306 articles from MONDAY 24.5.2021

Most children with post-Covid disease recover within six months, study finds

Small study looks at complications affecting tiny minority of children, which had caused major concernCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageChildren at a leading London hospital who were admitted with a rare but severe illness as a result of coronavirus infection had made a good recovery by the end of six months, although some needed ongoing physical therapy or mental...

Rubisco proton production can enhance carbon dioxide acquisition

Rubisco is arguably the most abundant—and most important—protein on Earth. This enzyme drives photosynthesis, the process that plants use to convert sunlight into energy to fuel crop growth and yield. Rubisco's role is to capture and fix carbon dioxide (CO2) into sugar that fuels the plant's activities. However, as much as Rubisco benefits plant growth, it also can operate at a notoriously...

New study shines light on hazards of Earth's largest volcano

Scientists from the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science analyzed ground movements measured by Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) satellite data and GPS stations to precisely model where magma intruded and how magma influx changed over time, as well as where faults under the flanks moved without generating significant earthquakes. The GPS...

A seedy slice of history: Watermelons actually came from northeast Africa

Using DNA from greenhouse-grown plants representing all species and hundreds of varieties of watermelon, scientists discovered that watermelons most likely came from wild crop progenitors in northeast Africa. The study corrects a 90-year-old mistake that had previously tied watermelons to South Africa. The genetic research is consistent with newly interpreted Egyptian tomb paintings that suggest...

How do clownfish earn their stripes?

Clownfish are instantly recognizable by their white stripes, which appear as they mature from larvae into adults. But how these distinctive patterns form has long remained a mystery. Now, a new study has found that the speed at which these white bars form depends on the species of sea anemone in which the clownfish live. The scientists also discovered that thyroid hormones, which play a key role...

Milky Way not unusual, astronomers find

The first detailed cross-section of a galaxy broadly similar to the Milky Way reveals that our galaxy evolved gradually, instead of being the result of a violent mash-up. The finding throws the origin story of our home into doubt.

Greenland glacial meltwaters rich in mercury

New research shows that concentrations of the toxic element mercury in rivers and fjords connected to the Greenland Ice Sheet are comparable to rivers in industrial China, an unexpected finding that is raising questions about the effects of glacial melting in an area that is a major exporter of seafood. 

How tendons become stiffer and stronger

Researchers deciphered the cellular mechanisms through which tendons can adapt to mechanical stresses. People who carry a certain variant of a gene that is key to this mechanism show improved jumping performance.

Infertility poses major threat to biodiversity during climate change, study warns

A new study by ecologists warns that heat-induced male infertility will see some species succumb to the effects of climate change earlier than thought. Currently, scientists are trying to predict where species will be lost due to climate change so they can plan effective conservation strategies. However, research on temperature tolerance has generally focused on the temperatures that are lethal to...

Bile acids trigger satiety in the brain

Scientists have discovered a new role for bile acids: they curb appetite by entering the brain. Their findings provide new insights into the signals and mechanisms by which satiety is controlled and may have implications for treating obesity.

Fluorescent light clarifies relationship between heat stress and crop yield

Scientists report that it is possible to detect and predict heat damage in crops by measuring the fluorescent light signature of plant leaves experiencing heat stress. If collected via satellite, this fluorescent signal could support widespread monitoring of growth and crop yield under the heat stress of climate change, the researchers say.

Evacuating under dire wildfire scenarios

As climate change intensifies, wildfires in the West are behaving in ways that were unimaginable in the past -- and the common disaster response approaches are woefully unprepared for this new reality. Researchers now proposed a framework for simulating dire scenarios, which the authors define as scenarios where there is less time to evacuate an area than is required.

New study shines light on hazards of Earth's largest volcano

Scientists analyzed ground movements measured by Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) satellite data and GPS stations to precisely model where magma intruded and how magma influx changed over time, as well as where faults under the flanks moved without generating significant earthquakes.

Evacuating under dire wildfire scenarios

In 2018, the Camp Fire ripped through the town of Paradise, California at an unprecedented rate. Officials had prepared an evacuation plan that required 3 hours to get residents to safety. The fire, bigger and faster than ever before, spread to the community in only 90 minutes.

Researchers identify the causes of the extreme drought that affected the Pantanal

The extreme drought suffered by the Pantanal in 2019-20, considered the worst in the last 50 years, was caused by natural climate conditions similar to those underlying the 2014-16 water crisis in São Paulo state. The Pantanal is one of the world's largest wetlands. The Brazilian portion is located in the Center-West region, mainly Mato Grosso do Sul state.

CRISPR-Cas components work together to enhance protection from viruses

Researchers from Skoltech and their colleagues from Russia and the U.S. have shown that the two components of the bacterial CRISPR-Cas immunity system, one that destroys foreign genetic elements such as viruses and another that creates "memories" of foreign genetic elements by storing fragments of their DNA in a special location of bacterial genome, are physically linked. This link helps bacteria...

Water crisis 'couldn't be worse' on Oregon-California border

The water crisis along the California-Oregon border went from dire to catastrophic this week as federal regulators shut off irrigation water to farmers from a critical reservoir and said they would not send extra water to dying salmon downstream or to a half-dozen wildlife refuges that harbor millions of migrating birds each year.