Posts tagged as:

evolution

Tammar wallaby’s clever immune tricks revealed

10 July 2011

Two thymus glands fast-track immune defences Baby wallaby photos available Until now, it was a mystery why many marsupials have two thymuses—key organs in the immune system—instead of the one typical of other mammals. Now postdoctoral researcher Dr Emily Wong from the University of Sydney and her colleagues have found that the two organs are [...]

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Aussie lizard reveals cancer secrets

28 June 2010

A compound produced by a pregnant lizard may provide important information on the origins and treatment of cancer in humans, according to zoologist Bridget Murphy from the University of Sydney, who discovered the protein, which is pivotal to the development of the lizard placenta.

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Fool’s gold reveals the ancient evolution of life on earth

11 August 2009

‘Fool’s gold’ has tricked many amateur gold miners, but Queensland researchers have discovered it can reveal much about the early evolution of life on Earth. Three billion years ago the Earth couldn’t support life as we know it – the atmosphere was deadly to oxygen-breathing plants and animals. But two and half billion years ago [...]

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Life beneath the sheets: 9000 years in the dark

27 July 2009

Researchers at Geoscience Australia have unravelled the development of a unique seafloor community thriving in complete darkness below the giant ice sheets of Antarctica. The community beneath the Amery Ice Shelf in Antarctica is 100 km from open water and hidden from view by ice half a kilometre thick. This ecosystem has developed very slowly [...]

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How lobsters create their colours

26 July 2009

A team of Queensland researchers have discovered that lobsters, prawns and other crustaceans have evolved a unique way of making colours: making the complex patterns appreciated by biologists and connoisseurs of seafood. Their work will help with conservation, aquaculture and may even lead to a new food colourant. And all the colours come from just [...]

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Big babies and small families make evolutionary sense

10 July 2008

Why don’t elephants (and humans) have thousands of little babies instead of one big one? Sydney researchers have discovered and modelled the key factors responsible for offspring and family size.

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Fin tips reveal the secret of underwater flight: ten times faster than an Olympic swimmer

17 June 2008

Certain small reef fish use wing-like fins to ‘fly’ underwater, allowing them to cruise at speeds equivalent to tuna, a team of Australian and US researchers has found. The design of the fins has drawn the attention of underwater submersible designers and the US Office of Naval Research.   

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Australian orchids’ sneaky sex tricks: floral arms race seduces insects

20 August 2007

Australian orchids are engaged in an arms race, using sensory overload to seduce male insects.

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It’s life, but not as we know it

22 August 2005

Billion year old bacteria in NT rocks and bugs from outer space Researchers from the CSIRO, Sydney University and Colorado State University have developed a means of detecting signs of ancient microbes which may have lived on Earth or come from outer space. The group already has picked up signs of bacteria more than a [...]

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Many pet snakes are venomous!

19 August 2003

 Many pet snakes are venomous! Big trouble for the global pet trade in snakes.  Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry of the Australian Venom Research Unit at the University of Melbourne has discovered that the number of venomous snakes in the world is not around 250 but actually closer to 2700.

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Continental drift shapes the earth and drives evolution and extinction

22 August 2002

Forget meteorites. Bin volcanic eruptions. When it comes to mass extinction continental drift is the mega-killer, claims Australian palaeontologist Dr Malte Ebach.

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Are we viruses?

26 August 2001

A radical new theory that could dramatically alter the way scientists view the evolution of life has been recently accepted for publication in the leading “Journal of Molecular Evolution”.  Supported by an increasing body of evidence, the theory proposes that the nucleus of our cells evolved from a virus that infected ancient bacteria-like organisms.

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What Females Want: Just what do fish find sexy?

26 May 2001

Scientists agree: some people are universally gorgeous. Studies in evolutionary biology show that few things are more advantageous to success than being attractive, since good looking individuals leave more offspring than their unattractive contemporaries.

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Clash of the Marsupial Carnivores

10 May 1998

Australia’s Serengeti: Clash of the Marsupial Carnivores – a Tasmanian researcher’s study of marsupial carnivores and their teeth will help us conserve our remaining marsupial carnivores.

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Time rolled back on an alien landscape

10 May 1998

How does the Earth’s surface evolve? A geologist is using 3D animated reconstructions to explore ancient landscapes.

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