390 articles from THURSDAY 14.1.2021

About the Pandemic Technology Project

As covid-19 began spreading around the world, an avalanche of new digital services and data-driven approaches has emerged to aid pandemic response. From smartphone exposure notifications to vaccine allocation algorithms, these systems have been developed under the watch of politicians, public health officials, scientists and businesses. They have also faced many challenges. The Pandemic...

The role of T cells in fighting cancer

Why do some hosts' immune systems reject tumors easily, while others have a harder time doing so? It depends on the types of the immune cells known as CD8 T cells and how a host's specific T cells match up with the neoantigens present in the tumor.

Metformin use reduces risk of death for patients with COVID-19 and diabetes, study finds

Use of the diabetes drug metformin -- before a diagnosis of COVID-19 -- is associated with a threefold decrease in mortality in COVID-19 patients with Type 2 diabetes, according to a new study. Diabetes is a significant comorbidity for COVID-19. This beneficial effect remained, even after correcting for age, sex, race, obesity, and hypertension or chronic kidney disease and heart failure.

Research breaks new ground in understanding how a molecular motor generates force

A team of biophysicists set out to tackle the long-standing question about the nature of force generation by myosin, the molecular motor responsible for muscle contraction. The key question they addressed - one of the most controversial topics in the field - was: how does myosin convert chemical energy, in the form of ATP, into mechanical work? The answer revealed new details into how myosin, the...

Researchers discover new inhibitor drug combination for rare form of cancer

Researchers took the novel approach of targeting specific cell proteins that control DNA information using inhibitors, or drugs, that were effective in reducing the growth of the Waldenström macroglobulinemia cancer cells and when combined with a third drug were even more successful in killing the WM cancer cells which could lead to more treatment options.

How plants produce defensive toxins without harming themselves

Scientists describe the biosynthesis and exact mode of action of diterpene glycosides in wild tobacco. These antiherbivory compounds attack the cell membrane. To protect themselves from their own toxins, tobacco plants store them in a non-toxic form. Autotoxicity and the protection against it seem to play a greater role in the evolution of plant defenses than previously thought.

Scientists discover electric eels hunting in a group

Deep in the Brazilian Amazon River basin, scientists discovered a small, river-fed lake filled with more than 100 adult electric eels. Researchers witnessed the electric eels working together to herd small fish into tightly packed balls. Groups of up to 10 eels periodically split off to form cooperative hunting parties. Those smaller groups then surrounded the prey and launched simultaneous...

Model analyzes how viruses escape the immune system

MIT researchers have devised a way to computationally model viral escape, using models that were originally developed to model language. The model can predict which sections of viral surface proteins, including those of influenza, HIV, and SARS-CoV-2, are more likely to mutate in a way that allows the virus to evade the human immune system. It can also identify sections that are less likely to...

Not as simple as thought: How bacteria form membrane vesicles

Researchers have identified a novel mechanism by which bacteria form membrane vesicles, which bacteria employ to communicate with each other or to defend themselves against antibiotics. By studying mycolic acid-containing bacteria (MCB), which also includes tuberculosis-causing bacteria, the researchers demonstrated that environmental stimuli dictate the route by which the MCB form membrane...

Measuring the belowground world

Life above ground depends on the soil and its countless inhabitants. Yet, global strategies to protect biodiversity have so far paid little attention to this habitat. Researchers call for greater consideration of soils in international biodiversity strategies, far beyond agriculture. The researchers explain their plan for systematic recording to enable comprehensive policy advisory.

Greenland melting likely increased by bacteria in sediment

Bacteria are likely triggering greater melting on the Greenland ice sheet, possibly increasing the island's contribution to sea-level rise, according to scientists. That's because the microbes cause sunlight-absorbing sediment to clump together and accumulate in the meltwater streams, according to new study. The findings can be incorporated in climate models, leading to more accurate predictions...

Cotton quality mapping as a tool for growers

Modern cotton-harvesting equipment can identify and track modules created during harvest down to the subfield. By combining these data with information such as yield maps and fiber quality results, producers can identify practices, conditions, and varieties that result in increased fiber quality and bale value.

Research breaks new ground in understanding how a molecular motor generates force

A team of biophysicists from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Penn State College of Medicine set out to tackle the long-standing question about the nature of force generation by myosin, the molecular motor responsible for muscle contraction and many other cellular processes. The key question they addressed—one of the most controversial topics in the field—was: how does myosin...

Understanding future species distribution: New data for biogeographers

Climate change impacts, affecting primarily ecosystems' functions and consequently human sectors, have become a crucial topic. Observed and expected variations in climate conditions can in fact undermine the ecosystems' ecological equilibrium: average climate patterns, mainly represented by intra-annual (monthly to seasonal) temperature and precipitation cycle, directly influence the distribution,...

Presidential inaugurations boost tourism, but not this year

While new research from West Virginia University economists finds that presidential inaugurations have gained popularity as must-see tourist events in recent years, major security threats will keep visitors away for the inauguration of President-Elect Joe Biden.

Toadlet peptide transforms into a deadly weapon against bacteria

Researchers at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and EMBL Hamburg have discovered remarkable molecular properties of an antimicrobial peptide from the skin of the Australian toadlet. The discovery could inspire the development of novel synthetic drugs to combat bacterial infections.

Keeping the costs of superconducting magnets down using ultrasound

Superconductivity already has a variety of practical applications, such as medical imaging and levitating transportation like the ever-popular maglev systems. However, to ensure that the benefits of applied superconductors keep spreading further into other technological fields, we need to find ways of not only improving their performance, but also making them more accessible and simpler to...

Reverse engineering 3-D chromosome models for individual cells

Genome analysis can provide information on genes and their location on a strand of DNA, but such analysis reveals little about their spatial location in relation to one another within chromosomes—the highly complex, three-dimensional structures that hold genetic information.

Lack of managers keeps India's businesses small

In today's economy, American businesses often tap into professional management to grow, but most firms in India and other developing countries are family owned and often shun outside managers. A new study co-authored by Yale economist Michael Peters explores the effects that the absence of outside professional management has on India's businesses and the country's economy.

Geologic history written in garnet sand

On a beach on a remote island in eastern Papua New Guinea, a country located in the southwestern Pacific to the north of Australia, garnet sand reveals an important geologic discovery. Similar to messages in bottles that have traveled across the oceans, sediments derived from the erosion of rocks carry information from another time and place. In this case the grains of garnet sand reveal a story...

NASA and USDA: A Bountiful Partnership

Data captured by Landsat 8, operated by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, was combined to make this natural color composite image of the Delmarva Peninsula on the U.S. East Coast July 20, 2019. These images are used to assess agriculture production and its interactions with the environment. Images like this false-color composite show agricultural crops, seen as vibrant green, and...

Experts remain divided over merits of mass Covid tests in schools

Analysis: some say lateral flow tests could help cut outbreaks, but others argue they offer false reassuranceRegulator refuses to approve mass Covid testing at schools in EnglandCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe education secretary, Gavin Williamson, has put mass testing for coronavirus at the heart of his strategy to reopen schools after the lockdown. It is a...