On the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, you might be lucky to find a black flamingo. Normal flamingoes are born white and grey, and turn their iconic shade of pinky orange around the age of two, as a result of the high carotenoid content of the algae and crustaceans that they eat.

Experts believe that this individual (and potentially the other bird spotted in Israel) has a genetic condition that causes it to overproduce melanin, changing its feathers to black.

It turns out that butterflies with eyelike spots evolved to scare off predators. A recent study concluded that about 68% of the birds that were shown an image with eye-mimicking spots, flew away or showed signs of being startled such as chirping a warning call as they flew in for food (within a controlled setting). That’s on par with the 57% showing the same reactions to the owl with open eyes, the research team notes. The full study can be analyzed in the link below:

Source: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/282/1806/20150202 ...

While it may sound counter-intuitive, new research suggests that selectively plucking hairs in very close proximity can stimulate some startlingly dense regrowth. The team behind the study, led by researchers at the University of Southern California, demonstrated that by carefully extracting 200 hairs, one-by-one, from the back of a mouse in a specific configuration and density, they could trigger the growth of around 1,200 new hairs in the area - a five-fold increase. The biological mechanism is shown below:



While it's very early days, the researchers say their findings, which were reported in the journal Cell, could pave the way for new treatments for balding, or alopecia. ...

If you've ever been to the Netherlands, you probably noticed one of two things a) nearly everyone rides a bike or b) you're a lot shorter than everyone there. According to statistics, this countries population has gained an impressive 20 centimeters in the past 150 years and is now officially the tallest on the planet. While a rich diet and good health care is always a recipe for physical growth, a new study suggests something else is going on as well: The Dutch growth spurt may be an example of human evolution in action.

The study, published online today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, shows that tall Dutch men on average have more children than their shorter counterparts, and that more of their children survive. That suggests ge ...

Known as the Smart Boy, now you can convert your smartphone into an interactive playable console.

The coolest feature? The Smart Boy will also work with original Game Boy and Game Boy Color game cartridges, which will slot into the back of the device.