218 articles from WEDNESDAY 18.12.2019

NASA's Mars 2020 rover completes its first drive

NASA's next Mars rover has passed its first driving test. A preliminary assessment of its activities on Dec. 17, 2019, found that the rover checked all the necessary boxes as it rolled forward and backward and pirouetted in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The next time the Mars 2020 rover drives, it will be rolling over Martian soil.

Nanopores can identify the amino acids in proteins, the first step to sequencing

While DNA sequencing is a useful tool for determining what's going on in a cell or a person's body, it only tells part of the story. Protein sequencing could soon give researchers a wider window into a cell's workings. A new study demonstrates that nanopores can be used to identify all 20 amino acids in proteins, a major step toward protein sequencing.

The delicate water lily: A rose by another name?

A new study published in Nature reports the 409-megabase genome sequence of the blue-petal water lily (Nymphaea colorata). The conclusion of the 47 coauthors is that although a rose is a rose, most flowering plants may owe their success, including employing floral scent for attracting pollinators, in part to the genetic innovations observed in the delicate water lily.

Thawing permafrost affecting northern Alaska's land-to-ocean river flows

A new analysis of the changing character of runoff, river discharge and other hydrological cycle elements across the North Slope of Alaska reveals significant increases in the proportion of subsurface runoff and cold season discharge, changes the authors say are "consistent with warming and thawing permafrost."