Flores: What Is the Hobbit?

An open access/free PLoS Biology article by the science writer Tabitha M. Powledge**.Who - or what - is Homo floresiensis? (Wiki) The tiny hominid bones, which a joint Australian-Indonesian team unearthed in 2003 on the Indonesian island of Flores, have quickly become as...

Fossils reveal New Zealand's indigenous 'mouse'

From the New Scientist: Fossil bones of a mouse-sized creature that died between 16 million and 19 million years ago have been discovered on the South Island of New Zealand. It is the first hard evidence that the islands once had their own indigenous land mammals.Today the...

Home and away: Bat uses magnetic compass for long flights

Scientists believe a species of bat has an inbuilt magnetic compass to find its way home over long distances, in addition to its famous echolocation*, which guides it around its neighbourhood.Princeton University batologists used radio telemetry aboard a small aircraft to...

Mother's Diet during Pregnancy can affect Grandchildren (Epigenetics)

Oakland, California: A new study by scientists at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) is the first to show that a mother's diet during pregnancy influences the health of her grandchildren by changing the behavior of a specific gene. The study was conducted...