Evolution in action
- Avi Blizovsky
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Prof. Ariel Chipman of the Hebrew University suggests that a complex brain evolved early in response to crowded and competitive marine environments, helping pave the way for the great diversity of animals.
- Avi Blizovsky
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New research shows that wild animals distinguish between hunters and fishermen and tourists and researchers, and adjust their level of fear to the type of threat and its perceived magnitude.
- The Technion
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In a lecture at the Technion, Dr. Yotam Bar-On explained how rapid evolution, mutations, and immune evasion allow viruses to outpace the immune system, why vaccines are very successful in some diseases and less so in others, and what we learned from the Corona era.
- Avi Blizovsky
- One response
Groundbreaking study documents flexible, purposeful tool use in cattle for the first time, challenging long-held assumptions about the cognitive limits of farm animals
- Weizmann Institute
A study in Nature Communications reveals a subtype of touch sensors in the whisker follicle that is located near the center of mass and rests on a collagen ring that acts like a “stabilizing weight” — so the rat ignores whisker vibrations and responds precisely
- Tel Aviv University
In the spring, bats are more "bold" and are not afraid to engage in conflicts with rats in the fight for food.
- Avi Blizovsky
- 3 תגובות
This led to our research question: Do other animals also “fall for” the same tricks? If a small fish or a chicken is exposed to the illusion, what does this tell us about the way they see and interpret their environment?
- Avi Blizovsky
- 3 תגובות
New research reveals that fungi created ancient soils and prepared the continents for the arrival of plants, through early collaboration with algae
- Avi Blizovsky
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An international study has found that two types of mushrooms have independently evolved different biochemical pathways for producing psilocybin – the psychoactive substance currently being studied as a treatment for drug-resistant depression.
- Avi Blizovsky
- 3 תגובות
New research reveals that two genetic mutations were key to the domestication of the horse in the Bronze Age – making it calmer and more resistant to carrying riders, and changing the face of transportation and warfare in the ancient world
- Avi Blizovsky
- 13 תגובות
- Avi Blizovsky
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New research reveals how ancient giant sloths dug caves, thrived in the oceans and moved between diverse environments – until climate change and the arrival of humans led to their extinction
- Avi Blizovsky
- 4 תגובות
New research provides new insights into how animals like the woolly mammoth, musk ox and Arctic fox evolved to survive the cold during the Ice Age.
- Avi Blizovsky
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Comprehensive genomic map reveals unprecedented genetic diversity in the global pea collection and paves the way for genetic improvements of the legume
- Angle - a news agency for science and the environment
- 2 תגובות
Why are there red anemones alongside purple, pink, and white anemones? Is this a random whim of nature, or perhaps colors that help the flowers evade hungry caterpillars? New research aims to solve the mystery
- Davidson Institute
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Cuckoos develop eggs and chicks that resemble those of their hosts, to avoid detection. When they have more than one host, this can lead to the creation of new species of cuckoos – especially if they are “violent”.
