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Categories: Biology: Microbiology, Mathematics: Statistics
Published New software platform advances understanding of the surface finish of manufactured components


The contact.engineering platform enables users to create a digital twin of a surface and thus to help predict, for example, how quickly it wears out, how well it conducts heat, or how well it adheres to other materials.
Published Mexican mangroves have been capturing carbon for 5,000 years


Researchers have identified a new reason to protect mangrove forests: they've been quietly keeping carbon out of Earth's atmosphere for the past 5,000 years.
Published Tropical insects are extremely sensitive to changing climates


Insects that are adapted to perennially wet environments, like tropical rainforests, don't tend to do well when their surroundings dry out. New research indicates they may be equally averse to heavy rainfall. The results of an extensive five-year study conducted in Peru revealed a 50% decline in arthropod biomass following short periods of both drought and increased precipitation. One of only a few studies of this scope conducted in the tropics, the findings suggest terrestrial arthropods, a group that includes insects and spiders, will be more susceptible to climate change than previously suspected.
Published This fungus shrinks in size to better infect the brain


A fungus that is a common cause of fungal meningitis undergoes a remarkable transformation once it enters the body, allowing it to infect the brain, according to new research. The discovery could lead to new strategies for blocking Cryptococcus neoformans infection and preventing detrimental effects on the host. C. neoformans is the leading cause of a rare but deadly swelling of the brain that occurs in people with weakened immune systems.
Published Healthcare researchers must be wary of misusing AI


A commentary advocates the proper application of artificial intelligence in healthcare and warns of the dangers when machine learning algorithms are misused.
Published New method to identify symmetries in data using Bayesian statistics


Scientists have developed a method to identify symmetries in multi-dimensional data using Bayesian statistical techniques. Bayesian statistics has been in the spotlight in recent years due to improvements in computer performance and its potential applications in artificial intelligence. However, this statistical approach requires complex calculations of integrals, which are often considered approximations only. In their new study, the research team successfully derived new exact integral formulas. Their findings contribute to improving the accuracy of methods to identify data symmetries, possibly extending their applications to wider areas of interest, such as genetic analysis.
Published New study reveals mechanism for how disease-spreading prions can jump from one species to another


In a new study, researchers have identified the structure of protein fibrils linked to a hereditary form of human prion disease. This insight, they say, reveals the mechanism for how prions can jump between some animal species, while retaining a transmissibility barrier between other species.
Published What makes the 'Appalachian truffle' taste and smell delicious


A hallmark of a truly luxurious meal is a sprinkling of truffle shavings -- the fungal kind, not the chocolate. Nicknamed 'diamonds' of the culinary world, these fanciful fungi are prized for their unique flavor and scent. But newer truffle species are fighting to achieve that same gourmet status. Now, researchers have performed the first full aroma characterization of the Appalachian truffle, unlocking the potential for a new North American 'black diamond.'
Published Research unlocks secrets of rodents' rat race to new lands


New research has mapped the DNA from more than 150 species of native rodents from across Australia, New Guinea and Melanesian islands, painting a clearer picture of how they're related and how they ended up spreading across the Pacific.
Published Scientists discover compound found in trees has potential to kill drug-resistant bacteria


Researchers have found a naturally occurring compound, known as hydroquinine, has bacterial killing activity against several microorganisms.
Published Weird and wonderful world of fungi shaped by evolutionary bursts, study finds


Scientists have discovered that the vast anatomical variety of fungi stems from evolutionary increases in multicellular complexity.
Published How a harmful fungus renders its host plant defenseless


The fungus Ustilago maydis attacks corn and can cause significant damage to its host. To do this, it first ensures that the plant offers little resistance to the infection. The surgical precision it applies is shown by a new study.
Published Drought increases microbe-laden dust landing in Sierras


Dust from all over the world is landing in the Sierra Nevada mountains carrying microbes that are toxic to both plants and humans. New research shows higher concentrations of the dust are landing at lower elevations, where people are more likely to be hiking.
Published Global spread of powdery mildew through migration and trade


The worldwide distribution of one of the most important cereal pathogens is the result of human activity. Researchers have traced the history and spread of wheat powdery mildew along wheat trade routes and found that mixing of genetic ancestries of related powdery mildew species played a central role in the evolution and adaptation of the pathogen.
Published This is how highly resistant strains of fungi emerge


Antibiotic resistance is a matter of common knowledge. And the same phenomenon also occurs with drugs against pathogenic fungi. What causes it is still not very well understood.
Published New bioremediation material to clean up 'forever chemicals'



A novel bioremediation technology for cleaning up per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, chemical pollutants that threaten human health and ecosystem sustainability, has been developed. The material has potential for commercial application for disposing of PFAS, also known as 'forever chemicals.'
Published Wine-drinkers of the world rejoice! New research finds key to billion-dollar problem



Grapevine Trunk Diseases, or GTDs, are the bane of vineyard owners worldwide, and as of 2012, were responsible for more than $1.5 billion in annual economic damages. While researchers have long known that a host of pathogenic fungi combine to gang up on grapevines, the mechanics of how these GTD-causing fungi work has remained a mystery.
Published Idea of ice age 'species pump' in the Philippines boosted by new way of drawing evolutionary trees


A groundbreaking Bayesian method and new statistical analyses of genomic data from geckos in the Philippines shows that during the ice ages, the timing of gecko diversification gives strong statistical support for the first time to the Pleistocene aggregate island complex (PAIC) model of diversification, or 'species pump.'
Published Topology and machine learning reveal hidden relationship in amorphous silicon


Fine-tuning the thermal conductivity of amorphous silicon used in technologies such as solar cells and image sensors should become much easier thanks to the computational topology and machine-learning-assisted discovery of the relationship between nano-scale structures and physical properties.
Published When quantum particles fly like bees


A quantum system with only 51 charged atoms can take on more than two quadrillion different states. Calculating the system's behavior is child's play for a quantum simulator. But verifying the result is almost impossible, even with today's supercomputers. A research team has now shown how these systems can be verified using equations formulated in the 18th century.