Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular
Published

Studying herpes encephalitis with mini-brains      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The herpes simplex virus-1 can sometimes cause a dangerous brain infection. Combining an anti-inflammatory and an antiviral could help in these cases, report scientists.

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Published

Never-before-seen way to annihilate a star      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers studying a powerful gamma-ray burst, may have detected a never-before-seen way to destroy a star. Unlike most GRBs, which are caused by exploding massive stars or the chance mergers of neutron stars, astronomers have concluded that this GRB came instead from the collision of stars or stellar remnants in the jam-packed environment surrounding a supermassive black hole at the core of an ancient galaxy.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: General Biology: Molecular
Published

Unraveling the connections between the brain and gut      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Engineers designed a technology to probe connections between the brain and the digestive tract. Using fibers embedded with a variety of sensors, as well as optogenetic stimulation, the researchers could control neural circuits connecting the gut and the brain, in mice.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Endangered Species Environmental: General
Published

A roadmap for gene regulation in plants      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

For the first time, researchers have developed a genome-scale way to map the regulatory role of transcription factors, proteins that play a key role in gene expression and determining a plant's physiological traits. Their work reveals unprecedented insights into gene regulatory networks and identifies a new library of DNA parts that can be used to optimize plants for bioenergy and agriculture.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular
Published

Now, every biologist can use machine learning      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have built a new, comprehensive AutoML platform designed for biologists with little to no ML experience. New automated machine learning platform enables easy, all-in-one analysis, design, and interpretation of biological sequences with minimal coding. Their platform, called BioAutoMATED, can use sequences of nucleic acids, peptides, or glycans as input data, and its performance is comparable to other AutoML platforms while requiring minimal user input.

Biology: Biochemistry Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Rain gardens could save salmon from toxic tire chemicals      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Specially designed gardens could reduce the amount of a toxic chemical associated with tires entering our waterways by more than 90 per cent, new research shows.

Biology: Biochemistry Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Smart farming platform improves crop yields, minimizes pollution      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new farming system aims to solve one of the biggest problems in modern agriculture: the overuse of fertilizers to improve crop yields and the resulting chemical runoff that pollutes the world's air and water.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Microbiology Biology: Zoology Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Worms use electricity to jump      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In nature, smaller animals often attach themselves to larger ones to 'hitch a ride' and save energy migrating large distances. Researchers show how microscopic Caenorhabditis elegans worms can use electric fields to 'jump' across Petri plates or onto insects, allowing them to glide through the air and attach themselves, for example, onto naturally charged bumblebee chauffeurs.

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Published

Detection of an echo emitted by our Galaxy's black hole 200 years ago      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of scientists has discovered that Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, emerged from a long period of dormancy some 200 years ago. The team, led by Frédéric Marin, a CNRS researcher at the Astronomical Strasbourg Observatory (CNRS/University of Strasbourg), has revealed the past awakening of this gigantic object, which is four million times more massive than the Sun. Their work is published in Nature on 21 June.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Drug-resistant fungi are thriving in even the most remote regions of Earth      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research has found that a disease-causing fungus -- collected from one of the most remote regions in the world -- is resistant to a common antifungal medicine used to treat infections.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Caribbean seagrasses provide services worth $255B annually, including vast carbon storage, study shows      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Caribbean seagrasses provide about $255 billion in services to society annually, including $88.3 billion in carbon storage, according to a new study. The study has put a dollar value on the many services -- from storm protection to fish habitat to carbon storage -- provided by seagrasses across the Caribbean, which holds up to half the world's seagrass meadows by surface area and contains about one-third of the carbon stored in seagrasses worldwide.

Biology: Biochemistry
Published

Ketone supplements worsen performance in trained endurance athletes, researchers find      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Kinesiologists at McMaster University have found ketone supplements, used by some athletes hoping to cross the finish line faster, may in fact worsen performance. The new study tackles contradictory research findings related to the effectiveness of ketone supplements, which have gained popularity among athletes seeking a competitive advantage.

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Published

Exoplanet may reveal secrets about the edge of habitability      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

How close can a rocky planet be to a star, and still sustain water and life? A recently discovered exoplanet may be key to solving that mystery.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General
Published

Cuttlefish brain atlas created      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Anything with three hearts, blue blood and skin that can change colors like a display in Times Square is likely to turn heads. Meet Sepia bandensis, known more descriptively as the camouflaging dwarf cuttlefish. Over the past three years, neuroscientists have put together a brain atlas of this captivating cephalopod: a neuroanatomical roadmap depicting for the first time the brain's overall 32-lobed structure as well its cellular organization.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Zoology
Published

Pangolin, the inspiration for a medical robot      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have developed a magnetically controlled soft medical robot with a unique, flexible structure inspired by the body of a pangolin. The robot is freely movable despite built-in hard metal components. Thus, depending on the magnetic field, it can adapt its shape to be able to move and can emit heat when needed, allowing for functionalities such as selective cargo transportation and release as well as mitigation of bleeding.