Новости за 29.09.2021

One of modern biologists' most ambitious goals is to learn how to expand or otherwise modify the genetic code of life on Earth, in order to make new, artificial life forms. Part of the motivation for this "synthetic biology" research is to understand more about the evolution and the logic of the natural biology we've inherited. But there's also a very practical motivation: Cells can be used as efficient factories for making a broad array of useful molecules—especially protein-based therapeutics,... Читать дальше...

Since the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO)'s groundbreaking detection, in 2015, of gravitational waves produced by a pair of colliding black holes, the observatory, together with its European partner facility Virgo, has detected dozens of similar cosmic rumblings that send ripples through space and time.

Nearly two decades ago, fishers discovered an odd occurrence off the coast of Oregon. They were pulling up pots of dead or lethargic crabs.

Sunday, for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, volunteers made their way to Baltimore's Downtown Sailing Center for a day of oyster gardening.

Researchers have developed a highly accurate way to assemble multiple micron-scale optical devices extremely close together on a single chip. The new approach could one day allow high-volume manufacturing of chip-based optical systems that would enable more compact optical communications devices and advanced imagers.

By studying isotopic variations of the elements vanadium (V) and strontium (Sr), an international team of researchers including scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory found that those variations are not caused by irradiation from the sun but are produced by condensation and evaporation reactions in the early solar system. The research appears in the Sept. 29 edition of Science Advances.

Amid historic drought and changing rainfall patterns, a groundwater market in the California desert could serve as a template for the future of water management.

Transparent materials have become an essential component in a wide variety of technological applications, ranging from everyday electronics like tablets and smartphones to more sophisticated uses in solar panels, medicine, and optics. Just as for any other product to be mass-produced, quality control is important for these materials, and several techniques have been developed to detect microscopic scratches or imperfections.

For two people to communicate in a loud, crowded room, they need to be standing side by side. The same is often true for neurons in the brain. But the same way a cell phone allows two people to communicate clearly across the room, new research at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) has opened up a new channel of communication in the brain of the worm C. elegans.

Research guided by a plant pathologist in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences suggests that machine-learning algorithms that are programmed to recognize changing weather patterns could show producers and agricultural managers how to increase soybean and corn yields in the United States.

A team led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has found a rare quantum material in which electrons move in coordinated ways, essentially "dancing." Straining the material creates an electronic band structure that sets the stage for exotic, more tightly correlated behavior—akin to tangoing—among Dirac electrons, which are especially mobile electric charge carriers that may someday enable faster transistors. The results are published in the journal Science Advances.

Clover plants grown in Mars-like soils experience significantly more growth when inoculated with symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria than when left uninoculated. Franklin Harris of Colorado State University, U.S., and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on September 29, 2021.

Since May 2021, drivers crossing into Singapore at the Tuas Checkpoint have been required to breathe into a cigar-sized mouthpiece connected to a mass spectrometer. In less than a minute, the device analyzes the breath samples for COVID-19. According to a new feature article in Chemical & Engineering News, such breath-based diagnostics might be a fast, cheap way to detect infection, although challenges exist.

A new study found the use of outdoor parks and trails in urban areas of North Carolina declined during two summer months of 2020—contrary to anecdotal reports of a spike in new users during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also found that the drop-off in urban park access was more likely to impact minorities and people from lower-income backgrounds.

Lianas are the bridges of the tropical forest. These long, woody vines contribute to the high diversity of tropical plants and, by linking forest trees together, they also help animals move about the canopy. However, their abundance is increasing dramatically, which may be linked to natural forest disturbance. To test this hypothesis, a team led by Stefan Schnitzer, a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), followed the fate of more than 117,000 rooted liana stems... Читать дальше...

In a story that took the world by storm, a downtrodden yet cunning, lower-class family infiltrates a wealthier neighborhood's home. Then, all hell breaks loose.

Sometimes in research, just as in other areas of life, answers to fundamental questions can be sitting in plain sight. Researchers from Japan have discovered a key piece of the puzzle of plant evolution previously overlooked by plant scientists.

Molecular self-assembly is a well-known concept in supramolecular chemistry. Disordered molecules spontaneously organize themselves into larger structures through supramolecular interactions between the individual entities. It also works with nanoparticles, and researchers take advantage of certain functional groups attached to the particles to guide the particles' organization in a certain direction, e.g. as a basis for the design of new materials.

Glasses are an indispensable part of everyday life. One of the most important reasons for this is that glass objects can be manufactured almost universally and inexpensively in a wide variety of shapes and sizes using their corresponding melts. Processing in the (viscous) liquid phase offers a versatility that can hardly be achieved with other materials. However, this presupposes that the material from which the glass is made in terms of its chemical composition can be melted at all.

Air pollution from industries in Europe causes health and environmental damage estimated at up to 430 billion euros ($500 billion) for a single year, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said Wednesday.

French experts on Wednesday said they had measured Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in western Europe, at almost a metre lower than its previous official height.

In the last decade inequality has been placed at the center of the agenda for global social and economic policy. This has been driven in large part by the pioneering work of the British economist Sir Tony Atkinson, French economist Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century, and the work of sociologists like Goran Therborn.

Quantum gases consisting of atoms are extremely suitable for observing quantum mechanical phenomena and making new types of quantum matter. In his Ph.D. research Mestrom was able to quantify the effects of three-particle collisions in those ultracold gases. With a new numerical method he was able to characterize and predict certain effects of these collisions. He defended his Ph.D. on September 27 at the department of Applied Physics.

After a gene is transcribed into RNA, modifications can occur to the subunits or "bases" that make up the RNA molecule, which can affect its structure and function. The study of these changes is known as "epitranscriptomics." These base modifications can occur to most types of RNA molecule, including microRNAs.

Researchers have successfully mapped the entire genome of the Eurasian spruce bark beetle. The breakthrough paves the way for new research into bark beetles and better prospects for effective pest control of a species that can destroy more than 100 million cubic meters of spruce forest during a single year in Europe and Asia.