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Microbes feast on crushed rock in subglacial lakes beneath Antarctica
Pioneering research has revealed the erosion of ancient sediments found deep beneath Antarctic ice could be a vital and previously unknown source of nutrients and energy for abundant microbial life.
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Scientists discover new type of quasiparticle
Russian scientists have experimentally proved the existence of a new type of quasiparticle -- previously unknown excitations of coupled pairs of photons in qubit chains. This discovery could be a step towards disorder-robust quantum metamaterials. The study was published in Physical Review B.
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New components for antisense gene therapy show promise in treating spinal muscular atrophy
Skoltech researchers and their colleagues from Russia and the UK investigated the safety and efficacy of new chemistry in antisense oligonucleotides used to treat spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a debilitating genetic disease.The new findings will help develop drugs with less toxicity and fewer injections needed thanks to prolonged action. Nusinersen, an approved drug for the treatment of SMA, is administered several times a year via an injection into the spinal canal, so fewer injections would improve the quality of life for patients with SMA.
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The earthworm in new light
Earthworms are special because they keep our soil healthy. From the outside they appear inconspicuous. But what earthworms look like from the inside, from their organs to the microbes and parasites that colonize them, has been difficult to grasp. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology have developed a method to visualize anatomical structures including products of an earthworm's metabolism. Now published in the US-American Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
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Cell biology -- Masters of synapse modulation
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich researchers have shown how RNA-binding proteins modulate synaptic responses that mediate the transmission of nerve cell impulses.
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The evolution of axial patterning
Body axes are molecular coordinate systems along which regulatory genes are activated. These genes then activate the development of anatomical structures in correct locations in the embryo. Thus, the body ensures that we do not develop arms on our heads or ears on our backs. In many organisms, the main body axis is regulated by the β-catenin signaling pathway.
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Parasites manipulate praying mantis's polarized-light perception, causing it to jump into water
Researchers have revealed that praying mantis (mantids) infected with parasitic hairworms are attracted to horizontally polarized light that is strongly reflected off the surface of water, which causes them to enter the water. In a world-first, these results demonstrate that parasites can manipulate the host's specific light perception system to their advantage, causing the host to behave in an abnormal manner.
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New work showcases the chemistry of an upcoming fuel cell electrolyte
Researchers from the University of Tsukuba confirmed the proton jumping phenomenon in crystals of imidazolium hydrogen succinate. Advanced computational results corresponded to experimental data. Such chemistry will be useful in upcoming fuel cell technologies that reliably provide primary and backup power.
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New findings to boost barley yields at higher temps
An international team of researchers has identified a novel mechanism in barley plants, which could help crop growers achieve high yields as temperatures rise.
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Managing attention deficit disorder by training the brain
Scientists (UNIGE/HUG) explored a technique called 'neurofeedback,' which enables ADHD patients to train their attention, based on instant feedback from the level of their brain activity. The team of neuroscientists found that not only did the training have a positive effect on patients' concentration abilities, but also that the attention improvement was closely linked to an enhanced response from the brain -- the P3 wave -- which is known to reflect integration of information in the brain.
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COVID-19: Reduced sense of taste and smell lingers
Patients with mild COVID-19 infections experience a significantly increased longer lasting reduced sense of taste and smell. This is also the case for long-term shortness of breath, although relatively few people are affected. And women and the elderly are particularly affected. This is shown by new research findings from Aarhus University Aarhus University Hospital and Regional Hospital West Jutland.
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Cancer neuroscientists identify a key culprit behind pediatric brain cancer's spread
Although rare, medulloblastoma is the most common and deadliest form of pediatric brain cancer. Metastasis to the lining of the brain or spinal cord is responsible for virtually all deaths. New USC research shines a light on how medulloblastoma spreads and may provide clues to new strategies for targeting deadly medulloblastoma metastases. An enzyme called GABA transaminase (ABAT) aids metastases in surviving the hostile environment around the brain and spinal cord and in resisting treatment.
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Pretreating nuisance green algae with lye, urea increases bacterial production of biogas
An international research team reports their success in using urea and sodium hydroxide (NaOH, commonly known as lye or caustic soda) as a pretreatment of algae, which breaks down cellulose and more than doubles biogas production under their initial experimental conditions.
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Selection tool accurately predicts ovarian damage in girls with cancer
Cancer treatments can cause premature ovarian failure (POI) including in girls who want to become mothers eventually. Ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC) provides a future fertility option but is invasive, has risks and evidence indicates that most girls don't develop POI. So, doctors face the dilemma of how to offer OTC appropriately. An assessment tool has been found to help predict correctly which female cancer patients aged under 18 years will develop POI and should therefore be offered OTC.
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Myocarditis Following Immunization With mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in members of US military
What The Study Did: Researchers describe myocarditis presenting after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination in 23 patients within the Military Health System.
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Patients with acute myocarditis following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination
What The Study Did: This study describes four patients who presented with acute myocarditis after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination.
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Quantum random number generator sets benchmark for size, performance
Scientists from China present the fastest real-time quantum random number generators to date to make the devices quicker and more portable. The device combines a state-of-the-art photonic integrated chip with optimized real-time postprocessing for extracting randomness from quantum entropy source of vacuum states.
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Butterfly effect can double travel of virus-laden droplets
In Physics of Fluids, investigators from the University of Florida and Lebanese American University carried out detailed computer simulations to test a mathematical theory they developed previously. They found nearly identical exhalations could spread in different directions when miniscule initial variations are substantially amplified by turbulence. This is the so-called butterfly effect.
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Decline of dinosaurs underway long before asteroid fell
Ten million years before the well-known asteroid impact that marked the end of the Mesozoic Era, dinosaurs were already in decline. That is the conclusion of the Franco-Anglo-Canadian team led by CNRS researcher Fabien Condamine from the Institute of Evolutionary Science of Montpellier, which studied evolutionary trends during the Cretaceous for six major families of dinosaurs, including those of the tyrannosaurs, triceratops, and hadrosaurs.
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This 5,000-year-old man had the earliest known strain of plague
The oldest strain of Yersinia pestis -- the bacteria behind the plague that caused the Black Death, which may have killed as much as half of Europe's population in the 1300s -- has been found in the remains of a 5,000-year-old hunter-gatherer. A genetic analysis publishing June 29 in the journal Cell Reports reveals that this ancient strain was likely less contagious and not as deadly as its medieval version.
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