Culture
The Earth's soils contain more than three times the amount of carbon than is found in the atmosphere, but the processes that bind carbon in the soil are still not well understood.
Improving such understanding may help researchers develop strategies for sequestering more carbon in soil, thereby keeping it out of the atmosphere where it combines with oxygen and acts as a greenhouse gas.
A new study describes a breakthrough method for imaging the physical and chemical interactions that sequester carbon in soil at near atomic scales, with some surprising results.
Australian researchers have revealed - for the first time - that people who have been infected with the COVID-19 virus have immune memory to protect against reinfection for at least eight months.
The research is the strongest evidence for the likelihood that vaccines against the virus, SARS-CoV-2, will work for long periods. Previously, many studies have shown that the first wave of antibodies to coronavirus wane after the first few months, raising concerns that people may lose immunity quickly. This new work allays these concerns.
An analysis of the songs of most of the world's passerine birds reveals that the frequency at which birds sing mostly depends on body size, but is also influenced by sexual selection. The new study from researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and colleagues suggests that habitat characteristics do not affect song frequency, thereby refuting a long-standing theory.
A study by University of Calgary researchers with the Hotchkiss Brain Institute examining sex and gender differences on sleep, empathy and mood during months of isolation due to COVID-19 has found that women are suffering more than men with poorer sleep and more anxiety, depression and trauma, while also feeling more empathetic than men.
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Patients with COVID-19 who received care at Mayo Clinic, whether in the hospital or at home, had outcomes that compared favorably to those reported nationally and internationally. These results demonstrate the value of an integrated, team-based approach to patient care and monitoring, according to a retrospective study of all patients with COVID-19 treated at Mayo Clinic March 1-July 31.
A newly developed compound starves cancer cells by attacking their "power plants" - the so-called mitochondria. The new compound prevents the genetic information within mitochondria from being read. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne, the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and the University of Gothenburg report in their study that this compound could be used as a potential anti-tumour drug in the future; not only in mice but also in human patients.
Bumble bees found in low-quality landscapes -- characterized by a relative lack of spring flowers and quality nesting habitat -- had higher levels of disease pathogens, as did bumble bees in areas with higher numbers of managed honey bee hives, according to research led by Penn State scientists.
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State University researchers have identified a spectacular new genus and species of flower from the mid-Cretaceous period, a male specimen whose sunburst-like reach for the heavens was frozen in time by Burmese amber.
"This isn't quite a Christmas flower but it is a beauty, especially considering it was part of a forest that existed 100 million years ago," said George Poinar Jr., professor emeritus in the OSU College of Science.
Findings were published in the Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas.
Chestnut Hill, Mass. (12/22/2020) - Air pollution in India resulted 1.67 million deaths in 2019 - the largest pollution-related death toll in any country in the world - and also accounted for $36.8 billion (US) in economic losses, according to a new study led by researchers from the Global Observatory on Pollution and Health at Boston College, the Indian Council of Medical Research, and the Public Health Foundation of India.
A team of researchers from Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) and Vrije Universteit Amsterdam (VU) has determined the development stages of Aβ fibrils and has thus been able to understand the development of plaques. The researchers report in the academic journal Acta Neuropathologica Communications on 11 December 2020.
Joining forces
In previous studies, eye movements and vision were only affected at blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) approaching the legal limit for driving (0.08% BAC), in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (1).
New research published in The Journal of Physiology however found for the first time that hand-eye coordination is dramatically more sensitive to alcohol with some measures of coordination impaired by more than 20% at BAC levels as low as 0.015%.
Tsukuba, Japan - Researchers from the University of Tsukuba applied seismic data from around the world to build a model of the 2020 Caribbean earthquake. Oceanic transform faults are generally considered to be linear and simple and have been widely used in studies of earthquake dynamics. However, the research team found that high complexity in rupture speed and direction can occur even in a supposedly simple linear fault system.
We've all suffered from viruses, but did you know that they are also a problem for mushrooms and molds? Mycoviruses are viruses that specifically infect fungi and have the potential to impact ecology, agriculture, food security, and public health. Understanding the nature of these viruses, including their number and evolution, can help us understand their origins and inform our understanding of viruses in general.
In spring 2020, when soccer and sports clubs closed for sever-al weeks due to the Corona pandemic, children and adoles-cents looked for alternative physical activities. According to a supplementary study covering more than 1700 children and adolescents aged from 4 to 17 as part of the Motorik-Modul Study (MoMo) conducted by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Karlsruhe University of Education (PHKA), the chil-dren were physically active about 36 minutes longer every day, but also spent an hour more in front of screens and monitors.
Osaka, Japan - Mitochondria are cellular organelles that generate most of the energy cells need to function, and thus play an important role in maintaining cell health. In a new study, researchers from Osaka University discovered a novel mechanism by which cells turn over mitochondria and contribute to cellular maintenance. They further showed how this novel pathway is involved in the development of Parkinson's disease (PD).