287 articles from MONDAY 17.5.2021

Mechanics of the infinitely small: NanoGear, towards a molecular gear

Gears and mechanical transmissions are at home in the Emilia-Romagna region, the Motor Valley of northern Italy. A team of researchers from the University of Bologna and the Institute for Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity of the National Research Council (Cnr-Isof) in Bologna, led by Massimo Baroncini and Alberto Credi, has planned, constructed and operated NanoGear, a device consisting of...

Fast, affordable solution proposed for transparent displays and semiconductors

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) under the Ministry of Science and ICT developed a roll-based damage-free transfer technique that allows two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials to be transferred into wafer scale without damage. The proposed technique has a variety of applications from transparent displays and semiconductors to displays for self-driving cars, and is expected to...

Scientists shed light on the mechanism of photoactivation of the orange carotenoid protein

Exposure to light is compulsory for photosynthetic organisms for the conversion of inorganic compounds into organic ones. However, if there is too much solar energy, the photosystems and other cell components could be damaged. Thanks to special protective proteins, the overexcitation is converted into heat—in the process called non-photochemical quenching. The object of the published study, OCP,...

Scientists discover fundamental mechanism that fine-tunes gene expression and is disrupted in cancer

A team of scientists from The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Center in Melbourne, Australia, discovered a new checkpoint mechanism that fine-tunes gene transcription. As reported in a study published in Cell, a component of the Integrator protein complex tethers the protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) to the site of transcription, allowing it to stop the activity of the...

Educational intervention enhances student learning

In a study of low-income, urban youth in the U.S., researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found that students exposed to Photovoice, an educational intervention, experienced greater improvements in STEM-capacity scores and environmental awareness scores compared to a group of youth who were not exposed to the activity. The results suggest that the Photovoice activities...

In slow motion against antibiotic resistance

There are currently only a few synthetic agents that bind to and block the widespread membrane transport proteins, ATP-binding cassette transporters (ABC). Scientists at Goethe University and the University of Tokyo identified four of these macrocyclic peptides as models for a novel generation of active substances. They used methods for which the scientists involved are considered world leaders.

Greenland ice sheet on brink of major tipping point, says study

Scientists say ice equivalent to 1-2 metres of sea level rise is probably already doomed to meltA significant part of the Greenland ice sheet is on the brink of a tipping point, after which accelerated melting would become inevitable even if global heating was halted, according to new research.Rising temperatures caused by the climate crisis have already seen trillions of tonnes of Greenland’s...

Permafrost carbon feedbacks threaten global climate goals

Since it was first signed more than five years ago, the Paris Agreement has set the bar for the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with more than 70 countries taking on ambitious nationally determined contributions that exceed initial commitments laid out in the agreement. However, a new paper released today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences argues that the carbon...

Part of the Greenland ice sheet may be close to a tipping point

Data from the Jakobshavn drainage basin of the Central-Western Greenland ice sheet reveals that the distinct mark of this part of the ice sheet has reached a tipping point. That is the conclusion by Niklas Boers from Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany and Martin Rypdal from the Arctic University of Norway, after careful studies of the development in melt rates and ice-sheet...

New tools needed to prevent plant disease pandemics

Plant diseases don't stop at a nation's borders and miles of oceans don't prevent their spread, either. That's why plant disease surveillance, improved plant disease detection systems and predictive plant disease modeling—integrated at the global scale—are necessary to mitigate future plant disease outbreaks and protect the global food supply, according to a team of researchers in a new...

India variant will be dominant UK Covid strain ‘in next few days’

Scientists’ warning comes as government comes under pressure to explain border policyCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe Covid variant first detected in India is set to be the dominant strain in the UK within days, experts have said, with the government and health teams struggling to contain cases, which have risen by more than 75% since Thursday.With the rapid...

Slow research to understand fast change

In a world that's changing fast, the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network can seem almost an anachronism. Yet the patience and persistence that have generated 40 years of careful, reliable science about the Earth's changing ecosystems may prove to be just what's needed in this rapidly shifting world. We can't wait for a crystal ball—and we don't have to. By harnessing decades of rich...

Newly published data provides clearer picture of volcano collapse

An article recently published in the journal Nature Communications, written by University of Rhode Island College of Engineering Professor Stéphan Grilli and his colleagues, reveals new data on the Anak Krakatau volcano flank collapse, which was triggered by an eruption on December 22, 2018.

Supermassive black holes devour gas just like their petite counterparts

On Sept. 9, 2018, astronomers spotted a flash from a galaxy 860 million light years away. The source was a supermassive black hole about 50 million times the mass of the sun. Normally quiet, the gravitational giant suddenly awoke to devour a passing star in a rare instance known as a tidal disruption event. As the stellar debris fell toward the black hole, it released an enormous amount of energy...