420 articles from THURSDAY 18.2.2021

Migratory birds track climate across the year

As climate change takes hold across the Americas, some areas will get wetter, and others will get hotter and drier. A new study of the yellow warbler, a widespread migratory songbird, shows that individuals have the same climatic preferences across their migratory range. The work is published Feb. 17 in Ecology Letters.

South American lizard's blood pressure mechanism is more efficient at cool temperatures

The mechanism that keeps arterial blood pressure stable in black and white tegu lizards (Salvator merianae) even as their body temperature varies substantially is more efficient at lower than higher external temperatures, contrary to what has always been believed, and vascular regulation plays a key role in pressure adjustments, according to an article published in PLOS ONE by researchers at the...

The first black hole ever discovered is more massive than we thought

Einstein first predicted the existence of black holes when he published his theory of general relativity in 1916, describing how gravity shapes the fabric of spacetime. But astronomers didn’t spot one until 1964, some 6,070 light-years away in the Cygnus constellation. Geiger counters launched into space detected cosmic x-rays coming from a region called Cygnus X-1. (We now know the cosmic rays...

Report: Pandemic put U.S. on track to meet Paris climate goals

The pandemic knocked the U.S. back on track to meet its targets in the Paris climate accord, and renewable energy saw a record-setting level of deployment in 2020 as coal consumption dwindled, figures from an independent report released Thursday show, while transportation emissions are expected to jump as the country gets the virus under control.

Investigating the wave properties of matter with vibrating molecules

The working group led by Prof. Stephan Schiller, Ph.D. from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) has used a novel, high-precision laser spectroscopic experiment to measure the internal vibration of the simplest molecule. This allowed the researchers to investigate the wave character of the motion of atomic nuclei with unprecedented accuracy. They present their findings in the current...

Migratory birds track climate across the year

As climate change takes hold across the Americas, some areas will get wetter, and others will get hotter and drier. A new study of the yellow warbler, a widespread migratory songbird, shows that individuals have the same climatic preferences across their migratory range.

The original antigenic sin: How childhood infections could shape pandemics

A child's first influenza infection shapes their immunity to future airborne flu viruses - including emerging pandemic strains. But not all flu strains spur the same initial immune defense, according to new findings published today. The results are relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the senior author, who says they may explain age-based distributions of SARS-CoV-2 disease severity and...

First black hole ever detected is more massive than we thought

New observations of the first black hole ever detected have led astronomers to question what they know about the Universe's most mysterious objects. The research shows the system known as Cygnus X-1 contains the most massive stellar-mass black hole ever detected without the use of gravitational waves.

Pore-like proteins designed from scratch

Scientists have created new proteins that adopt one of the most complex folds known to molecular biology. These pore-like barrel-shaped proteins spontaneously fold into their intended structures and embed into lipid membranes. Although the scientists drew inspiration from proteins found throughout the living world, they arrived at sequences that differ from any known before. The resulting compact...

New Data sheds light on genesis of our body's powerhouses

Scientists uncover for the first time how the body's energy makers are made. An international team of researchers report an insight into the molecular mechanism of membrane-tethered protein synthesis in mitochondria. This is a fundamental new understanding of how the human mitoribosome functions and could explain how it is affected by mutations and deregulation leading to disorders like deafness...

Gut microbiome implicated in healthy aging and longevity

The gut microbiome is an integral component of the body, but its importance in the human aging process is unclear. Researchers have identified distinct signatures in the gut microbiome that are associated with either healthy or unhealthy aging trajectories, which in turn predict survival in a population of older individuals.

Metabolic mutations help bacteria resist drug treatment

Researchers have identified a new class of mutations that help bacteria develop antibiotic resistance. In a study of E. coli, they discovered that mutations to genes involved in metabolism can help bacteria to evade the toxic effects of several different antibiotics.