The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) has been awarded funding from the National Science Foundation BIO-LEAPS (Leading Culture Change through Professional Societies of Biology) Program.
Gray wolves in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone have altered immune responses and evolved anticancer mutations in response to chronic radiation exposure for the past 35 years
Ecological and environmental factors are known to affect invasion success. Now, scientists have found that “braver” birds are better at invading new environments.
Scientists create ‘frogolotls’ - chimeric amphibians using surgical transplants - to see how competing cellular instructions create a unified organism
Graduate student Rebecca Westwick researches how the environment of honey bee larvae influences their adult behavior. By focusing on aggression, she finds that whether bees prioritize hive protection over care of their young depends on their environment.
The classroom is constantly evolving, from chalkboards to powerpoint slides to interactive polling using clickers. But what if science were a story and we could follow along as an ant messes things up for a colony (hint: Pixar’s A Bug’s Life) or a fish is separated from their home (hint: Pixar’s Finding Nemo)? While these stories may not be 100% scientific, their ability to engage is demonstrable in the success of these movies.
Researchers enticed dragonflies to chase a small bead as it hurtled through the air, to examine how these insects capture objects that fly in erratic and unpredictable ways.
When horseweed is grown in contaminated soil, it extracts and accumulates heavy metals like lead, copper, and zinc. These fast-growing plants could help to detoxify even highly polluted environments.
Animals must defend resources critical to their and their offspring’s survival. With few resources, tree swallows become more territorial, which likely increases testosterone allocation in their eggs. This may promote offspring aggression, a trait critical for survival in competitive environments.
Poison dart frogs eat and accumulate toxins in their skin. Yet, unlike their predators, it does not seem to bother them. Researchers at Stanford University discovered a toxin-transporter protein that may hang on to the toxins and prevent them from wreaking havoc before they reach the frog’s skin.
Honesty between faculty and students improves student experiences in college. Professors who actively consider student identity and sharing their own can increase student fulfillment. Although daunting, new data indicate that students are ready to embrace a new kind of learning environment.
Using publicly available data on COVID variant rates, researchers from the University of Hawai'i are investigating how mutations in the virus' genome impact its ability to spread and weaken immune responses.
In an effort to understand how climate changes will affect many species at once, PhD candidate Guillermo Garcia Costoya created simulations that can predict how likely animals are to go extinct in different climatic conditions.
Scientific conferences are the lifeblood of science, but scientists have had to reinvent their beloved annual meetings in the face of COVID-19. The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology has embraced these challenges and opportunities by setting up the ‘Netflix’ of scientific meetings.
New research into how catfish capture prey provides an unparalleled view of the internal mechanics of fish skulls and could inspire the design of new underwater robots.
Scientists Ethan A. Beseris, Steven E. Naleway and David R. Carrier recently discovered that though having a beard won’t save you from getting knocked out in a fight, it will likely save you from collateral damage.
Post-doctoral training is a critical career stage for researchers in the life sciences yet interviewing for a post-doctoral position is largely an unregulated process. Without regulation, interviews are susceptible to unconscious biases that may lead to discrimination against certain demographic groups (e.g., women and minorities). Using data from an online survey of post-docs, we show that interview procedures for post-doctoral positions in the life sciences are correlated with several factors (e.g., candidate demographics) in ways that may bias the outcome of interviews. We discuss key components of interviews and suggest that conducting standardized, well-planned interviews that are less susceptible to unconscious biases may help increase the retention of women and under-represented minorities in the life sciences.
Scientists at Tufts University have designed special LED “suits” that help them understand how caterpillars crawl. Versace might dress the likes of Shakira and Beyoncé, but Guy Levy designs for a far more unusual – and wriggly – client: the tobacco hornworm caterpillar (Manduca sexta).
Bats have long intrigued humans. In a variety of cultures, they embody malevolent symbolism, including darkness, death, foreboding, and evil spirits. In others, they’re benevolent flyers who bestow good fortune. Bats themselves also come in a variety of forms and shapes. The miniscule “bumblebee bat,” ranks among the world’s smallest mammals. Flying foxes, which eat mostly fruit and other vegetation, can have wingspans reaching up to 6 feet long. The clear-winged wooly bat may be one of the strangest to look at. Its wings are nearly transparent, and the muscles, circulatory system, and bones are clearly visible through the translucent, almost-paper-thin skin.
Light pollution is on everyone’s minds in Reno, Nevada, a city famous for its bright lights and nightlife. Nighttime light pollution is a growing concern for cities worldwide. Artificial light at night has been found to cause serious health effects including disrupting our sleep-wake cycle ¬–our circadian rhythm.
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