of the research may help scientists design new drugs that can modify or disrupt the intricate 'dances' of proteins to alter their functions.

A new study ranks the top 32 threats to food security over the next two decades, pointing to climate change and conflict as top culprits and calling for more coordination in building resilient food systems around the globe.

Urbanization is a primary threat to biodiversity. However, scientists know little about how urbanization affects biodiversity and ecosystem services in tropical regions of the Global South. An international research team has investigated the effects of urbanization on bee communities in smallholder farms in and around Bangalore -- a South Indian city with more than 13 million inhabitants. They found that social bees, such as wild honey bees, suffered more than large solitary bees or those that nest in cavities, which contrasts with results from temperate regions.

A unique fungus survives by 'bewitching' male flies into mating with dead female flies. The longer a female fly carcass has lain and rotted, the greater the male's lust.