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- This week, researchers at the University of Albany reported an extreme size difference between early human males and females, suggesting intense competition among males. Krill are so overfished in Antarctica this year that the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources may trigger an unprecedented early closure of the fishery. And researchers report early behaviors that signal upcoming divorce between paired songbirds long before the breeding season.
- The Shroud of Turin is a famous artifact with obscure origins. How and when it was made has long been the subject of debate among many scientists, historians and religious leaders, alike. The two most prominent theories are that it was either created as a work of art during the medieval period or that it was a piece of linen that was actually wrapped around the body of Jesus Christ after his death over 2000 years ago.
- Cell membranes cradle, protect, and gatekeep living cells. Membranes can even affect how a cell behaves.
- The DNA of nearly all life on Earth contains many redundancies, and scientists have long wondered whether these redundancies served a purpose or if they were just leftovers from evolutionary processes. Both DNA and RNA contain codons, which are sequences of three nucleotides that either provide information about how to form a protein with a specific amino acid or tell the cell to stop (a stop signal) during protein synthesis.
- Caltech scientists have developed a method to create metallic objects of a precisely specified shape and composition, giving them unprecedented control of the metallic mixtures, or alloys, they create and the enhanced properties those creations will display. Want a stent that is biocompatible and mechanically robust? How about strong but lightweight satellite components that can operate in space for decades?
- A team from the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Hokkaido University, and Osaka University has discovered that subtle differences in molecular structure can have a major impact on the performance of mRNA-based drugs. Their findings, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, open the door to the development of safer and more effective vaccines and therapies.
- Rice seed development is crucial for determining both crop yield and grain quality. The embryo and endosperm—specialized structures for propagation and nutrient storage, respectively—must grow in a coordinated manner to ensure the viability of the seed.
- A new study uncovers revealing insights into how plastic materials used in electronics are formed, and how hidden flaws in their structure could be limiting their performance.
- Physicists have used a machine-learning method to identify surprising new twists on the non-reciprocal forces governing a many-body system.
- Forests play a central role in the global carbon cycle as trees store carbon in their trunks, branches, roots and leaves. However, climate change and human activities can change the ability of forests to absorb carbon and the annual changes in these carbon stocks are highly variable in space and time around the globe. That's why having continuous observations of the evolution of forest biomass over a long period is important for monitoring this essential climate variable.
- Researchers at Kumamoto University and Nagoya University have developed a new class of two-dimensional (2D) metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) using triptycene-based molecules, marking a breakthrough in the quest to understand and enhance the physical properties of these promising materials. The work is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
- Infrared imaging helps us see things the human eye cannot. The technology—which can make visible body heat, gas leaks or water content, even through smoke or darkness—is used in military surveillance, search and rescue missions, health care applications and even in autonomous vehicles.
- Researchers at the Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), have uncovered a long-sought mechanism employed by primitive land plants such as bryophytes (including mosses and liverwort) to regulate plant growth—a mechanism that is conserved in more recently evolved flowering plants.
- Forests cover about 40% of the EU's land area. Between 1990 and 2022, they absorbed around 10% of the continent's man-made carbon emissions. However, the carbon dioxide absorption capacity of forests, also known as carbon sinks, is becoming increasingly weaker.
- The top-line findings of a massive analysis of the growth rate of more than 20,000 tropical trees in more than 30 countries may at first seem reassuring: that droughts over the past century have had a minimal effect on their growth. Because tropical forests play a crucial role in naturally sequestering carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere—combating global warming—the trees' resilience should be a relief.
- Cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) allows us to observe samples in a preserved state that is close to their native form, making it a highly effective way to examine biological samples. This technique provides information on the size, shape, and dispersion of samples within a frozen solvent. However, there is another crucial piece of information that has not been accurately visualized in organic samples using this technique yet: elemental composition.
- The ultrafast placement of an electron in a polar liquid generates collective molecular vibrations in a spherical nano-volume. The vibrations change the diameter of this sphere periodically for more than 100 picoseconds.
- A puzzling form of superconductivity that arises only under strong magnetic fields has been mapped and explained by a research team including Andriy Nevidomskyy, professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University. Their findings, published in Science, detail how uranium ditelluride (UTe2) develops a superconducting halo under strong magnetic fields.
- Scientists from the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a lipid-rich mutant strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae using a high-throughput, label-free screening technique, opening new possibilities for microbial production of palmitoleic acid—an omega-7 fatty acid with proven anti-inflammatory and metabolic benefits.
- James Cook University researcher Professor Angus Emmott helped identify the new Acrophylla alta species and explained that the most surprising feature of this giant stick insect was its weight, which, at around 44 g, is slightly less than a golf ball.
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