Add antibiotics to the possible list of culprits responsible for honeybee decline around the world. While it may come as a surprise, antibiotics are commonly mixed into feed used by commercial beekeepers to maintain their hives. In a recent study published in PLOS Biology, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin found antibiotics used to treat honeybees may be a contributing factor in individual bee death and colony collapse.
For regions that experienced a boom in mouse populations last year, scientists say 2017 could see a surge in cases of Lyme disease.
Regression functions are a vital part of statistical analysis of populations, and if you're involved in business, science, or nearly any academic field you should understand how it works. This series of videos will show you how standard regression functions, ANOVA, ordinary least squares, and everything else you need to know.
Rick Steinau with Ask the Exterminator demonstrates how to prevent yellow jackets from nesting in your home's walls. In mid to late summer yellow jacket populations increase. Yellow jackets can find spaces in the veneer or in cracks in bricks or siding. You can hear scratching noises in your walls as the wasps move. Observe wasp activity late in the day when they return to their nest for the night. Treat reachable holes with pesticide dust and a bellows. Leave the hole open to let the wasps f...
Want to mix and scratch like a professional DJ? To be a good DJ you need to understand the concepts of mixing tracks, adding cool effects, and of course you need a good sense of rhythm to line up the beats. This how to video explains how to mix a Reggaeton beat. Reggaeton is a genre of Latin dance music which mixes rap, hip-hop, reggae, and ragga. Salsa and merengue influences can also be heard in some songs. After becoming very popular in Puerto Rican clubs, it began spreading through parts ...
If you have a taste for sweets, you have at least one thing in common with mosquitoes. While too much sugar is unhealthy for humans, a new product makes sweets deadly to mosquitoes.
With a predicated increase in the number of Lyme disease cases in the coming spring season, new research endorses the use of bait boxes to control ticks on the rodents that serve as their hosts.
While not cuddly to most, bats are shy, skilled flyers that fill an important role in their environments. A new study reveals a deadly disease decimating North American bat populations has stepped up its attack on vulnerable bat populations in the summer months.
There could be a fresh outbreak of the Zika virus in the Americas as the weather heats up and the mosquito population blooms.
Although their effectiveness is waning, antibiotics remain a front-line defense against many infections. However, new science reveals using the wrong antibiotic for an infection could makes things much worse.
Using mathematical modeling, researchers suggest weather and warming created the "perfect storm" that drove the Zika outbreak in 2016.
Bed bugs are parasites not yet known to spread disease — but they cause plenty of irritation. As scientists and landlords search for new ways to deal with the pests, a new study examines how we can deter bed bugs without so many chemicals.
Onshore, or on a boat, have you ever wondered what swims below in the dark water? Using standard equipment and a new process, marine scientists can now get a good look at what is swimming by—just by analyzing the water.
Talk about taking one for the team. If you're an eco-friendly earth muffin who refuses to use anything chemical-ridden on yourself and the environment around you, then there exists a gnarly - though effective - approach to killing a tent worm infestation that you may want to try out if you're not squirmy.
For as long as 14,000 years, the First Nations people of the Heitsuk Nation have made their home along the Central Coast of the Canadian province of British Columbia. Among the territory's inlets, islands, rivers, and valleys lie a clay deposit on the north side of Kisameet Bay, near King Island. For as long as most can remember, the tribe has used the clay as medicine. Now science says microbes that live in that clay may have important antibacterial properties.
For a company more associated with debugging computer programs, Google's parent company, Alphabet, is making a name for itself by taking on the real thing — mosquitoes.
Listeria monocytogenes bacteria don't play fair. Healthy people can usually handle the food-borne infection, but the bacterial infection hits pregnant women, fetuses and cancer patients very hard. Interestingly, a new study found that other bacteria may help prevent Listeria infections in those people.
Colorado State University scientists have developed new tech that quickly identifies the presence of Zika virus in mosquito populations — and in human body fluid.
