Earth
In the world of materials science, many have heard of crystals, highly ordered structures in which atoms are arranged in a tight and periodic manner (in which the atomic arrangement is repeated). But, not many people know about quasicrystals, which are unique structures with strange atomic arrangement. Like crystals, quasicrystals are also tightly arranged, but what's different about them is the fact that they possess an unprecedented pentagonal symmetry, such that the atomic arrangement is highly ordered but not periodic.
When our skin is damaged, a whole set of biological processes springs into action to heal the wound. Now, researchers from the VIB-UGent Center for Inflammation Research have shown that one of the molecules involved in this, HMGB1, slows down wound healing. It is, however, also essential for tumor formation at sites of previous injury. The researchers found that HMGB1 controls the actions of neutrophils, a specific type of immune cells, in skin wounds and that this is crucial for cancer initiation.
Fens and bogs are valuable research environments for paleoecologists due to ancient fossils that have survived in the peatland for thousands of years. A recent study carried out by the paleoecologists of Tallinn University of Technology reveals that the rich biodiversity of spring fens is a result of their millenniums-long stable environment. The continuously high local richness in spring fens is contrary to the general decrease in biodiversity around the world caused by increasingly intensive land use.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (NOVEMBER 26, 2019). Researchers from the University of Michigan found significant pupillary changes in high-school football athletes after they had sustained a high-acceleration head impact. The changes were detected using a noninvasive, hand-held, quantitative pupillometry device, which potentially could be used in a nonclinical setting for a quick assessment of possible brain injury. Detailed findings on this subject are found in the article, "Pupillary changes after clinically asymptomatic high-acceleration head impacts in high school football athletes," by Jacob R.
Eating a low-calorie diet can help you live longer and prevent age-related diseases - and even improve the immune system's function. A new study finds that, in mice, a compound used in herbal medicine can give a similar immune boost if given before vaccination - no dieting required.
A literature review out of Oklahoma State University focused on notable woody plants that can disrupt biodiversity by behaving as a weed or an invasive plant.
Michael Schnelle to illuminates species important to the ornamentals industry and its consumers that, through natural geographical expansion, sheer aggressive growth in native locations, or anthropogenic activity, can sometimes be challenging to keep in-bounds, both in cultivation and in their natural geographic ranges.
Researchers from the Mechanobiology Institute (MBI) at the National University of Singapore have shown that cells can attach to the fibrous protein meshwork that surrounds them only if the fibres are spaced close enough. The team's findings, which can explain the abnormal motility patterns displayed by cancer cells, were published in the science journal Nature Materials in September 2019.
The human body is made up of around a trillion cells. These cells stick to a supportive surface underneath (also known as matrix) as well as to the cells next to them.
PHILADELPHIA - Soft tissue sarcoma cells stop a key metabolic process which allows them to multiply and spread, and so restarting that process could leave these cancers vulnerable to a variety of treatments. The enzyme that controls the process is called FBP2, and researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, who detailed their findings in Cell Metabolism, also showed that manipulating sarcoma cells to ramp up FBP2 expression slows or even stops their growth entirely.
MADISON, Wis. -- Last year, scientists announced that a human jawbone and prehistoric tools found in 2002 in Misliya Cave, on the western edge of Israel, were between 177,000 and 194,000 years old.
The finding suggested that modern humans, who originated in Africa, began migrating out of the continent at least 40,000 years earlier than scientists previously thought.
Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen prone to developing antibiotic resistance, causing 120,000 cases of bloodstream infections every year in the United States and over 5000 in Australia; the mortality rate is around 25 per cent from each case.
The Bengal Bay clone was first described in the 1990s with reports of it causing severe disease in India.
The near-infrared light is a light source with the shortest wavelength, indicated outside of the red color in the light spectrum. The near-infrared light has been widely used in optical communications, medical lasers, LiDAR of self-driving vehicles, and security and surveillance instruments, ranging from private to defense industry. To utilize this near-infrared light, the technology that converts light into an electrical energy through a photodetector is crucial.
The Bulwer's petrel reaches more than 1,800 kilometers from the Canary archipelago up to the Azores on its route in search of food, according to data from a new scientific monograph based on the studies carried out from 2010 to 2018 by the Research Group of Ecology of Marine Birds of the Faculty of Biology and the Biodiversity Research Institute of the University of Barcelona (IRBio), under the supervision of Professor Jacob González-Solís.
'Origami robots' are state-of-the-art soft and flexible robots that are being tested for use in various applications including drug delivery in human bodies, search and rescue missions in disaster environments and humanoid robotic arms.
Because these robots need to be flexible, they are often made from soft materials such as paper, plastic and rubber. To be functional, sensors and electrical components are often added on top, but these add bulk to the devices.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 25, 2019) - Majorities of Americans say the federal government is doing too little for key aspects of the environment. And most believe the U.S. should focus on development of alternative sources of energy over expansion of fossil fuels, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
Global simulations suggest plankton and fish species are showing resilience to climate change by going deeper underwater or moving to higher latitudes.
Anticipating changes in community composition in response to warming is challenging because species respond differently and the interactions change between them. However, a new study published in Nature Climate Change shows how changes in marine communities tightly follow ocean warming as the number and abundance of warm-water species increase whereas those of cold-water species decrease.