118 articles from MONDAY 11.10.2021

Man's best friend could be a jaguar's next meal: A case study from the Mexican Caribbean

Mahahual is a small fishing village in the Mexican Caribbean that receives a large number of tourists every year. Over the past 15 years, its population has increased rapidly, and, as a result, people have started to settle in areas away from the main center of the village, sometimes encroaching on jaguar habitats. As most of those people keep guard dogs on their properties, jaguars have taken...

Study of endangered Stipitate hydnaceous fungi in China

The genus Hydnellum, an important component of stipitate hydnaceous fungi, is a group of soil-inhabiting Basidiomycota with a spinulose hymenium. They can form a mutually beneficial symbiosis with plant roots, receiving carbon sources from and transporting mineral elements, such as nitrogen and phosphorus to their host plants, which occupies a vital position in the formation and rapid colonization...

The complex dynamics of stem cell tethers and slings

An innovative experiment design shows, in real time and at the scale of a single molecule, how stem cells slow their rolling inside the circulatory system by growing long tethers that attach to the inner surfaces of blood vessels. The strategy could help researchers to improve stem cell transplantations and to find new treatments for metastasizing cancers.

Quantum circuit black hole lasers to explore Hawking radiation

The fundamental forces of physics govern the matter comprising the universe, yet exactly how these forces work together is still not fully understood. The existence of Hawking radiation—the particle emission from near black holes—indicates that general relativity and quantum mechanics must cooperate. But directly observing Hawking radiation from a black hole is nearly impossible due to the...

Study: COVID-19 creates a new marketplace for contract cheating

A new study by Charles Darwin University (CDU) academics explores the extent and impact of contract cheating in the global academic community during COVID-19. CDU Associate Professor in Education Dr. Jon Mason and Senior Business Law Lecturer Dr. Guzyal Hill have recently published their research into the scope and extent of contract cheating.

MetaPlatanus improves metagenome assembly

Metagenomics often involves sequencing DNA samples that can only be described as "tricky." Such DNA shows high heterogeneity, which can cause interspecies misassemblies. These misassemblies threaten the very purpose of metagenome sequencing, which is to comprehensively study the gene pool, by generating multiple draft genomes in a given sample. This issue is further complicated by the presence of...

The unknown consequences of plastic's legacy found in seabirds around the world

Seabirds from Gough Island in the south Atlantic, Marion Island near Antarctica and the coasts of both Hawaii and Western Australia have a dangerous habit: eating plastic. Across 32 species of seabirds sampled from around the globe, an international team from 18 institutions in seven countries found that up to 52% of the birds not only ate plastic, but also accumulated the plastic's chemical...

Bioinspired electromechanical nanogenerators to regulate cell activity

The extracellular matrix (ECM) including three-dimensional (3D) network and bioelectricity can profoundly influence cell development, migration, and functional expression. In a new report now published on Science Advances, Tong Li and a research team in chemistry, nanotechnology, bioelectronics and advanced materials in China, developed an electromechanical coupling bio-nanogenerator abbreviated...

Astronomers discover an inflated 'hot Jupiter'

Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers have discovered a new inflated, low-density "hot Jupiter" exoplanet. The newly found alien world, designated TIC 257060897b, is about 50 percent larger than Jupiter, but some 30 percent less massive than the solar system's biggest planet. The finding is detailed in a paper published October 1 on arXiv.org.

New species of primrose family found in Cangyuan, Yunnan

Primula is the largest genus of the primrose family (Primulaceae). Up to now, more than 300 Primula species have been recorded in China. The key characters of Primula are its comparatively stout rhizomes, cup-shaped calyxes and globose and valved capsules.

Working to understand the changing flavors of quarks

Visible matter, or the stuff that composes the things we see, is made of particles that can be thought of much like building blocks made of more building blocks, ever decreasing in size, down to the sub-atomic level. Atoms are made of things like protons and neutrons, which are composed of even smaller building blocks such as quarks. Studying those smallest building blocks requires experimentation...

A new proposed scheme towards seamless detection of cutoff lows and preexisting troughs

A new automated numerical scheme is proposed for upper tropospheric cyclones (cutoff lows) and their earlier development stage as troughs (preexisting troughs). The proposed scheme has the capacity of early stage detection and can extract locations with transitions that are as smooth as possible and estimate their intensities, sizes, and even the local background flows behind them in a consistent...

Researchers find warning signs for dementia in the blood

Researchers have identified molecules in the blood that can indicate impending dementia. Their findings are based on human studies and laboratory experiments. The biomarker is based on measuring levels of so-called microRNAs. According to the study data, microRNAs could potentially also be targets for dementia therapy.

Sleep loss does not impact ability to assess emotional information

It's no secret that going without sleep can affect people's mood, but a new study shows it does not interfere with their ability to evaluate emotional situations. It is often assumed that feeling more negative will color people's experience of emotional images and events in the environment around them. However, researchers found that while going 24 hours without sleep impacted study participants'...