Earth
In nature, certain species are able to regulate the cycling of soil nutrients and vegetation diversity and dynamics. A team of ecologists and agronomists* led by Thierry Dutoit, a CNRS researcher at the Mediterranean Institute of Biodiversity and Marine and Continental Ecology (CNRS/Avignon Université/IRD/Aix-Marseille Université) studied the impact of the Messor barbarus harvester ant on Mediterranean dry grasslands on the plain of La Crau. The study shows that these invertebrates accelerated the resilience of plant communities in these degraded grasslands by facilitating their recovery.
Scientists at Ames Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the University of Alabama Birmingham have discovered a light-induced switching mechanism in a Dirac semimetal. The mechanism establishes a new way to control the topological material, driven by back-and-forth motion of atoms and electrons, which will enable topological transistor and quantum computation using light waves.
Death rates from prostate cancer are predicted to fall in 2020 in the EU, largely due to better diagnosis and treatment, according to new research published in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology [1] today (Monday).
Researchers from CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, have unveiled a new approach to analysing the genetic codes - or the blueprint - of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.
The findings will help researchers better understand how strains of the virus evolve and help identify new clusters of the virus.
Analysing global data on the published genome sequences of this novel coronavirus will help fast track our understanding of this complex disease.
New research due to be presented at this year's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID)* reveals that raw-type dog foods contain high levels of multidrug-resistant bacteria, including those resistant to last-line antibiotics. The potential transfer of such bacteria between dogs and humans is an international public health risk, conclude the authors who include Dr Ana Raquel Freitas and colleagues from the Faculty of Pharmacy, UCIBIO/REQUIMTE, University of Porto, Portugal.
Rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the consequent changes created through ocean acidification will cause severe ecosystem effects, impacting reef-forming habitats and the associated fish, according to new research.
Using submerged natural CO2 seeps off the Japanese Island of Shikine, an international team of marine biologists showed that even slightly higher CO2 concentrations than those existing today may cause profound changes in marine habitats and the fish that rely on them.
A Japanese research team has developed a cyclic peptide (a chain of amino acids bonded circularly) that enhances blood-brain barrier (BBB) penetration. By attaching the cyclic peptide to the surface of nanoparticles, research and development of new drug nanocarriers for drug delivery to the brain becomes possible.
With climate action a theme of Earth Day 2020 (22 April 2020), a new research paper highlights the plight of some of the most at-risk amphibian species - and shortfalls in most conservation efforts.
More than even birds and most mammals, amphibians (frogs, salamander, worm-like caecilians, anurans, etc) are on the front line of extinction in a hotter, dryer climate conditions.
For a long time, companies have used cost-effective chat services in their business-to-customer (B2C) sales. Companies engaged in business-to-business (B2B) sales are also increasingly moving their activities online, but their online chat services and customer interaction have not been studied much yet. A new study from the University of Eastern Finland shows that the nature of social presence in B2B online chat dialogues varied depending on the stage of the customer relationship.
The point when human embryonic stem cells irreversibly commit to becoming specialised has been identified by researchers at the Francis Crick Institute.
Our biological history can be traced back to a small group of cells called embryonic stem cells, which through cell division, give rise to cells that specialise to perform a specific role in the body - a process known as differentiation.
A team of National Institutes of Health-funded researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina has found that deactivating a stress-signaling system in a brain area known for motivation and emotion-related behaviors decreases binge drinking. The study, which was published online in February and is to appear in the May issue of Neuropharmacology, pinpoints a particular system in a specific brain region that can be manipulated to reduce harmful binge drinking.
Researchers of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have synthesized nanoparticles that can be induced by a change in pH to release a deadly dose of ionized iron within cells. This mechanism could potentially open up new approaches to the targeted elimination of malignant tumors.
LA JOLLA--(April 17, 2020) Persistent inflammation of the pancreas (chronic pancreatitis) is a known risk factor for developing pancreatic cancer, the third-deadliest cancer in the United States. Tuft cells--cells sensitive to chemical (chemosensory) changes typically found in the intestines and respiratory tract--had previously been discovered in the pancreas, but their function has largely remained a mystery.
With the western United States and northern Mexico suffering an ever-lengthening string of dry years starting in 2000, scientists have been warning for some time that climate change may be pushing the region toward an extreme long-term drought worse than any in recorded history. A new study says the time has arrived: a megadrought as bad or worse than anything even from known prehistory is very likely in progress, and warming climate is playing a key role.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Are powerful individuals such as politicians necessarily viewed by others as having high status? And conversely, are high-status individuals such as tech moguls always seen as powerful? According to new research co-written by a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign expert in consumer behavior and global marketing, the answer depends on one's cultural orientation.