New Scientist - Living World

Ecotourists scare away endangered wildlife

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:30:00 +0100

Nature-loving visitors to protected animal reserves can make carnivorous animals like bobcats and coyotes scarper, a new study says (full text available to subscribers)

Humpback comeback could signal end of hunting ban

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

The news that humpback whales are back from the brink of extinction is encouraging, but it could fuel Japan's desire to reinstate hunting

The evolutionary story of the 'language gene'

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

When biologists discovered the role of FOXP2 in language, they thought it would set us apart from other animals. How wrong they were. (full text available to subscribers)

Beetles feel the heat to find home

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Fire beetles sense forest fires from miles away thanks to specially adapted ear-like organs

Elephant seals recruited to monitor sea ice

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Sensors attached to seals are allowing polar researchers to gather data on remote areas of the Antarctic inaccessible by boat

Fussy fish pick a partner from afar

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:00:00 +0100

In the race to become a father, it's the female who calls the shots, at least among blue-green chinook salmon

How old mice kept their livers forever young

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

In elderly mice, preventing cellular clutter from building up in the liver has kept that organ as good as new (full text available to subscribers)

Computer model of bees probes the hive mind

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:00:00 +0100

How do bees know where to find the best nectar? A colony of virtual bees may provide the answer (full text available to subscribers)

Parasitic flies force bees into drudgery

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 10:16:00 +0100

In certain bee societies, a tiny parasitic fly has a big influence on which bee becomes queen and which become sterile workers (full text available to subscribers)

Hawaii's endangered birds starved for cash

Wed, 6 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

The US government spends much less money on recovery programmes for endangered Hawaiian birds than it does on mainland birds

The world's smallest snake discovered

Wed, 6 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

The size of a 10-centimetre strand of spaghetti, the snake is the latest in a suite of tiny island-dwelling species

Climate maps offer wildlife hope of sanctuary

Sat, 9 Aug 2008 10:47:00 +0100

A new way to predict how habitat zones will shift or vanish could help usher endangered species to safety (full text available to subscribers)

Rabies tragedy follows loss of India's vultures

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:15:00 +0100

A mass poisoning that killed millions of vultures may have indirectly claimed the lives of almost 50,000 people bitten by rabid feral dogs (full text available to subscribers)

Saving species doesn't harm the world's poor

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:30:00 +0100

Do environmentalists destroy the lives of poor people by taking over wild areas in the name of conservation? No, says new research

Bumblebees help close in on serial killers

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Analysing bumblebee behaviour could improve the techniques police use to locate people that habitually kill (full text available to subscribers)

Tree shrews could drink humans under the table

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Nectar-sipping shrews spend much of the time drinking alcohol but don't get drunk – they may help us understand what drives the human taste for alcohol

Hidden populations give lynx a fighting chance

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100

The world's rarest cat may avoid extinction after new populations are found across Spain

Why a mule is not a dumb-ass

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:28:00 +0100

'Hybrid vigour' may explain why mules – the offspring of male donkeys and female horses – are smarter than either of their parents

How snakes got their fangs

Sun, 3 Aug 2008 09:46:00 +0100

How snakes evolved venomous fangs from regular teeth is an evolutionary mystery, but now research suggests turning off a single gene is the key (full text available to subscribers)

Cracking the mysteries of bird migration

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Clever tracking technologies are finally letting us understand how birds travel such huge distances, says Bob Holmes (full text available to subscribers)

Blue light helps flies feel the force

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:00:00 +0100

A protein that detects blue light also helps fruit flies tune into the Earth's magnetic field – crucial for the homing and migration abilities of many animals

Bluetongue spreads despite vaccinations

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:40:00 +0100

The disease resurfaces in France, and sheep populations in Britain are now under threat

Cracking the mysteries of bird migration

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Clever tracking technologies are finally letting us understand how birds travel such huge distances, says Bob Holmes (full text available to subscribers)

Crickets thrive best on his and hers diets

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Although naturally, both sexes eat a high-carb diet, female crickets would do better on an Atkins-style protein-rich diet, say researchers

Coral-killing starfish curbed by fishing ban

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:14:00 +0100

Crown-of-thorns starfish, which can devastate coral reefs, are less common in Australian no-fishing zones

Mongrel fish is a mixture of three species

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100

An aquatic ménage à trois between native and introduced fish could damage biodiversity in the Colorado river (full text available to subscribers)

Monkeys go wild over onion wash

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Capuchin monkeys get in a lather over communal onion baths, but rather than being relaxed after this social activity, they become unusually aggressive

Grazing sea urchins create reef cacophony

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:20:00 +0100

Ravenous sea urchins scraping algae off rocks create a massive din at their peak feeding times

Dying Tasmanian devils turn to teen pregnancies

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100

In populations affected by the deadly devil facial tumour disease, females show extreme levels of precocious sexual behaviour

Laser illuminates fragile dinosaur footprints

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:43:00 +0100

Dinosaur tracks spread across kilometres of sloping, crumbling rock have been scanned with lasers

Mystery ailment hits South African crocs

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 11:31:00 +0100

Thirty dead crocodiles in Kruger National Park seem to have drowned because their tails were hardened with fat to swim

A taste for the rare may drive sturgeon to extinction

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Snobbish attitudes drive a strong preference for caviar supposedly from "rare" species, even when the samples are the same (full text available to subscribers)

Seaweed sucker vacuums up invasive reef algae

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100

A giant vacuum hose attached to a barge is ridding reefs of suffocating algae, with amazing and lasting results

How bats made the leap from gliding to flying

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 09:13:00 +0100

An analysis of bat and flying-squirrel wings hints that bats may have developed rudimentary flapping as their wings became less suited to gliding (full text available to subscribers)

Cleaner fish stations are a reef safe haven

Wed, 9 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100

The soothing calm of a cleaner fish massage turns vicious predators into placid neighbours

To put up an oil rig, follow that clam

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:44:00 +0100

A digging device inspired by razor clams could help anchor offshore oil rigs, and has netted $6.5 million of oil industry funding (full text available to subscribers)

Four artificial new letters for the DNA alphabet

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:26:00 +0100

A new form of the molecule of life, with no natural bases, could find a use in tomorrow's electronic devices

Rewriting Darwin: The new non-genetic inheritance

Wed, 9 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100

The idea that children can inherit characteristics that their parents acquired during their lifetime is coming in from the cold (full text available to subscribers)

Flatfish caught evolving, thanks to its roving eye

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 11:56:00 +0100

Fossil fish with eyes in different places on the two sides of their skulls reveal an intermediate step in the evolution of modern flatfish (full text available to subscribers)

Nature 2.0: Redefining conservation

Mon, 7 Jul 2008 10:48:00 +0100

In the face of rapid environmental change, preserving the status quo is no longer an option, says Sharon Oosthoek (full text available to subscribers)

Secret sleep of birds revealed in brain scans

Wed, 2 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Zebra finches show many features of sleep that had previously been assumed to be the sole preserve of mammals

Cane toads kill off river crocodiles

Wed, 2 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100

As the toxic front of cane toads marches across Australia, it leaves mass death of crocodiles in its wake

Did 'burrowing' placenta give us big brains?

Tue, 8 Jul 2008 10:22:00 +0100

A hormone which allows the placenta to push into the wall of the uterus in some primates might also have played a key role in brain evolution (full text available to subscribers)