evolution

Puppy Love

Warning: this post contains scenes of extreme cuteness and adorability. Reader discretion is advised. Scientists have, for the first time, proved systematically that tiny little kittens and puppies are actually cute. It sounds incredibly obvious; even the coldest, stony-hearted grinches out there will melt at the sight of a baby animal looking up at them.
Read more

Evolution of antibiotic resistance mapped

streptococcus pneumoniae

The genomes of hundreds of bacterial strains that cause pneumonia have been sequenced and may lead to new antibiotics and vaccines. 240 lineages of multidrug resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae were collected from around the world and their genomes sequenced in order to understand how the bacteria came to be so virulent. The research, published in the
Read more

Copycats

Apart from a few eccentric Germans, being eaten is probably the last thing any of us would ever like to have happen to us. The same is true throughout the rest of the animal kingdom, of course, with millions of adaptations evolving to help prevent such an occurrence happening. Many of these adaptations are pretty
Read more

This little piggie had a rather nice outfit

New evidence has been uncovered which may explain the origin of the hugely variable coat colours found in domesticated animals. The research from Durham University has shown human preference to be the cause of the varying colours and not, as was thought before, random mutations. The study, co-authored by Dr Greger Larson of the Department
Read more