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Hot Topic
Origins
Origin & Evolution of Life
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The Rules of Migration
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| Topic: Origin & Evolution of Life |
05/16/06 |
| Scientists have discovered that migrating dragonflies and songbirds exhibit many of the same behaviors, suggesting the rules that govern such long-distance travel may be simpler and more ancient than was once thought. |
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Bee Quorum?
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| Topic: Origin & Evolution of Life |
04/22/06 |
| When 10,000 honeybees fly the coop to hunt for a new home, usually a tree cavity, they have a unique method of deciding which site is right: With great efficiency they narrow down the options and minimize bad decisions. |
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Filling the Terrestrial Gap
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| Topic: Origin & Evolution of Life |
04/09/06 |
| The recent discovery above the Arctic Circle of remarkably well preserved fossils from a new species of ancient fish provides a key marker in the evolutionary transition of fish to limbed animals. |
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Genetic TKO
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| Topic: Origin & Evolution of Life |
04/03/06 |
| How many genes does life need? By removing or ‘knocking out´ genes in bacteria, scientists hope to determine the minimal number of genes that are essential for survival. But according to a new study in the journal Nature, this knock out approach is the wrong strategy. |
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Whalesong Syntax
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| Topic: Origin & Evolution of Life |
03/29/06 |
| The songs of the humpback whale are among the most complex in the animal kingdom. Researchers have now mathematically confirmed that whales have their own syntax that uses sound units to build phrases that can be combined to form songs that last for hours. |
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Deconstructing Life
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| Topic: Origin & Evolution of Life |
03/13/06 |
| How does chemistry become biology? Solving this question is important for research into life´s origins, and also for the search for life elsewhere in the universe. In this interview, Dimitar Sasselov, describes a new comprehensive study that will try to figure out how chemical systems cross over into the world of the living. |
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Same Story, Often Told
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| Topic: Origin & Evolution of Life |
03/12/06 |
| Life on Earth has been shaped by random events unique to the history of our planet, so it may be unlikely we´ll ever find similar life forms elsewhere. But paleontologist Geerat Vermeij says that many traits are so advantageous that they will appear again and again. |
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Love that Baby Fat
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| Topic: Origin & Evolution of Life |
02/22/06 |
| Forget the textbook story about tool use and language sparking the dramatic evolutionary growth of the human brain. Instead, imagine ancient hominid children chasing frogs. Not for fun, but for food. |
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Electric ESP
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| Topic: Origin & Evolution of Life |
02/14/06 |
| Sharks are known for their almost uncanny ability to detect electrical signals while hunting and navigating. Now researchers have traced the origin of those electrosensory powers to the same type of embryonic cells that gives rise to many head and facial features in humans. |
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Clay Breath
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| Topic: Origin & Evolution of Life |
02/11/06 |
| According to a new study, clay made animal life possible on Earth. A sudden increase in oxygen in the Earth's recent geological history, widely considered necessary for the expansion of animal life, occurred just as the rate of clay formation on the Earth's surface also increased. |
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