Penguin poo (guano) stains, visible from space, have helped British scientists locate emperor penguin breeding colonies in Antarctica. Knowing their location provides a baseline for monitoring their response to environmental change.

Scientists here have determined that combining bed bugs' own chemical signals with a common insect control agent makes that treatment more effective at killing the bugs.

By inserting a molecular shunt into the livers of mice, researchers have shown they can make the animals burn more fat. That so-called glycoxylate shunt consists of two metabolic enzymes normally found in bacteria and plants, but not in mammals, according to the report in the June issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication.

Call it advanced warfare on the most elemental of levels.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have created a line of fruit flies that may someday help shed light on the mechanisms that cause insomnia in humans. The flies, which only get a small fraction of the sleep of normal flies, resemble insomniac humans in several ways.

Scientists have managed to induce cells from pigs to transform into pluripotent stem cells – cells that, like embryonic stem cells, are capable of developing into any type of cell in the body. It is the first time in the world that this has been achieved using somatic cells (cells that are not sperm or egg cells) from any animal with hooves (known as ungulates).

It's hard to miss the huge eye of a squid. But now it appears that certain squids can detect light through an organ other than their eyes as well.

The results of a new analysis have provided good evidence to suggest that Tai Chi is beneficial for arthritis. Specifically, it was shown to decrease pain with trends towards improving overall physical health, level of tension and satisfaction with health status.

Complications following infection with the virus that causes flu (influenza virus) are one of the top ten causes of death in the United States. Although infection with influenza virus can directly cause death, many deaths following infection with influenza virus occur because the individual develops pneumonia due to secondary infection with bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae. How influenza makes individuals more sensitive to pneumonia-causing secondary bacterial infections is not well understood. However, Jane Deng and colleagues, at the University of California, Los Angeles, have now determined, through studies in mice, one mechanism by which influenza might sensitize individuals to secondary bacterial pneumonia.

Retaining a network of wildlife conservation areas is vital in helping to save up to 90 per cent of bird species in Africa affected by climate change, according to scientists.