Ocean Worm Wriggles Back Into View after 140 Years

In 1873, an unknown species of deep-sea worm was dredged up from the bottom of the ocean. Further analysis showed that the animal, collected from almost 3.5 miles (5.5 kilometers) beneath the surface, turned out to be a new type of acorn worm. It was dubbed Glandiceps abyssicola.

For nearly 140 years, that was the last that humans would see of this type of acorn worm. Acorn worms are a group of animals that live on the seafloor eating pieces of sediment and detritus that float down from above. And the single specimen that was collected in 1873 by the HMS Challenger found its way to Germany, where it was destroyed by bombs in World War II.

Then, in 2009, a small chunk of yellow flesh turned up in a sample of sediment collected near the same spot as the original, in the equatorial Atlantic near South America. An anatomical and genetic study of the material, published last month in the Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, found that it was part of aGlandiceps abyssicola worm's body.

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Boy dies of bubonic plague in Kyrgyzstan

A 15-year-old herder has died in Kyrgyzstan of bubonic plague - the first case in the country in 30 years - officials say.

The teenager appears to have been bitten by an infected flea.

The authorities have sought to calm fears of an epidemic and have quarantined more than 100 people.

Bubonic plague, known as the Black Death when it killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe during the Middle Ages, is now rare.

World Health Organisation epidemic disease expert Eric Bertherat told the BBC there were about 400 cases of bubonic plague reported in 2012.

He said Africa accounted for more than 90% of cases worldwide - especially Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Dr Bertherat said that bubonic plague in Central Asia was usually transmitted by fleas attached to small wild mammals, which meant that only those who lived in rural areas and worked outside for long hours were in danger of being affected.

"Because bubonic plague is such a rare event, local medical staff are not prepared to diagnose the disease and treat it appropriately," he said, "which means the first patient usually dies without even a diagnostic.

"If secondary cases occur, medical staff are aware and better able to treat patients with antibiotics."

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Scientists Shut Down Reproductive Ability, Desire in Pest Insects

Aug. 26, 2013 — Kansas State University entomologists have helped identify a neuropeptide named natalisin that regulates the sexual activity and reproductive ability of insects.

The team is the first to observe and name the neuropeptide, which is composed of short chains of amino acids in the brain of insects and arthropods. The finding may open new possibilities for environmentally friendly pest management, said Yoonseong Park, professor of entomology at Kansas State University.

Park and colleagues recently published their findings in the study, "Natalisin, a tachykinin-like signaling system, regulates sexual activity and fecundity in insects." It appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, or PNAS, and was conducted by the Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea; the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Slovakia; Korea University in South Korea; and Kansas State University.

Natalisin is part of insects' and arthropods' peptidergic system -- a genetic network that uses small peptides as neurotransmitters to chemically relay messages throughout the body.

"Natalisin is unique to insects and arthropods and has evolved with them," Park said. "It appears to be related to a neuropeptide called tachykinin that is in mammals and invertebrates. While tachykinin is involved with various biological processes, including the control of blood flow in mammals, natalisin is linked to reproductive function and mating behavior in insects and arthropods."

The study looks at natalisin in fruit flies, red flour beetles and silk moths. These insects have four life stages of development -- egg, larva, pupa and adult -- allowing scientists to observe the insects throughout the entirety of their life cycle to find what natalisin controls.

Kansas State University specializes in red flour beetle research, while South Korea's Institute of Science and Technology and Korea University are leaders in fruit fly research, and Slovakia's Slovak Academy of Sciences in silk moth research, Park said.

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Boa Constrictor Seen Eating Howler Monkey in a First

If a snake eats a monkey in the forest and no one sees it, does it make a difference? New evidence suggests that it does.

For the first time, scientists have witnessed a boa constrictor attacking and eating a howler monkey. The finding is noteworthy since reports of primates being eaten by predators are relatively rare, according to the study, published this month in the journal Primates.

"This may cause us to rethink how vulnerable [these] primates are to predation," said Paul Garber, a primatologist at the University of Illinois, who wasn't involved in the study.

Vulnerable to predators

Predation does happen to primates and monkeys, particularly by snakes, large raptors and big cats — but it has not been witnessed very often, Garber told LiveScience. That's due in part to the fact that primates live in groups, wherein each member looks out for threats, providing "coordinated predator detection," he said. Primates also generally have good vision that enables them to spot would-be attackers. It's also possible that the presence of scientists watching primates helps drive predators away, he added.

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Sea otter return boosts ailing seagrass in California

The return of sea otters to an estuary on the central Californian coast has significantly improved the health of seagrass, new research has found.

Seagrass was deemed to be heading for extinction in this region before the otters returned.

But scientists found that the animals triggered a chain reaction of events that boosted the water-dwelling plants.

The research is published in the journal, PNAS.

The urbanisation of California has led to a huge increase in nutrient pollution in coastal waters, from increasing use of nitrogen-rich fertilizers.

“It's almost like these sea otters are fighting the effects of poor water quality, ”Brent Hughes University of California

This is said to be the reason for the dieback of seagrass, which has also been declining worldwide.

This research suggests that the hunting to near-extinction of sea otters in the late 19th and early 20th Century may have exacerbated the problem, and conversely that their reintroduction is helping revive ailing seagrass populations, even in the face of hugely nutrient-rich water.

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