Earth
Projected ocean warming and acidification not only impacts the behaviour of individual species but also the wider marine ecosystems which are influenced by them, a new study shows.
Research published in Nature Climate Change shows that in warmer seawater with lower pH, a common clam - the peppery furrow shell (Scrobicularia plana) - makes considerable changes to its feeding habits.
The X-ray crystal structure visualization technique has been known for over a hundred years. It keeps improving, but it is extremely difficult to focus the rays on the objects that are invisible with a naked eye, such as proteins. However, to get a clear image and effectively visualize the structure of a crystal, a sample should be positioned correctly. An international team of scientists suggested an optic system to help see a protein crystal in X-rays and place it in the center of a beam. The results of the study were published in the Structural Biology journal.
Rapid progress in the field of metallic nanotechnology is sparking a science revolution that is likely to impact all areas of society, according to professor of physics Ventsislav Valev and his team at the University of Bath in the UK.
Metallic nanotechnology is an area that allows microscopic particles of metals, such as gold and silver, to be manipulated with heat and light. The potential applications are vast, ranging from optimising the way we harvest renewable energy to overhauling our treatment of cancerous tumours.
SAN FRANCISCO (January 21, 2020)--From sea shores to salt flats, a high incidence of spiders spin a life in or around water. Researchers at the California Academy of Sciences and William Paterson University found that nearly one fifth of all spider families are associated with saltwater or freshwater aquatic habitats.
Often, patients from the same family and carriers of the same genetic mutation, develop a disease differently. This disparity may be due to the existence of mutations in other secondary genes, which influence the onset and progression of the disease caused by the main mutation. As an example, members of a family who are carriers of the same mutation may show symptoms of the disease at age 20, and others at age 50. Knowing what factors influence the onset and development of the disease would help a better prognosis and the application of preventive treatments.
After years of research on cell surface receptors called Frizzleds, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden provide the proof-of-principle that these receptors are druggable by small molecules. The results, which are published in the scientific journal Nature Communications, open for new strategies to treat different types of cancer.
Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology and Gothenburg University in Sweden have achieved something long thought almost impossible - counting the molecules of the neurotransmitter glutamate released when a signal is transferred between two brain cells. With a new analysis method, they showed that the brain regulates its signals using glutamate in more ways than previously realised.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Eighty-six percent of parents agree that teens spend too much time gaming, but many may be mistaken about the extent of their own child's video game habits, a new national poll suggests.
Parents also report very different gaming patterns for teen boys than girls, according to the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health. Twice as many parents say their teen boy plays video games every day compared to parents of teen girls. Teen boys are also more likely to spend three or more hours gaming.
Nagoya University scientists, in cooperation with Asahi Kasei Corporation, have succeeded in designing a laser diode that emits deep-ultraviolet light, according to research published in the journal Applied Physics Express.
"Our laser diode emits the world's shortest lasing wavelength, at 271.8 nanometers (nm), under pulsed [electric] current injection at room temperature," says Professor Chiaki Sasaoka of Nagoya University's Center for Integrated Research of Future Electronics.
DURHAM, N.C. -- Few singers reach their sunset years with the same voice they had in younger days. Singing sparrows are no different. Duke University-led research reveals that elderly swamp sparrows don't sound quite like they used to -- nor do they strike the same fear in other males who may be listening in.
Humans are remarkably good at guessing a person's age just by hearing their voice. But this is the first time the phenomenon has been demonstrated in wild animals, said Duke biology professor and study co-author Steve Nowicki.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The lungs and placentas of fetuses in the womb -- as young as 11 weeks after conception -- already show a bacterial microbiome signature, which suggests that bacteria may colonize the lungs well before birth. This first-time finding deepens the mystery of how the microbes or microbial products reach those organs before birth and what role they play in normal lung and immune system development.
Older adults from ethnic minority groups report having fewer close friends and fewer friends who live locally than older white people, according a new UCL study.
The research, published in Ageing & Society, found that Black and Asian adults over the age of 65 years are almost twice as likely to report having no close friends (9% and 7% respectively) compared to White and mixed or 'other' ethnicity adults of the same age (both 4%).
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Manufacturing prescription drugs with distinct markings, colors, shapes or packaging isn't enough to protect them from counterfeiting, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reports have shown.
Purdue University researchers are aiming to stump counterfeiters with an edible "security tag" embedded into medicine. To imitate the drug, a counterfeiter would have to uncrack a complicated puzzle of patterns not fully visible to the naked eye.
DALLAS - Jan. 16, 2020 - A UT Southwestern researcher led a team that identified a new vulnerability in kidney tumors, the 10th most common cause of cancer death in men and women.
In their investigation of the most common type of kidney cancer, called clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), Qing Zhang, Ph.D., and his colleagues identified a possible way to treat tumors while sparing nearby healthy tissue.
Quantum physics is moving out of the laboratory and into our everyday lives. Despite the big headline results about quantum computers solving problems impossible for classical computers, technical challenges are standing in the way of getting quantum physics into the real world. New research published in Nature Communications from teams at Aalto University and Lund University hopes to provide an important tool in this quest.