Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
Published

Gene variations for immune and metabolic conditions have persisted in humans for more than 700,000 years      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study explores 'balancing selection' by analyzing thousands of modern human genomes alongside ancient hominin groups, such as Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes. The research has 'implications for understanding human diversity, the origin of diseases, and biological trade-offs that may have shaped our evolution,' says evolutionary biologists.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Engineered wood grows stronger while trapping carbon dioxide      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have figured out a way to engineer wood to trap carbon dioxide through a potentially scalable, energy-efficient process that also makes the material stronger for use in construction.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

'Magic' solvent creates stronger thin films      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new all-dry polymerization technique uses reactive vapors to create thin films with enhanced properties, such as mechanical strength, kinetics and morphology.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Can clay capture carbon dioxide?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have been using powerful computer models combined with laboratory experiments to study how a kind of clay can soak up carbon dioxide and store it.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Paleontology: General
Published

2.9-million-year-old butchery site reopens case of who made first stone tools      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Along the shores of Africa's Lake Victoria in Kenya roughly 2.9 million years ago, early human ancestors used some of the oldest stone tools ever found to butcher hippos and pound plant material, according to new research. The study presents what are likely to be the oldest examples of a hugely important stone-age innovation known to scientists as the Oldowan toolkit, as well as the oldest evidence of hominins consuming very large animals. Excavations at the site, named Nyayanga and located on the Homa Peninsula in western Kenya, also produced a pair of massive molars belonging to the human species' close evolutionary relative Paranthropus. The teeth are the oldest fossilized Paranthropus remains yet found, and their presence at a site loaded with stone tools raises intriguing questions about which human ancestor made those tools.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Technology
Published

Fighting climate change: Ruthenium complexes for carbon dioxide reduction to valuable chemicals      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Excessive use of fossil fuels leads to undesired carbon dioxide (CO2) generation, accelerating climate change. One way to tackle this is by converting CO2 into value-added chemicals. On this front, researchers have recently utilized a novel redox couple, for the purpose.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

Making molecules faster: Discovery dramatically reduces time it takes to build molecules      (via sciencedaily.com) 

With a big assist from artificial intelligence and a heavy dose of human touch, a lab made a discovery that dramatically speeds up the time-consuming chemical process of building molecules that will be tomorrow's medicines, agrichemicals or materials.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Fossil Fuels Engineering: Nanotechnology Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

'Game-changing' findings for sustainable hydrogen production      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Hydrogen fuel could be a more viable alternative to traditional fossil fuels, according to University of Surrey researchers who have found that a type of metal-free catalysts could contribute to the development of cost-effective and sustainable hydrogen production technologies.

Biology: Microbiology Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

Keeping SARS-CoV-2 closed for business with small molecules      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The infamous spike proteins on the surface of SARS-CoV-2 help it bind to and enter human cells. Because of their important role in spreading infection, these spike proteins are one of the main targets for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. But those remedies gradually lose effectiveness when certain segments of the spike proteins mutate. Now, researchers report that they have discovered small molecules that successfully target other segments that mutate less.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Offbeat: Computers and Math
Published

Biosensor could lead to new drugs, sensory organs on a chip      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A synthetic biosensor that mimics properties found in cell membranes and provides an electronic readout of activity could lead to a better understanding of cell biology, development of new drugs, and the creation of sensory organs on a chip capable of detecting chemicals, similar to how noses and tongues work.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Prehistoric human migration in Southeast Asia driven by sea-level rise      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An interdisciplinary team of scientistshas found that rapid sea-level rise drove early settlers in Southeast Asia to migrate during the prehistoric period, increasing the genetic diversity of the region today.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Archaeology: General
Published

Remapping the superhighways travelled by the first Australians reveals a 10,000-year journey through the continent      (via sciencedaily.com) 

New research has revealed that the process of 'peopling' the entire continent of Sahul -- the combined mega continent that joined Australia with New Guinea when sea levels were much lower than today -- took 10,000 years. Sophisticated models show the scale of the challenges faced by the ancestors of Indigenous people making their mass migration across the supercontinent more than 60,000 years ago. This pattern led to a rapid expansion both southward toward the Great Australian Bight, and northward from the Kimberley region to settle all parts of New Guinea and, later, the southwest and southeast of Australia.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

This one-atom chemical reaction could transform drug discovery      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have used single carbon atom doping to form four chemical bonds in one step. Gamma-lactams (cyclic molecules that are common in antibiotics) were easily synthetically accessible from alpha, beta-unsaturated amides (an important molecule in cancer progression). The team chemically modified an anti-seizure medication in 96% yield, highlighting the work's utility to otherwise synthetically complex aspects of pharmaceutical development. The results of this work could become foundational to drug discovery and development.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

Using CRISPR to detect cancer biomarkers      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Most cancer diagnostic techniques rely on uncomfortable and invasive procedures, such as biopsies, endoscopies or mammograms. Blood samples could be a less unpleasant option, though only a few forms of the disease can currently be diagnosed this way. But now, researchers have developed an easy-to-use method that can detect small amounts of cancer-related molecules in exosomes in plasma and effectively distinguish between malignant and benign samples.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Soil tainted by air pollution expels carbon      (via sciencedaily.com) 

New research suggests nitrogen released by gas-powered machines causes dry soil to let go of carbon and release it back into the atmosphere, where it can contribute to climate change.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

'Snapshots' of translation could help us investigate cellular proteins      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Nascent polypeptide chains or polypeptidyl-tRNAs (pep-tRNAs) occur transiently during protein synthesis. The potential to study these intermediates and better understand their role in processes like gene regulation has been greatly enhanced by the development of a process termed PETEOS -- short for peptidyl-tRNA enrichment using organic extraction and silica adsorption. This method allows for the large-scale harvesting, processing, and identification of pep-tRNA polypeptide moieties.

Biology: Microbiology Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

Catching the wrongdoers in the act: Chemists develop a novel tool to decipher bacterial infections in real time      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research team has developed a novel chemical tool to reveal how bacteria adapt to the host environment and control host cells. This tool can be used to investigate bacterial interactions with the host in real-time during an infection, which cannot be easily achieved by other methods.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Biology: Evolutionary Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Plague trackers: Researchers cover thousands of years in a quest to understand the elusive origins of the Black Death      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Seeking to better understand more about the origins and movement of bubonic plague, in ancient and contemporary times, researchers have completed a painstaking granular examination of hundreds of modern and ancient genome sequences, creating the largest analysis of its kind.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Paleontology: Climate
Published

In the Neanderthal site of Combe-Grenal, France, hunting strategies were unaffected by changing climate      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Neanderthals in Combe-Grenal (France) preferred to hunt in open environments, and their hunting strategies did not alter during periods of climatic change, according to a new study.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
Published

Ancient Siberian genomes reveal genetic backflow from North America across the Bering Sea      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The movement of people across the Bering Sea from North Asia to North America is a well-known phenomenon in early human history. Nevertheless, the genetic makeup of the  people who lived in North Asia during this time has remained mysterious due to a limited number of ancient genomes analyzed from this region. Now, researchers describe genomes from ten individuals up to 7,500 years old that help to fill the gap and show geneflow from people moving in the opposite direction from North America to North Asia.