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Categories: Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry, Offbeat: Plants and Animals

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A groundbreaking study has found that evolution is not as unpredictable as previously thought, which could allow scientists to explore which genes could be useful to tackle real-world issues such as antibiotic resistance, disease and climate change. The study challenges the long-standing belief about the unpredictability of evolution, and has found that the evolutionary trajectory of a genome may be influenced by its evolutionary history, rather than determined by numerous factors and historical accidents.

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Mycelial fibers, the fibrous cells found in fruiting mushroom bodies, have gained momentum as a sustainable material for making faux-leather and packaging owing to their excellent formability. Recently, a team of researchers has found a simple way of obtaining mycelial fibers, called 'mycelial pulp,' from fruiting mushroom bodies and bleaching them using sunlight while keeping their mycelial structures intact.

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Whirligig beetles, the world's fastest-swimming insect, achieve surprising speeds by employing a strategy shared by fast-swimming marine mammals and waterfowl, according to a new study that rewrites previous explanations of the physics involved.

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Two types of experiences affect the behavioral skills of animals: the animal's environment during its early development and acquired experience. Researchers followed Egyptian vultures during migration, a critical and challenging period for them, and investigated how their flying skills developed by examining their performance using high resolution tracking.

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Creating a functional lung using interspecies chimeric animals is an attractive albeit challenging option for lung transplantation, requiring more research on the viable conditions needed for organ generation. A new study uses reverse-blastocyst complementation and tetraploid-based organ complementation methods to first determine these conditions in lung-deficient mice and then to generate rat-derived lungs in these mice. It provides useful insights on the intrinsic species-specific barriers and factors associated with lung development in interspecies chimeric animals.

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Spin-orbit torque (SOT), an important phenomenon for developing ultrafast and low-power spintronic devices, can be enhanced through Berry phase monopole engineering at high temperatures. In a new study, the temperature dependence of the intrinsic spin Hall effect of TaSi2 was investigated. The results suggest that Berry phase monopole engineering is an effective strategy for achieving high-temperature SOT spintronic devices.

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The pathogenic potential of inhaling the inert fibrous nanomaterials used in thermal insulation (such as asbestos or fiberglass) is actually connected not to their chemical composition, but instead to their geometrical characteristics and size. This was revealed by a study conducted on glass nanofibers.

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With a split-second muscle contraction, the greater blue-ringed octopus can change the size and color of the namesake patterns on its skin for purposes of deception, camouflage and signaling. Researchers have drawn inspiration from this natural wonder to develop a technological platform with similar capabilities for use in a variety of fields, including the military, medicine, robotics and sustainable energy.

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Animals reproduce in one of two distinct ways: egg-laying or live birth. By studying an evolutionarily recent transition from egg-laying to live-bearing in a marine snail, collaborative research has shed new light on the genetic changes that allow organisms to make the switch.

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Engineers have succeeded in implementing a stretchable organic solar cell by applying a newly developed polymer material that demonstrated the world's highest photovoltaic conversion efficiency (19%) while functioning even when stretched for more than 40% of its original state. This new conductive polymer has high photovoltaic properties that can be stretched like rubber. The newly developed polymer is expected to play a role as a power source for next-generation wearable electronic devices.

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Fossils of a new group of animal predators have been located in the Early Cambrian Sirius Passet fossil locality in North Greenland. These large worms may be some of the earliest carnivorous animals to have colonized the water column more than 518 million years ago, revealing a past dynasty of predators that scientists didn't know existed.

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New research reveals how corrosion happens on the atomic level.

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A new study has found humans can tell if chickens are excited or displeased, just by the sound of their clucks.

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A new analysis of fossils believed to be juveniles of T. rex now shows they were adults of a small tyrannosaur, with narrower jaws, longer legs, and bigger arms than T. rex. The species, Nanotyrannus lancensis, was first named decades ago but later reinterpreted as a young T. rex. The new study shows Nanotyrannus was a smaller, longer-armed relative of T. rex, with a narrower snout.

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Chemists found a way to use electricity to boost a type of chemical reaction often used in synthesizing new candidates for pharmaceutical drugs. The research is an advance in the field of electrochemistry and shows a path forward to designing and controlling reactions -- and making them more sustainable.

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Aptamers, nucleic acids capable of selectively binding to viruses, proteins, ions, small molecules, and various other targets, are garnering attention in drug development as potential antibody substitutes for their thermal and chemical stability as well as ability to inhibit specific enzymes or target proteins through three-dimensional binding. They also hold promise for swift diagnoses of colon cancer and other challenging diseases by targeting elusive biomarkers. Despite their utility, these aptamers are susceptible to easy degradation by multiple enzymes, presenting a significant challenge.

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The African Matabele ants are often injured in fights with termites. Their conspecifics recognize when the wounds become infected and initiate antibiotic treatment.

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A research team has achieved a significant breakthrough in the field of organic semiconductors. Their successful synthesis and characterization of a novel molecule called 'BNBN anthracene' has opened up new possibilities for the development of advanced electronic devices.

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Researchers have discovered that molecules experience non-reciprocal interactions without external forces. Fundamental forces such as gravity and electromagnetism are reciprocal, where two objects are attracted to each other or are repelled by each other. In our everyday experience, however, interactions don t seem to follow this reciprocal law.

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Barley seedlings grow on average 50% more when their root system is stimulated electrically through a new cultivation substrate. Researchers have now developed an electrically conductive 'soil' for soil-less cultivation, known as hydroponics.