Proteins are the workhorses of the cell, carrying out functions to keep everything running smoothly. Some proteins work on their own, but in other cases many proteins assemble together to create a complex machine. These proteins are able to do more working cooperatively than they … | Continue reading
Influenza and other viruses pack their genetic material into a protein shell, which must be disassembled for the viruses to efficiently replicate. But how viruses "uncoat" their genes remains largely unknown. Now, Friedrich Miescher Institute researchers have identified crucial f … | Continue reading
Alaska is on the front lines of climate change, experiencing some of the fastest rates of warming of any place in the world. And when temperatures rise in the state's interior—a vast high-latitude region spanning 113 million acres—permafrost there not only thaws, releasing signif … | Continue reading
Invisible to our eyes, shortwave infrared (SWIR) light can enable unprecedented reliability, function and performance in high-volume, computer vision first applications in service robotics, automotive and consumer electronics markets. | Continue reading
Primate social organization is more flexible than previously assumed. According to a new study led by University of Zurich, the first primates probably lived in pairs, while only around 15% of individuals were solitary. | Continue reading
A team of researchers, led by Professor Soo-Hyun Kim in the Graduate School of Semiconductors Materials and Devices Engineering and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UNIST has made significant progress in precisely controlling precious metals (Ru, Ir, Pt, Pd) … | Continue reading
Microbial communities are highly diverse, yet the mechanisms underlying microbial community assembly are not well understood. In 1967, Daniel Janzen hypothesized that low climatic variability along elevational gradients results in greater constraints on animal migration and plant … | Continue reading
Just as snow crystals form in the upper atmosphere, then fall to lower, warmer elevations and melt, scientists believe a phenomenon called iron snow happens in the molten iron cores of some planetary bodies. Cooling near the core-mantle boundary creates crystals of iron, which me … | Continue reading
Hundreds of flood warnings were in place in the UK on Wednesday, after strong winds and rain lashed large parts of the country, hitting travel and cutting power. | Continue reading
Protists, single-celled eukaryotic organisms encompassing unicellular algae and protozoans, inhabit aquatic environments. Functioning as primary producers and oxygen generators, they play crucial roles in the carbon cycle and serve as vital sources of human nutrition, bioenergy, … | Continue reading
In an era where understanding and manipulating light at the nanoscale is increasingly crucial, a paper in Light: Science & Applications reveals a significant leap forward. | Continue reading
Light, as an electromagnetic field, has two essential components: amplitude and phase. However, optical detectors, usually relying on photon-to-electron conversion (such as charge-coupled device sensors and the human eye), cannot capture the phase of the light field because of th … | Continue reading
MAGs, predominantly in 1(3)-MAG form, and DAGs, with 1,3-DAGs as the more stable isomer, are crucial in food, cosmetic, and other industries. While MAGs are vital emulsifiers, comprising 75% of global production, DAGs are known as functional cooking oils that can reduce body fat … | Continue reading
The rapidly developing field of green energy constantly seeks improvements, and recent advances in dual-atom catalysts hold the potential to revolutionize energy conversion technologies. | Continue reading
A new synthetic antibiotic developed by University of Liverpool researchers is shown to be more effective than established drugs against "superbugs" such as MRSA, a new study shows. | Continue reading
Using the Magellan Clay telescope in Chile, astronomers have performed high-resolution spectroscopic observations of a galactic globular cluster known as VVV CL002. They found that the cluster is falling down to the Milky Way's center. The discovery was reported in a research pap … | Continue reading
Disease-causing bacteria of the genus Salmonella or Yersinia can use tiny injection apparatuses to inject harmful proteins into host cells, much to the discomfort of the infected person. However, it is not only with a view to controlling disease that researchers are investigating … | Continue reading
Researchers at the University of Maryland and National Institutes of Health have identified the microbial enzyme responsible for giving urine its yellow hue, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Microbiology. | Continue reading
It was nearly four years ago but the memory of the landslip that sent 60,000 tons of old mining debris sliding down a Welsh hillside still haunts former miner Jeff Coombes. | Continue reading
A new analysis of fossils believed to be juveniles of T. rex now shows they were adults of a small tyrannosaur, with narrower jaws, longer legs, and bigger arms than T. rex. The species, Nanotyrannus lancensis, was first named decades ago but later reinterpreted as a young T. rex … | Continue reading
As the world moves away from gas towards electricity as a greener power source, the to-do list goes beyond cars. The vast global manufacturing network that makes everything from our batteries to our fertilizers needs to flip the switch, too. | Continue reading
Throughout the history of RNA research, one can immediately notice a significant breakthrough during 2007 and 2008, in which several groups independently reported the discovery of intact noncoding RNA (ncRNA) sequences in extracellular space. Later on, the discovery of these extr … | Continue reading
For talkative midshipman fish—sometimes called the "California singing fish"—the midbrain plays a robust role in initiating and patterning trains of sounds used in vocal communication. | Continue reading
Plants have to be flexible to survive environmental changes, and the adaptive methods they deploy must often be as changeable as the shifts in climate and condition to which they adapt. To cope with drought, plant roots produce a water-repellent polymer called suberin that blocks … | Continue reading
