186 articles from THURSDAY 1.12.2022
Death Valley's Ubehebe Crater reveals volcanic hazard areas are underestimated
When magma bubbles up toward Earth's surface and meets groundwater, steam pressure builds, sometimes bursting into eruptions that spew currents of hot ash, potentially burning and asphyxiating people and burying nearby cities. Take, for example, similar ash currents that formed during the eruptions at Mount Vesuvius, which were responsible for many of the fatalities in the city of Pompeii around...
Shame or hope? How should we feel about climate change?
Is it OK to enjoy warmer summers, given they are caused by climate change? Should we feel shame when we fly? Is anxiety an overreaction, or a rational response to the current climate crisis? There is widespread disagreement about how we should feel regarding climate change. In a new award-winning article, two researchers at the Institute for Futures Studies (IFFS), Stockholm help us sort out our...
Plants can adapt their lignin using 'chemically encoding' enzymes to face climate change, study finds
A new study shows how plants "encode" specific chemistries of their lignin to grow tall amid climate changes: Each plant cell uses different combinations of the enzymes LACCASEs to create specific lignin chemistries. These results can be used both in agriculture and in forestry for selecting plants with the best chemistry to resist climate challenges.
New approach for protein-misfolding diseases: Quality control of membrane proteins
- ScienceDaily
- 22/12/1 20:19
Researchers have identified a new function of a well-known enzyme: the signal peptidase complex is responsible for the quality control of membrane proteins. The discovery of this new function for a key enzyme in cell biology could lead to new therapeutic approaches for Alzheimer's and other protein-misfolding diseases.
Where did Omicron come from?
- ScienceDaily
- 22/12/1 20:19
First discovered a year ago in South Africa, the SARS-CoV-2 variant later dubbed 'Omicron' spread across the globe at incredible speed. It is still unclear exactly how, when and where this virus originated. A new study shows that Omicron's predecessors existed on the African continent long before cases were first identified, suggesting that Omicron emerged gradually over several months in...
Peek of how ketamine acts as 'switch' in the brain
- ScienceDaily
- 22/12/1 20:19
Researchers find that the anesthetic and fast-acting antidepressant switches natural patterns of neuronal activity in the cortex of mice.
Hibernating corals and the microbiomes that sustain them
- ScienceDaily
- 22/12/1 20:19
What happens to a coral's microbiome while it hibernates? A new study found microbial communities shift while a coral sleeps, which may inform coral health and recovery efforts.
Nanotech strategy shows promise for treating autoimmune disease
- ScienceDaily
- 22/12/1 20:19
A nanoparticle treatment 'cured' mice that had a genetic arthritis condition.
An exotic interplay of electrons
- ScienceDaily
- 22/12/1 20:19
Water that simply will not freeze, no matter how cold it gets -- a research group has discovered a quantum state that could be described in this way. Experts have managed to cool a special material to near absolute zero temperature. They found that a central property of atoms -- their alignment -- did not 'freeze', as usual, but remained in a 'liquid' state. The new quantum material could serve as...
Managers exhibiting bias based on race, gender, disability and sexual orientation
- ScienceDaily
- 22/12/1 20:19
A study that examined bias in the workplace has found that those in management positions demonstrate explicit and implicit bias toward others from marginalized groups and often express more implicit bias than people who are not in management.
A self-powered ingestible sensor opens new avenues for gut research
- ScienceDaily
- 22/12/1 20:19
Engineering researchers have developed a battery-free, pill-shaped ingestible biosensing system designed to provide continuous monitoring in the intestinal environment. It gives scientists the ability to monitor gut metabolites in real time, which wasn't possible before. This could unlock a new understanding of intestinal metabolite composition, which significantly impacts human health overall.
Primary series and original booster provide protection against Omicron infection
- ScienceDaily
- 22/12/1 20:19
mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are less effective against Omicron infections than other variants. A study suggests that the additional protection offered by the initial booster shot may be reduced among people with a previous COVID-19 infection.
Patients may be at higher risk of overdose when opioid therapy for pain is discontinued
- ScienceDaily
- 22/12/1 20:19
Opioid-related overdose is now a leading cause of accidental death in the United States and Canada. A study suggests discontinuing prescribed opioids was associated with increased overdose risk.
Nature-based farming-subsidies scheme given green light
A post-Brexit green subsidy scheme is going ahead - but there is no clarity on what farmers will be paid.
In Canada, scientists are struggling with stagnant funding
OTTAWA, CANADA—
Earlier this month, researchers attending Canada’s major annual science policy conference here got some seemingly good news when science minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government would be awarding CA$1 billion to research projects. But disappointment soon set in. The $1 billion, scientists realized, was existing, not...
Political geography key to assessing economic costs of invasive pests on islands
Scientists assessing the economic cost of invasive species on islands have shown that political geography plays an important role, affecting the extent of socio-economic costs.
New research prompts urgent call to protect Madagascar's unique biodiversity before it's too late
In two new papers published today, December 1, in Science, researchers from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and partners from 50 global organizations have undertaken a major review of Madagascar's extraordinary biodiversity. Bringing together the most up to date resources and using cutting-edge techniques to predict conservation status, the team evaluated the threats facing terrestrial and...
Study finds well-known enzyme also performs quality control of membrane proteins
An interdisciplinary team of scientists from Cologne, Heidelberg and Munich have discovered a new function of a well-known enzyme. The signal peptidase complex in the endoplasmic reticulum cleaves faulty membrane proteins to initiate their degradation.
News at a glance: Antibioticmaking clams, marijuana for research, and China’s ‘Friedmann’
EVOLUTION
In a first for animals, clam makes its own antibiotic
Natural antibiotics typically come from bacteria or molds. But
some clams make their own erythromycin
, a study has found—the first animals reported to possess this ability. The spotted hard clam (
Meretrix petechialis
) has a mucus-covered...
Should we build a nature reserve on Mars?
There are 8 billion of us now. The UN says when the population peaks around the year 2100, there'll be 11 billion human souls. Our population growth is colliding with the natural world on a greater scale than ever, and we're losing between 200 and 2,000 species each year, according to the World Wildlife Federation.
Underwater footage reveals sharks' flexible feeding skills
Underwater cameras have revealed the impressive range of skills nurse sharks use when feeding.
Can the three-dimensional organization of the T cell genome regulate (auto)immunity?
The research team of Associate Professor Charalampos G. Spilianakis, an affiliated Professor at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of FORTH, has been working on determining whether the three-dimensional organization of the T cell genome can regulate (auto)immunity.