Earth
ORLANDO, Sept. 14, 2020 - A University of Central Florida researcher is co-author of a new paper that may help answer why some animals have a magnetic "sixth" sense, such as sea turtles' ability to return to the beach where they were born.
The question is one that has been unresolved despite 50 years of research.
In recent years, the Pine Island Glacier and the Thwaites Glacier on West-Antarctica has been undergoing rapid changes, with potentially major consequences for rising sea levels. However, the processes that underlie these changes and their precise impact on the weakening of these ice sheets have not yet been fully charted. A team of researchers including some from TU Delft have now investigated one of these processes in detail: the emergence and development of damage/cracks in part of the glaciers and how this process of cracking reinforces itself.
As they roam around the African savanna in search for food, giraffes and elephants alter the diversity and richness of its vegetation. By studying the foraging patterns of these megaherbivores across different terrains in a savanna in Kenya, scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and collaborating institutions discovered that these large mammals prefer to eat their meals on flat ground, potentially impacting the growth and survival of plant species on even savanna landscapes, such as valleys and plateaus.
Many of the most common diseases -- cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and lung disease, and even COVID-19 -- have been linked to chronic or excessive inflammation. Blood tests can indicate that some part of a person's body is inflamed, but doctors don't have a good way to zero in on the site of inflammation and visualize the problem to help them choose the best course of action.
In Southeast Asia, wildlife trade is running rampant, and Vietnam plays a key role in combating wildlife trafficking.
Since the country opened its market to China in the late 1980s, a huge amount of wildlife and its products has been transported across the border every year. Species have also been exported to other Asian countries, Europe and the USA. Furthermore, in recent years, Vietnam has also supported the transit of pangolin scales and other wildlife products from across Asia and even as far as Africa all the way to China and other destinations.
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) have conducted a study that has determined the role that a critical protein plays in the development of hair cells. These hair cells are vital for hearing. Some of these cells amplify sounds that come into the ear, and others transform sound waves into electrical signals that travel to the brain.
An endangered fish in California might use its internal clock to decide when to migrate, according to a study by the University of Cincinnati.
UC visiting assistant professor of biology Michael Booth studied the migration patterns of steelhead, a subpopulation of rainbow trout that migrates to the Pacific Ocean, where the growing fish hunt and feed until they return to their natal freshwater streams to spawn.
Media studies expert Professor Amanda Lotz, from QUT’s Digital Media Research Centre, said there is a lot of misunderstanding about the world’s biggest internet-distributed video service.
Earlier this year, Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) senior scientist and coral reef ecologist Eric Hochberg published a paper in the journal Coral Reefs that put numbers to a widely accepted concept in reef science: that materials in seawater (such as phytoplankton, organic matter, or suspended sediment) can affect how much light, as well as the wavelength of light, reaches the seafloor. This, in turn, impacts the ecology of organisms, including corals and algae, that live on the seafloor and rely on that light for photosynthesis.
Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common solid tumor occurring extracranial diagnosed during childhood, and responds for 15% of all malignancy death in childhood. Although multiple cytotoxic therapies and advanced immunotherapies have been applied, the survival rate of NB remains below 50%. The genetic bases of sporadic NB remains unclear. Achievements are notable, the identified risk variants were only a small proportion of NB association variants. Some functional polymorphisms are missed by DNA chip-based GWAS.
Graphene is a modern wonder material possessing unique properties of strength, flexibility and conductivity whilst being abundant and remarkably cheap to produce, lending it to a multitude of useful applications - especially true when these 2D atom-thick sheets of carbon are split into narrow strips known as Graphene Nanoribbons (GNRs).
After firing the lasers and bombarding the molecules with light, the scientists gathered around the camera to check the results. By seeing how far these cold molecules expanded they would know almost instantly whether they were on the right track or not to charting new paths in quantum science by being the first to cool (aka slow down) a particularly complex, six-atom molecule using nothing but light.
Wind shear was affecting both Tropical Storm Paulette and Rene in the Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 11. Infrared imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite showed that strong southwesterly wind shear pushed against Paulette creating a wedge-shaped storm.
Wind Shear Affecting Paulette
Tropical cyclones that appear less than round are likely being affected by wind shear or outside winds transitioning into an extra-tropical cyclone or taking on the elongated appearance of a weather front. Today, Sept. 11, wind shear has given Paulette a wedge-shape.
A molecule created by researchers can restore lost connections in the spinal cord and brain of mice with neurological disorders including cerebellar ataxia, Alzheimer's disease and spinal cord injury. The research, involving scientists in the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (MRC LMB), in Cambridge, and collaborators from Japan and Germany, describes how the molecule repaired function in cells and in mouse models of diseases and injury.
If you happen to dig up an ancient ceramic cooking pot, don't clean it. Chances are, it contains the culinary secrets of the past.
A research team led by University of California, Berkeley, archaeologists has discovered that unglazed ceramic cookware can retain the residue of not just the last supper cooked, but, potentially, earlier dishes cooked across a pot's lifetime, opening a window onto the past.