August 7, 2019 --

Imagine a new breed of pirate not only able to sail the high seas, but to exploit nearly any mode of transportation without detection. And these raiders' ambitions have little to do with amassing treasure and everything to do with hijacking ecosystems.

Today's invasive species are as tenacious and resilient as the pirates of yesteryear, and when these plunderers set foot in new locations around the world, they know how to make themselves at home. As a result, home will never be the same for many native residents.

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 6, 2019 -- Invisible to the human eye, molecular interactions between gases and liquids underpin much of our lives, including the absorption of oxygen molecules into our lungs, many industrial processes and the conversion of organic compounds within our atmosphere. But difficulties in measuring gas-liquid collisions have so far prevented the fundamental exploration of these processes.

In the last 150 years, engineers have developed and mastered ways to stabilize dynamic systems, without lag or overshoot, using what's known as control theory. Now, a team of University of Arizona researchers has shown that cells and organisms evolved complex biochemical circuits that follow the principles of control theory, millions of years before the first engineer put pencil to paper.

Approximately one in every thousand children develops a urethral stricture, sometimes even when they are still a foetus in the womb. In order to prevent life-threatening levels of urine from accumulating in the bladder, paediatric surgeons like Gaston De Bernardis at the Kantonsspital Aarau have to surgically remove the affected section of the urethra and sew the open ends of the tube back together again. It would be less damaging to the kidneys, however, if a stent could be inserted to widen the constriction while the foetus is still in the womb.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 08, 2019 -- WASHINGTON, Aug. 08, 2019 — Every year, around half a million people in the United States get sick from C. diff bacteria, often after taking antibiotics. Sounds counterintuitive? This week on Reactions, we break down why that happens, and how an unlikely hero could save the day: https://youtu.be/0dw7WZsmkjQ.

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals the intricate, detailed beauty of Jupiter's clouds in this new image taken on 27 June 2019 [1]. It features the planet's trademark Great Red Spot and a more intense colour palette in the clouds swirling in the planet's turbulent atmosphere than seen in previous years.

There is no cure for the more than 1.6 million people in the United States living with Crohn's disease (CD) and its symptoms, including abdominal pain, intestinal distress and severe weight-loss. CD is a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in which the body's own immune system attacks the gastrointestinal tract, and treatment is focused on controlling the symptoms of the disease in its acute phase and managing it in remission.

Unlike many other cancers, most pancreatic tumors are rock hard. 

"That's one reason why pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal types of cancer," says Kenneth Olive, PhD, associate professor of medicine and pathology & cell biology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and a pancreatic cancer researcher at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.

This new Hubble Space Telescope view of Jupiter, taken on June 27, 2019, reveals the giant planet's trademark Great Red Spot, and a more intense color palette in the clouds swirling in Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere than seen in previous years. The colors, and their changes, provide important clues to ongoing processes in Jupiter's atmosphere.

We are all familiar with the common myth that fish have poor memory, but it turns that their DNA has the capacity to hold much more memory than that of humans.

In a study published recently in the journal Nature, University of Otago researchers report that memory in the form of 'DNA methylation' is preserved between generations of fish, in contrast to humans where this is almost entirely erased.