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1,061 articles from ScienceDaily

Microscope allows gentle, continuous imaging of light-sensitive corals

Many corals are sensitive to bright light, so capturing their dynamics with traditional microscopes is a challenge. To work around their photosensitivity, researchers developed a custom light-sheet microscope (the L-SPI) that allows gentle, non-invasive observation of corals and their polyps in detail over eight continuous hours, at high resolution.

Chemist adds details of 'cold collisions of hot molecules' to theories of molecular interactions

When two cars collide at an intersection -- from opposite directions -- the impact is much different than when two cars -- traveling in the same direction -- 'bump' into each other. In the laboratory, similar types of collisions can be made to occur between molecules to study chemistry at very low temperatures, or 'cold collisions.' A team of scientists has developed a new experimental approach to...

Wild bees depend on the landscape structure

Sowing strips of wildflowers along conventional cereal fields and the increased density of flowers in organic farming encourage bumblebees as well as solitary wild bees and hoverflies. Bumblebee colonies benefit from flower strips along small fields, but in organic farming, they benefit from large fields.

Plant tissue engineering improves drought and salinity tolerance

After several years of experimentation, scientists have engineered thale cress, or Arabidopsis thaliana, to behave like a succulent, improving water-use efficiency, salinity tolerance and reducing the effects of drought. The tissue succulence engineering method devised for this small flowering plant can be used in other plants to improve drought and salinity tolerance with the goal of moving this...

COVID-19 causes 'hyperactivity' in blood-clotting cells

Changes in blood platelets triggered by COVID-19 could contribute to the onset of heart attacks, strokes, and other serious complications in some patients who have the disease, according to scientists. The researchers found that inflammatory proteins produced during infection significantly alter the function of platelets, making them 'hyperactive' and more prone to form dangerous and potentially...

Glowing dye may aid in eliminating cancer

When a solid cancer is surgically removed, any small piece that is left behind increases the chance of a local recurrence or spread. In a pilot study of dogs with mammary tumors, a disease very similar to human breast cancer, a team found that an injectable dye, which glows under near-infrared light, illuminated cancerous growth in the primary tumor as well as in lymph nodes.

Researchers identify multiple molecules that shut down SARS-Cov-2 polymerase reaction

Researchers have identified a library of molecules that shut down the SARS-CoV-2 polymerase reaction, a key step that establishes the potential of these molecules as lead compounds to be further modified for the development of COVID-19 therapeutics. Five of these molecules are already FDA-approved for use in the treatment of other viral infections including HIV/AIDS, cytomegalovirus, and hepatitis...

Ultrafast light wave electronics: Light from inside the tunnel

Steering and monitoring the light-driven motion of electrons inside matter on the time-scale of a single optical cycle is a key challenge in ultrafast light wave electronics and laser-based material processing. Physicists have now revealed a so-far overlooked nonlinear optical mechanism that emerges from the light-induced tunneling of electrons inside dielectrics.

Spider silk can create lenses useful for biological imaging

Spider silk is useful for a variety of biomedical applications: It exhibits mechanical properties superior to synthetic fibers for tissue engineering, and it is not toxic or harmful to living cells. One unexpected application for spider silk is its use in the creation of biocompatible lenses for biological imaging applications. Researchers now describe the feasibility of creating lenses...

Revisiting energy flow in photosynthetic plant cells

By developing innovative methods to visualize energy changes in subcellular compartments in live plants, researchers recently solved a controversial question in photosynthesis: what is the source of NADH (Reduced Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) for mitochondria to generate ATP (Adenosine triphosphate)?