303 articles from MONDAY 22.2.2021

Potential regional declines in species richness of tomato pollinators under climate

About 70% of the world's main crops depend on insect pollination. Climate change is already affecting the abundance and distribution of insects, which could cause geographical mismatches between crops and their pollinators. Crops that rely primarily on wild pollinators (e.g., crops that cannot be effectively pollinated by commercial colonies of honey bees) could be particularly in jeopardy.

NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover Provides Front-Row Seat to Landing, First Audio Recording of Red Planet

Portal origin URL: NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover Provides Front-Row Seat to Landing, First Audio Recording of Red PlanetPortal origin nid: 468529Published: Monday, February 22, 2021 - 13:25Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: New video from NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover chronicles major milestones during the final minutes of its entry, descent,...

Electrophotocatalytic diamination of vicinal C–H bonds

In organic chemistry, the conversion of inactivated carbon-hydrogen (C-H) bonds to carbon-nitrogen (C-N) bonds is a highly valued transformation. Scientists can accomplish such reactions at only a single C-H site since the first derivatization can diminish the reactivity of the surrounding C-H bonds. In a new report now published in Science, Tao Shen and Tristan H. Lambert at the department of...

Scientists image a bright meteoroid explosion in Jupiter's atmosphere

From aboard the Juno spacecraft, a Southwest Research Institute-led instrument observing auroras serendipitously spotted a bright flash above Jupiter's clouds last spring. The Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) team studied the data and determined that they had captured a bolide, an extremely bright meteoroid explosion in the gas giant's upper atmosphere.

Researcher sheds new light on the psychology of radicalization

Learning more about what motivates people to join violent ideological groups and engage in acts of cruelty against others is of great social and societal importance. New research from Assistant Professor of Psychology at NYUAD Jocelyn Bélanger explores the idea of ideological obsession as a form of addictive behavior that is central to understanding why people ultimately engage in ideological...

NASA's Swift helps tie neutrino to star-shredding black hole

For only the second time, astronomers have linked an elusive particle called a high-energy neutrino to an object outside our galaxy. Using ground- and space-based facilities, including NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, they traced the neutrino to a black hole tearing apart a star, a rare cataclysmic occurrence called a tidal disruption event.

Focus on the positive to improve classroom behavior

When teachers encounter disruptive or noncompliant students in the classroom, they typically respond by focusing on the negative behavior. However, new research from the University of Missouri found that offering students more positive encouragement not only reduces disruptive classroom behavior, but can improve students' academic and social outcomes.

A novel gene discovery associated with a development disorder of pituitary origin

The pituitary gland is a pea-sized endocrine gland composed of two structurally and functionally separate parts known as anterior and posterior lobes. The pituitary gland's anterior lobe secretes six hormones essential to growth, reproduction, and other basic physiological functions. Abnormal development of the pituitary gland, or hypopituitarism, can cause mild or complete deficiency of one or...

Study could explain tuberculosis bacteria paradox

Tuberculosis bacteria have evolved to remember stressful encounters and react quickly to future stress, according to a study by computational bioengineers at Rice University and infectious disease experts at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS).

Researchers develop high throughput paper-based arrays of 3-D tumor models

By engineering common filter papers, similar to coffee filters, a team of NYU Abu Dhabi researchers have created high throughput arrays of miniaturized 3-D tumor models to replicate key aspects of tumor physiology, which are absent in traditional drug testing platforms. With the new paper-based technology, the formed tumor models can be safely cryopreserved and stored for prolonged periods for...

Genomic insights into the origin of pre-historic populations in East Asia

East Asia today harbors more than a fifth of the world's population and some of the most deeply branching modern human lineages outside of Africa. The archaeological record attests that this region was also one of the earliest centers of animal and plant domestication. However, its genetic diversity and deep population history remain poorly understood relative to many other parts of the world. In...

Screening for macrocyclic peptides

Macrocyclic peptides are promising candidates for pharmaceuticals, but their screening is difficult. Scientists have now developed an easy-to-use, high-throughput screening assay for cyclic peptides with affinity to ubiquitin, a protein that helps to degrade proteins and induce cell death. The results could lead to novel drug candidates against cancer, according to the study published in the...

Altruism in bacteria—Gut microbes help family first

A recent discovery that, in real-world conditions bacteria, similar to animals, cooperate and selflessly act for the greater good of the group, could help scientists to predict how helpful and harmful strains behave. The study is the first to reveal that in the human gut, complex bacterial communities, made up of hundreds of species, contain 'helpers' whose behaviors benefit their closest...