News by Subject Biology

A pioneering tagging system that monitors the movement and local environment of sea animals reaches deeper depths and higher sensitivities.

The Araguaian river dolphin of Brazil was thought to be solitary with little social structure that would require communication. But researchers from the University of Vermont and the University of St. Andrews have discovered the dolphins actually are social and can make hundreds of different sounds, a finding that could help uncover how communication evolved in marine mammals.

Named after the dark stripes that form inside potatoes after they are cut and fried, zebra chip disease is a potentially devastating affliction that can result in yield losses up to 100% for farmers. Swisher et al. identified a new haplotype, designated haplotype F, that causes zebra chip symptoms in potato. Prior to this discovery, 'only haplotypes A and B were known to cause zebra chip symptoms in potato,' explains Swisher.

Researchers use GPS to track the timing and patterns of giant tortoise migration over multiple years. The tortoises often take the same migration routes over many years in order to find optimal food quality and temperatures. The timing of this migration is essential for keeping their energy levels high, and climate change could disrupt a tortoise's ability to migrate at the right time.

Extracts from the seeds of the Ginkgo biloba tree show antibacterial activity on pathogens that can cause skin infections such as acne, psoriasis, dermatitis and eczema.

It is still unclear what exactly happens when lightning develops. Based on high-resolution data of the LOFAR radio telescope, an international team of researchers has now discovered needle-shaped structures. They might help to explain why lightning does not always discharge at once, as was thought for a long time, but can strike several times within seconds. Essential foundations for measuring lightning with the world's largest antenna array were laid at KIT.

Gaming and virtual reality could bridge the gap between urban societies and nature, thereby paving the way to insect conservation by the means of education and participation. This is what an interdisciplinary team at Florida International University strive to achieve by developing a virtual reality game (desktop version also available) dedicated to insect and plant species. Focused on imperiled butterflies, their innovative idea: Butterfly World 1.0, is described in the open-access journal Rethinking Ecology.