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Categories: Biology: Biochemistry, Space: Astrophysics
Published A miniature heart in a petri dish: Organoid emulates development of the human heart
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A team has induced stem cells to emulate the development of the human heart. The result is a sort of 'mini-heart' known as an organoid. It will permit the study of the earliest development phase of our heart and facilitate research on diseases.
Published Mosquito saliva can weaken body's defenses against deadly dengue viruses, scientists discover
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source With dengue on the spread, the new discovery helps explain why dengue viruses are so easily transmitted. The finding could also lead to new ways to prevent infection.
Published Elephants as a new model for understanding human evolution
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Human culture and language may be the result of 'self-domestication': an evolutionary process that leads to less aggressive and more prosocial individuals. A research team argues that elephants -- like humans and bonobos -- may also be self-domesticated. Elephants show many traits associated with self-domestication, such as prosocial behavior, playfulness and complex communication skills. This makes elephants an interesting new animal model for the evolution of prosociality.
Published Insect decline also occurs in forests
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The number of insects has been declining for years. This has already been well documented for agricultural areas. In forests, however, temporal trends are mostly studied for insect species that are considered pests. Now, a research team has studied the trends of very many insect species in German forests. Contrary to what the researchers had suspected, the results showed that the majority of the studied species are declining.
Published Study to decode microbe-gut signaling suggests potential new treatment for IBD
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Fresh insights into how our bodies interact with the microbes living in our guts suggest that a two-drug combination may offer a new way to treat inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
Published A new measurement could change our understanding of the Universe
(via sciencedaily.com) When it comes to measuring how fast the Universe is expanding, the result depends on which side of the Universe you start from. A recent study has calibrated the best cosmic yardsticks to unprecedented accuracy, shedding new light on what's known as the Hubble tension.
Published Ocean warming intensifies viral outbreaks within corals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A groundbreaking three-year study in the South Pacific has found evidence that ocean warming can trigger outbreaks of 'dinoflagellate-infecting RNA viruses' that attack symbiotic algae inside corals. Coral reef viruses have gained greater attention since being implicated in 2021 as a possible cause of stony coral tissue loss disease that has decimated Florida and Caribbean reefs for almost a decade.
Published Researchers assemble pathogen 'tree of life'
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers provide open-access tool to capture new data on a global plant destroyer, Phytophthora.
Published Galaxy clusters yield new evidence for standard model of cosmology
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study probing the structure and evolution of galaxy clusters shows good agreement with the predictions of standard cosmological models.
Published Squash bees flourish in response to agricultural intensification
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source While pollinator populations of many species have plummeted worldwide, one bee species is blowing up the map with its rapid population expansion. The key to this insect's success? Its passion for pumpkins, zucchinis, and other squashes, and the massive increase in cultivation of these crops across North America over the last 1,000 years. A new study found that the squash bee (Eucera pruinosa) has evolved in response to intensifying agriculture -- namely squashes in the genus Curcurbita. The research has demonstrated the role of agriculture as an evolutionary force acting on a wild insect pollinator and may have implications for food security.
Published New research shows that bacteria get 'hangry,' too
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have discovered, using a recently developed technology, that genetically identical cells within a bacterial community have different functions, with some members behaving more docile and others producing the very toxins that make us feel ill.
Published DELLA proteins could hold key to the next Green Revolution
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A family of 'promiscuous' proteins found in all land plants is responsible for many different plant functions, despite remaining relatively unchanged for over 450 million years.
Published Cells refine palm fat into olive oil
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source For more than 50 years, it has been suspected that fat cells constantly remodel the lipids they store. Researchers have now demonstrated this process directly for the first time using culture cells. Among other things, the study shows that the cells quickly eliminate harmful fatty acids. They refine others into molecules that can be used more effectively. In the long term, this turns the components of palm fat into the building blocks of high-quality olive oil, for example.
Published Rising temperatures alter 'missing link' of microbial processes, putting northern peatlands at risk
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers show that rising temperatures in northern regions may damage peatlands: critical ecosystems for storing carbon from the atmosphere -- and could decouple vital processes in microbial support systems.
Published Cold is beneficial for healthy aging, at least in animals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A lower body temperature is one of the most effective mechanisms to prolong the lifespan of animals. New research has now described precisely how this works. The scientists show that cold can prevent the pathological aggregation of proteins typical for two aging-associated neurodegenerative diseases.
Published Wastewater more potent breeding ground for antibiotic resistance than previously known
(via sciencedaily.com) Wastewater is a more potent environment for antibiotic resistance to evolve than previously known. A study shows that wastewaters have unique characteristics, allowing resistance genes to start their journey from harmless bacteria to those that cause disease.
Published Molecules precursors to life discovered in the Perseus Cloud
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study has detected the presence of large quantities of complex organic molecules in one of the nearest star forming regions to the solar system.
Published Hope for salamanders? Study recalibrates climate change effects
(via sciencedaily.com) For tiny salamanders squirming skin-to-soil, big-picture weather patterns may seem as far away as outer space. But for decades, scientists have mostly relied on free-air temperature data at large spatial scales to predict future salamander distributions under climate change. The outlook was dire for the mini ecosystem engineers, suggesting near elimination of habitat in crucial areas.
Published Engineered E. coli delivers therapeutic nanobodies to the gut
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have succeeded in developing an E. coli-based 'smart microbe' that secretes therapeutic payloads, including antibodies, into the gut. The genetically modified beneficial strain of bacteria blocks intestinal inflammation in a preclinical model of inflammatory bowel disease and has the potential to treat intestinal-based diseases.
Published Ants took over the world by following flowering plants out of prehistoric forests
(via sciencedaily.com) Today, ants are pretty much everywhere. To learn more about how these insects conquered the world, scientists used a combination of fossils, DNA, and data on the habitat preferences of modern species to piece together how ants and plants have been evolving together over the past 60 million years. They found that when flowering plants spread out from forests, the ants followed, kicking off the evolution of the thousands of ant species alive today.