Category: Biology
Short-Tongued Bombus
April 10, 2021A study in Science shows that in a period of just 40 years two alpine bumblebee species (Bombus balteatus and Bombus sylvicola) rapidly evolved significantly shorter tongues. Short-tongued species are more generalist foragers, able to feed on many different types of flowers. They are replacing more specialised, long-tongued…
Trunkism
November 10, 2020The Peruvian Variant
May 30, 2020Hallmarks of Malignant Growth: Deregulating Energy Metabolism
December 20, 2018Red Knot Protein Transition
May 13, 2016Trade-Off Dialectics
March 7, 2016Small Chameleon’s Mighty Tongue
January 7, 2016Full Length over Exon Deficient
November 14, 2015The Cell Cycle: Gap Zero
May 23, 2015The Cell Cycle: Détente
April 7, 2015Desiccation Tolerance
September 15, 2014Catch-Up Growth
July 8, 2014Catch-up growth is the accelerated growth of an organism following a period of slowed development. Such slowing down is most often the result of environmental influences such as food scarcity, sudden changes in temperature, or other environmental stress factors. After the situation is normalised, growth…
Cell Culture
March 17, 2014Paradoxical Frog
January 14, 2014Turtle Tears
December 16, 2013Japanese Miniatures: Pygmy Squid Bukkake
December 9, 2013Bigger males, both human and animal, are generally more successful in attracting and being selected by females. But not in all species. The Incredible Shrinking Man seeks inspiration from those few species where females favour the small, like Idiosepius paradoxus, the Japanese Pygmy Squid. The mating rituals…
It’s Not (All) About Genes
August 2, 2013Rete Mirabile
October 1, 2012Brown Fat Thermogenesis
September 25, 2011If we shrink to 50 centimeters controlling body temperature becomes a real challenge. Large mass bodies can much easier deal with differences in outside temperature. But perhaps a simple evolutionary adaptation, observed in small mammals and human infants, points towards a possible solution. Biologist Per-Ivar…