- Avi Blizovsky
- 3 תגובות
The discovery of the oldest fossil from the Ecdysozoa family (Uncus dzaugisi), a group of animals characterized by shedding their skin and including insects, crustaceans and nematodes, sheds light on the early evolution of animals
- Weizmann Institute
Group decision making makes ants smarter. With humans, on the other hand, sometimes it is better to be alone
- Tel Aviv University
The sponges use a precious metal to warn: beware! We are toxic
- Tel Aviv University
The female locust can dig 4-3 holes to lay eggs and then her organs that are intended for this wear out
- Avi Blizovsky
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- Avi Blizovsky
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Evolution, color signals, animals, courtship, warning, peacock, poisonous frogs, communication between animals, signals in plants, evolutionary biology
- Tel Aviv University
- One response
- Weizmann Institute
The malaria-causing parasite exacts a bloody toll from humanity, not least thanks to its ability to produce unique, dark crystals inside our blood cells. New research fully deciphers the structure of these crystals and calcns
- Avi Blizovsky
- 2 תגובות
A new study reveals the twists and turns and complexities in the evolution of mammals, from a spread body structure (legs tending to the sides like in reptiles) to an upright body structure where the feet are stable on the ground
- The Hebrew University
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New research has revealed how plants and bacteria swap genes to boost plant health and development. These genes affect key processes such as carbohydrate metabolism and hormone synthesis
- Avi Blizovsky
- 3 תגובות
Smithsonian Institution scientists compiled and analyzed an extensive genetic database, and found that some mushroom crops became completely dependent on ants 27 million years ago, a process created 65 million years ago by an event
- Avi Blizovsky
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Researchers have discovered for the first time the existence of parasitic planoles (sort of larvae) of the sea lily that grows in jellyfish in the Mediterranean Sea that allow the sea lily to spread beyond the immediate environment, a finding that may affect ecosystems
- The Hebrew University
- 3 תגובות
Researchers from the Hebrew University have proposed a new theory about how animals store and recover stored food. Their research, published in Scientific Reports, challenges traditional notions of animal storage behavior
- Avi Blizovsky
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- The Technion
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The researchers of the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion show in their article in Nature how the immune system has developed a "developmental space" that allows it to quickly adapt to changes in the environment
- Avi Blizovsky
- 2 תגובות
Research shows that crows can intentionally produce up to four vocalizations in response to specific cues, indicating a non-symbolic number system and vocal control similar to that of human infants. This ability offers a foundation
- Avi Blizovsky
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The researchers examined the relationship between sediment mixing caused, in part, by burrowing worms with a mineral called pyrite, which plays a key role in oxygen accumulation. As more pyrite is formed and buried under the mud, sand or
- The Hebrew University
- 5 תגובות
A study by Hebrew University researchers opens innovative avenues in understanding the influence of sex cells on life expectancy and sheds light on the central role of sex cells and fertility on longevity
- Avi Blizovsky
- 8 תגובות
In the spectacular karst landscapes of southern China, giant apes, known as Gigantopithecus blacki, once roamed. They were three meters tall and weighed about 250 kilograms. They became extinct about 300 thousand years ago. The reasons for the extinction of
- Avi Blizovsky
- 5 תגובות
Research: A New Understanding of Animal Size Changes Over Time: Competition, Ecological Pressures, and Cope's Law
- Weizmann Institute
Drug safety tests often focus on "physiological safety", meaning their possible effect on patients. Weizmann Institute of Science scientists propose a new type of test: evolutionary safety
- Avi Blizovsky
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It is definitely possible to train a dog with toys if you start very early," said the lead researcher from the University of Florida. "This is what we do with search and rescue dogs, we start very early with toys as reinforcers."
- Tel Aviv University
The need to hunt small animals caused prehistoric man to improve his mental abilities in order to perfect his hunting tools
Why do some species survive mass extinctions? The secret may be a hidden "whole genome duplication".
- Avi Blizovsky
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Geneticists have discovered a whole genome duplication event that occurred in the past in the common ancestor of sturgeons and paddlefish that may have helped them during the mass extinction 200 million years ago
- The Voice of Science website - the Israel National Science Foundation
Tracking social mammals has allowed scientists to understand how they choose a way of behavior that promotes their ability to reproduce
- Weizmann Institute
The biomass of cows, pigs, sheep and other farm animals is currently 30 times greater than that of all elephants, elk and other wild land mammals combined
- Ehud Amir
- 6 תגובות
- Ehud Amir
- 6 תגובות
Why do we think our nature is so bad? Why do we believe that constant warfare is a basic human drive?
- Ehud Amir
- One response
In this chapter we will examine whether social morality is a product of religions, or a universal biological trait that preceded cultures and religions? And how humanity can unite in times of emergency
- Ehud Amir
- 5 תגובות
In a symbiotic reorganization, the organism functions much better than its individual cells or parts.
- Ehud Amir
- 3 תגובות
The debate on whether human nature is good or bad from youth is an ancient one, Ehud Amir believes that although it may seem the other way around, human nature is good from youth and the bad are the exceptions. Chapter One
- Tel Aviv University
Researchers have discovered that corals also glow at depth to lure their prey