127 articles from MONDAY 25.10.2021

A compound with a laser-induced 'switching' of biological activity

Scientists at St Petersburg University together with researchers from St. Petersburg Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SPC RAS) and the Scientific Research Centre for Ecological Safety of the Russian Academy of Sciences have developed a new organic compound demonstrating a laser-induced enhancement in its biological activity. The discovered phosphonate will enable the...

Trigonopterus corona, the new species of tiny beetle named after the coronavirus

Many curious animals can be found on the Indonesian Island of Sulawesi—such as the deer-hog and the midget buffalo. But the island's tropical forests hide a diversity of tiny insects that still remains largely unexplored. Museum scientists from Indonesia and Germany have just discovered 28 new species of beetles, all belonging to the weevil genus Trigonopterus.

Mapping the path to carbon neutrality

Ahead of COP26 in Glasgow, the University of Surrey has published a paper in Sustainability detailing how it will reduce its carbon emissions and reach Net-Zero by 2030. In the paper, Surrey's researchers share ideas and provide guidance on how other universities can apply the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). 

Insect digestive enzyme activates sugar-containing plant defence substance

Plants are not entirely at the mercy of their herbivore enemies. Often, chemical defenses ensure that the plants are inedible, or even toxic, and as a result insects and other hungry animals steer clear of them. A new study has shown, for the first time, that the degradation of plants' defense substances by insects' digestive enzymes can influence the insects' preference for certain food plants....

The underestimated impact of vapor pressure deficit on terrestrial carbon cycle

This study is led by Dr. Bin He (College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University) and Dr. Wenping Yuan (School of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University). Terrestrial ecosystem, as a major carbon sink, plays an important role in regulating the global carbon cycle and atmospheric CO2 mixing ratio. Traditionally, atmospheric temperature or land water availability...

Interglobular dentine identified in cremated human teeth

The cremation process destroys a lot of information that can usually be obtained from the human skeleton. Diseases are especially difficult to observe. This has caused a paucity in our knowledge of the disease load in populations that practiced cremation as their main funerary ritual. Dr. Barbara Veselka and Prof. Christophe Snoeck, of the Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab and research groups MARI and...

White flight may still enforce segregation

As the population of people of color grows across the United States, white Americans are still prone to move when neighborhoods diversify, and their fears and stereotypical beliefs about other racial and ethnic groups may help maintain segregation, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

Neutron star collisions are 'goldmine' of heavy elements, study finds

Most elements lighter than iron are forged in the cores of stars, but scientists have puzzled over what could give rise to gold, platinum, and the rest of the universe's heavy elements. study finds that of two long-suspected sources of heavy metals, one of them -- a merger between two neutron stars -- is more of a goldmine than the other.

That primate’s got rhythm!

What are the origins of musical rhythm? Are humans the only mammals that have rhythm? Researchers have studied indris, the 'singing primates' from Madagascar to learn more. Indri songs recorded in the wild have rhythmic categories similar to those found in human music. Finding common musical traits across species may shed light on the biology and evolution of rhythm and music.

Chandra Sees Evidence for Possible Planet in Another Galaxy

Portal origin URL: Chandra Sees Evidence for Possible Planet in Another GalaxyPortal origin nid: 474878Published: Monday, October 25, 2021 - 11:30Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: Signs of a planet transiting a star outside of the Milky Way galaxy may have been detected for the first time. This intriguing result, using NASA’s Chandra X-ray...

Singing lemurs have a distinctly human sense of rhythm, study finds

Indris sound like ‘bagpipes being stepped on’ but their 1:2 beats are the first to be identified in non-human mammalsThey have fluffy ears, a penetrating stare and a penchant for monogamy. But it turns out that indris – a large, critically endangered species of lemur – have an even more fascinating trait: an unexpected sense of rhythm.Indri indri are known for their distinctive singing, a...

Looking for musical abilities in primates

Songbirds share the human sense of rhythm, but it is a rare trait in non-human mammals. An international research team led by senior investigators Marco Gamba from the University of Turin and MPI's Andrea Ravignani set out to look for musical abilities in primates. "There is longstanding interest in understanding how human musicality evolved, but musicality is not restricted to humans," says...

Ferritin-based nanomedicine developed for targeted leukemia therapy

Researchers from the Institute of Process Engineering (IPE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University and Zhujiang Hospital of Southern Medical University have developed a ferritin (Fn)-based nanomedicine for targeted delivery of arsenic (As) and efficient therapy against diverse leukemia types.

Antibiotics for appendicitis

Antibiotics are now an accepted first-line treatment for most people with appendicitis, according to final results of the Comparing Outcomes of antibiotic Drugs and Appendectomy (CODA) trial, and an updated treatment guideline for appendicitis from the American College of Surgeons.