Butterfly migration could be largest known
...llars turn into adults in the spring, they migrate north in search of fresh food and breeding grounds, powered by a supply of yellow fat they have built up over the winter. Painted ladies migrate every year, but usually less conspicuously and in far fewer numbers. This year, however, exceptionally high win...Genetic diversity predicts susceptibility to a deadly emerging disease
... declining species facing potential extinction. In north western Italy its populations are severely depleted in genetic variation, while eastern populations remain genetically variable. Theory and molecular immunology predict that reduced genetic diversity increases susceptibility to new diseases. Does re...PNAS highlights for the week of April 4 - 8
...workshops had been found in the lagoon and farther north along the coast, but the extent and details of regional salt-making were unclear. The author's team of snorkeling researchers found evidence of 41 additional salt works, with remains of wooden buildings at more than half of them. Ceramic pottery rem...Searching the depths of the straits of Florida for disease cures
...es a number of small, uninhabited islands 30 miles north of Cuba. Cay Sal was once notorious for its role in illegal drug smuggling, but researchers expect to discover pristine reefs there down to 3,000 feet that could lead to a new reputation for the area as the source of lifesaving drugs. Regular dispatc...Legendary Siberian tiger, Olga, killed by poachers
...er (approximately 200 square-mile) swath of forest north of Terney in the Russian Far East, giving birth to six litters totaling at least 13 cubs, six of which survived. "To our knowledge, Olga is the oldest, and the most intensively studied tiger in the world," said Dale Miquelle, Director of the Wildlife...Octopuses occasionally stroll around on two arms, UC Berkeley biologists report
... professor Roy Caldwell, on Lizard Island 45 miles north of Cairns, Australia, she decided to take a look at local members of that same species. She snorkeled out to capture one and, after putting it in a tank at the research station, was surprised to see it also walking on two arms. "It seemed like it was...2005 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory meetings
...ct the top scientists from around the world to the north shore of Long Island (one hour from New York City) for intensive discussions of the latest discoveries in a broad range of the biological and biomedical sciences. Journalists, science writers, and editors are encouraged to attend Cold Spring Harbor L...Grizzlies set to invade high Arctic?
...he western Arctic archipelago 1,500 kilometres due north of Yellowknife, and 1,000 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. "We know grizzlies go out on the sea ice to hunt seals, but no one has ever se...The effects of economic growth on interior forests of the Southeast
...es in the southeastern United State bounded in the north by Kentucky and Virginia and in the west by Texas and Arkansas. At this time, most of these states are still more than 60 percent forested, but five of the states are among the top 10 nationwide for rates of urbanization. The forecasts made in the ...Assessment of recent rapid land-cover change yields portraits of global human impact
...he Gangetic Plain of northern India, the plain and north plateau of China, and the island of Java in Indonesia. Cities that are changing most rapidly are located throughout the tropical belt....Arid Australian interior linked to landscape burning by ancient humans
...n delivers about 39 inches of rain annually to the north coast as it moves south from Asia, only about 13 inches of rain now falls on the continent's interior each year, said Miller, also a CU-Boulder geological sciences professor. Lake Eyre, a deep-water lake in the continent's interior that was filled b...Sinking coastlines may precede large subduction zone quakes
...e itself. In a core from Netarts Bay, Oregon, just north of Tillamook, the species of foraminfera present indicated three repeating sequences of high marsh transitioning to low marsh as the land began to sink, then tsunami sand without foraminifera, followed by a return to high marsh as the land relaxed af...B-15A iceberg's close encounter monitored by Envisat
...ty the ice tongue has a body of open water on its north side that its presence blocks from freezing, sustaining the penguin population. "The Drygalski ice tongue has been remarkably resilient over at least the last century," Drinkwater concludes. "In spite of its apparent vulnerability, shallower bathyme...Pinatubo's rivers show the danger isn't over when volcanic eruption ends
...asily. Pinatubo's location, in the tropics not far north of the equator, makes it subject to torrential rains from monsoons and typhoons. "In one of the streams we're studying, nothing can live. If a big storm hits, the whole riverbed moves," Gran said. That means that more than 13 years after the eruptio...Shedding feathers early may enhance sex appeal, new songbird study shows
...to breed at the Queen's University Biology Station north of Kingston, the researchers were able to determine the approximate region where molting had occurred. And when the feathers were analyzed with a spectrometer measuring how much light of different wavelengths is reflected, significant differences in ...Violent ocean motion no magic potion for reefs
...involves detailed studies of 84 reef sites between north Miami and Ft. Pierce, 110 miles to the north. Seventy-seven sites have now been studied, and the rest will be completed once weather permits. Working before the hurricanes in northern Dade County, the Harbor Branch team found no signs of macroalgae o...Iceberg poses no threat to Antarctic personnel
...er--B-15A, approximately 100 miles long--is moving north at roughly 1-3 three kilometres per day. The berg's fate is unclear, as it depends on unpredictable winds, tides and other forces, but possibilities include colliding with the floating Drygalski Ice Tongue or continuing north, eventually to melt. If...Exploring ocean life and color on the internet
...e two seasonal patterns in the Red Sea, one in the north and another in the south. Though these patterns are familiar to oceanographers, Giovanni provided another surprise. "I saw a very small area of relatively high chlorophyll concentrations near the Egyptian coast," Acker said. "At first it looked like ...Say goodbye to Rudolph and other reindeer if global warming continues
...ar to the north, and the number of reindeer in the north also will fall greatly." Grayson and his colleague, Francoise Delpech, a French paleontologist at the Institut de Prehistoire et de Geologie du Quaternaire at the University of Bordeaux, will report their findings in a forthcoming issue of the journ...Studies in Royal Society journals include stress in birds and depletion of medieval fish stocks
...on of birds show disease symptoms, whereas farther north the peak occurs later, and fewer birds show symptoms.This paper identifies a number of potentially important conditions that could cause this behaviour. For the model to generate seasonal variation in disease prevalence that mimics the observed data,...