Ecosystem changes caused by agricultural choices in Brazil are creating a dangerous microbe mix in exploding populations of vampire bats and feral pigs.
Most people are familiar with the decline of honeybee colonies around the world. Among other threats, Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is eroding the capability of honeybees to maintain their hives and provide their services to human farmers.
The future of forests looks dreary in the face of a warming climate, but scientists are exploring the relationship between soil microbes and the ability of trees to move to higher altitudes, a key component of their survival.
A recent study underscores a connection between climate change and infectious disease, raising concerns about our quickly warming planet.
We knew it was coming, it was just a matter of when. Apple has just announced iOS 11.3, a new update for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, and it will include a brand-new set of Animoji for the iPhone X.
Las Vegas is known as the city of sin, a place for gambling, fine dining, and decadence. Now, you can add another notable characteristic to that list: West Nile. You may want to hold off on scheduling your trip to the Sin City — or at least stock up on bug spray — because health officials have reported that mosquitoes in Southern Nevada have tested positive for the virus.
Experts from the World Health Organization just expressed concern for the rising number of measles outbreaks across Europe. Despite a perfectly capable existing vaccine, "immunization coverage has dropped below the necessary threshold of 95%," causing the measles to spread throughout the European region.
A recently confirmed polio outbreak in Syria is connected to low levels of vaccination, worsened by conflict. It is the first confirmed incidence of polio in Syria since 2014. Before 2013, the last case of polio in Syria was in 1999.
All fields of study have their own language. For people interested in learning about microbes, the language can sometimes be downright difficult — but it doesn't need to be. From antibiotics to xerophiles, we have you covered in an easy-to-understand glossary.
What would it be like to have clothing that killed microbes? Or paper that repelled pathogens? A research team from Rutgers University has developed a prototype out of metalized paper to zap the bad guys without being super expensive. Sound good? Read on.
Having a Clostridium difficile infection means stomach pains, diarrhea, fever, and loss of appetite, and if the symptoms weren't bad enough, the disease often reoccurs. Now, new research has found an increased risk of recurrence in people who take medication to treat their stomach acid, gastroesophageal reflux disease, peptic ulcer disease, or stomach discomfort.
As many as 700 species of bacteria live on our teeth and in our mouth, and just like the microbiomes inhabiting other parts of our bodies, they change in response to diseases and other health conditions.
It's a common and unfortunate myth that you need to work in web or app development if you have a knack for coding and design. In fact, more and more development pros are entering the exciting and increasingly lucrative world of game design, thanks to a growing demand for strategy games that can be played on multiple platforms.
This is a tale about microbes, a man who became a hermit, and the parchment that carries both of their stories.
A recent initiative by the Cherokee Nation American Indian Tribe delivers a success story for knocking out a silent killer — Hepatitis C.
Bacteria, viruses and other germs sometimes set off the immune system to overreact, producing a severe condition called sepsis. Sepsis is so dangerous that it is the leading cause of death of children across the world, killing a million kids every year, mostly in developing countries. Probiotic bacteria might be able to prevent sepsis and infections, but no large research studies have been done to find out whether that actually works. Until now.
An older man dies of Zika. A younger man who cares for him catches Zika — but doctors cannot pinpoint how the disease was transmitted. While proximity to the patient is sufficient explanation for the rest of us, for microbe hunters, it is a medical mystery. Why? Zika is not known to transmit from person-to-person casually.
New research explores how the bacteria on the penis can leave men more susceptible to infection with HIV.
Despite longer live spans, almost half a million people die of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) each year, many of them preventable.
If you know that ticks spread Lyme disease, you may already know you might also catch a bunch of other infections from them. One of the lesser-known diseases spread by ticks is infection with the bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilium, called anaplasmosis.
Zika is a threat to unborn babies — the virus can cause neurological damage if it infects a mother during pregnancy. But as with many things, our solutions to the problem aren't always all that much better than the problem itself.
Dangerous to humans and dogs, Rocky Mountain Fever, along with several other tickborne infections, is on the rise.
