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Categories: Biology: Developmental, Geoscience: Geography

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An international group of researchers have discovered a previously unknown species of large foraminifer, shedding new light on the ecological evolution and biodiversity of coral reefs in the Ryukyu Islands.

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A new study sheds new light on the origins of modern brain cells. Researchers find evidence that specialized secretory cells found in placozoans, tiny sea creatures the size of a grain of sand, have many similarities to the neuron, such as the genes required to create a partial synapse. From an evolutionary point of view, early neurons might have started as something like these cells, eventually gaining the ability to create a complete synapse, form axons and dendrites and create ion channels that generate fast electrical signals -- innovations which gave rise to the neuron in more complex animals such as jellyfish. Though the complete story of how the first neuron appeared remains to be told, the study demonstrates that the basic building blocks for our brain cells were forming in the ancestors of placozoans grazing inconspicuously in the shallow seas of Earth around 800 million years ago.

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Researchers studying diamond-rich rocks from Western Australia's Argyle volcano have identified the missing third key ingredient needed to bring valuable pink diamonds to the Earth's surface where they can be mined, which could greatly help in the global hunt for new deposits.

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The research team generated a series of fire susceptibility maps. These show the proportion of Australia experiencing 'high' or 'very high' fire susceptibility increasing from 14.9% now to 15.66% by 2070 -- while fire susceptibility of areas suitable for the plants that koalas depend on is tipped to jump from 39.56% to 44.61% by 2070.

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Researchers have developed a novel genome editing technique known as NICER, which results in significantly fewer off-target mutations than CRISPR/Cas9 editing. The technique uses a different type of enzyme that makes single-stranded 'nicks' in the DNA. Repair of these nicks is more efficient and accurate than repair of double-strand breaks caused by the current CRISPR/Cas9 editing. This technique represents a novel approach for the treatment of genetic diseases caused by heterozygous mutations.

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Results provide the first measurements of how sea-ice algae and other single-celled life adjust to the dramatic seasonal rhythms in the Southern Ocean. The results provide clues to what might happen as this ecosystem shifts under climate change.

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Researchers have genetically engineered a marine microorganism to break down plastic in salt water. Specifically, the modified organism can break down polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a plastic used in everything from water bottles to clothing that is a significant contributor to microplastic pollution in oceans.

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R esearchers created a machine learning algorithm using computational topology that profiles shapes and spatial patterns in embryos to study how these cells organize themselves into tissue-like architectures. In a new study, they take that system to the next level, opening a path to studying how multiple types of cells assemble themselves.

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With research showing that the SDGs have had little political impact, the September 18-19 UN SDG Summit must pave the way for four major changes in how the SDGs are implemented and governed globally, argues an international group of sustainability experts.

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Researchers have identified a backup mechanism of protein quality control which prevents the toxic effects of protein aggregation in specific tissues when normal methods of molecular monitoring fail. By understanding how different tissues tackle protein build up, this research could accelerate the identification of ways to protect tissues that are vulnerable to protein build up, possibly tackling both disease-associated protein aggregates and also age-dependent aggregates that accelerate the functional decline of tissues.

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Rivers are warming and losing oxygen faster than oceans, according to a new article. The study shows that of nearly 800 rivers, warming occurred in 87% and oxygen loss occurred in 70%.

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Most wild bees are solitary, but one tiny species of carpenter bees fastidiously cares for and raises their offspring, an act that translates into huge benefits to the developing bee's microbiome, development and health, found researchers. Without maternal care the pathogen load of these developing bees ballooned -- 85 per cent of were fungi, while eight per cent were bacteria -- which can impact their microbiome, a critical component of bee health, as well as their development, immune system and gene expression.

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Researchers have successfully demonstrated that hagfish slime proteins can accurately replicate membranes in the human eye. Scientists were able to properly grow retinal cells on hagfish slime proteins and prove that the protein's behavior changes as the membrane mimics stages of aging and disease.

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During a bout of influenza, B cells interact with other immune cells and then take different paths to defend the body. One path is the B cells that differentiate into lung-resident memory B cells, or lung-BRMs, that are critical for pulmonary immunity. These long-lived, non-circulating lung-BRMs migrate to the lungs from draining lymph nodes and reside there permanently as the first layer of defense that can quickly react to produce antibodies in a future infection.

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Scientists are trying to raise as many urchins as possible because they eat algae that could otherwise smother reef ecosystems and kill corals. Researchers have identified algae on which larval sea urchins grow into juveniles in a lab setting.

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Sitting calmly in their webs, many spiders wait for prey to come to them. Arachnids along lakes and rivers eat aquatic insects, such as dragonflies. But, when these insects live in mercury-contaminated waterways, they can pass the metal along to the spiders that feed on them. Now, researchers have demonstrated how some shoreline spiders can move mercury contamination from riverbeds up the food chain to land animals.

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Most coastal communities will encounter '100-year floods' annually by the end of the century, even under a moderate scenario where carbon dioxide emissions peak by 2040, according to a new study. And as early as 2050, regions worldwide could experience 100-year floods every nine to fifteen years on average.

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A pioneering study has shed new light on North African humid periods that have occurred over the past 800,000 years and explains why the Sahara Desert was periodically green.

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HIV anti-retroviral therapy is considered a treatment and not a cure because patients usually carry a reservoir of HIV-infected cells that can re-emerge if treatment stops. These reservoirs have long been thought to be dormant, but two independent groups of researchers report that a subset of these cells spontaneously produce HIV RNA and proteins that may impact patients' HIV-specific immune responses.

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Replacing 50% of meat and milk products with plant-based alternatives by 2050 can reduce agriculture and land use related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 31% and halt the degradation of forest and natural land, according to new research.