75 articles from TUESDAY 31.12.2019

Year in Aerospace: Looking back at Boeing’s troubles, looking ahead to commercial triumphs

2019 was a tough year for the aerospace industry — a year when a control system flaw caused the second catastrophic crash of a 737 MAX jet and sparked a worldwide grounding of Boeing's fastest-selling plane. Nine months after the Ethiopian Airlines crash, which killed 157 people, the 737 MAX is still grounded. Boeing's CEO and the head of its commercial airplanes unit have been replaced,...

Meet Steve, the winter sky phenomenon

Steve has been around for eons, but has been mis-identified as aurora until nowHands up if you’ve ever seen Steve. No, not the chap living down the road, but Steve the winter sky phenomenon. First spotted by auroral photographers in 2016, “Steve” is a purple band of light, sometimes accompanied by green lines, nicknamed “picket-fences”.Although Steve shares similarities with auroras –...

Blazar variability

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies that are accreting material. These AGN emit jets of charged particles that move at speeds close to that of light, transporting huge amounts of energy away from the central black hole region and radiating across the electromagnetic spectrum. Blazars are extreme examples of AGN in which the collimated jets are...

eDNA expands species surveys to capture a more complete picture

Tiny bits of DNA collected from waters off the West Coast allowed scientists to identify more species of marine vertebrates than traditional surveys with trawl nets. They also reflect environmental shifts such as unusual ocean temperatures that affect the organisms present, new research shows.

eDNA expands species surveys to capture a more complete picture

Tiny bits of DNA collected from waters off the West Coast allowed scientists to identify more species of marine vertebrates than traditional surveys with trawl nets. They also reflect environmental shifts such as unusual ocean temperatures that affect the organisms present, new research shows.

How bacteria control their cell cycle

Researchers have demonstrated how bacteria coordinate cell division with the replication of their genetic material. In an interdisciplinary study they explain why the current concept of the bacterial cell cycle has to be rewritten.

A new breakthrough in developing effective antimalarial drugs

Parasites in the genus Plasmodium, which cause malaria, are transmitted to humans through bites from infected mosquitoes. The parasites manage to acclimatize to these two completely different hosts because the plasticity of their genome enables them to adapt as necessary. Scientists decided to investigate the epigenetic mechanisms behind this plasticity, in particular DNA methylation. They...

Possible dementia vaccine closer after mice studies

A vaccine to ward off dementia may proceed to clinical trials after successful animal testing. The research is looking to develop effective immunotherapy via a dual vaccine to remove 'brain plaque' and tau protein aggregates linked to Alzheimer's disease. It is showing success in begenic mice models, supports progression to human trials in years to come.

Combining neurologic and blood pressure drugs reduces breast tumor development in mice

Adding a medication used to treat epilepsy, bipolar disorder and migraines to a blood pressure medicine reversed some aspects of breast cancer in the offspring of mice at high risk of the disease because of the high fat diet fed to their mothers during pregnancy. Conversely, this treatment combination increased breast cancer development in the offspring whose mothers had not been fed a high fat...

The mysterious case of the ornamented coot chicks has a surprising explanation

The American coot is a somewhat drab water bird with gray and black feathers and a white beak, common in wetlands throughout North America. Coot chicks, however, sport outrageously bright orange and red feathers, skin, and beaks. A new study explains how the bright coloring of coot chicks fits in with the reproductive strategy of their less colorful parents.