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InSight mission: Mars unveiled
Using information obtained from around a dozen earthquakes detected on Mars by the Very Broad Band SEIS seismometer, developed in France, the international team of NASA's InSight mission has unveiled the internal structure of Mars. The three papers published on July 23, provide, for the first time, an estimate of the size of the planet's core, the thickness of its crust and the structure of its mantle, based on the analysis of seismic waves reflected and modified by interfaces in its interior.
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Eyes wide shut: How newborn mammals dream the world they're entering
As a newborn mammal opens its eyes for the first time, it can already make visual sense of the world around it. But how does this happen before they have experienced sight?
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Global approach is needed on battery regulation
New European Union regulations on batteries could offer a huge boost to the global decarbonisation mission - but only if it leverages its political and economic weight to ensure a fairer global marketplace.
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Mars: Scientists determine crustal thickness
Using recordings of marsquakes, seismologists have gained a precise picture of the structure and thickness of the red planet's crust / findings from NASA's InSight mission published in 'Science'
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Spontaneous retinal waves simulate optical flow before neonatal mice can see
Like dreaming of walking through a world they've not yet experienced, the retinas of neonatal mice practice for what mature eyes must later process by generating spontaneous patterns of activity that mimic the perception of directional movement through space, according to a new study.
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A case for intranasal COVID-19 vaccinations
Of the nearly 100 SARS-CoV-2 vaccines currently undergoing clinical trials, only seven are delivered intranasally - despite this vaccine type's long success in providing protection from influenza.
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Trash-bin foragers: Innovation and spread of complex culture in suburban parrots
In the suburbs of Sydney, Australia, sulphur-crested cockatoos routinely loot lidded household waste bins to scavenge for food. In a new study, researchers document the emergence and geographic spread of innovative bin-opening behaviors in urban parrot populations, revealing the presence of a complex social learning culture in these birds.
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NASA InSight Lander's seismic observations reveal the interior of mars
The first direct seismic observations from NASA's InSight lander, presented in three studies in this issue, provide clues to the composition of Mars.
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Global warming may limit spread of dengue fever, new research finds
Infection with dengue virus makes mosquitoes more sensitive to warmer temperatures, according to new research led by Penn State researchers. The team also found that infection with the bacterium Wolbachia, which has recently been used to control viral infections in mosquitoes, also increases the thermal sensitivity of the insects. The findings suggest that global warming could limit the spread of dengue fever but could also limit the effectiveness of Wolbachia as a biological control agent.
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Study on chromosomal rearrangements in yeast reveals potential avenue for cancer therapy
Researchers from Osaka University have found that the attachment of a ubiquitin molecule to a protein called PCNA at the lysine 107 position causes gross chromosomal rearrangements. This lysine is located where two PCNA molecules interact, and the ubiquitin attachment to it may change the ring structure they form. The ubiquitin attachment occurs through the action of Rad8 (a ubiquitin ligase) and Mms2-Ubc4 (a ubiquitin conjugating enzyme). This implies that inhibiting the human equivalent of this ubiquitination could prevent cancer.
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InSight mission: Mars unveils its inner structures
From a dozen earthquakes detected on Mars by the SEIS seismometer, developed in France, the InSight team reveals the internal structure of Mars. The three studies published in Science and involving many co-authors from French institutions, reveal, by analyzing the seismic waves, an estimate of the size of the core, the thickness of the crust and the structure of the mantle.
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Clever cockatoos learn through social interaction
World-first research proves 'cockies' learn unique bin-opening behavior by copying others
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Neurotransmitter levels predict math ability
The neurotransmitters GABA and glutamate have complementary roles -- GABA inhibits neurons, while glutamate makes them more active. Published 22nd July in PLOS Biology, researchers led by Roi Cohen Kadosh and George Zacharopoulos from the University of Oxford show that levels of these two neurotransmitters in the intraparietal sulcus of the brain can predict mathematics ability. The study also found that the relationships between the two neurotransmitters and arithmetic fluency switched as children developed into adults.
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Less-sensitive COVID-19 tests may still achieve optimal results if enough people tested
A computational analysis of COVID-19 tests suggests that, in order to minimize the number of infections in a population, the amount of testing matters more than the sensitivity of the tests that are used. Philip Cherian and Gautam Menon of Ashoka University in Sonipat, India, and Sandeep Krishna of the National Centre for Biological Sciences TIFR, Bangalore, India, present their findings in the open-access journal PLOS Computational Biology.
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Less-sensitive COVID-19 tests may still achieve optimal results if enough people tested
A computational analysis of COVID-19 tests suggests that, in order to minimize the number of infections in a population, the amount of testing matters more than the sensitivity of the tests that are used. Philip Cherian and Gautam Menon of Ashoka University in Sonipat, India, and Sandeep Krishna of the National Centre for Biological Sciences TIFR, Bangalore, India, present their findings in the open-access journal PLOS Computational Biology.
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New study provides clues to decades-old mystery about cell movement
A new study, led by University of Minnesota Twin Cities engineering researchers, shows that the stiffness of protein fibers in tissues, like collagen, are a key component in controlling the movement of cells. The groundbreaking discovery provides the first proof of a theory from the early 1980s and could have a major impact on fields that study cell movement from regenerative medicine to cancer research.
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Cell-analysis technique could combat tuberculosis
Researchers at Cornell have developed a way to analyze how individual immune cells react to the bacteria that cause tuberculosis. It could pave the way for new vaccine strategies and provide insights into fighting other infectious diseases.
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California's carbon mitigation efforts may be thwarted by climate change itself
To meet an ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2045, California's policymakers are relying in part on forests and shrublands to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, but researchers at the University of California, Irvine warn that future climate change may limit the ecosystem's ability to perform this service.
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Gaming graphics card allows faster, more precise control of fusion energy experiments
University of Washington researchers have developed a method that uses a gaming graphics card to control plasma formation in their prototype fusion reactor.
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What makes a market transaction morally repugnant?
Many people find it morally impermissible to put kidneys, children, or doctorates on the free market. But what makes a market transaction morally repugnant in the eyes of the public? And which transactions trigger the strongest collective disapproval? Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the Robert Koch Institute have addressed these questions. Their findings, published in Cognition, offer new entry points for policy interventions.
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