Navigating fruit flies do not have the luxury of GPS, but they do have a kind of neural compass. In a new study, researchers found that the animals decide which way to turn by comparing this internal compass needle to a fixed goal.
Four different rare diseases are all caused by the same short segment of DNA repeated too many times, a mutation researchers call noncoding expanded tandem repeats. Researchers suspect variations of this type of mutation may cause other diseases that have thus far evaded diagnosis by genetic testing.Researchers are excited because instead of finding unique mutations in specific genes, they identif
Children born to women on HIV therapy containing the drug dolutegravir since conception have a slightly higher risk of neural tube defects, compared to children born to women on regimens of other antiretroviral drugs.
Tourists on safari can provide wildlife monitoring data comparable to traditional surveying methods, suggests research appearing July 22, 2019 in the journal Current Biology. The researchers analyzed 25,000 photographs from 26 tour groups to survey the population densities of five top predators (lions, leopards, cheetahs, spotted hyenas, and wild dogs) in northern Botswana, making it one of the fi
Many people complain about television shows that use recorded laugh tracks. But researchers reporting in the journal Current Biology on July 22 have found that laugh tracks really do work.
When people notice one traffic hazard, they are less likely to see a simultaneous second hazard, according to new research. The finding has potential applications for both driver training and the development of automated, in-vehicle safety technologies.
A new mechanism for the deactivation of switch proteins has been identified. Switch proteins such as Ras regulate many processes in the body and affect diseases such as cancer.
Almost all living organisms have gate-like protein complexes in their cell membranes that get rid of unwanted or life-threatening molecules. These ABC transporters are also responsible for resistance to antibiotics or chemotherapy. Researchers have now succeeded in decrypting all the stages of the transport mechanism.
In a study using yeast cells and data from cancer cell lines, scientists report they have found a potential weak spot among cancer cells that have extra sets of chromosomes, the structures that carry genetic material. The vulnerability, they say, is rooted in a common feature among cancer cells — their high intracellular protein concentrations — that make them appear bloated and overstuffed, and
A major new study has found children with autism are more likely to be bullied by both their siblings and their peers, meaning that when they return from school, they have no respite from victimization.
Nature, Published online: 22 July 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02231-1 Valuable metals and minerals pepper the creature's habitat, drawing commercial interest to the sea floor.
Nature, Published online: 22 July 2019; doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1440-8 Inhibition of bacterial ubiquitin ligases by SidJ–calmodulin-catalysed glutamylation
Nature, Published online: 22 July 2019; doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1439-1 Regulation of phosphoribosyl ubiquitination by a calmodulin-dependent glutamylase
Nature, Published online: 22 July 2019; doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1421-y Number-state superpositions of the harmonic motion of a trapped beryllium ion are used to measure the oscillation frequency with quantum-enhanced sensitivity, achieving a mode-frequency uncertainty of about 10−6.
Study finds developing chicks communicate with siblings when they hearalarm calls Baby seabirds that have not yet hatched communicate with their siblings in neighbouring eggs by vibrating their shells, scientists have discovered. A study of yellow-legged gulls revealed one of the most sophisticated known examples of embryonic communication. When exposed to the alarm calls of an adult bird respond
Research finds recording of spontaneous laughter is more effective than controlled one In research that will ensure the sitcoms of the future are as painful as those broadcast today, scientists have found that canned laughter makes bad jokes seem funnier. The impact of overlaid laughter emerged from a study with autistic and "neurotypical" people, all of whom agreed to endure 40 jokes that were r
It's not surprising that quantum physics has a reputation for being weird and counterintuitive. The world we're living in sure doesn't feel quantum mechanical. And until the 20th century, everyone assumed that the classical laws of physics devised by Isaac Newton and others — according to which objects have well-defined positions and properties at all times — would work at every scale. But Max Pl
In the time it takes you to read this sentence, every cell in your body suffers some form of DNA damage. Without vigilant repair, cancer would run rampant, and now scientists at the University of Pittsburgh have gotten a glimpse of how one protein in particular keeps DNA damage in check.
