297 articles from WEDNESDAY 26.8.2020

Study of Asia's hillstream loaches reveals keys to fish family's land-walking abilities

In a study published in the Journal of Morphology, a team of researchers from New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Florida Museum of Natural History, Louisiana State University and Thailand's Maejo University have successfully pieced together the ancestral relationships that make up the family tree of hillstream loaches (Balitoridae), detailing for the first time a range of unusual pelvic...

Testing traps to control lovely but destructive lionfish

The quest is on for a better way to kill beautiful but brutally destructive lionfish than shooting them one by one with spearguns. One is a lobster trap with an entry too skinny for legal lobsters. “We don’t think we’ll ever eliminate them but if we can get them under control maybe we can get our ecosystem back,” said Thomas R. Matthews, research administrator for Florida’s Fish and...

Key immune system protein discovered in plants

A new study has discovered the key calcium channel responsible for closing plant pores as an immune response to pathogen exposure. The findings are a major step toward understanding the defense mechanisms plants use to resist infection, which could eventually lead to healthier, more resistant and more productive crops.

Cosmic rays could pose a problem for future quantum computers

Quantum computing has the potential to handle complex problems at hyper-fast speeds. What makes this possible is the way it exploits qubits—typically subatomic particles such as electrons—that use quantum properties to represent numerous combinations beyond the 0 or 1 of conventional bits. When pairs of qubits are “entangled,” they can change each other’s state...

New neural network differentiates Middle and Late Stone Age toolkits

The change from Middle Stone Age (MSA) to Later Stone Age (LSA) marks a major cultural change amongst our hunter-gatherer ancestors, but distinguishing between these two industrial complexes is not straightforward. New researc demonstrates how machine learning can provide a valuable tool for archaeologists, and can identify what differentiates the MSA and LSA.

Why flat-faced dogs remain popular despite health problems

Owners of bulldogs, French bulldogs and pugs are highly likely to want to own their breed again in the future, and to recommend their breed to other owners, according to a new study. The development of breed loyalty toward these so-called brachycephalic (flat-faced) dogs may lead to their continued proliferation and popularity, despite their substantial health risks.

Catching genes from chlamydiae allowed complex life to live without oxygen

An international team of researchers has discovered a new group of Chlamydiae—Anoxychlamydiales—living under the ocean floor without oxygen. These Chlamydiae have genes that allow them to survive without oxygen while making hydrogen gas. The researchers found that our single-cell ancestors 'caught' these hydrogen-producing genes from ancient Chlamydiae up to two-billion years ago—an event...

Why flat-faced dogs remain popular despite health problems

Owners of bulldogs, French bulldogs and pugs are highly likely to want to own their breed again in the future, and to recommend their breed to other owners, according to a study published August 26, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Rowena Packer of the Royal Veterinary College, UK, and colleagues. The development of breed loyalty toward these so-called brachycephalic (flat-faced) dogs...

New neural network differentiates Middle and Late Stone Age toolkits

The transition from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) to the Later Stone Age (LSA) marks a major cultural change among human hunter-gatherer ancestors, but distinguishing between these two industrial complexes is not straightforward. New research published by a team from the University of Liverpool and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History this week demonstrates that machine learning...

A protein with an unprecedented fold helps bacteria uptake thiosulfate as a sulfur source

A new study led by researchers at Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST), Nara, Japan, published in Science Advances, reports the crystal structure of YeeE, a membrane protein that allows bacteria to uptake thiosulfate from the environment in order to synthesize L-cysteine. The structure reveals that YeeE has a characteristic hourglass shape that results in a sophisticated mechanism for...

Meteorite strikes may create unexpected form of silica

When a meteorite hurtles through the atmosphere and crashes to Earth, how does its violent impact alter the minerals found at the landing site? What can the short-lived chemical phases created by these extreme impacts teach scientists about the minerals existing at the high-temperature and pressure conditions found deep inside the planet?

Key to fish family's land-walking abilities revealed in study of Asia's hillstream loaches

A new genetic and morphological study of South Asia's hillstream loach (Balitoridae) family is shedding new light on the fishes' unusual land-walking capabilities, including that of the family's strangest relative -- Cryptotora thamicola -- a rare, blind cavefish from Thailand with an uncanny ability to walk on land and climb waterfalls using four limbs that move in salamander-like fashion.