Earth

A new U.S. Geological Survey study shows how plants' vulnerability to drought varies across the landscape; factors such as plant structure and soil type where the plant is growing can either make them more vulnerable or protect them from declines.

Bacteria are as individual as people, according to new research by Professor Peter Young and his team in the Department of Biology at the University of York. Bacteria are essential to health, agriculture and the environment, and new research tools are starting to shed more light on them.

New research shows that climate change mitigation efforts in Brazil's steel industry didn't reduce greenhouse gas pollution, programs under an international climate treaty led to an overall doubling of carbon dioxide emissions in the industry.

"In an attempt to reduce CO2 emissions, Brazil's steel industry is transitioning from coal to carbon-neutral charcoal sourced from plantation forests," says Laura Sonter, a scientist at the University of Vermont and the lead author on the new study.

The IBS research team (Center for Genome Engineering) has successfully confirmed that CRISPR-Cas9 has accurate on-target effects in human cells, through joint research with the Seoul National University College of Medicine and ToolGen, Inc.

There has been great interest in CRISPR-Cas9 as a tool to develop anticancer cell therapies or to correct genetic defects that cause hereditary in stem and somatic cells. However, since there has been no reliable and sensitive method to measure the accuracy of CRISPR-Cas9 genome-wide, its safety has remained in question.

New research from UCL and the Universities of Gdansk, Singapore, and Delft has uncovered additional second laws of thermodynamics which complement the ordinary second law of thermodynamics, one of the most fundamental laws of nature. These new second laws are generally not noticeable except on very small scales, at which point, they become increasingly important.

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is a major threat to bee colonies around the world and affects their ability to perform vital human food crop pollination. It has been a cause of urgent concern for scientists and farmers around the world for at least a decade but a specific cause for the phenomenon has yet to be conclusively identified.

The rice water weevil, Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus, is the most harmful insect pest of rice in the United States, causing yield losses of up to 25%. Adults inflict damage by consuming leaf tissue, and the larvae feed on the roots of rice plants. A native of the southeastern U.S., the rice water weevil invaded Japan in 1976, Korea in 1980, China in 1988, and Italy in 2004.

The microbes that call the New York City subway system home are mostly harmless, but include samples of disease-causing bacteria that are resistant to drugs -- and even DNA fragments associated with anthrax and Bubonic plague -- according to a citywide microbiome map published today by Weill Cornell Medical College investigators.

Scientists have discovered how prized bluefin tuna keep their hearts pumping during temperature changes that would stop a human heart. The research helps to answer important questions about how animals react to rapid temperature changes, knowledge that's becoming more essential as the earth warms.

Not unlike an urban restaurant, the success of a bacterial cell depends on three things: localization, localization and localization. But the complete set of controls by which bacteria control the movement of proteins and other essential biological materials globally within the confines of their membrane walls has been something of a mystery. Now, researchers at the University of Washington have parsed out the localization mechanisms that E. coli use to sort through and organize their subcellular components.

Lungfish and salamanders can hear, despite not having an outer ear or tympanic middle ear. These early terrestrial vertebrates were probably also able to hear 300 million years ago, as shown in a new study by Danish researchers.

Light and matter can be so strongly linked that their characteristics become indistinguishable. These light-matter couplings are referred to as polaritons. Their energy oscillates continuously between both systems, giving rise to attractive new physical phenomena. Now, scientists in France have explained why such polaritons can remain for an unusual long time at the lowest energy levels, in such a way that alters the microscopic and macroscopic characteristics of their constituting matter. These findings thus pave the way for optical, electronic and chemical applications.

Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have found the mechanism by which titanium, prized for its high strength-to-weight ratio and natural resistance to corrosion, becomes brittle with just a few extra atoms of oxygen.

Scientists have found a genetic mechanism that could stop the spread of a "devastating" disease threatening wheat crops.

Septoria leaf blotch (STB) is caused by a fungus and is seen as the most significant threat to wheat yields in Europe, and most other wheat growing regions, as currently available fungicides become less effective against resistant strains of the disease. Researchers at Durham University, working with partners from Newcastle University and Rothamsted Research, have now found a way that could potentially be used to stop extensive spreading of STB disease.

If you were about to enter a crowded subway during flu season, packed with people sneezing and coughing, wouldn't it be helpful if your immune system recognized the potentially risky situation and bolstered its defenses upon stepping into the train?

According to a new study by University of Pennsylvania and Imperial College London researchers, the mosquito immune system does something similar. After ingesting a meal of blood, mosquitoes ramp up production of immune system proteins that help fight off the parasites that blood might contain.