Culture
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Some birds lay their eggs in the nests of other bird species and let the host parents raise their young. A new study finds that in times of environmental flux, these brood parasites "diversify their portfolios," minimizing the risks of their unorthodox lifestyle by increasing the number and variety of hosts they select as adoptive parents.
In uncertain times, it makes sense to manage risk in your endeavors -- whether it's investing in money-making opportunities or deciding where to lay your eggs.
Brood parasites are birds that are known to lay their eggs in other birds' nests. Cowbirds and cuckoos are among the most famous examples of this group.
Irvine, Calif., - Physical evidence found in caves in Laos helps tell a story about a connection between the end of the Green Sahara - when once heavily vegetated Northern Africa became a hyper-arid landscape - and a previously unknown megadrought that crippled Southeast Asia 4,000 to 5,000 years ago.
Physical evidence found in caves in Laos helps tell a story about a connection between the end of the Green Sahara, when once heavily vegetated Northern Africa became a hyper-arid landscape, and a previously unknown megadrought that crippled Southeast Asia 4,000 to 5,000 years ago.
A team of scientists at the Nagoya University Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM) have developed a method for visualizing microtubule dynamics and cell membrane protein endocytosis in living plant cells, an important step forward in plant cell biology.
Women are underrepresented in the field of academic surgery, but women surgeons are earning a disproportionate share of research grants from the National Institutes of Health, a new study has found.
Women make up 19% of surgery faculty at academic health systems but held 26.4% of prestigious "R01" grants in place at surgery departments as of October 2018, the researchers found.
Solar flares emit sudden, strong bursts of electromagnetic radiation from the Sun's surface and its atmosphere, and eject plasma and energetic particles into inter-planetary space. Since large solar flares can cause severe space weather disturbances affecting Earth, to mitigate their impact their occurrence needs to be predicted. However, as the onset mechanism of solar flares is unclear, most flare prediction methods so far have relied on empirical methods.
Editor's Note: The paper, Asymmetric remote C–H borylation of aliphatic amides and esters with a modular iridium catalyst, was published in the journal Science, and will be withdrawn at 14.00 EDT on 28 April 2022. The retraction is under embargo until that time.
A new catalyst design enables unprecedented control over the modification of fatty acid derivatives that opens the door to creating useful substances in a green and efficient manner.
In a pair of studies, researchers report the discovery and molecular pharmacology of stable, synthetic STING (stimulator of interferon genes) agonists that induce anticancer immune responses in mice. Combined, both studies' results represent progress towards clinically viable STING agonists for future cancer drugs and immunotherapeutic strategies. Activation of the innate STING immune pathway by natural agonists has been demonstrated to play an important role in antitumor immunity, which has made them an attractive target for use in cancer therapies.
Published in the highly prestigious journal Science, a new study has shed light on a cellular process that occurs in the retinas of people with diabetic retinopathy. This discovery could lead to the development of a treatment for this serious complication of diabetes. The research was led by Dr. Przemyslaw (Mike) Sapieha and Dr. François Binet in collaboration with Dr. Frédérick Antoine Mallette and Dr.
Ten post-mortem examinations performed on patients with confirmed COVID-19 found that all patients had lung injuries and early scarring of the lungs as a result of the virus, as well as injury to their kidneys. Nine patients also had thrombosis - a blood clot- in at least one major organ (heart, lung or kidney). The team were unable to investigate thrombosis in the tenth patient.
Air pollution is the world’s leading environmental risk factor, and causes more than nine million deaths per year. New research published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation shows air pollution may play a role in the development of cardiometabolic diseases, such as diabetes. Importantly, the effects were reversible with cessation of exposure.
Philadelphia, August 20, 2020 - When it comes to worrying about the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study demonstrates that people are more concerned about whether their family members could contract the virus or if they are unknowingly spreading the virus themselves than they are with contracting it.
LAWRENCE, KANSAS -- Between a decline in biodiversity and a series of extinction events, the Late Devonian period was not the most hospitable time on Earth.
And then came one or more supernovae explosions whose resulting ionizing radiation was the final push that spelled the end for armored fish, most trilobites and other life.
In a paper published Aug. 18 in PNAS, three University of Kansas researchers and their colleagues lay out such a scenario for end-Devonian extinctions.
The Greenland Ice Sheet recorded a new record loss of mass in 2019. This was the finding of a team of international researchers after evaluating data from satellite observations and modelling data. The total loss amounted to 532 billion metric tons, more than in the previous record year 2012 (464 billion metric tons), which equates to an average global sea-level rise of 1.5 mm. After two years characterised by low loss of mass in 2017 and 2018, the ice sheet is now heading toward increasing mass losses. The five years with the greatest losses all occurred in the last decade.