Jean and Peter Medawar wrote in 1977 that a virus is "simply a piece of bad news wrapped up in proteins." The 'bad news' in the SARS-CoV-2 case is the new coronavirus carries its mysterious genome in the form of a very long ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecule. Grappling with COVID-19 … | Continue reading
Dark matter, which cannot be physically observed with ordinary instruments, is thought to account for well over half the matter in the Universe, but its properties are still mysterious. One commonly held theory states that it exists as 'clumps' of extremely light particles. When … | Continue reading
Digital cameras as well as many other electronic devices need light-sensitive sensors. In order to cater to the increasing demand for optoelectronic components of this kind, industry is searching for new semiconductor materials. They are not only supposed to cover a broad range o … | Continue reading
All organisms have DNA, the genetic material that provides a blueprint for life. The long double-helix-shaped DNA molecules in the body's cells are first translated into RNA molecules and then translated into proteins that ensure the functioning of the cell and the entire organis … | Continue reading
The discovery of the oldest known direct evidence of fibre technology—using natural fibres to create yarn—is reported in Scientific Reports this week. The finding furthers our understanding of the cognitive abilities of Neanderthals during the Middle Palaeolithic period (30,000-3 … | Continue reading
Mantis shrimps have earned fame for their powerful punching limbs, incredibly unusual eyes, and vivid exoskeletons. And, it turns out, they're also really good at finding their way home. Through a series of painstaking experiments with these often-uncooperative creatures, Rickesh … | Continue reading
In Swahili, red-billed oxpeckers are called Askari wa kifaru, or "the rhino's guard." Now, a paper appearing April 9 in the journal Current Biology suggests that this indigenous name rings true: red-billed oxpeckers may act as a first line of defense against poachers by behaving … | Continue reading
When the poet John Donne was struck down by a sudden infection in 1623 he immediately found himself alone—even his doctors deserted him. The experience, which only lasted a week, was intolerable. He later wrote: "As sickness is the greatest misery, so the greatest misery of sickn … | Continue reading
Never before have we seen how the human use of wildlife can yield such catastrophe, as we have with COVID-19. | Continue reading
The world faces profound disruption. For Australians who lived through the most horrific fire season on record, there has been no time to recover. The next crisis is now upon us in the form of COVID-19. As we grapple with uncertainty and upheaval, it's clear that our old "normal" … | Continue reading
California's nitrous oxide (NO₂) air pollution has been reduced by a combination of the state's COVID-19 lockdown and naturally occurring effects, according to an atmospheric scientist at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). | Continue reading
Mercury, the planet nearest the sun, shares with Earth the distinction of being one of the two mountainous planets in the solar system with a global magnetic field that shields it from cosmic rays and the solar wind. Now researchers, led by physicist Chuanfei Dong of the Princeto … | Continue reading
Life is about thermodynamic extremes. When scientists first began formulating the Laws of Thermodynamics and talking about disorder and entropy, it seemed that somehow living things were in breach of the laws. How could they be such self-contained ordered, non-chaotic entities? B … | Continue reading
The economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic could increase global poverty by as much as half a billion people or eight percent of the world's population—according to new research. | Continue reading
Unlike the magnetic materials used to make a typical memory device, antiferromagnets won't stick to your fridge. That's because the magnetic spins in antiferromagnets are oppositely aligned and cancel each other out. | Continue reading
The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic have been linked to a "wet" market in Wuhan, in the Hubei province of eastern China. Wet markets are common in Asia, Africa and elsewhere, selling fresh fruit and vegetables, poultry, fresh meat and live animals, including wildlife. Repor … | Continue reading
A research team led by Professor Amos Tai, Associate Professor of the Earth System Science Programme at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), has successfully quantified and visualized the impact of Hong Kong air pollution especially ozone pollutant on plants and the enviro … | Continue reading
The future of work is here, and it has caught us all by surprise. | Continue reading
Liquid meltwater can sometimes flow deep below the Greenland Ice Sheet in winter, not just in the summer, according to CIRES-led work published in the AGU journal Geophysical Research Letters today. That finding means that scientists seeking to understand sea-level rise and the f … | Continue reading
Africa's preparedness for containing the spread of COVID-19 is determined by several factors. So far the focus has been on Africa's weak health systems. But the region's growing scientific competence in virology, genomics and cross-sectoral collaborations to perform research that … | Continue reading
It is an extremely challenging time for cities. With the novel coronavirus COVID-19 infiltrating cities across the U.S., leaders and staff are working around the clock to develop and implement policies aimed at slowing the spread of the virus, adequately caring for those infected … | Continue reading
An instrument currently aboard the International Space Station could grow E.coli bacteria in space, opening a new path to bio-manufacturing drugs during long term space flights. Research published today in Nature Microgravity used an Earth-bound simulator of the space station ins … | Continue reading
