Earth
Chestnut Hill, Mass. (3/19/2020) - Using a single atom-thick sheet of graphene to track the electronic signals inherent in biological structures, a team led by Boston College researchers has developed a platform to selectively identify deadly strains of bacteria, an advance that could lead to more accurate targeting of infections with appropriate antibiotics, the team reported in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics.
Irvine, Calif. - March 19, 2020 - A team of University of California, Irvine researchers have published the first comprehensive overview of the major changes that occur in mammalian skin cells as they prepare to heal wounds. Results from the study provide a blueprint for future investigation into pathological conditions associated with poor wound healing, such as in diabetic patients.
Opening plastic packaging, such as plastic bags and bottles may contribute to the generation of small amounts of microplastics -- small plastic particles less than 5 mm long -- during daily tasks, according to a study published in Scientific Reports.
Microplastics are generally believed to originate directly from industry, for example as cosmetic exfoliates, or indirectly from the breakdown of larger plastic items over time. However, the contribution of daily tasks such as cutting, tearing or twisting open plastic packaging and containers has not been fully understood.
A new study by an international team of scientists has revealed the developmental and evolutionary mechanisms underlying the origin of a major phylum.
The Cambrian Explosion was a pivotal event in the history of life half a billion years ago with the sudden appearance of dozens of distinctive animal body plans. After this initial burst of innovation, the appearance of new body plans slowed to a halt. This pattern has puzzled and intrigued scientists and led to hypotheses regarding the ecological and developmental influences on animal evolution.
When parents eat low-protein or high-fat diets it can lead to metabolic disorders in their adult offspring. Now, an international team led by researchers at the RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research (CPR) have identified a key player and the molecular events underlying this phenomenon in mice.
Sugar-rich diets have a negative impact on health independent of obesity reports a new study led by the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, UK.
Researchers discovered that the shortened survival of fruit flies fed a sugar-rich diet is not the result of their diabetic-like metabolic issues.
The findings, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, instead suggest that early death from excess sugar is related to the build-up of a natural waste product, uric acid.
Environmental cues prompt small RNA segments to regulate the development and distribution of tiny pores involved in photosynthesis in plants. The finding by DGIST researchers in Korea was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and could further efforts to improve agricultural crop productivity.
Plant pores, called stomata, are tiny openings mainly found on the surfaces of leaves. They are bordered by two 'guard cells', and are involved in gas exchange and water loss between plants and the atmosphere.
A parasite known only to be hosted in North America by the Virginia opossum is infecting sea otters along the West Coast. A study from the University of California, Davis, elucidates the sometimes surprising and complex pathways infectious pathogens can move from land to sea to sea otter.
Researchers of the University of Groningen and the Max Planck Institute have found that starlings sleep five hours less per night during the summer. Compared to winter, the birds take more mid-day naps and live under higher sleep pressure. During full-moon nights, starlings sleep around two hours less than usual. The findings of the study were published in the journal Current Biology on 19 March.
On March 17, Federation of European Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Associations REHVA published guidance on the operation and use of building services in areas with a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. Representing a network of more than 120.000 engineers from 27 European countries, REHVA guidance complements the general guidance for employers provided by WHO and is targeted to commercial and public buildings.
Tropical forest ecosystems are an important part of the global carbon cycle as they take up and store large amounts of CO2. It is however uncertain how much these forests' ability to take up and store carbon differ between forests with high versus low species richness. New IIASA research sheds light on this question aiming to enhance our ability to predict tropical ecosystems' strength as global carbon sinks.
Media reporting of suicide, especially celebrity suicides, is associated with increases in suicide in the general population, particularly by the same method as used by the celebrity, finds an analysis of the latest evidence published by The BMJ today.
The researchers say their findings support the continued use and promotion of guidelines on responsible media reporting of suicide, especially when reporting on deaths of celebrities by suicide.
A linked editorial suggests that tighter control of media reporting of suicide may be required.
In 2016, ocean temperatures soared, devastating the corals of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. As the frequency, duration and magnitude of these marine heatwaves increases due to human-induced climate change, scientists have yet to fully grasp the physiological, behavioral, and long-term consequences for wild fish populations.
An ancient Elpistostege fish fossil found in Miguasha, Canada has revealed new insights into how the human hand evolved from fish fins.
An international team of palaeontologists from Flinders University in Australia and Universite du Quebec a Rimouski in Canada have revealed the fish specimen, as described in the journal Nature, has yielded the missing evolutionary link in the fish to tetrapod transition, as fish began to foray in habitats such as shallow water and land during the Late Devonian period millions of years ago.
How we farm can guard against climate change and protect critical wildlife - but only if we leave single-crop farms in the dust, according to a new Stanford study.
The research provides a rare, long-term look at how farming practices affect bird biodiversity in Costa Rica. "Farms that are good for birds are also good for other species," said Jeffrey Smith, a graduate student in the department of biology and a co-author on the paper. "We can use birds as natural guides to help us design better agricultural systems."