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Categories: Computer Science: Quantum Computers, Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published Butterflies can remember where things are over sizeable spaces
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Heliconius butterflies are capable of spatial learning, scientists have discovered. The results provide the first experimental evidence of spatial learning in any butterfly or moth species.
Published Discovery in nanomachines within living organisms -- cytochromes P450 (CYP450s) unleashed as living soft robots
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study suggests that Cytochromes P450 (CYP450s) enzymes can sense and respond to stimuli, acting like soft robots in living systems.
Published Current takes a surprising path in quantum material
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers used magnetic imaging to obtain the first direct visualization of how electrons flow in a special type of insulator, and by doing so they discovered that the transport current moves through the interior of the material, rather than at the edges, as scientists had long assumed.
Published Sensing and controlling microscopic spin density in materials
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers found a way to tune the spin density in diamond by applying an external laser or microwave beam. The finding could open new possibilities for advanced quantum devices.
Published Quantum discovery: Materials can host D-wave effects with F-wave behaviors
(via sciencedaily.com) In a potential boon for quantum computing, physicists have shown that topologically protected quantum states can be entangled with other, highly manipulable quantum states in some electronic materials.
Published Scientists create novel approach to control energy waves in 4D
(via sciencedaily.com) Everyday life involves the three dimensions or 3D -- along an X, Y and Z axis, or up and down, left and right, and forward and back. But, in recent years scientists have explored a 'fourth dimension' (4D), or synthetic dimension, as an extension of our current physical reality.
Published New chemical process makes it easier to craft amino acids that don't exist in nature
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Chemists describe a powerful new way to create new-to-nature, 'unnatural' amino acids, which could find use in protein-based therapies and open up novel branches of organic chemistry.
Published When electrons slowly vanish during cooling
(via sciencedaily.com) Many substances change their properties when they are cooled below a certain critical temperature. Such a phase transition occurs, for example, when water freezes. However, in certain metals there are phase transitions that do not exist in the macrocosm. They arise because of the special laws of quantum mechanics that apply in the realm of nature's smallest building blocks. It is thought that the concept of electrons as carriers of quantized electric charge no longer applies near these exotic phase transitions. Researchers have now found a way to prove this directly. Their findings allow new insights into the exotic world of quantum physics.
Published Scientists discover secret of virgin birth, and switch on the ability in female flies
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have pinpointed a genetic cause for virgin birth for the first time, and once switched on the ability is passed down through generations of females.
Published Researchers tickle rats to identify part of the brain critical for laughter and playfulness
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source To study play behaviors in animals, scientists must be able to authentically simulate play-conducive environments in the laboratory. Animals like rats are less inclined to play if they are anxious or restrained, and there is minimal data on the brain activity of rats that are free to play. After getting rats comfortable with a human playmate, tickling them under controlled conditions, then measuring the rats' squeaks and brain activity, a research team reports that a structure in rat brains called the periaqueductal gray is essential for play and laughter.
Published 'Time-traveling' pathogens in melting permafrost pose likely risk to environment
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Ancient pathogens that escape from melting permafrost have real potential to damage microbial communities and might potentially threaten human health, according to a new study.
Published Bacteria as Blacksmiths
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A hot bath is a place to relax. For scientists, it is also where molecules or tiny building blocks meet to form materials. Researchers take it to the next level and use the energy of swimming bacteria to forge materials. A recent study shows us how this works and the potential sustainability benefits that may arise from this innovative approach.
Published Bees and wasps use the same architectural solutions to join large hexagons to small hexagons
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Bees and wasps have converged on the same architectural solutions to nest-building problems, according to new research.
Published Fast electrical signals mapped in plants with new bioelectronic technology
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source What happens inside the carnivorous plant Venus Flytrap when it catches an insect? New technology has led to discoveries about the electrical signalling that causes the trap to snap shut. Bioelectronic technology enables advanced research into how plants react to their surroundings, and to stress.
Published Insect protein slows weight gain, boosts health status in obese mice
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study in mice suggests replacing traditional protein sources with mealworms in high-fat diets could slow weight gain, improve immune response, reduce inflammation, enhance energy metabolism, and beneficially alter the ratio of good to bad cholesterol.
Published Egg 'signatures' will allow drongos to identify cuckoo 'forgeries' almost every time, study finds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Egg 'signatures' will allow drongos to identify cuckoo 'forgeries' almost every time, study finds. African cuckoos may have met their match with the fork-tailed drongo, which scientists predict can detect and reject cuckoo eggs from their nest on almost every occasion, despite them on average looking almost identical to drongo eggs.
Published A new type of quantum bit in semiconductor nanostructures
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have created a quantum superposition state in a semiconductor nanostructure that might serve as a basis for quantum computing. The trick: two optical laser pulses that act as a single terahertz laser pulse.
Published Wormlike animals are first amphibians shown to pass microbes to their offspring
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Caecilians are an illusive type of snakelike amphibian that live in aquatic and subterranean environments. In some species, mothers produce a special type of nutrient-rich skin that juveniles consume, similar to the way in which humans breastfeed their children. A new study shows this behavior passes on microbes to juvenile caecilians, inoculating them to jump-start a healthy microbiome.
Published (How) cells talk to each other
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Like us, cells communicate. Well, in their own special way. Using waves as their common language, cells tell one another where and when to move. They talk, they share information, and they work together -- much like interdisciplinary teams. Researchers conducted research on how cells communicate -- and how that matters to future projects, e.g. application to wound healing.
Published Paleontologists identify two new species of sabertooth cat
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Sabertooth cats make up a diverse group of long-toothed predators that roamed Africa around 6-7 million years ago, around the time that hominins -- the group that includes modern humans -- began to evolve. By examining one of the largest global Pliocene collections of fossils in Langebaanweg, north of Cape Town in South Africa, researchers present two new sabertooth species and the first family tree of the region's ancient sabertooths. Their results suggest that the distribution of sabertooths throughout ancient Africa might have been different than previously assumed, and the study provides important information about Africa's paleoenvironment.