The analysis of a termite entombed for 100 million years in an ancient piece of amber has revealed the oldest example of "mutualism" ever discovered between an animal and microorganism, and also shows the unusual biology that helped make this one of the most successful, although frequently despised insect groups in the world. The findings were made by George Poinar, an Oregon State Unive...

Researchers have discovered where basking sharks – the world`s second largest fish – hide out for half of every year, according to a report published online on May 7th in Current Biology. The discovery revises scientists` understanding of the iconic species and highlights just how little we still know about even the largest of marine animals, the researchers said. "While commonly ...

Dengue fever is the most common infectious disease transmitted by mosquitoes – some 100 million people around the world are infected. Researchers at the Hygiene Institute at Heidelberg University Hospital are the first to present a three-dimensional model of the location in the human cell where the virus is reproduced. Their research provides an insight into the exact process of viral replic...

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have elucidated the action of a protein, harmonin, which is involved in the mechanics of hearing. This finding sheds new light on the workings of mechanotransduction, the process by which cells convert mechanical stimuli into electrical activity. Defects in mechanotransduction genes can cause devastating diseases, such as Usher`s syndrome, which is ch...

The notion that a decline in pollinators may threaten the human food supply – producing a situation that has been referred to as a "pollination crisis" – can be considered a myth, at least where honey bees are concerned, say researchers reporting online on May 7th in Current Biology. First of all, most agricultural crop production does not depend on pollinators. On top of tha...

Roll over the heart illustration to identify anatomical structures and hear pronunciations. In the human body, the heart is usually situated in the middle of the thorax with the largest part of the heart slightly offset to the left (although sometimes it is on the right, (dextrocardia), underneath the breastbone. The left lung is smaller than the right lung because the heart occupies more of the ...