Some parasitic plants steal genetic material from their host plants and use the stolen genes to more effectively siphon off the host's nutrients. A new study led by researchers at Penn State and Virginia Tech reveals that the parasitic plant dodder has stolen a large amount of genetic material from its hosts, including over 100 functional genes. These stolen genes contribute to dodder's ability to
A research team lead by MIMS/SciLifeLab research group leader Jonas Barandun, Umeå University, Sweden, uses cryo-electron microscopy to provide near atomic details of the smallest known eukaryotic cytoplasmic protein synthesis machine, the microsporidian ribosome.
To answer the question, "Where's Waldo?" readers need to look for a number of distinguishing features. Several characters may be spotted with a striped scarf, striped hat, round-rimmed glasses, or a cane, but only Waldo will have all of these features.
One of the 21st century's greatest challenges is to develop diets that are both sustainable for the planet and good for our bodies. An IIASA-led study explored the major drivers of widespread shifts to sustainable diets using a newly developed computational model of population-wide behavioral dynamics.
A team of international researchers led by Colorado State University is calling for a new approach to understanding environmental risks in the Anthropocene, the current geological age in which humans are a dominant force of change on the planet.
In the time it takes you to read this sentence, every cell in your body suffers some form of DNA damage. Without vigilant repair, cancer would run rampant, and now scientists at the University of Pittsburgh have gotten a glimpse of how one protein in particular keeps DNA damage in check.
Transporting droplets on solid surfaces at high speed and long distances without additional force, even against gravity, is a formidable task. But a research team comprising scientists from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and three other universities and research institutes has recently devised a novel mechanism to transport droplets at record-high velocity and distance without extra energy i
Some parasitic plants steal genetic material from their host plants and use the stolen genes to more effectively siphon off the host's nutrients. A new study led by researchers at Penn State and Virginia Tech reveals that the parasitic plant dodder has stolen a large amount of genetic material from its hosts, including over 100 functional genes. These stolen genes contribute to dodder's ability to
A research team lead by MIMS/SciLifeLab research group leader Jonas Barandun, Umeå University, Sweden, uses cryo-electron microscopy to provide near atomic details of the smallest known eukaryotic cytoplasmic protein synthesis machine, the microsporidian ribosome.
To answer the question, "Where's Waldo?" readers need to look for a number of distinguishing features. Several characters may be spotted with a striped scarf, striped hat, round-rimmed glasses, or a cane, but only Waldo will have all of these features.
A team of scientists led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory have discovered the specific gene that controls an important symbiotic relationship between plants and soil fungi, and successfully facilitated the symbiosis in a plant that typically resists it.
The ACS NSQIP Geriatric Surgery Pilot Project has, for the first time, identified four factors in older patients that are associated with an inability to return home after an operation.
A change in the care protocol of patients undergoing weight-reduction operations exceeded its desired effect by cutting postoperative hospital stays in half, reducing postoperative hospital readmissions by 38%, and reducing the amount of opioids the patients were sent home with by 95%, according to study results from a large bariatric and metabolic surgery center in Charleston, S.C.
Every 12 years, a megacity springs up in India for the Kumbh Mela religious festival — what's built in ten weeks is completely disassembled in one. What can we learn from this fully functioning, temporary settlement? In a visionary talk, urban designer Rahul Mehrotra explores the benefits of building impermanent cities that can travel, adapt or even disappear, leaving the lightest possible footpr
The BFR While SpaceX's Starship prototype has yet to fly untethered — a test flight that's slated for later this week — CEO Elon Musk has big plans for the rocket: a "Super Heavy" variant of Starship, he says, will feature up to 41 Raptor engines. A Super Heavy Starship of that caliber would most certainly be the most powerful rocket ever built. "Starship Super Heavy with 35 Raptors," Musk tweete
President Trump is only the latest to propose returning to the moon and then heading to Mars. But he faces the burdens of history to accomplish what his predecessors could not.
