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Fish throws away its genes as it grows
Published on 2009-06-25 05:53:00
Whether it's its extraterrestrial looks or status as a "living fossil," there's always been something fishy about the sea lamprey. Now scientists have added another oddity to the creature's repertoire: The lamprey jettisons 20% of its genome during development.Jeramiah Smith of the University of Washington, Seattle, first suspected something strange while piecing together the sea lamprey's genetic sequence. The postdoctoral fellow and his colleagues tried labeling live lamprey cells using a tech
The Most Lifeless Place in the Ocean
Published on 2009-06-23 06:00:00
Scientists have discovered what may be the least inhabited place in the ocean.The seafloor sediments in the middle of the South Pacific have fewer living cells than anywhere else measured, a new study found.Oceanographer Steven D’Hondt of the University of Rhode Island and colleagues took a boat out to the middle of the ocean and collected cores, or cylindrical samples of sediment, from the bottom of the sea about 2.5 to 3.7 miles (4 to 6 km) deep.They found about 1,000 living cells in each cu
The secrets of ant sleep revealed
Published on 2009-06-22 07:22:00
Queen ants dozily dream, while worker ants are forced to get by taking power naps, the first study of the sleeping habits of ants has revealed.Queen fire ants fall into relatively long, deep sleeps and kip for an average of nine hours every day.By contrast, workers sleep just half as much and get to rest by taking hundreds of short power naps.This division of rest may help explain why queens live for years, while worker ants typically only live for months.It also ensures that enough worker ants
