¿Son los machos verdaderamente esenciales para la reproducción? Las hembras, los reptiles y los tiburones que viven en cautividad en ocasiones han sorprendido a sus cuidadores por dar a luz a pesar de que, en lo que se tiene memoria, nunca han sido alojadas con un macho. Los científicos utilizaron análisis de ADN para resolver este misterio hace algún tiempo, lo que demuestra que estas crías fueron producidas por reproducción asexual, un proceso llamado partenogénesis, o "nacimiento virginal". Aunque estos eventos han captado gran interés público, no se sabía si esto alguna vez ocurrió en las poblaciones silvestres de estos animales.

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Microbeads, those tiny plastic beads included in personal care products for exfoliating power, have been popular for a number of years, with a growing number of companies sneaking them into toothpaste, body scrubs, soap and more. That’s despite evidence that they cause significant environmental problems, an issue that’s led a number of states to ban them or seriously consider such bans in order to protect the environment. But there’s more: There’s evidence that microbeads are also harmful for human health.

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A new study shows how huge influxes of fresh water into the North Atlantic Ocean from icebergs calving off North America during the last ice age had an unexpected effect – they increased the production of methane in the tropical wetlands. Usually increases in methane levels are linked to warming in the Northern Hemisphere, but scientists who are publishing their findings this week in the journal Science have identified rapid increases in methane during particularly cold intervals during the last ice age. These findings are important, researchers say, because they identify a critical piece of evidence for how the Earth responds to changes in climate.

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About 34 million years ago, global temperatures took a dive, causing a sudden wave of extinctions among European mammals. In North America, however, life went on largely unscathed. A new study explains why: The rise of the Rocky Mountains had forced North American mammals to adapt to a colder, drier world.

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Como propietario usted tiene mucho que hacer. Su trabajo, principalmente, es hacer feliz a su inquilino, aunque eso signifique ver el dinero irse por el desagüe. Pero ¿y si fuera posible mantener el inquilino feliz y ahorrar dinero? Esto se puede lograr “siendo verde”.

Encontrar formas de integrar características ecológicas en sus unidades de alquiler le permitirá ahorrar dinero, ayudar al medio ambiente y atraer a inquilinos de alto nivel. La conservación del... 

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New research has found that the 6 gram brown thornbill mimics the hawk alarm calls of neighbouring species to scare a nest predator by convincing it that a much bigger and scarier predator - the brown goshawk - is on its way.

Currawongs, which raid the nests and hunt the chicks of thornbills, are also prey to goshawks. Although currawongs normally benefit from listening in on hawk alarm calls of other species, thornbills exploit this and turn it against them.

As well as issuing their own hawk alarm call, thornbills mimic those of the local species to create the impression of an impending hawk attack, which in turn distracts the pied currawong - a predator 40 times larger than the thornbill - providing thornbill nestlings with an opportunity to escape.

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