Earth
African savannas are renowned for their huge diversity of wildlife, yet some animal species are much more abundant than others. What causes these differences?
For herbivore species - plant-eating animals like antelope, zebra and elephants - the challenge lies in both obtaining enough food to eat throughout the year, while also avoiding predation by carnivores.
The vast majority of bacteria in the world live on surfaces by forming structures called "biofilms". These communities host thousands to millions of bacteria of different types, and are so biologically complex and active that scientists describe them as "cities".
Houston - (Oct. 8, 2020) - Houston Methodist researchers found that mice harboring human glioblastoma tumors in their brains had greatly enhanced survival and weight gain when given a newly developed prodrug. This mitochondrial-targeted prodrug - an inactive compound that cancer cells selectively metabolize to produce an active toxic drug - also greatly improves outcomes when coupled with standard therapies of radiation and/or chemotherapy.
The deep sea is far away and hard to envision. If imagined it seems like a cold and hostile place. However, this remote habitat is directly connected to our lives, as it forms an important part of the global carbon cycle. Also, the deep seafloor is, in many places, covered with polymetallic nodules and crusts that arouse economic interest. There is a lack of clear standards to regulate their mining and set binding thresholds for the impact on the organisms living in affected areas.
Mining can reduce microbial carbon cycling, while animals are less affected
Baltimore, MD-- Recently published work from Carnegie's Allan Spradling and Wanbao Niu revealed in unprecedented detail the genetic instructions immature egg cells go through step by step as they mature into functionality. Their findings improve our understanding of how ovaries maintain a female's fertility.
WASP-121b is an exoplanet located 850 light years from Earth, orbiting its star in less than two days - a process that takes Earth a year to complete. WASP-121b is very close to its star - about 40 times closer than Earth to the Sun. This close proximity is also the main reason for its immensely high temperature of around 2,500 to 3,000 degrees Celsius. This makes it an ideal object of study to learn more about ultra-hot worlds.
Researchers at the Institute of Biology, Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Budapest, Hungary, studied the major types of neurons of the prefrontal cortex of the brain in an international collaboration. The research team has identified molecular differences in neurons that may support drug development for the treatment of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia or depression.
The NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP satellite provided two nighttime views of Hurricane Delta as it moved toward the U.S. Gulf Coast. A moonlit image and an infrared image revealed the extent and organization of the intensifying hurricane.
Satellite Imagery Shows Delta's Extent
On Oct. 8 at 4:05 a.m. EDT (0805 UTC), the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite captured an infrared and nighttime imagery of Hurricane Delta as it moved through the Gulf of Mexico.
ARLINGTON, VA -- A recent survey commissioned by Research!America on behalf of a working group formed to assess America's commitment to science shows overwhelming support for science across political parties. A strong majority of Americans agree that "the COVID-19 pandemic is a disruptive event and requires urgent refocusing of America's commitment to science." On a bipartisan basis, Americans:
Believe science benefits them (88%);
Would pay $1 more a week in taxes to support scientific research (66%);
It may seem odd to some that in the year 2020, magnetic tape is being discussed as a storage medium for digital data. After all, it has not been common in home computing since the 1980s. Surely the only relevant mediums today are solid state drives and Blu-ray discs? However, in data centers everywhere, at universities, banks, internet service providers or government offices, you will find that digital tapes are not only common, but essential.
Common assumptions notwithstanding, rare species can play unique and essential ecological roles. After studying two databases that together cover all known terrestrial mammals and birds worldwide, scientists from the CNRS, the Foundation for Biodiversity Research (FRB), Université Grenoble Alpes, and the University of Montpellier[1] have demonstrated that, though these species are found on all continents, they are more threatened by human pressures than ecologically common species and will also be more impacted by future climate change. Thus they are in double jeopardy.
Genome sequencing has shed light on the re-emergence of the bacterium that causes yaws, a neglected tropical disease of the skin, bones and joints. The re-emergence followed a mass drug administration (MDA) campaign that aimed to eliminate the disease in Papua New Guinea.
Restricting the promotion and merchandising of unhealthy foods and beverages leads to a reduction in their sales, presenting an opportunity to improve people's diets, according to a randomised controlled trial of 20 stores in remote regions of Australia published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal.
Phosphorus is essential in agriculture to maintain higher production levels, where it is applied as a fertilizer. Some of the world regions are experiencing high population growth rates, which means more phosphorus will be needed to produce an increasing amount of food needed in the next decades.
A team of soil scientists from RUDN University confirmed that traditional approaches to urban soil pollution monitoring ignore actual risks for urban residents because they don't take into consideration the barrier function of the soil. The team used Moscow as an example to show that not only polluted downtown districts but also recreational parks and forest zones can pose a threat to people. This is due to the fact that the barrier functions of the soil are weaker in green suburbs, making it unable to withstand even the slightest pollution.