After the last embers of a campfire dim, the musky smell of smoke remains. Whiffs of that distinct smokey smell may serve as a pleasant reminder of the evening prior, but in the wake of a wildfire, that smell comes with ongoing health risks. | Continue reading
In the quest to understand the potential for life beyond Earth, researchers are widening their search to encompass not only biological markers, but also technological ones. While astrobiologists have long recognized the importance of oxygen for life as we know it, oxygen could al … | Continue reading
Major cities on the U.S. Atlantic coast are sinking, in some cases as much as 5 millimeters per year—a decline at the ocean's edge that well outpaces global sea level rise, confirms new research from Virginia Tech and the U.S. Geological Survey. | Continue reading
At night in the Cerrado, Brazil's savanna and second-largest biome, larvae of the click beetle Pyrearinus termitilluminans, which live in termite mounds, display green lanterns to capture prey attracted by the bright light. | Continue reading
Identifying new ways to target proteins involved in human diseases is a priority for many researchers around the world. However, discovering how to alter the function of these proteins can be difficult, especially in live cells. Now, scientists from Scripps Research have develope … | Continue reading
Central features of human evolution may stop our species from resolving global environmental problems like climate change, says a recent study led by the University of Maine. | Continue reading
Coast redwoods—enormous, spectacular trees, some reaching nearly 400 feet, the tallest plants on the planet—thrive mostly in a narrow strip of land in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Most of them grow from southern Oregon down into Northern California, snugged up agai … | Continue reading
Traditional Chinese rice wine (RW) has been popular in China for thousands of years. The brewing process involves simultaneous saccharification and solid-state fermentation using mixed saccharifying starters, such as wheat starter and distiller's yeast. However, the brewing mediu … | Continue reading
Adopting a healthier diet will probably feature prominently in many of our New Year's resolutions. But it's often challenging for people to live up to their intentions. | Continue reading
Norway's exports products derived from from tangle kelp (Laminoria hyperborea) and knotted kelp (Ascophyllum nodosu) to the tune of more than NOK 1 billion a year. The industry mainly extracts alginate from kelp, which is used in over 600 different products as diverse as paint, s … | Continue reading
India launched its first satellite on Monday to study black holes as it seeks to deepen its space exploration efforts ahead of an ambitious crewed mission next year. | Continue reading
The multimillion dollar threat to the lower Connecticut River from the invasive aquatic weed hydrilla has attracted attention from around the country, as scientists work on ways to contain it. | Continue reading
The ever-increasing global energy shortage and the worsening of the environment urgently require the substitution of conventional fossil-based energy for green and sustainable energy. | Continue reading
Aptamers, nucleic acids capable of selectively binding to viruses, proteins, ions, small molecules, and various other targets, are garnering attention in drug development as potential antibody substitutes for their thermal and chemical stability as well as their ability to inhibi … | Continue reading
The number of Americans who watch or follow girls' and women's sports goes well beyond those who view TV coverage of women's athletic events, a new study suggests. | Continue reading
The old adage states, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." But what if work in a kitchen pays the bills? | Continue reading
Researchers at Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany have carried out the first comprehensive analysis of some 20 mummy fragments from collections in the University's archives and have presented their findings in Annals of the History and Philosophy of Biology. | Continue reading
Protecting plants efficiently against pests without harming other organisms—this is the objective of the joint research project ViVe_Beet, which is coordinated by the Julius Kühn Institute (JKI). Scientists from the JKI Institute for Plant Protection in Field Crops and Grassland, … | Continue reading
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists found that cytonemes (thin, long, hair-like projections on cells) are important during neural development. Cytonemes connect cells communicating across vast distances but are difficult to capture with microscopy in developing verte … | Continue reading
Infectious diseases pose a huge problem in poultry farming. Poultry farmers are often forced to rely on antibiotics to tackle this issue. However, this can sometimes result in germs developing resistance to these drugs. These resistant pathogens then find their way into our food … | Continue reading
New research from the University of Oxford concludes that the Cerne Abbas Giant was originally carved as an image of Hercules to mark a muster station for West Saxon armies. The figure was later reinterpreted by the monks of Cerne Abbas as their local Saint Eadwold. | Continue reading
Rocket propulsion technology has progressed leaps and bounds since the first weaponized rockets of the Chinese and Mongolian empires. They were nothing more than rocket-powered arrows and spears but they set the foundations for our exploration of space. Liquid propellant, ion eng … | Continue reading
Looking to the future, NASA is investigating several technologies that will allow it to accomplish some bold objectives. This includes returning to the moon, creating the infrastructure that will let us stay there, sending the first crewed mission to Mars, exploring the outer sol … | Continue reading
Through exquisite, millimeter-scale, formation flying, the dual satellites making up ESA's Proba-3 will accomplish what was previously a space mission impossible: Cast a precisely held shadow from one platform to the other, in the process blocking out the fiery sun to observe its … | Continue reading