FYI: Why Do Humans Like Fizzy Drinks?
• http://www.popsci.com, By Colin LecherApparently we like it with the part of our sensorium that evolved to detect spoilage.
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Apparently we like it with the part of our sensorium that evolved to detect spoilage.
With the help of a robotic frog, biologists at The University of Texas at Austin and Salisbury University have discovered that two wrong mating calls can make a right for female túngara frogs.
This symbiotic approach to growing food was practiced by ancient peoples like the Aztecs.
Bernie Krause has been recording wild soundscapes -- the wind in the trees, the chirping of birds, the subtle sounds of insect larvae -- for 45 years. In that time, he has seen many environments radically altered by humans, sometimes even by practice
Have you ever awakened from a summer night in the woods, camping with friends, only to find you were the sole victim of a mosquito onslaught? Or have you returned from a hike covered in bites, yet your friends were without?
Researchers at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and colleagues have identified a new virus associated with the death of a short-beaked dolphin found stranded on a beach in San Diego.
In the future, you--like the pufferfish--could have so many teeth that you'll wear necklaces made out of your spares. It'll be weird.
Pigs haven't exactly evolved for an aquatic lifestyle, but apparently that doesn't stop the pigs from Big Major Cay, aka Pig Beach or Pig Island, part of the Exuma Cays archipelago in the Bahamas.
There is a surprising population explosion of Antarctic glass sponges over the past several years, according to a new study published today (July 11) in the journal Current Biology.
Executive order EO 13112 defines an invasive species as one that is nonnative to a particular area and is causing economic or environmental problems or harm to human heath.
Increasingly science agrees with the poetry of direct human experience: we are more than the atoms and molecules that make up our bodies, but beings of light as well.........
Apes, dolphins and elephants are animals with remarkable communication skills. Could the internet be expanded to include sentient species like them? A new and developing idea from a panel of four great thinkers --
The birds' relentless nibbling at live whales is a sign of ecological imbalance, scientists say, and it's forcing the whales to change their natural behavior.
A group of physicists and biologists has developed a nanotechnology-based technique that promises to increase the speed and sensitivity of diagnosing Lyme disease, a bacterial condition that infects more than 30,000 Americans each year.
Monsanto and others look to RNA interference to fight widespread bee-killing mites.
Lake Vostok is teeming with life, according to researchers.
Marine biologist Paul Sikkel discusses the important role of parasites in coral reef ecosystems.
Engineers seek a cheaper biodegradable polymer.
How does a hummingbird hover? Let's point a $150,000 high-speed camera at one and find out.
Two cancer patients in Boston no longer show any evidence of HIV infection, researchers announce.
A mixture of three cell types self-assembles into a liver bud that can be seen with the naked eye.
Ever notice how ant colonies so successfully explore and exploit resources in the world … to find food at 4th of July picnics, for example? You may find it annoying. But as an ecologist who studies ants and collective behavior, I think it’s intriguin
Orang-utans may be perfectly adapted for swinging through trees, but new observations suggest they also spend a surprising amount of time hanging out on the ground.
A pod of killer whales off Australia's coast swam back out to sea after they were stranded near Fraser Island, Queensland. Four adult whales and one calf survived the ordeal but two died despite attempts by rangers to keep them hydrated.
Most octopuses take the million-to-one-odds strategy when it comes to reproduction.
Eyebrows are a very significant aspect of our appearance. They are one of the most distinctive features that make up our faces, and we pay a lot of attention to them.
Some of the oldest DNA sequences come from mastodon and polar bear fossils about 50,000 and 110,000 years old, respectively. But samples from a horse leg bone more than 700,000 years old have yielded the oldest full genome known to date.
Despite its loud call, a new bird species has only just been discovered in Cambodia's capital city of Phnom Penh, scientists announced yesterday (June 25).
The organism, discovered just five years ago, is closely related to the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine.
A new species of "assassin bug" — a type of gutsy predatory insect that neutralizes prey using its thorny front legs and sharp, needlelike mouth — has been discovered deep in a limestone cave in Arizona.