162 articles from TUESDAY 19.10.2021
Molecular interfaces as building blocks for innovative sensors and data storage devices
Molecular interfaces formed between metals and molecular compounds have enormous potential as building blocks for future opto-electronics and spin-electronics devices. Transition metal phthalocyanine and porphyrin complexes are promising components for such interfaces. Scientists at Forschungszentrum Jülich, together with a team of international scientists, have been working to develop a model...
Small-scale foragers left more than footprints on the landscape
Archaeological sites like the Great Wall of China and the pyramids can be seen with the naked eye from space, but for ancient societies that did not build, their traces on the landscape are more difficult to find. Now Penn State researchers have used satellite data to identify areas in coastal southwest Madagascar where indigenous foragers altered their surroundings.
Bacteria, fungi interact far more often than previously thought
In a novel, broad assessment of bacterial-fungal interactions, researchers using unique bioinformatics found that fungi host a remarkable diversity of bacteria, making bacterial-fungal interactions far more common and diverse than previously known.
Frequency translating add/drop filters designed for on-chip light manipulation
Researchers report the development of frequency translating add/drop filters based on electro-optically modulated photonic molecules. The new class of filters could open important new avenues for on-chip light manipulation.
Scientists develop new sensor to capture calcium activity in cells
A team of researchers at Georgia State University has developed a novel approach for detecting the activity of calcium within cells. The study, led by Regents' Professor of Chemistry Jenny Yang, demonstrates the effectiveness of a red biosensor that can directly monitor calcium at specific locations within a cell, a discovery that could aid in better understanding of the molecular basis of human...
Study reconstructs 232-year history of prairie fire in Midwestern US
Researchers combed through thousands of historical documents for first-person accounts of fires occurring between 1673 and 1905 in the Midwestern tallgrass prairie. Their study is the first systematic analysis of the timing, causes and consequences of prairie fires in this part of the world. They report their findings in Natural Areas Journal.
More inclusive and coherent global action on deforestation urgently needed
Deforestation and forest degradation, mainly due to agricultural expansion, lead to the loss of roughly 9 million hectares of natural forest per year, say a team of political and environmental researchers, including members from the University of Oxford.
What's missing from forest mortality projections? A look underground
You can't see it happening. But what goes on below ground in a forest is very important in determining its fate.
Microplastics in belugas worked their way up food chain, researchers find
Microplastics are being found in even the most remote waters, say Simon Fraser University researchers who studied how the particles ended up in the stomachs of beluga whales through prey.
Researchers find space between polymer chains affects energy conversion
A team led by FAMU-FSU College of Engineering researchers has new insight into molecules that change their shape in response to light.
Dairy calves use brushes for more than combing their hair
Dairy cows have a natural drive to groom themselves and to scratch those hard-to-reach itches on their bodies. When given the opportunity, dairy cattle use mechanical brushes daily at every stage of their lives. A new study in the Journal of Dairy Science, conducted by researchers from the Animal Welfare Program, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada,...
DNA tangles can help predict the evolution of mutations
Tangles in unwound DNA can create mutational hotspots in the genomes of bacteria, according to a new study by the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath.
Agricultural runoff contributes to global warming, but a new study offers insight on climate-change mitigation
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas, with 300 times the warming ability of carbon dioxide. Due to fertilizer runoff from farm fields, an increasing load of nitrogen is washing into rivers and streams, where nitrogen-breathing microbes break some of the fertilizer down into N2O, which the river releases into the atmosphere as it tumbles toward the ocean. But, until now, scientists...
Without Covid-19 jab ‘reinfection may occur every 16 months’ say scientists
Reports grow of repeat SARS-CoV-2 infection as experts warn prevalence among schoolchildren risks health of older people as vaccines waneCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageAs Covid-19 infections surge in England people are increasingly reporting catching SARS-CoV-2 for a second or even third time. New analysis has suggested that unvaccinated individuals should expect to...
AI is helping to quantify enzyme activity
Without enzymes, an organism would not be able to survive. It is these biocatalysts that facilitate a whole range of chemical reactions, producing the building blocks of the cells. Enzymes are also used widely in biotechnology and in our households, where they are used in detergents, for example.
Professor provides insight on disaster preparedness
With hurricanes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, the COVID-19 pandemic and more, the world has seen a multitude of natural disasters recently.
Arctic krill use twilight to guide their daily rhythms through the polar winter
Most animals sync their body clocks to the daily rhythm of the sun, but what happens during the polar winter when the sun never rises above the horizon? According to a study by Jonathan Cohen at the University of Delaware and colleagues, publishing October 19th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology, arctic krill can detect tiny changes in light intensity during polar winter days, allowing them...
Husky Energy facing 3 charges for massive SeaRose oil spill off coast of N.L.
Husky Energy is facing three charges for a massive spill of crude oil into the Atlantic Ocean in November 2018.
Climate change caused the devastating floods in part of Brazilian´s Southeast region, study says
Climate change was the main cause of the extremely heavy rainfall that led to severe flooding, deaths and massive damage in cities across Minas Gerais state, Southeast Brazil, in January 2020, according to a study published in the journal Climate Resilience and Sustainability.
Cat bacteria treats mouse skin infection, may help you and your pets as well
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine used bacteria found on healthy cats to successfully treat a skin infection on mice. These bacteria may serve as the basis for new therapeutics against severe skin infections in humans, dogs and cats.
Climate change from nuclear war's smoke could threaten global food supplies, human health
Nuclear war would cause many immediate fatalities, but smoke from the resulting fires would also cause climate change lasting up to 15 years that threatens worldwide food production and human health, according to a study by researchers at Rutgers University, the National Center for Atmospheric Research and other institutions.
'Ray guns' let scientists use light instead of DNA to tell plant populations apart
In Star Trek, characters carry a little handheld device called a tricorder that they can point at objects to analyze and identify them. When the show's writers cooked up the idea in the 1960s, it was purely science fiction, but a new paper in New Phytologist takes the idea a step closer to reality. The researchers used a handheld device that looks a little like a ray gun to record how plant leaves...
Ancient driftwood tracks 500 years of Arctic warming and sea ice
A new study reconstructs the path of frozen trees as they made their way across the Arctic Ocean over 500 years, giving scientists a unique look into changes in sea ice and currents over the last half millennium.