National Poll: While most parents say they are doing enough to prepare their teen for adulthood, they gave low rankings of their teen's ability to handle basic tasks.
A team of researchers has identified a new species of pocket shark. The 5-and-a-half-inch male kitefin shark has been identified as the American Pocket Shark, or Mollisquama mississippiensis, based on five features not seen in the only other known specimen of this kind.
Volcanic eruptions eject sulfur dioxide gas high into the atmosphere, forming sulfate aerosol chemically, and block the incoming sunlight like an umbrella. This causes surface cooling globally, but the response of global monsoon rainfall is different following volcano eruptions at different latitudes, according to quantitative research by Meng Zuo, a doctoral student from the Institute of Atmosphe
The enzyme ribonucleotide reductase is a bottleneck for cancer cell growth. Scientists at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University have identified a way of targeting ribonucleotide reductase that may avoid the toxicity of previous approaches, informing focused drug discovery efforts.
On average, American colleges and universities with nursing programs offer about one hour of instruction in handling catastrophic situations such as nuclear events, pandemics, or water contamination crises, according to two recent studies coauthored by a nursing professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
The Univeristy of North Carolina at Charlotte-led archaeological dig on Jerusalem's Mount Zion has been going on for over a decade, looking at an area where there were no known ruins of major temples, churches or palaces, but nonetheless sacred land where three millennia of struggle and culture has long lain buried, evidence in layer upon layer of significant historical events.
Some stars that go supernova are dimmer than we expect, so something must be filching their energy – it may be a possible dark matter particle called the axion
A new study has reveals a unique and strong association between firearm ownership and the risk of domestic homicides. For each 10% increase in household gun ownership rates, the findings show a significant 13% increased incidence of domestic firearm homicide. The homicide risk differed across victim-offender relationships, with non-domestic firearm homicide rising only 2% among firearm owners.
Preschoolers with symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are much less likely than other children their age to be ready for school, new research has found.
Several websites are reporting that a Russian website is selling authorships for research papers being published in several journals. Sites making such claims include retractionwatch.com and Science Chronicle—they are further claiming that the Web of Science group Clarivate Analytics has been investigating the Russian-based website—called 123mi.ru—and has found evidence that the group behind the s
The choices that farmers in the Horn of Africa have made in selecting chickens has led to the genetically distinct African chicken, research finds. But the introduction of commercial birds threatens the 3,000-year-old local breed type and its longer, meatier legs. For generations, household farmers in the Horn of Africa have selectively chosen chickens with certain traits that make them more appe
If Chandrayaan-2 reaches the moon as planned, India would become the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface, after the United States, Russia and China. (Image credit: Manish Swarup/AP)
For those stifled by shades of perfectionism, temporary media can remind us how to create things for the fun of it — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
New discoveries in the decade-long archaeological dig at Jerusalem's Mont Zion include a massive, long-rumored-but-buried earthwork, gold jewelry and war artifacts. The finds confirm previously unverified details from medieval historical accounts of the First Crusade — witness narratives of five-week siege, conquest, sack and massacre of the Fatamid (Muslim)-controlled city in July of 1099.
When people notice one traffic hazard, they are less likely to see a simultaneous second hazard, according to new research from North Carolina State University. The finding has potential applications for both driver training and the development of automated, in-vehicle safety technologies.
From 2014 to 2018, private insurance claim lines for non-hospital-based provider-to-patient telehealth grew 1,393 %, according to a new white paper on telehealth from FAIR Health, a national, independent nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information. The study draws on data from FAIR Health's comprehensive repository of over 29 billi
A series of bulk lead-free mixed Bi-In halide double perovskites: Cs2AgBi1-xInxCl6 (0 < x < 1) breaks the parity-forbidden transition and retains direct band gap structure, having warm-white light emission, with photoluminescence quantum efficiency (PLQE) of 70.3%, much higher than the PLQE of reported lead perovskite materials. Additionally, the bulk material exhibits excellent stability on expos
Cancer scientists at Houston Methodist have been looking for more effective late-stage treatments for ovarian and pancreatic cancers and may have found one.
