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62 articles from PhysOrg

Monty Python's silly walk: A gait analysis and wake-up call to peer review inefficiencies

Fifty years ago, Monty Python's famous sketch, "The Ministry of Silly Walks," first aired on BBC One. The sketch pokes fun at the inefficiency of government bureaucracy. It opens with the Minister (John Cleese) walking in a rather unusual manner to his work, the Ministry of Silly Walks, where Mr. Pudey (Michael Palin) is waiting to meet with him to apply for a government grant to develop his silly...

A new use for museum fish specimens

The discoloured fish that rest in glass jars in museums across the world are normally used by specialists as references to study the traits that identify certain species. But a new study proposes an additional use for such 'samples.'

Ocean acidification impacts oysters' memory of environmental stress

As oceans absorb more carbon dioxide, they are becoming increasingly acidic and shifting the delicate balance that supports marine life. How species will cope with ocean acidification and the other consequences of global climate change is still very much unknown and could have sweeping consequences.

Environmental DNA in rivers offers new tool for detecting wildlife communities

Ecologists in England and Scotland, collaborating with ecologists Christopher Sutherland and Joseph Drake at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, report this week on a new method of identifying an "entire community of mammals"—including elusive and endangered species that are otherwise difficult to monitor—by collecting DNA from river water.

New book debunks myths about who causes crime and why

Forty years ago, Craig Haney was a young professor of psychology at UC Santa Cruz when a question about the real causes of crime began to form in his mind: What if most violent criminal behavior is rooted in early childhood suffering, particularly the harrowing experiences of trauma, abuse, and maltreatment?

New aflatoxin biocontrol product lowers contamination of groundnut and maize in Senegal

In Senegal, groundnut and maize are commonly contaminated with highly toxic, cancer-causing chemicals called aflatoxins, which are produced by fungi in the genus Aspergillus when they infect crops. The main aflatoxin-producing species is A. flavus. This contamination typically occurs before harvest and can worsen depending on storage conditions. Consumption of these crops when containing high...

Hero proteins are here to save other proteins

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have discovered a new group of proteins, remarkable for their unusual shape and abilities to protect against protein clumps associated with neurodegenerative diseases in lab experiments. The Hero proteins are heat resistant and are widespread in animals from insects to humans.

Perturbation-free studies of single molecules

Researchers of the University of Basel have developed a new method with which individual isolated molecules can be studied precisely—without destroying the molecule or even influencing its quantum state. This highly sensitive technique for probing molecules is widely applicable and paves the way for a range of new applications in the fields of quantum science, spectroscopy and chemistry, as the...

Separations between earthquakes reveal clear patterns

When large earthquakes occur, seismologists are well aware that subsequent, smaller tremors are likely to take place afterwards in the surrounding geographical region. So far, however, few studies have explored how the similarity between these inter-earthquake times and distances is related to their separation from initial events. In a new study published in EPJ B, researchers led by Min Lin at...

Aerial insect trap network describes life in the skies

Like most invasive species, when the soybean aphid arrived in the Midwest in 2000, it brought none of its natural enemies along for the ride. So, naturally, finding itself in the soybean capital of the world, the tiny insect went bonkers. Taking advantage of a nifty ability to reproduce without mating, populations exploded and the soybean aphid quickly became the number one insect pest affecting...

Researchers study the link between motor neuron activation and speed

Whether running away from a predator or to win an Olympic gold, how fast we run determines the final outcome. Locomotion is produced when limb muscles contract in a co-ordinated fashion. This, in turn, is caused by electrical impulses sent by nerve cells called motor neurons located in the spinal cord. Earlier work showed that based on an animal's momentary needs, brain circuits select a suitable...

Corporate social irresponsibility: Which cases are critically reported—and which aren't?

Print media do not report corporate misconduct—such as environmental offences, corruption, or the violation of social standards—consistently and independently. Instead, the media are often influenced by their own interests, such as advertising revenues. That is the result of a new study by Dr. Marc Fischer, Professor of Marketing at the University of Cologne (Germany), and Dr. Samuel Stäbler,...

Is coronavirus the end of the handshake?

"Please refrain from hand shaking," read a sign at an event in London I recently attended. Despite increasing anxiety about coronavirus, for many of us, it was the first time we had encountered such a request. Underneath the words was a small image of two disembodied hands shaking, surrounded by a red circle struck through with a diagonal line.

Team develops multisurface adhesion system modeled on grasshopper's feet

In their everyday lives, insects often have to cope with both rough and smooth as well as sticky surfaces. They achieve a firm grip through special hooks or tiny hairs on their feet. While these different requirements are not a problem for many insects, technical applications are less flexible. They are usually specifically developed for a particular application—such as summer or winter tires,...

Safeguarding chloroplasts from sunburn

Intense sunlight damages the chloroplasts that are essential for photosynthesis, and generates toxic products that can lead to cell death. LMU biologists have now identified a signaling pathway which mitigates the effects of light stress.

Aging and nutrients competition determine changes in microbiota

Research groups from Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC) that study evolution, immunity and microbiology unveiled two new mechanisms in the microbiota: in older populations, the bacterium E. coli evolves in a way that can become potentially pathogenic and increase the risk of disease and, according to data obtained in another study, the metabolism of the same bacterium present in the microbiota...

Metabolic fossils from the origin of life

Life converts food into cells via dense networks involving thousands of reactions. New research uncovers insights as to how such networks could have arisen from scratch at life's origin. An international team of researchers in Germany, New Zealand and the U.S.A. has investigated metabolic networks of primitive microbes and identified autocatalytic sets (interconnected collections of...