A British Antarctic Survey (BAS) study from satellite maps reveals that there are twice as many emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) in Antarctica than previously thought. According to the researchers published in the journal PLoS ONE, they have used very high resolution satellite images (VHR) to estimate the number of penguins that make up each of the 44 colonies of this species scattered along the coasts of the white continent.
How do domestic pigeons know to return home even if they are transported in a closed box thousands of miles away? It is not because they have iron-rich neurons in their beaks. As a new European study published in the journal Nature has shown, these metal-filled cells are not really neurons but white blood cells, more specifically macrophages.
The Spanish Ornithological Society (SEO / Birlife) has chosen the rattle (Coracias garrulus) as the bird of the year 2012. The decline in its populations, around 40 percent in recent years, and the threats to the habitats occupied by This species has led it to be included in the category of "vulnerable" in The Red Book of the birds of Spain.
Some urban birds modify their songs to make themselves heard amidst the noise and chaos of cities. Sometimes the changes are so great that some of them are unable to communicate with individuals of the same species. These are the results of a study carried out over eight years with different passerine birds in Spain and Brazil.
Males of the large capulinero, a typical Australian bird, find mates by decorating their courtship sites in a way that creates an optical illusion, according to a study published in the journal Science. To court females, these birds gather a collection of gray bones, shells, stones and other objects and spend hours arranging the pieces in front of a kind of corridor made up of two walls and a densely woven straw floor.
To get an erection, ostriches and emus lengthen their penises using lymphatic fluid, instead of blood like mammals and reptiles, according to a study published in the Journal of Zoology. To demonstrate this, the researchers dissected the genitalia of an adult ostrich (Struthio camelus) and three emus (Dromaius novaehollandiae).
Who does not remember with emotion Monserrat Caballé and Freddie Mercury singing together the anthem of the Barcelona Olympics? A research team at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, led by biologist Eric Fortune, has shown that not only are human beings capable of interpenetrating to sing a chorus as a duet. The discovery of some small birds that inhabit the bamboo forests of Ecuador, and whose songs become so synchronized that sometimes they seem to come from a single individual, has made scientists rethink the systems of social communication between birds.
Is Antarctica, considered the driest, windiest and coldest region on the planet and, therefore, traditionally inaccessible to man, a victim of pollution? A team of Spanish researchers has measured the concentrations of aluminum, arsenic, lead and other elements in penguin feathers to find out.
Danni Büchner is invited to Sam Dylan's Halloween party. But the "Goodbye Germany" emigrant has no desire for many other party guests. And find clear words.