The flow of electric charge lies at the heart of electronic circuits. However, electrons also have spin, and flows of electron spin play a vital role in spintronic circuits. These could be essential for our future computing technologies. A current issue with traditional spintroni … | Continue reading
The team from the Desert Fireball Network at Curtin University has found that Earth acted as a slingshot to alter the orbit of a meteor and propel it back into deep outer space near Jupiter. | Continue reading
In a new study, published in the journal Nature, Michigan State University scientists show how plant genes select which microbes get to live inside their leaves in order to stay healthy. | Continue reading
Social distancing is vital in the present moment. While the increased isolation and spacing of the new drastic measures come as shock to many people, social distancing is not new if you take the long view—the very long view. | Continue reading
New sonar technology is as disruptive to sperm whales as existing sonar technology, according to new research led by the University of St Andrews. | Continue reading
Family firms and retailers with online presence more likely to survive economic standstill and changes in consumer behaviour that will follow, say U of A experts. | Continue reading
In nuclear physics, like much of science, detailed theories alone aren't always enough to unlock solid predictions. There are often too many pieces, interacting in complex ways, for researchers to follow the logic of a theory through to its end. It's one reason there are still so … | Continue reading
A team led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley used a multi-omics approach to reconstruct and model gene regulatory pathways used by the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa, and to identify and decide on the order in which this fungus breaks down plant cell … | Continue reading
How can you get people to follow to government recommendations and advice in times of COVID-19? Use the power of influencers, argues Assistant Professor Jonas Colliander. | Continue reading
No wonder there is currently a lot of interest around on social media and the internet in ways to experience natural environments virtually. | Continue reading
An international team of astronomers has discovered a new M-dwarf binary system as part of the Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS). The newly found system, designated NGTS J214358.5-380102, turns out to be the most eccentric M-dwarf binary known to date. The finding is detailed … | Continue reading
Research led by the University of Southampton has revealed the fundamental features of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes COVID19. The researchers have produced the first model of a spike of the virus which shows how it disguises itself to enter human cells undetected, and th … | Continue reading
For patients with malignant brain tumors, the prognosis remains dismal. With the most aggressive treatments available, patients are usually only expected to live about 14 months after a diagnosis | Continue reading
Polling undertaken by Populus for The Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, at the University of Birmingham, has found that the UK public value the short-term care for life during the current coronavirus crisis ahead of protecting the longer-term economic prosperity of the co … | Continue reading
Most businesses have never faced an era when uncertainty is so rampant. | Continue reading
The viral genome of influenza A—the primary cause of seasonal flu epidemics—is composed of eight RNA segments that are each encapsulated by many copies of viral nucleoprotein (NP). | Continue reading
Leading learning disability and palliative care expert at Kingston University and St George's, University of London Professor Irene Tuffrey-Wijne, who recently became the world's first researcher to conduct studies into palliative care for people with learning disabilities, share … | Continue reading
How can data from outer space be used to impact human health? NASA's Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols (MAIA) mission will study how different types of airborne particles affect human health over the short term, long term and during pregnancy. | Continue reading
The antimicrobial properties of silver have been known for centuries. While it is still a mystery as to exactly how silver kills bacteria, University of Arkansas researchers have taken a step toward better understanding the process by looking at dynamics of proteins in live bacte … | Continue reading
Launched in 2018, the BepiColombo spacecraft is due to make its flyby of Earth this Friday 10 April, helping it slow down to allow the Sun's gravity to pull it closer to Mercury. This picture comes from 2014, showing its main Mercury Planetary Orbiter module bathed in simulated s … | Continue reading
An international team of scientists led by the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa has produced highly detailed reproductions of the skulls of some of the oldest known dinosaur embryos in 3-D, using powerful and non-destructive synchrotron techniques at the ESRF, the … | Continue reading
What happens when the pathogen responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic, the coronavirus Sars-CoV-2, makes contact with a human bronchial cell? A group of researchers from the Universities of Bologna and Catanzaro (Italy) mapped the interactions between the virus proteins and those … | Continue reading
2-D materials are atomically thin, single-layered films arranged in a crystal structure, which have potential applications in next-generation electronics and optoelectronic devices. Ferromagnetism (FM) in such materials ‒ the mechanism by which they act as magnets ‒ was considere … | Continue reading
Physicists at ETH Zurich have developed the first high-repetition-rate laser source that produces coherent soft X-rays spanning the entire "water window." That technological breakthrough could enable a broad range of studies in the biological, chemical and material sciences, as w … | Continue reading
A U.S.-Russian space crew blasted off Thursday to the International Space Station following a tight quarantine amid the coronavirus pandemic. | Continue reading
With humans away, the whales will play. | Continue reading