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105 articles from PhysOrg
In dueling ants vying to become queen, behavioral and molecular cues quickly determine who will win
In one species of ants, workers duel to establish new leadership after the death of their queen. While these sparring matches stretch for more than a month, changes in behavior and gene expression in the first three days of dueling can accurately predict who will triumph, according to a New York University study published in the journal Genes & Development.
Songbirds' reproductive success reduced by natural gas compressor noise
Some songbirds are not dissuaded by constant, loud noise emitted by natural gas pipeline compressors and will establish nests nearby. The number of eggs they lay is unaffected by the din, but their reproductive success ultimately is diminished.
Researchers eavesdrop on cellular conversations
An interdisciplinary team of biologists and mathematicians at the University of California, Irvine has developed a new tool to help decipher the language cells use to communicate with one another.
NASA rover lands on Mars to look for signs of ancient life
A NASA rover streaked through the orange Martian sky and landed on the planet Thursday, accomplishing the riskiest step yet in an epic quest to bring back rocks that could answer whether life ever existed on Mars.
Explainable AI for decoding genome biology
Researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, in collaboration with colleagues at Stanford University and Technical University of Munich have developed advanced explainable artificial intelligence (AI) in a technical tour de force to decipher regulatory instructions encoded in DNA. In a report published online February 18, 2021, in Nature Genetics, the team found that a neural network...
Is odor the secret to bats' sex appeal?
When falling in love, humans often pay attention to looks. Many non-human animals also choose a sexual partner based on appearance. Male birds may sport flashy feathers to attract females, lionesses prefer lions with thicker manes and colorful male guppies with large spots attract the most females. But bats are active in the dark. How do they attract mates? Mariana Muñoz-Romo, a senior Latin...
Poor swelter as urban areas of U.S. Southwest get hotter
Acres of asphalt parking lots, unshaded roads, dense apartment complexes and neighborhoods with few parks have taken their toll on the poor. As climate change accelerates, low-income districts in the Southwestern United States are 4 to 7 degrees hotter in Fahrenheit—on average—than wealthy neighborhoods in the same metro regions, University of California, Davis, researchers have found in a new...
New study examines leeches for role in major disease of sea turtles in Florida
University of Central Florida researchers are homing in on the cause of a major disease of sea turtles, with some of their latest findings implicating saltwater leeches as a possible factor.
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.
Engineers place molecule-scale devices in precise orientation
Engineers have developed a technique that allows them to precisely place microscopic devices formed from folded DNA molecules in not only a specific location but also in a specific orientation.
Internet trends suggest COVID-19 spurred a return to earlier values and activities
American values, attitudes and activities have changed dramatically during COVID-19, according to a new study of online behavior.
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...
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...
Pore-like proteins designed from scratch
In a milestone for biomolecular design, a team of scientists has succeeded in creating new proteins that adopt one of the most complex folds known to molecular biology. These designer proteins were shown in the lab to spontaneously fold into their intended structures and embed into lipid membranes. Reported in the journal Science, this research opens the door to the construction of custom...
Temperature affects susceptibility of newts to skin-eating fungus
Eastern newt populations in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada are at greatest risk of infection with a new skin-eating fungus, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), according to a study published February 18 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Matthew Gray of the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, and colleagues.
Mitochondria: 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 using Cryo-Electron Microscopy (cryo-EM) at eBIC within Diamond which is based in Oxfordshire.
Metabolic mutations help bacteria resist drug treatment
Bacteria have many ways to evade the antibiotics that we use against them. Each year, at least 2.8 million people in the United States develop an antibiotic-resistant infection, and more than 35,000 people die from such infections, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Ultrafast electron dynamics in space and time
Often depicted as colorful balloons or clouds, electron orbitals provide information on the whereabouts of electrons in molecules, a bit like fuzzy snapshots. In order to understand the exchange of electrons in chemical reactions, it is not only important to know their spatial distribution but also their motion in time. Scientists from Julich, Marburg, and Graz have now made huge progress in this...
Ancient relic points to a turning point in Earth's history 42,000 years ago
The temporary breakdown of Earth's magnetic field 42,000 years ago sparked major climate shifts that led to global environmental change and mass extinctions, a new international study co-led by UNSW Sydney and the South Australian Museum shows.
Scientists: Chemical pollution is a global threat that needs global action
An international group of scientists is calling for a global intergovernmental science-policy body for informing policymakers, business, and the public about reducing harm from chemical pollution. In a paper published today in Science, the group explains how limited and fragmented science-policy interactions on chemicals and waste have contributed to widespread health and environmental problems.
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.
Baby whale found dead on beach south of Israel's Tel Aviv
Israeli officials said Thursday that a dead whale has washed up on a beach south of Tel Aviv.
The distribution of vertebrate animals redefines temperate and cold climate regions
The distribution of vegetation is routinely used to classify climate regions worldwide, yet whether these regions are relevant to other organisms is unknown. Umeå researchers have established climate regions based on vertebrate species' distributions in a new study published in eLife. They found that while high-energy climate regions are similar across vertebrate and plant groups, there are large...
STEM skills gap modest among IT help desk workers
Workers with science, technology, engineering and math backgrounds are typically in high demand—but the demand isn't so overwhelming that a 'skills gap' exists in the labor market for information technology help desk workers, one of the largest computer occupations in the U.S., says new research from a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign expert who studies labor economics and work issues.