The first measurement of heat transfer through a single molecule may be a step towards molecular computing. Molecular computing involves building circuits up from molecules rather than carving them out of silicon as a way to max out Moore's Law and make the most powerful conventional computers possible. Moore's Law began as an observation that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit do
Scientists have figured out how the mosquito brain uses signals from its visual and olfactory systems to identify, track, and home in on a host for its next blood meal. For a new study in Current Biology , researchers conducted behavioral experiments and real-time recording of the female mosquito brain and discovered that when the mosquito's olfactory system detects certain chemical cues, they tr
A new mechanism for the deactivation of switch proteins has been identified by researchers from Ruhr-Universität Bochum, headed by Professor Klaus Gerwert and Dr. Till Rudack from the Department …
The robots are coming, and they'll probably take your job when they get here. Oh wait—have you heard that recently? As recently as, say, yesterday? In the news, or from a coworker, or in a sinister dystopian movie, maybe? Sounding the alarm about job losses to automation has become commonplace—in fact, it's more of a nonstop siren these days. Multiple Democratic presidential candidates are featur
Almost all living organisms have gate-like protein complexes in their cell membranes that get rid of unwanted or life-threatening molecules. These ABC transporters are also responsible for resistance to antibiotics or chemotherapy. Researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt, together with the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, which is also located in Frankfurt, have now succeeded in decrypting a
People who follow the paleo diet have twice the amount of a key blood biomarker linked closely to heart disease, the world's first major study examining the impact of the diet on gut bacteria has found.
A new mechanism for the deactivation of switch proteins has been identified by researchers from Ruhr-Universität Bochum, headed by Professor Klaus Gerwert and Dr. Till Rudack from the Department of Biophysics, and the University of Uppsala in Sweden. Switch proteins such as Ras regulate many processes in the body and affect diseases such as cancer.
Rapid increases in herbicide resistance show that weeds can undergo important genetic changes over very brief periods of time. But herbicide use isn't the only factor influencing the evolution of weeds.
Rapid increases in herbicide resistance show that weeds can undergo important genetic changes over very brief periods of time. But herbicide use isn't the only factor influencing the evolution of weeds.
An astronomer from the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy (IfA) and an international team published a new study that reveals more of the vast cosmic structure surrounding our Milky Way galaxy.
2d
Vil du være med til at finde de mest interessante nyheder? Send email herom til BioNyt
Tegn abonnement på
BioNyt Videnskabens Verden (www.bionyt.dk) er Danmarks ældste populærvidenskabelige tidsskrift for naturvidenskab. Det er det eneste blad af sin art i Danmark, som er helliget international forskning inden for livsvidenskaberne.
Bladet bringer aktuelle, spændende forskningsnyheder inden for biologi, medicin og andre naturvidenskabelige områder som f.eks. klimaændringer, nanoteknologi, partikelfysik, astronomi, seksualitet, biologiske våben, ecstasy, evolutionsbiologi, kloning, fedme, søvnforskning, muligheden for liv på mars, influenzaepidemier, livets opståen osv.
Artiklerne roses for at gøre vanskeligt stof forståeligt, uden at den videnskabelige holdbarhed tabes.
Tegn abonnement på
BioNyt Videnskabens Verden (www.bionyt.dk) er Danmarks ældste populærvidenskabelige tidsskrift for naturvidenskab. Det er det eneste blad af sin art i Danmark, som er helliget international forskning inden for livsvidenskaberne.
Bladet bringer aktuelle, spændende forskningsnyheder inden for biologi, medicin og andre naturvidenskabelige områder som f.eks. klimaændringer, nanoteknologi, partikelfysik, astronomi, seksualitet, biologiske våben, ecstasy, evolutionsbiologi, kloning, fedme, søvnforskning, muligheden for liv på mars, influenzaepidemier, livets opståen osv.
Artiklerne roses for at gøre vanskeligt stof forståeligt, uden at den videnskabelige holdbarhed tabes.
Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!
Recent Comments