256 articles from MONDAY 10.8.2020

Explosive nuclear astrophysics

An international team has made a key discovery related to 'presolar grains' found in some meteorites. This discovery has shed light on stellar explosions and the origin of chemical elements. It has also provided a new method for astronomical research.

HPV strains may impact cervical cancer prognosis

An analysis of cervical cancers in Ugandan women has uncovered significant genomic differences between tumors caused by different strains of human papillomavirus (HPV), signifying HPV type may impact cervical cancer characteristics and prognosis.

Biology blurs line between sexes, behaviors

Biological sex is typically understood in binary terms: male and female. However, there are many examples of animals that are able to modify sex-typical biological and behavioral features and even change sex. A new study identifies a genetic switch in brain cells that can toggle between sex-specific states when necessary, findings that question the idea of sex as a fixed property.

Dwarf planet Ceres is an ocean world: study

The dwarf planet Ceres—long believed to be a barren space rock—is an ocean world with reservoirs of sea water beneath its surface, the results of a major exploration mission showed Monday.

Exact climate data from the past

Corals precipitate their calcareous skeletons (calcium carbonate) from seawater. Over thousands of years, vast coral reefs form due to the deposition of this calcium carbonate. During precipitation, corals prefer carbonate groups containing specific variants of oxygen (chemical symbol: O). For example, the lower the water temperature, the higher the abundance of a heavy oxygen variant, known as...

Breaking molecular traffic jams with finned nanoporous materials

Thousands of chemical processes used by the energy industry and for other applications rely on the high speed of catalytic reactions, but molecules frequently are hindered by molecular traffic jams that slow them down. Now an entirely new class of porous catalysts has been invented, using unique fins to speed up the chemistry by allowing molecules to skip the lines that limit the reaction.

New research reveals previously hidden features of plant genomes

An international team led by the Plant Phenotyping and Imaging Research Centre (P2IRC) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) and researchers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) has decoded the full genome for the black mustard plant—research that will advance breeding of oilseed mustard crops and provide a foundation for improved breeding of wheat, canola and lentils.

Evolutionary assimilation of foreign DNA in a new host

All life is subject to evolution in the form of mutations that change the DNA sequence of an organism's offspring, after which natural selection allows the 'fittest' mutants to survive and pass on their genes to future generations. These mutations can generate new abilities in a species, but another common driving force for evolution is horizontal gene transfer (HGT)—the acquisition of DNA from...

Stronger rains in warmer climate could lessen heat damage to crops, says study

Intensified rainstorms predicted for many parts of the United States as a result of warming climate may have a modest silver lining: they could more efficiently water some major crops, and this would at least partially offset the far larger projected yield declines caused by the rising heat itself. The conclusion, which goes against some accepted wisdom, is contained in a new study published this...

Theoretical study shows that matter tends to be ordered at low temperatures

Classical phase transitions are governed by temperature. One of the most familiar examples is the phase transitions of water from solid to liquid to gas. However, other parameters govern phase transitions when temperatures approach absolute zero, including pressure, the magnetic field, and doping, which introduce disorder into the molecular structure of a material.

Seeing chemical reactions with music

Albert Einstein once said, "I see my life in terms of music." Perhaps inspired by his words, scientists at the Center for Self-assembly and Complexity (CSC), within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS, South Korea) now see chemical reactions in the presence of music. The IBS research team has reported that audible sound can control chemical reactions in solution by continuously supplying energy...

Fireflies shed light on the function of mitochondria

Tiny factories float inside our cells and provide them with almost all the energy they need: the mitochondria. Their effectiveness decreases when we get older, but also when we face many diseases such as diabetes, cancer or Parkinson's. This is why scientists are increasingly interested in how they work. At EPFL, a team has developed a protocol to measure their activity live in living animals....