Новости за 23.06.2022

They're in our oceans and rivers. They're in the food we eat and the water we drink. They've even been detected inside the human body. They're called microplastics—particles of plastic so small they can't be seen by the naked eye. While researchers have known for years that these microplastics exist in Flathead Lake, the concentrations and origins of the microplastic pollution have remained a mystery.

The ability of team members to work together across a range of tasks, called collective intelligence (CI), varies significantly between teams. Research suggests that the level of collective attention (the quality and coordination of members' focus) a team develops influences its level of CI. A new study examined what factors enhance collective attention, focusing on the influence of teams' hierarchy and its interaction with teams' gender composition.

Scientists are about to get a new look at Mars, thanks to a multicolored 5.6-gigapixel map. Covering 86% of the Red Planet's surface, the map reveals the distribution of dozens of key minerals. By looking at mineral distribution, scientists can better understand Mars' watery past and can prioritize which regions need to be studied in more depth.

The effects of global climate change already are resulting in the loss of sea ice, accelerated sea level rise, and longer and more intense heat waves, among other threats.

Towering artificial ice reservoirs called "ice stupas" have emerged since 2014 as an accessible means of storing irrigation water in dry, high-altitude mountain villages. Now, experiments with automated systems have demonstrated that construction of these giant ice cones, which top 30 meters (100 feet), can be accomplished with about one-tenth the volume of water manual methods use, according to new research being presented today at the Frontiers in Hydrology meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico and online.

The Australian National Herbarium in Canberra is imaging nearly a million plant specimens using an automated system developed by Netherlands company Picturae.

As the need to address climate change becomes increasingly urgent, so too does the concurrent need for proactive stewardship of the Earth's rapidly changing biosphere, according to research published today in the journal Science.

In a new compendium of academic analysis, researchers argue that despite decades of investment in "positive education"—such as programs to teach children happiness and mindfulness—schools still lack a proper framework for cultivating pupil well-being.

NASA said Thursday it has finished testing its huge moon rocket and will move it back to the launch pad in late August.

The original SARS-CoV-2 viral strain that emerged in early 2020 was able to latch on to sugars known as sialic acids, found on the surface of human cells, an ability that later strains did not retain.

Zinnia (popular ornamental flowers) and tobacco adapt to copper in the soil. They accumulate heavy metal in the roots and limit the transport of copper to the aerial parts of the plant: stem, leaves, and beyond. At the same time, these plants not only survive in difficult conditions, but also grow better. This feature was revealed by scientists of the Ural Federal University (UrFU). They conducted experiments, the results of which are published in the journal Horticulturae.

Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute researchers have designed and developed a novel drug delivery method that can vastly improve the efficacy of a drug used to treat atherosclerosis and has the potential to identify and treat other diseases.

A supernova is the catastrophic explosion of a star. Thermonuclear supernovae, in particular, signal the complete destruction of a white dwarf star, leaving nothing behind. At least that's what models and observations suggested.

As rising sea levels cause marshes to move inland in six mid-Atlantic states, the coastal zone will not continue to serve as a carbon sink but release more carbon into the atmosphere, a new modeling study led by researchers at Duke University finds.

In Europe, far-right parties have emerged as the most vocal defenders of restricting welfare benefits to citizens only.

When we think about ancient Egypt, the first things that come to mind are usually mummies and sarcophagi. According to researcher and Rijksmuseum van Oudheden curator Lara Weiss, that impression is unjustified. She made an audio tour for the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden that focuses on living Egyptians and their relationship with death and the dead.

A new path to help stop the spread of antibiotic resistance has been uncovered by a team led by University College London (UCL) and Birkbeck researchers, in a move that could impact the lives of millions globally.

Floodplains must contain a variety of fish habitats, among other things, to restore river fish biodiversity. This is the result of a large-scale study conducted by Wageningen University & Research (WUR) in collaboration with Rijkswaterstaat, which is published in Science of the Total Environment (STOTEN). Additionally, the extent to which the restored floodplain is connected to the river determines its success as a nursery.

Human populations have waxed and waned over the millennia, with some cultures exploding and migrating to new areas or new continents, others dropping to such low numbers that their genetic diversity plummeted. In some small populations, inbreeding causes once rare genetic diseases to become common, despite their deleterious effects.

When plants breathe in carbon from the atmosphere and store it in their leaves, branches, trunks and roots, they help the Earth maintain a carbon balance—a crucial component to a steady climate.

All living organisms age and die—there is no way of escaping death. But not all organisms follow the same pattern of weakening and deterioration to old age and death—counter-intuitive as it may seem.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and SciLifeLab in Sweden describe in a study published in Science how they have improved the ability of a protein to repair oxidative DNA damage and created a new protein function. Their innovative technique could lead to improved drugs for diseases involving oxidative stress, such as cancer, Alzheimer's disease and lung diseases, but the researchers believe it has even greater potential.

The deep-sea environment is characterized by darkness, low temperature, high hydrostatic pressure and lack of food. Despite the hostile environment, a growing number of deep-dwelling animals have been identified in this ecosystem, including worms, mollusks, fish and crustaceans.

A collaborative project between the labs of Maulik Patel, assistant professor of biological sciences, and Kris Burkewitz, assistant professor of cell and developmental biology, has identified a new molecular pathway that plays a key role in the ability of cells to sense and respond to stressed mitochondria. Defects in mitochondrial function are particularly relevant to aging and aging-related diseases.

Weill Cornell Medicine and New York Genome Center researchers, in collaboration with Oxford Nanopore Technologies, have developed a new method to assess on a large scale the three-dimensional structure of the human genome, or how the genome folds. The genome is the complete set of genetic instructions, DNA or RNA, enabling an organism to function.