Month: May 2017

why-do-we-dream

Why Do We Dream?

The rear part of our brain gets really active during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, the stage when we are close to waking and when we dream the most. But dreams can also occur during so-called ‘slow-wave sleep’. And, although scientists have been studying the dream cycle for decades, no one really knows for sure …

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frog-pond

Chemicals in Road Salt Have Been Found to Adversely Affect Frog Biology

Every winter, councils grit our roads and pavements to keep the traffic moving safely. But a new study has revealed that the road salt they use can wash into ponds and have an alarming impact on the frogs that breed there. The research found that naturally occurring chemicals in the road salt have a ‘masculinising …

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chimpanzee

Thank You, Chimpanzees!

Next time you munch on a chocolate bar, think of chimpanzees. Researchers have found that wild chimps in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa, are helping farmers to cultivate cocoa plants by dispersing the seeds. After eating the pulp, chimpanzees spit out the seeds – or, erm, expel them from the other end. Farmers later tend to the saplings, clearing trees so …

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seals

How Sensor-Equipped Seals Are Helping Scientists Peer Below the Antarctic ice

Tagging huge elephant seals on an Antarctic beach isn’t a job for the faint-hearted. Mature males weigh up to four tonnes, and can easily mistake a human for another seal looking for a fight. “Elephant seals don’t have good vision,” says Dr Horst Bornemann, a researcher from Germany’s Alfred Weneger Institute for Polar and Marine Research. …

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elephants

Elephants Walk On Their Tiptoes

What do elephants and ballerinas have in common? They both walk up on their toes. Researchers at the University of Queensland have found that elephants put most pressure on the outside toes of their front feet as they plod around.

blind-rats

Gene-Editing Breakthrough Restores Sight in Blind Rats

In a breakthrough that’s been described by researchers as the ‘Holy Grail’ of genetics, a team at the Salk Institute have successfully used gene-editing tool CRISPR to repair broken genes in the retinas of blind rats, partially restoring their sight. The same technique could be used to cure a range of genetic diseases, the researchers …

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