Bees know you

To humans, all honeybees may look alike. But not all humans appear the same to bees. A study has found that the insects can learn to recognise human faces from photographs, and remember them for at least two days. The finding puts a question mark on the belief that facial recognition requires a large brain. The result may help develop better face-recognition software, according to a team of scientists led by Adrian G Dyer from the University of Cambridge in the UK. The study appeared in the online version of Journal of Experimental Biology on December 2, 2005.

Toxic blooms

scientists have raised concern over India lacking a programme to regularly monitor harmful algal blooms (habs), which may lead to massive fish kills and even threaten public health. Though non-toxic blooms have been commonly reported from Indian waters, the cases of hab s have been on the rise since 1981.

Gene control

Human and chimpanzee genes differ by a mere 1.2 per cent, which is insufficient to explain the differences between the two species. About 30 years ago, Mary-Claire King and Alan Wilson had proposed it is not genes but their expression that differentiates us from primates. Now, Matthew Rockman of Duke University, USA, and colleagues have found experimental evidence to support the proposition.

Colour insight

thevisual system of bees is more sophisticated than believed, claims a study conducted at the University College London (ucl) that showed the insects solved complicated colour puzzles.

Shark record

a 3.8 metre-long female great white shark has completed the first documented round-trip ocean crossing by a shark.

Fabled frog

The inspiration behind Mark Twain's fable, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", may be facing a serious threat to its existence. A federal judge in San Francisco has asked the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to investigate if 66 pesticides commonly used in agriculture are endangering the California red-legged frog.

Avian trouble

avian influenza viruses in Southeast Asia are developing resistance to drugs faster than the strains found in North America, says a study done at St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Tennessee, usa.

Stemming algal blooms

harmful growth of algae that affects the marine ecosystem especially fish, human health and tourism can be controlled using a safe biological weapon, claim researchers.

Super silk

scientists in the us have unravelled the genetic structure of one of the strongest silks that spiders produce. The discovery could help make super spider-silk products with a wide range of defence, industrial and medical applications.

Water bug can check filariasis