Posted on 9. May, 2014.

Nests are built by a wide variety of animals as functional receptacles for developing eggs and offspring, and they play a critical role in the reproductive biology of many species. Traditionally, research on the ecology and evolution of nest building and construction behaviour has focused primarily on birds, and avian studies have dominated the literature. However, as researchers working on non-bird models have realised the importance of nest construction in evolutionary ecology, the number of studies published on the nesting behaviour of nonbird taxa has increased.

Posted on 9. May, 2014.

The water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is a free floating aquatic weed originating in the Amazon in South America and has been considered as the most noxious plant species in the world.

Posted on 8. May, 2014.

In healthy humans, vitamin D₃ which is produced from 7-dehydrocholesterol by UV exposure on skin surface, undergoes two metabolic oxidations to afford the physiologically active form of vitamin D₃ (1α, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃, calcitriol).

Posted on 7. May, 2014.

Phosphate esters are essential to any living organism and their specific hydrolysis plays an important role in many metabolic processes.

Posted on 25. April, 2014.

We take another look at the scientific topics being discussed in Science Progress at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Posted on 16. April, 2014.

In the 1960s, populations of wild birds showed dramatic declines. This, in association with environmental pollution, led to long-range interests in avian toxicology and more recently to investigating chemical pollutants that may cause endocrine disruption in avian species.

Posted on 16. April, 2014.

Some insects freeze, others do not. Some insects die when frozen, others do not. This encapsulates the problem facing insects and other invertebrates living in cold environments in which there is a potential to freeze. Nature has chosen not to solve the problem in a single or simple way – a wide variety of adaptations has evolved to cope with cold stress in many different environments.