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31 articles from ScienceDaily

Vulnerability of red sea urchins to climate change depends on location

A new study of red sea urchins, a commercially valuable species, investigated how different populations respond to changes in their environments. The results show that red sea urchin populations in Northern and Southern California are adapted to their local conditions but differ in their vulnerability to the environmental changes expected to occur in the future due to global climate change and...

Regulating immunological memory may help immune system fight disease

Scientists have long sought to better understand the human body's immune responses that occur during various diseases, including cancer and inflammatory diseases. Scientists have now analyzed how immunological memory -- the memory the body's immune system retains after an infection or vaccination that helps protect against reinfection -- gets generated and maintained, as well as the role...

Mixture of crops provide ecological benefits for agricultural landscapes

There are often too few flowering plants in agricultural landscapes, which is one reason for the decline of pollinating insects. Researchers ave now investigated how a mixture of crops of faba beans (broad beans) and wheat affects the number of pollinating insects. They found that areas of mixed crops compared with areas of single crops are visited equally often by foraging bees.

Forests face fierce threats from multiple industries, not just agricultural expansion

Intact forests are important climate regulators and harbors of biodiversity, but they are rapidly disappearing. Agriculture is commonly considered to be the major culprit behind forest loss, but the authors of a new article show that agriculture isn't solely to blame. For forest loss associated with the 2014 world economy, over 60% was related to final consumption of non-agricultural products,...

Collision risk and habitat loss: Wind turbines in forests impair threatened bat species

In order to meet climate protection goals, renewable energies are booming -- often wind power. More than 30,000 turbines have already been installed on the German mainland so far, and the industry is currently scrambling to locate increasingly rare suitable sites. Thus, forests are coming into focus as potential sites. A scientific team has now demonstrated that wind turbines in forests impair...

Physical effect also valid in the quantum world

Physicists have experimentally proven that an important theorem of statistical physics applies to so-called 'Bose-Einstein condensates.' Their results now make it possible to measure certain properties of the quantum 'superparticles' and deduce system characteristics that would otherwise be difficult to observe.

How Huntington's disease affects different neurons

Neuroscientists find two distinct cell populations in the striatum are affected differently by Huntington's disease. They believe neurodegeneration of one of these populations leads to motor impairments, while damage to the other population, located in a structure called the striosome, may account for the mood disorders that are often see in the early stages of the disease.

Chemists synthesize ocean-based molecule that could fight Parkinson's

Recreating natural molecules in the laboratory as part of the search for potential new drugs for disease can be difficult, costly and slow. The problem? Many chemical processes tend to produce not only a version of the molecule found in nature but also a mirror-image version of the molecule that is potentially useless -- or even dangerous. In synthesizing a new, potentially therapeutic molecule...

We need to learn to live with less steel

Steel is one of the most important materials in the world, integral to the cars we drive, the buildings we inhabit, and the infrastructure that allows us to travel from place to place. Steel is also responsible for 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In 2021, 45 countries made a commitment to pursue near-zero-emission steel in the next decade. But how possible is it to produce the steel we need...

Neuroscientists identify a small molecule that restores visual function after optic nerve injury

Traumatic injury to the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve in the central nervous system (CNS) are the leading cause of disability and the second leading cause of death worldwide. CNS injuries often result in a catastrophic loss of sensory, motor and visual functions, which is the most challenging problem faced by clinicians and research scientists. Neuroscientists have recently identified and...

Bioenergy: Precision gene editing in miscanthus

Researchers have successfully demonstrated precision gene editing in miscanthus, a promising perennial crop for sustainable bioenergy production. Biologists edited the genomes of three miscanthus species using CRISPR/Cas9 -- a far more targeted and efficient way to develop new varieties than prior methods. The results will accelerate efforts to tap the huge potential of this highly productive but...