Новости за 07.11.2022

Yeast is not the simple single-celled microorganism we once thought, but a competitive killer. When starved of glucose, yeast releases a toxin that will poison other microorganisms that have entered its surrounding habitat, even its own clones. This venomous phenomenon was previously unknown and contributes to our understanding of unicellular microorganism behavior and the evolution of unicellular to multicellular organisms, as well as having potentially useful applications for the food industry.

In work published in npj Quantum Materials, a team led by Prof. Leonardo Degiorgi in the Department of Physics at ETH Zurich has studied the broadband charge dynamics (i.e., longitudinal optical conductivity) of the ferromagnetic (FM), non-centrosymmmetric PrAlGe material. They reveal its electronic environment, based on correlated Weyl states, which favors an unusually large anomalous Hall conductivity (AHC) at low temperatures. The researchers thus propose a suitable experimental approach to trace... Читать дальше...

Buildings renovated with healthier furnishings had significantly lower levels of the entire group of per- and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS)—toxic chemicals linked with many negative health effects—than buildings with conventional furnishings, according to a new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

A quick survey of life on Earth will usually yield two groups: those that produce their own nutrients and those that must get them from other lifeforms. Plants generally fall into the first category, called autotrophs, while animals and fungi are almost exclusively the second, heterotrophs. But digging deeper reveals a host of organisms that can do both: mixotrophs.

Factory workers in apparel supply chains are more likely to quit due to wage and benefit violations, relative to violations of other code provisions, such as environment protection and safety standards, according to new ILR School research that will be published in the British Journal of Industrial Relations.

With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, people were plunged into a situation that required them to acquire information about an emerging scientific issue to assess the adequacy of government actions and programs of significant personal import to each individual.

A new study by Virginia Tech geobiologists traces the cause of the first known mass extinction of animals to decreased global oxygen availability, leading to the loss of a majority of animals present near the end of the Ediacaran Period some 550 million years ago.

Early in the pandemic, Víctor Ortega-Jiménez was exploring creeks near his home and observing springtails. The organisms are the most abundant non-insect hexapods on earth, and Ortega-Jiménez suspected their avoidance of predators had something to do with their ability to jump on the water surface and land perfectly in the same spot.

Many COVID-19 patients who have been treated for weeks or months with mechanical ventilation have been slow to regain consciousness even after being taken off sedation. A new article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences offers the hypothesis that this peculiar response could be the effect of a hibernation-like state invoked by the brain to protect cells from injury when oxygen is scarce.

Call it a CRISPR conundrum.

At least 15,000 people have died in Europe because of hot weather in 2022 so far, the World Health Organization said Monday, with Spain and Germany among the worst-affected countries.

Through millions of years of evolution, nature has produced biological systems with exceptional properties and functionalities. Many organisms have adapted to their particular environment by creating extraordinarily efficient materials and structures. These materials are optimized in terms of their mechanical, thermal, and optical properties in a way that sometimes even technology is still unable to reproduce.

Zimbabwe on Monday announced the launch of its first nano-satellite into space in a bid to help collect data to monitor disasters, boost agriculture and enhance mineral mapping.

Cats are popular pets. At times, their aggression towards humans and other problematic behavior poses challenges to our co-existence with them and can even result in giving up the pet. The causes underlying problematic behavior can be varied, and they are poorly known. Even internationally, very little research has been conducted on the topic.

Most languages lack a specialized vocabulary to describe smell experiences. People instead use words from other domains, such as "heavy", "good", or "fruity", when talking about smells. But which words are really used and how do they relate to each other? This has been answered for English by researchers at Stockholm University by using a fully automatic method that is based on texts from the Internet.

Scientists at the Ural Federal University (UrFU) have developed a new sensor device for determining cholesterol levels in blood. The system does not use protein compounds such as enzymes. Chemists replaced them with an inorganic analog—copper chloride. This allowed them to make the process of creating cholesterol meters cheaper, to make blood testing easier, faster and more accessible. The results of the study are presented in the Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry.

A new approach uses data from one type of test on small metal alloy samples to extract enough information for building databases that can be used to predict the properties and potentials of new materials. The details were published in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials: Methods.

The emotions donors feel when they decide whether to give money to nonprofits can affect the size of their gift.

There is much talk about political violence in America these days. Garen Wintemute, a University of California, Davis, scholar who researches firearm violence, has recently led a nationwide survey research project on political violence. The Conversation U.S. asked him for a portrait of what Americans think about political violence as the midterm elections approach.

The world is falling miserably short of reducing carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, a 2015 treaty to keep global warming well below 2℃.

The largest ever bird flu outbreak has hit England, with hundreds of cases being identified within the last year and more than 5.5 million birds dead or culled since October 2021—with both figures set to rise significantly in the next few months. The UK Government has announced all poultry and captive birds must be kept indoors from Monday 7 November to combat the spread.

The United States Government sought to sexually stimulate then frustrate its soldiers to prepare them for an unpopular conflict in Europe, a Cambridge historian argues.

Beer is one of the oldest and most popular beverages in the world, with some people loving and others hating the distinct, bitter taste of the hops used to flavor its many varieties. But an especially "hoppy" brew might have unique health benefits. Recent research published in ACS Chemical Neuroscience reports that chemicals extracted from hop flowers can, in lab dishes, inhibit the clumping of amyloid beta proteins, which is associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD).

The world's leaders are gathering for another global climate meeting, this time in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Expect a bustle of promises and pacts from countries and companies. Expect pressure on states to support people who are most and permanently affected by climate change. Don't expect much more, but equally don't lay the blame solely on the United Nations.

Many private landlords lack the knowledge, skills and support needed to provide decent homes for renters, a new study has found.