348 articles from THURSDAY 14.5.2020

Genetic origins of hybrid dysfunction

Evolutionary biologists studying populations of hybrid fish have found two genes that contribute to melanoma - only the second time people have identified specific genes associated with dysfunction in hybrid vertebrates.

Saving livestock by thinking like a predator

Humans have struggled to reduce the loss of livestock to carnivores for thousands of years, and yet, solutions remain elusive. According to a new study, solving this ancient puzzle requires going back to Ecology 101. Simply put, getting in the mind of predators -- considering how they hunt, how their prey behaves and the landscape -- will help wildlife managers discourage wild carnivores from...

Largest and hottest shield volcano on Earth

Researchers revealed the largest and hottest shield volcano on Earth. A team of volcanologists and ocean explorers used several lines of evidence to determine P?h?honu, a volcano within the Papah?naumoku?kea Marine National Monument now holds this distinction.

Spacewatch: US military spaceplane poised for liftoff

Boeing X-37B to study impact of radiation and other space effects on seeds and other materialsThe US’s uncrewed X-37B military spaceplane is expected to launch from Cape Canaveral air force station, in Florida, on 16 May.The Boeing craft will be carried into orbit by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. This will be its sixth launch, and the first to be the responsibility of the...

A lost world and extinct ecosystem

Archaeological sites on the far southern shores of South Africa hold the world's richest records for the behavioral and cultural origins of our species. At this location, scientists have discovered the earliest evidence for symbolic behavior, complex pyrotechnology, projectile weapons and the first use of foods from the sea.

Researchers reveal largest and hottest shield volcano on Earth

In a recently published study, researchers from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology revealed the largest and hottest shield volcano on Earth. A team of volcanologists and ocean explorers used several lines of evidence to determine Pūhāhonu, a volcano within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument now holds this distinction.

Space station leaves 'microbial fingerprint' on astronauts

We all carry around our own microbiome, a world of microorganisms that live on our skin and in our bodies, playing important roles in maintaining health as we interact with the rest of the world. Everywhere we go, our microbiome interacts with the microbiomes of new environments and of the people we meet (see Microbiology 101: Where People Go, Microbes Follow).

Genetic origins of hybrid dysfunction

In a small pool nestled between two waterfalls in Hidalgo, Mexico, lives a population of hybrid fish—the result of many generations of interbreeding between highland and sheepshead swordtails. The lab of Molly Schumer, assistant professor of biology at Stanford University, has been collecting these fish for years to study the evolution of hybrids.

Saving livestock by thinking like a predator

For predators like wolves, cougars and snow leopards, a cow or sheep out to pasture may make for an easy and tasty meal. But when wild animals eat livestock, farmers face the traumatic loss of food or income, frequently sparking lethal conflicts between humans and their carnivorous neighbors.

Quarantining With a Ghost? It's Scary

It started with the front door.Adrian Gomez lives with his partner in Los Angeles, where their first few days of sheltering in place for the coronavirus pandemic proved uneventful. They worked remotely, baked, took a 2-mile walk each morning and refinished their porcelain kitchen sink. But then, one night, the doorknob began to rattle "vigorously," so loud he could hear it from across...

Tracking an organism's development, cell by cell

Scientists at the Stem Cell Research program at Boston Children's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School have devised a mouse model that lets researchers track every cell in the body, from the embryonic stage until adulthood. Using a "barcoding" technique and CRISPR gene editing technology, the model can identify different cell types as they emerge and what genes each is...

NASA's ICESat-2 measures arctic ocean's sea ice thickness, snow cover

Arctic sea ice helps keep Earth cool, as its bright surface reflects the Sun's energy back into space. Each year scientists use multiple satellites and data sets to track how much of the Arctic Ocean is covered in sea ice, but its thickness is harder to gauge. Initial results from NASA's new Ice Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) suggest that the sea ice has thinned by as much as 20%...

Topological waves may help in understanding plasma systems

Nearly 50 years ago, Brown University physicist Michael Kosterlitz and his colleagues used the mathematics of topology—the study of how objects can be deformed by stretching or twisting but not tearing or breaking—to explain puzzling phase changes in certain types of matter. The work won Kosterlitz a share of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics and has led to the discovery of topological phenomena...

Seeing the universe through new lenses

A new study revealed hundreds of new strong gravitational lensing candidates based on a deep dive into data. The study benefited from the winning machine-learning algorithm in an international science competition.

Designing vaccines from artificial proteins

Scientists have developed a new computational approach to create artificial proteins, which showed promising results in vivo as functional vaccines. This approach opens the possibility to engineer safer and more effective vaccines.

Malaria parasite ticks to its own internal clock

Researchers have long known that all of the millions of malaria parasites within an infected person's body move through their cell cycle at the same time. They multiply in sync inside red blood cells, then burst out in unison every few days. But how the parasites keep time was unclear. Now, a study finds that malaria has its own internal clock that causes thousands of genes to ramp up and down at...

Fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and major diseases at the same time

Researchers, politicians and funding bodies find themselves in front of a unique situation: The mounting pressure to accelerate and intensify efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic while handling the growing threat from all other diseases endangering our society. This balancing and how well the scientific community will respond to it will define health across the globe for years to come, argue...

Mouse and human eye movements share important similarity

Scientists have used a lightweight eye-tracking system composed of miniature video cameras and motion sensors to record head and eye movements in mice without restricting movement or behavior. Measurements were made while the animals performed naturalistic visual behaviors including social interactions with other mice and visual object tracking.

Study tracks COVID-19 spread in pediatric dialysis unit

As COVID-19 continues its sweep around the globe, dialysis units have continued to be hotspots for the virus' spread. Researchers hope to combat that threat, through a novel study that used antibody testing on patients, doctors, nurses and staff within the unit to track symptomatic and asymptomatic spread in a confined space.

Seeing the universe through new lenses

Like crystal balls for the universe's deeper mysteries, galaxies and other massive space objects can serve as lenses to more distant objects and phenomena along the same path, bending light in revelatory ways.

Multiscale crop modeling effort required to assess climate change adaptation

Crop modeling is essential for understanding how to secure the food supply as the planet adapts to climate change. Many current crop models focus on simulating crop growth and yield at the field scale, but lack genetic and physiological data, which may hamper accurate production and environmental impact assessment at larger scales.

Researchers seek to reduce food waste and establish the science of food date labeling

Minimizing food waste is top of mind right now during the COVID-19 global pandemic, with the public concerned about the potential ramifications for our food supply chain. But even before COVID-19, given concerns about a rapidly growing population and hunger around the world, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) issued a global call for zero tolerance on food waste....

Quarter of people who died in UK hospitals with Covid-19 had diabetes

NHS’s first breakdown of underlying health conditions also finds 18% had dementia Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageOne in four people who have died in hospital with Covid-19 also had diabetes, the NHS’s first breakdown of underlying health conditions among the fatalities shows.Of the 22,332 people who died in hospital in England between 31 March and 12 May, 5,873...