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Created on Saturday, 26 January 2013 05:04
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Written by ScienceDaily
An insect with a tiny brain and minimal computing power has become the first animal proven to use the Milky Way for orientation. Scientists from South Africa and Sweden have published findings showing the link between dung beetles and the spray of stars which comprises our galaxy. Although their eyes are too weak to distinguish individual constellations, dung beetles use the gradient of light to d
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Created on Saturday, 26 January 2013 05:02
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Written by ScienceDaily
Population explosions of pine beetles, which have been decimating North American forests in recent decades, may be prevented by boosting competitor and predator beetle populations, a Dartmouth study suggests. Bark beetles are the most destructive forest pests worldwide. Management and climate change have resulted in younger, denser forests that are even more susceptible to attack. Though intensive
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Created on Saturday, 26 January 2013 05:01
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Written by ScienceDaily
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists in Fort Pierce, Fla. are helping citrus growers and juice processors address the threat posed by Huanglongbing (HLB), a disease that is costing the citrus industry millions of dollars each year. Citrus trees infected with HLB, also called citrus greening, usually die within five to 10 years. Fruit on infected trees often falls to the ground before h
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Created on Sunday, 20 January 2013 14:24
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Written by ScienceDaily
Cheating is a behavior not limited to humans, animals and plants. Even microscopically small, single-celled algae do it, a team of University of Arizona researchers has discovered. Humans do it, chimpanzees do it, cuckoos do it -- cheating to score a free ride is a well-documented behavior by many animals, even plants. But microscopically small, single-celled algae? Yes, they do it too, biologists
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Created on Sunday, 20 January 2013 14:21
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Written by ScienceDaily
An area of the Amazon rainforest twice the size of California continues to suffer from the effects of a megadrought that began in 2005, finds a new NASA-led study. These results, together with observed recurrences of droughts every few years and associated damage to the forests in southern and western Amazonia in the past decade, suggest these rainforests may be showing the first signs of potentia
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Created on Sunday, 20 January 2013 14:16
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Longer, warmer growing seasons associated with a changing climate are altering growing conditions in temperate rain forests, but not all plant species will be negatively affected, according to research conducted by the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station. Research featured in the January 2013 issue of Science Findings -- a monthly publication of the station -- reveals a comple
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Created on Sunday, 20 January 2013 14:11
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Willow trees cultivated for 'green energy' can yield up to five times more biofuel if they grow diagonally, compared with those that are allowed to grow naturally up towards the sky.This effect had been observed in the wild and in plantations around the UK, but scientists were previously unable to explain why some willows produced more biofuel than others.Now British researchers have identified a
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Created on Sunday, 20 January 2013 14:10
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Baited black traps in a pyramid shape attract significantly more brown marmorated stink bugs than other traps, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists. Evaluating stink bug responses to different visual stimuli may help manufacturers design better traps for monitoring the bugs. Entomologist Tracy Leskey at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Appalachian Fruit Research Sta
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Created on Sunday, 13 January 2013 07:59
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Written by ScienceDaily
By examining what lady bugs eat, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists are learning more about the movement of these beneficial insects in farm fields -- and whether they'll actively feed on crop pests. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) entomologist Jonathan Lundgren at the agency's North Central Agricultural Research Laboratory in Brookings, S.D., and former ARS entomologist Michael
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