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Categories: Ecology: Animals, Engineering: Robotics Research

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For most human proteins, there are no small molecules known to bind them chemically (so called 'ligands'). Ligands frequently represent important starting points for drug development but this knowledge gap critically hampers the development of novel medicines. Researchers at CeMM, in a collaboration with Pfizer, have now leveraged and scaled a method to measure the binding activity of hundreds of small molecules against thousands of human proteins. This large-scale study revealed tens of thousands of ligand-protein interactions that can now be explored for the development of chemical tools and therapeutics. Moreover, powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence, it allows unbiased predictions of how small molecules interact with all proteins present in living human cells. These groundbreaking results have been published in the journal Science (DOI: 10.1126/science.adk5864), and all generated data and models are freely available for the scientific community.

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Cichlid fishes exhibit differing degrees of curiosity. The cause for this lies in their genes, as reported by researchers. This trait influences the cichlids' ability to adapt to new habitats.

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Scientists have successfully replaced half of the fishmeal protein in the diets of farmed Asian seabass with a 'single cell protein' cultivated from microbes in soybean processing wastewater, paving the way for more sustainable fish farming practices.

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In the boreal forest of Western Canada, researchers have considered that both changing climate and increased habitat alteration have enabled deer to push farther north.

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Researchers have published a comprehensive study on the invasion of lionfish in the Mediterranean Sea, highlighting a rapid spread and the potential ecological impacts. The research shows the lionfish species Pterois miles has significantly expanded its territory in the Mediterranean since the invasion began around ten years ago. The invasive species has established presence in the eastern Mediterranean, with observations now extending to colder waters previously thought to be unsuitable for the species.

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Oncorhynchus rastrosus, a giant species of salmon that lived in the North American Pacific Northwest a few million years ago, sported a pair of front teeth that projected out from the sides of its mouth like tusks, according to a new study.

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Every cuckoo is an adopted child -- raised by foster parents, into whose nest the cuckoo mother smuggled her egg. The cuckoo mother is aided in this subterfuge by her resemblance to a bird of prey. There are two variants of female cuckoos: a gray morph that looks like a sparrowhawk, and a rufous morph. Male cuckoos are always gray.

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Robotics engineers have worked for decades and invested many millions of research dollars in attempts to create a robot that can walk or run as well as an animal. And yet, it remains the case that many animals are capable of feats that would be impossible for robots that exist today.

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A new study sheds light on how parasites, often overlooked, can dramatically affect the balance between predator and prey populations. Researchers developed a groundbreaking mathematical framework that predicts when predators, prey, and parasites can coexist, considering factors like random fluctuations and parasite effects on both populations. This research provides a valuable tool for conservation by helping predict how parasites influence ecosystem resilience and informing strategies to protect vulnerable species.

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When we think of evolution, we think of a process that happens over hundreds or thousands of years. In research recently published, a species of frog that has evolved over the course of merely 25 years. The adaptation was spurred on by something many assume is innocuous: salt.

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A study of shallow-water fish communities on rocky reefs in south-eastern Australia has found climate change is helping tropical fish species invade temperate Australian waters.

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Anticipating changes to ecosystems is often at best an educated guess, but what if there was a way to better tune into possible changes occurring? Researchers have discovered that the silent growth of non-native invasive plants can affect the soundscape of an ecosystem. These altered soundscapes, the acoustic patterns of a landscape through space and time, may provide a key to better observing the hard-to-see physical and biological changes occurring in an ecosystem as they are beginning.

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A study has found direct evidence of a species -- the American woodcock, a migratory shorebird from eastern and central North America -- that overlaps periods of migration and reproduction, a rare breeding strategy known as 'itinerant breeding.'

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What can be done when one threatened animal kills another? Scientists studying critically endangered lemurs in Madagascar confronted this difficult reality when they witnessed attacks on lemurs by another vulnerable species, a carnivore called a fosa.

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A heart attack will leave a permanent scar on a human heart, yet other animals, including zebrafish, can clear cardiac scar tissue and regrow damaged muscle as adults. Biologists sheds new light on how zebrafish heal heart tissue by comparing how this species responds to heart injury with medaka, a fish species that cannot regenerate cardiac tissue.

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A new robotic suction cup which can grasp rough, curved and heavy stone, has been developed by scientists.

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The 2010 Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest accidental spill in history, released almost 100 million gallons of oil, causing significant pollution. A decade later, its long-term effects remain unclear. A study investigating the impact on endemic fish species found 29 of 78 species unreported in museum collections since the spill, suggesting potential loss of biodiversity.

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Researchers are targeting the next generation of soft actuators and robots with an elastomer-based ink for 3D printing objects with locally changing mechanical properties, eliminating the need for cumbersome mechanical joints.

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Soft skin coverings and touch sensors have emerged as a promising feature for robots that are both safer and more intuitive for human interaction, but they are expensive and difficult to make. A recent study demonstrates that soft skin pads doubling as sensors made from thermoplastic urethane can be efficiently manufactured using 3D printers.

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Mountain chickadees have among the best spatial memory in the animal kingdom. New research identifies the genes at play and offers insight into how a shifting climate may impact the evolution of this unique skill.