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Categories: Biology: Biotechnology, Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published Understanding wind and water at the equator key to more accurate future climate projections
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Getting climate models to mimic real-time observations when it comes to warming is critical -- small discrepancies can lead to misunderstandings about the rate of global warming as the climate changes. A new study that when modeling warming trends in the Pacific Ocean, there is still a missing piece to the modeling puzzle: the effect of wind on ocean currents in the equatorial Pacific.
Published Early life adversity leaves long-term signatures in baboon DNA
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Early experiences in an animal's life can have a significant impact on its capacity to thrive, even years or decades later, and DNA methylation may help record their effects. In a study of 256 wild baboons, researchers found that resource limitation during early life was associated with many differences in DNA methylation, a small chemical mark on the DNA sequence that can affect gene activity.
Published The world's most prolific CO2-fixing enzyme is slowly getting better
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research has found that rubisco -- the enzyme that fuels all life on Earth -- is not stuck in an evolutionary rut after all. The largest analysis of rubisco ever has found that it is improving all the time -- just very, very slowly. These insights could potentially open up new routes to strengthen food security.
Published Marine algae implants could boost crop yields
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have discovered the gene that enables marine algae to make a unique type of chlorophyll. They successfully implanted this gene in a land plant, paving the way for better crop yields on less land.
Published Global warming is affecting bats' hibernation
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Global change is altering the physiology of the hibernation and behavior of bats, according to a study carried out over a twenty year period. Given the milder winters we are having, bats are accumulating less fat reserves in autumn, they shorten their hibernation periods and they leave their winter shelter sooner. These changes could alter the migration pattern of bats and the phenology of their seasonal displacements.
Published Nanodevices can produce energy from evaporating tap or seawater
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have discovered that nanoscale devices harnessing the hydroelectric effect can harvest electricity from the evaporation of fluids with higher ion concentrations than purified water, revealing a vast untapped energy potential.
Published Revealing the evolutionary origin of genomic imprinting
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Some of our genes can be expressed or silenced depending on whether we inherited them from our mother or our father. The mechanism behind this phenomenon, known as genomic imprinting, is determined by DNA modifications during egg and sperm production.
Published Universal tool for tracking cell-to-cell interactions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An updated method for directly observing physical interactions between cells, could allow scientists to one day map every possible cell interaction.
Published Synthetic gene helps explain the mysteries of transcription across species
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source 'Random DNA' is naturally active in the one-celled fungi yeast, while such DNA is turned off as its natural state in mammalian cells, despite their having a common ancestor a billion years ago and the same basic molecular machinery, a new study finds.
Published Decoding the language of epigenetic modifications
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Epigenetic changes play important roles in cancer, metabolic and aging-related diseases, but also during loss of resilience as they cause the genetic material to be incorrectly interpreted in affected cells. A major study now provides important new insights into how complex epigenetic modification signatures regulate the genome. This study will pave the way for new treatments of diseases caused by faulty epigenetic machineries.
Published Herbivores, displaced by ocean warming, threaten subtropical seagrass meadows
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The findings suggest that subtropical seagrasses are less resilient to heavy grazing from marine herbivores, in part because they receive less sunlight relative to their tropical counterparts. As tropical herbivores move into subtropical waters, overgrazing may prevent subtropical seagrass meadows from persisting in these environments.
Published Key advance toward removing common herbicide from groundwater
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Chemists are closing in on a new tool for tackling the global problem of weedkiller-tainted groundwater.
Published Research explores the cooling effects of 'scuba-diving' in lizards
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Anoles are the scuba-diving champions of the lizard world, able to stay underwater for more than 16 minutes. For animals whose body temperature depends on the environment, time spent in a cool running stream can have some tradeoffs, according to new research.
Published Short-term exposure to high levels of air pollution kills 1 million globally every year
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Every year, more than one million deaths globally occur because of exposure to short-term (hours to days) fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in air pollution, according to a new report, with Eastern Asia reporting more than 50% of deaths attributable to short-term PM2.5 globally.
Published Tiny worms tolerate Chornobyl radiation
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study finds that exposure to chronic radiation from Chornobyl has not damaged the genomes of microscopic worms living there today -- which doesn't mean that the region is safe, the scientists caution, but suggests that these worms are exceptionally resilient.
Published Harmful 'forever chemicals' removed from water with new electrocatalysis method
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have developed new electrochemical approaches to clean up pollution from 'forever chemicals' found in clothing, food packaging, firefighting foams, and a wide array of other products. A new study describes nanocatalysts developed to remediate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS.
Published Researchers explore non-invasive method for sampling drug response
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Harnessing a pervasive type of cellular messenger shows early experimental promise as a routine way of sampling and monitoring the body's response to prescription drug exposure. Experiments have successfully isolated drug-metabolizing enzymes from extracellular vesicles (EVs), which are widely secreted throughout the body for cellular communication.
Published Lab-grown liver organoid to speed up turtle research, making useful traits easier to harness
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers developed protocols for growing organoids that mimic a turtle liver, the first organoids developed for a turtle and only the second for any reptile. The discovery will aid deeper study of turtle genetics, including the cause of traits with potential medical applications for humans such as the ability to survive weeks without oxygen.
Published Gen Z's climate anxiety is real and needs action -- for everyone's wellbeing
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Young people have major concerns about climate change, which is having a significant impact on their lives and could have broader consequences decades into the future.
Published After decades of Arctic sea ice getting faster and more hazardous for transport, models suggest a dramatic reversal is coming
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Will ice floating in the Arctic Ocean move faster or slower over the coming decades? The answer to this question will tell us whether marine transportation can be expected to get more or less hazardous. It might also have important implications for the rate of ice cover loss, which is hugely consequential for Northern Indigenous communities, ecosystems, and the global climate system. While observational data suggest the trend has been towards faster sea ice speeds, climate models project that those speeds will slow down during the summer season. This contrast has led to some questions around the plausibility of the model projections.