Showing 20 articles starting at article 4141
< Previous 20 articles Next 20 articles >
Categories: All Categories
Published How seahorse-like toxins kill insects
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Insect-killing bacteria typically release toxins to slay their hosts. The bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens, for example, pumps insect larvae full of the lethal 'Makes caterpillars floppy 1' (Mcf1) toxin, leading them to first become droopy and then dead. However, it has so far been a mystery how Mcf1 unfolds its devastating effect. Researchers successfully used cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and biochemical assays to characterize the first-ever Mcf1 structure, allowing them to propose a molecular mechanism of the toxin's action. Understanding how bacterial toxins perform their deadly task in such detail is very useful for engineering novel biopesticides, thereby reducing the use of barely specific chemical agents with harmful side effects for the ecosystem.
Published Engineering viruses to kill deadly pathogens
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Antimicrobial resistance is an urgent and growing global crisis. Researchers are exploring phages, viruses that infect bacteria, as a possible solution. In the new study, researchers successfully modified DNA from four types of phages to kill a deadly pathogen. The process can also be used to produce more phage variants for further exploration.
Published Researchers discover new ways to excite spin waves with extreme infrared light
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed a pioneering method to precisely manipulate ultrafast spin waves in antiferromagnetic materials using tailored light pulses.
Published As sea otters recolonize California estuary, they restore its degraded geology
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source As sea otters recolonize a California estuary, they are restoring its degraded geology by keeping populations of overgrazing marsh crabs in check, a new study shows. The crabs' appetite for plant roots, and their tunneling behavior had caused many of the estuary's marshes and creekbanks to erode and collapse in the otters' absence. Today, erosion has slowed by up to 90% in areas with large otter populations and marshes and streambeds are restabilizing.
Published Neanderthals and humans lived side by side in Northern Europe 45,000 years ago
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Archaeologists have debated whether Neanderthals or modern humans made stone tools that are found at sites across northern Europe and date from about 40,000 years ago. A new excavation at one site in Germany turned up 45,000-year-old bone fragments that, when analyzed for mitochondrial DNA, proved to be from Homo sapiens. This is the earliest evidence that modern humans overlapped with Neanderthals in northwest Europe, thousands of years before Neanderthals went extinct.
Published Ambitious roadmap for circular carbon plastics economy
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have outlined ambitious targets to help deliver a sustainable and net zero plastic economy. The authors argue for a rethinking of the technical, economic, and policy paradigms that have entrenched the status-quo, one of rising carbon emissions and uncontrolled pollution.
Published When and how immune cells decide to form pathogen memories
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source During infection, reversible switch permits flexible formation of memory T cells, long-lived blood cells that can remember pathogen encounters and respond upon reinfection.
Published Decarbonizing the world's industries
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Harmful emissions from the industrial sector could be reduced by up to 85% across the world, according to new research. The sector, which includes iron and steel, chemicals, cement, and food and drink, emits around a quarter of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions -- planet-warming gases that result in climate change and extreme weather.
Published AI-powered app can detect poison ivy
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source To find poison ivy before it finds you, scientists have published a new study in which they show how they used artificial intelligence to confirm that an app can identify poison ivy. The app is not yet commercially available, nor is there a timetable for it to be available.
Published Black summer bushfires in Australia wiped $2.8 billion from tourism supply chain
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source First input-output economic analysis of the 2019-20 Australian fires also found 7300 jobs were lost. The study highlights economic vulnerabilities to extremes of climate change.
Published Using computers to design proteins allows researchers to make tunable hydrogels that can form both inside and outside of cells
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research demonstrates a new class of hydrogels that can form not just outside cells, but also inside of them. These hydrogels exhibited similar mechanical properties both inside and outside of cells, providing researchers with a new tool to group proteins together inside of cells.
Published Researchers craft new way to make high-temperature superconductors -- with a twist
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international team has developed a new method to make and manipulate a widely studied class of high-temperature superconductors. This technique should pave the way for the creation of unusual forms of superconductivity in previously unattainable materials.
Published Scientists pinpoint growth of brain's cerebellum as key to evolution of bird flight
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Evolutionary biologists report they have combined PET scans of modern pigeons along with studies of dinosaur fossils to help answer an enduring question in biology: How did the brains of birds evolve to enable them to fly?
Published A green alternative for treating Streptococcus iniae bacteria in hybrid striped bass
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have developed a green antibiotic alternative to treat the deadly pathogen Streptococcus iniae in hybrid striped bass, the fourth most farmed finfish in the United States, according to a recent study.
Published Superfluids could share characteristic with common fluids
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Every fluid -- from Earth's atmosphere to blood pumping through the human body -- has viscosity, a quantifiable characteristic describing how the fluid will deform when it encounters some other matter. If the viscosity is higher, the fluid flows calmly, a state known as laminar. If the viscosity decreases, the fluid undergoes the transition from laminar to turbulent flow. The degree of laminar or turbulent flow is referred to as the Reynolds number, which is inversely proportional to the viscosity. However, this Reynolds similitude does not apply to quantum superfluids. A researcher has theorized a way to examine the Reynolds similitude in superfluids, which could demonstrate the existence of quantum viscosity in superfluids.
Published Geoengineering may slow Greenland ice sheet loss
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Modeling shows that stratospheric aerosol injection has the potential to reduce ice sheet loss due to climate change.
Published Goats can tell if you are happy or angry by your voice alone
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Goats can tell the difference between a happy-sounding human voice and an angry-sounding one, according to researchers. A new study reveals that goats may have developed a sensitivity to our vocal cues over their long association with humans.
Published Artificial muscles -- lighter, safer, more robust
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed artificial muscles that are lighter, safer and more robust than their predecessors. The newly developed actuators have a novel type of shell structure and use a high-permittivity ferroelectric material that can store relatively large amounts of electrical energy. They therefore work with relatively low electrical voltage, are waterproof, more robust and safer to touch.
Published Sweat-resistant wearable robot sensor
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A joint research team has developed a stretchable and adhesive microneedle sensor that can be attached to the skin and stably measure high-quality electrophysiological signals for a long period of time.
Published DNA particles that mimic viruses hold promise as vaccines
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Using a DNA-based delivery particle, researchers created a vaccine that can induce a strong antibody response against SARS-CoV-2.