Culture

ANN ARBOR--Heat transfer through a single molecule has been measured for the first time by an international team of researchers led by the University of Michigan.

This could be a step toward molecular computing--building circuits up from molecules rather than carving them out of silicon as a way to max out Moore's Law and make the most powerful conventional computers possible.

Why does it take 200 million sperm to fertilize a single egg?

One reason is that sperm, when they arrive in the uterus, face a bombardment by the immune system. Perhaps, says molecular anthropologist Pascal Gagneux, many are needed so that some will survive. On the other hand, there may be a benefit to culling so many sperm.

"I'm a lonely zoologist in a medical school," Gagneux said. "My elevator spiel is that all of life is one big compromise. [For an egg], being too easy to fertilize is bad; being too difficult to fertilize is also bad."

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- July 18, 2019 -- Researchers have found that a gene known as AEBP1 may play a central role in the development, severity and potential treatment of liver disease, according to a study by Temple University, the Geisinger Obesity Institute and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope.

The findings are detailed in a study published in the scientific journal PLoS One.

Thursday, July 18 - Alexey Moskalev, Ph.D., Head of the Laboratory of Geroprotective and Radioprotective technologies, and co-authors from the Institute of biology of Komi Science Center of RAS, the Engelgard's Institute of molecular biology of RAS and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology published a scientific article titled "Transcriptome Analysis of Long-lived Drosophila melanogaster E(z) Mutants Sheds Light on the Molecular Mechanisms of Longevity" in

Just as lions are apex predators on land, lionfish in Florida are an underwater force to be reckoned with. The biggest threat they pose, however, is not their venomous spines. It is the alarming speed and ferocity with which they invade new waters, eating prey that have not evolved to recognize them as a predator, stealing food from important commercial fish like snapper and grouper, and spawning baby lionfish at incredible rates.

We've all heard the saying that individuals learn at their own pace. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed an automated, robotic training device that allows mice to learn at their leisure. The technology stands to further neuroscience research by allowing researchers to train animals under more natural conditions and identify mechanisms of circuit rewiring that occur during learning.

ITHACA, N.Y. - Having healthy gut flora - the trillions of bacteria housed in our intestines - could lower the risk of infection following knee and hip replacement surgeries, while an unhealthy intestinal flora may increase the risk of infection.

Restricted oxygen during early life development might result in lasting heart damage for many creatures, but not for alligators. Low oxygen doesn't hurt their hearts; it makes them stronger.

Now, University of Guelph researchers are beginning to understand why, pinpointing how alligator hearts benefit from tough early conditions in the egg, in a new study published in Scientific Reports.

It's foundational research that has significant potential to benefit humans.

URBANA, Ill. - Waterhemp and Palmer amaranth, two aggressive weeds that threaten the food supply in North America, are increasingly hard to kill with commercially available herbicides. A novel approach known as genetic control could one day reduce the need for these chemicals. Now, scientists are one step closer.

Women's perceived competence has increased relative to men's,
consistent with their growing participation in the labor force and
education

The perception of women as more compassionate and
affectionate has strengthened over time

Researchers: Women's perceived advantage in competence and
communion should favor women's employment

Less positive -- women perceived as less ambitious and decisive,
a disadvantage in relation to leadership

SEATTLE -- July 18, 2019 -- A team at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has identified a gene that could make immunotherapy treatments, specifically checkpoint inhibitors, work for a wider variety of cancer patients. The study, published today in Developmental Cell, found that when the DUX4 gene is expressed in cancer cells, it can prevent the cancer from being recognized and destroyed by the immune system.

For female mosquitoes, finding their next meal is all about smelling and seeing.

Through behavioral experiments and real-time recording of the female mosquito brain, a team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of Washington, has discovered how the mosquito brain integrates signals from two of its sensory systems -- visual and olfactory -- to identify, track and hone in on a potential host for her next blood meal.

When making decisions that are important to the species' survival, zebrafish choose mating over fleeing from a threat. This decision, different compared to that of some other species, appears to be controlled by specific brain regions that respond to pheromone cues.

The first rule on the stock market is to buy low and sell high. Economists are well aware of how this behaviour changes the prices of stocks, but in reality, trades alone don't tell the whole story. Parties like banks and insurance companies rarely trade stocks themselves; instead, they place orders for traders to do so on their behalf, which can be canceled at any time if they are no longer interested.

Korea Brain Research Institute (KBRI, President Seo Pan-ghill) announced on July 10 that the international joint research team where Senior Researcher Jeong Yoon-ha and John Hopkins School of Medicine collaborated, found that 'cell autophagy* gene' called ATG7 is related to the onset of frontotemporal dementia and Lou Gehrig's disease.

Autophagy: It refers to the phenomenon where a cell discomposes and recycles unnecessary organelles or components. It can be regarded as the self-cleaning taking place within the cell.