218 articles from FRIDAY 12.6.2020
Unlocking PNA's superpowers for self-assembling nanostructures
- ScienceDaily
- 20/6/12 17:14
Researchers have developed a method for self-assembling nanostructures with gamma-modified peptide nucleic acid, a synthetic mimic of DNA. The process has the potential to impact nanomanufacturing and future biomedical technologies like targeted diagnostics and drug delivery.
Study identifies mechanism affecting X chromosome that could lead to new disease therapies
- ScienceDaily
- 20/6/12 17:14
Learning how to inactivate and reactivate an X chromosome would have important implications for medicine. A notable category of beneficiaries could be people with certain congenital diseases known as X-linked disorders, which are caused by mutations in genes on the X chromosome.
Impacts of climate change on migrating mule deer
- ScienceDaily
- 20/6/12 17:14
The benefits of migration are likely to decrease for mule deer and other migratory herbivores as drought becomes more common due to ongoing climate change.
Artificial intelligence makes blurry faces look more than 60 times sharper
- ScienceDaily
- 20/6/12 17:14
Researchers have developed an AI tool that can turn blurry faces into eerily convincing computer-generated portraits, in finer detail than ever before. Previous methods can scale an image to eight times its original resolution. But a team has come up with a way to take a handful of pixels and create realistic-looking faces with up to 64 times the resolution, 'imagining' features such as eyelashes...
Minimizing thermal conductivity of crystalline material with optimal nanostructure
- ScienceDaily
- 20/6/12 17:14
Researchers have minimized thermal conductivity by designing, fabricating, and evaluating the optimal nanostructure-multilayer materials through materials informatics (MI), which combines machine learning and molecular simulation.
Versatile symbionts: Reed beetles benefit from bacterial helpers through all life stages
- ScienceDaily
- 20/6/12 17:14
Researchers have investigated the contributions that symbiotic bacteria make to the unusual life cycle and diet of reed beetles.
Statistical analyses of plant metabolites allow solid testing of plant defense theories
- ScienceDaily
- 20/6/12 17:13
Do plants attacked by herbivores produce substances that are most effective against attackers in a targeted manner, or are herbivore-induced changes in a plant metabolism random, which could thwart the performance of herbivores? Scientists have tested these long-standing hypotheses for the first time using the coyote tobacco Nicotiana attenuata and its close relatives. They combined extensive...
Silicones may lead to cell death
- ScienceDaily
- 20/6/12 17:13
Silicone molecules from breast implants can initiate processes in human cells that lead to cell death, according to new research
Bird feeding helps females more than males
- ScienceDaily
- 20/6/12 17:13
A new study shows that female birds benefit more from extra food in the winter. If females receive additional food, they do not need to reduce their body temperature as much as they would have otherwise, and the chances of surviving cold nights increase.
Protecting scientific diversity
- ScienceDaily
- 20/6/12 17:13
The COVID-19 pandemic means that scientists face great challenges because they have to reorient, interrupt or even cancel research and teaching. A team of international scientists are highlighting the precarious situation of many scientists and calling for a collective effort by the scientific community, especially from its leadership, to protect decades of effort to build an inclusive scientific...
Where have the swans gone?
Nearly 13 kilometers per year: that is the rate at which the wintering area of Bewick's swans has shifted east over the past 50 years. It's a discovery with consequences for the conservation of this migratory species, writes a team of researchers led by the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) in Global Change Biology.
Nitrogen in permafrost soils may exert great feedbacks on climate change
What nitrogen is getting up to in permafrost soils may be much more interesting than researchers have long believed—with potentially significant consequences for our management of climate change.
Analysing the effects two decades after a mining spill
A group of experts from the University of Seville has carried out a comparative study of the concentrations—both totals as well as fractions—of the metals found in sediment in the River Guadiamar in 2002 with those present in the same area in 2018. After this study, the researchers state that there has been an important fall in the total concentrations, and evolution of the metal fraction...
Twisted microfiber's network responses to water vapor
Researchers at Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) graduate student Kulisara Budpud, Assoc. Prof. Kosuke Okeyoshi, Dr. Maiko Okajima and, Prof. Tatsuo Kaneko reveal a unique polysaccharide fiber in a twisted structure forming under a drying process which showed spring-like behavior. The spring-like behavior of twisted structures is practically used as a reinforced structure...
Image: Barcelona, Spain
The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Barcelona—the second largest city in Spain.
New insights on the role of trade unions in struggles for rights
Trade unions are crucial in advancing workers' rights, but it is unhelpful to consider their leaders as representatives of the working class as a whole when analysing labour relations and government policies, a new paper from the University of Warwick Department of Sociology argues.
ESAIL maritime satellite ready for launch
The ESAIL microsatellite for tracking ships worldwide—developed under an ESA Partnership Project—has completed its accommodation on Vega's new dispenser for small satellites and is ready for launch.
The rise of the 'liberaltarian'
Political economists Neil Malhotra and David Broockman have documented a new species of political animal: the liberaltarian.
Facebook just released a database of 100,000 deepfakes to teach AI how to spot them
Deepfakes have struck a nerve with the public and researchers alike. There is something uniquely disturbing about these AI-generated images of people appearing to say or do something they didn’t.
With tools for making deepfakes now widely available and relatively easy to use, many also worry that they will be used to spread dangerous misinformation. Politicians can have other people’s...
New machine learning model predicts which base editor performs best to repair thousands of disease-causing mutations
Gene editing technology is getting better and growing faster than ever before. New and improved base editors—an especially efficient and precise kind of genetic corrector—inch the tech closer to treating genetic diseases in humans. But, the base editor boom comes with a new challenge: Like a massive key ring with no guide, scientists can sink huge amounts of time into searching for the best...
From tiny shards to tons in the sea, plastic pollution presents a challenge to labs, beaches and society
Love-hate relationships are tricky. They're vexing. They're complicated.
Researchers identify new approach to turning on the heat in energy-burning fat cells
Researchers have discovered a new set of signals that cells send and receive to prompt one type of fat cell to convert fat into heat. The signaling pathway, discovered in mice, has potential implications for activating this same type of thermogenic fat in humans.
New species of spiders described in honour of Swedish climate activist
Senckenberg arachnologist Peter Jäger has described a new genus of spiders from Madagascar: Thunberga gen. nov. is comprised of five species of huntsman spiders. The name refers to the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and her commitment to tackling climate change. Thus, Jäger alerts the public about the threats to Malagasy and global biodiversity. The study was published in the journal...
Staph's activation of blood clotting
Acute bacterial endocarditis—infection of the inner lining of the heart—is most often caused by the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus ("staph") and has up to a 40% mortality rate.
University students facing food insecurity due to pandemic
A collaboration of universities in the U.K. and U.S. surveyed students on their levels of food insecurity during April, after universities in both nations ceased campus-based teaching.