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Oxford University finds Omega-3 affects the ability of vitamin B to slow brain decline
While research has already established that B vitamin supplements can help slow mental decline in older people with memory problems, an international team have now found that having higher levels of Omega-3 fatty acids in your body could boost the B vitamins' effect.The team, from the Universities of Cape Town, Oslo, Oxford and the UAE,…
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Half the world's natural history specimens may have the wrong name
Even the most accomplished naturalist can find it difficult to tell one species of plant from another or accurately decide which genus a small insect belongs to. So when a new specimen arrives at a museum, finding the right name from existing records can sometimes prove difficult. In turn, that can lead to specimens being…
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Would you choose love over food?
Scientists from the Department of Zoology found that mated pairs of great tits chose to prioritise their relationships over sustenance in a novel experiment that prevented couples from foraging in the same location. This also meant birds ended up spending a significant amount of time with their partners' flock-mates. And, over time, the pairs may even have…
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Exercise, exercise, exercise if you want to add years to your life!
Landmark research by The George Institute for Global Health has found that exercise can save lives, with an increase in the number of steps walked each day having a direct correlation with long term mortality.Study author Professor Terry Dwyer said this was the first time research had been able to make the link between exercise,…
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Why you should exercise with friends
Exercising together brings us closer to one another, while exercising with those close to us improves our performance. Those are the conclusions of an Oxford University study published this Friday in the journal PLoS ONE.
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How Pigeons organize for better navigation
Having a hierarchical social structure with just a few well-connected leaders enables pigeon flocks to navigate more accurately on the wing, new research shows.Hierarchical organisation also enables flocks to cope better with navigation errors made by individual birds.Researchers from Oxford University and the Zoological Society of London created 'virtual flocks' of homing pigeons to test…
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Species loss linked to unstable production of grassland ecosystem
Losing plant species is directly linked to long-term declines in the stable productivity of grasslands, a new study has shown. The study demonstrates for the first time that for every decrease in plant biodiversity there is a proportional decrease in the stable production of plant biomass through time of grassland ecosystems. Over the long-term, factors such…
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University of Oxford finds trees inhale less carbon when they are drought – impacted
For the first time, an international research team has provided direct evidence of the rate at which individual trees in the Amazonian basin 'inhale' carbon from the atmosphere during a severe drought. The researchers measured the growth and photosynthesis rates of trees at 13 rainforest plots across Brazil, Peru and Bolivia, comparing plots that were affected…
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How did Emperor Penguins survive the last ice age?
The study of how climate change has affected emperor penguins over the last 30,000 years found that only three populations may have survived during the last ice age, and that the Ross Sea in Antarctica was likely the refuge for one of these populations.The findings, published in the journal Global Change Biology, suggest that while current…
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How Birds Cope with Turbulence
Researchers set out to examine how soaring birds such as eagles, vultures, and kites, are able to fly in ‘gusty’ turbulent flight conditions that would keep a light aircraft grounded. They gave a captive steppe eagle (Aquila nipalensis), called ‘Cossack’, its own flight recorder backpack – a 75g black box incorporating GPS that also measured…