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Categories: Biology: Biochemistry, Offbeat: Space
Published Cosmic wrestling match
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Our universe is around 13.8 billion years old. Over the vastness of this time, the tiniest of initial asymmetries have grown into the large-scale structures we can see through our telescopes in the night sky: galaxies like our own Milky Way, clusters of galaxies, and even larger aggregations of matter or filaments of gas and dust. How quickly this growth takes place depends, at least in today's universe, on a sort of wrestling match between natural forces: Can dark matter, which holds everything together through its gravity and attracts additional matter, hold its own against dark energy, which pushes the universe ever further apart?
Published Wildlife tracking technology that adheres to fur delivers promising results from trials on wild polar bears
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Studying polar bears just became a lot easier with new 'burr on fur' trackers which confirmed scientists' belief that subadult and adult males spend most of their time on land lazing around, conserving energy until the ice returns. A team used three different 'burr on fur' prototypes to study their effectiveness.
Published Big boost for new epigenetics paradigm: CoRSIVs, first discovered in humans, now found in cattle
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study opens new possibilities to improve production efficiency in the cattle industry and potentially animal agriculture more broadly.
Published Vivid portrait of interacting galaxies marks Webb's second anniversary
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Two for two! A duo of interacting galaxies commemorates the second science anniversary of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which takes constant observations, including images and highly detailed data known as spectra. Its operations have led to a 'parade' of discoveries by astronomers around the world.
Published How domestic rabbits become feral in the wild
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source After sequencing the genomes of nearly 300 rabbits from Europe, South America, and Oceania, researchers found that all of them had a mix of feral and domestic DNA. They say this was not what they had expected to find.
Published New ways to study spinal cord malformations in embryos
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have successfully created mechanical force sensors directly in the developing brains and spinal cords of chicken embryos, which they hope will improve understanding and prevention of birth malformations such as spina bifida.
Published A better way to make RNA drugs
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source RNA drugs are the next frontier of medicine, but manufacturing them requires an expensive and labor-intensive process that limits production and produces metric tons of toxic chemical waste. Researchers report a new, enzyme-based RNA synthesis method that can produce strands of RNA with both natural and modified nucleotides without the environmental hazards.
Published Insight into one of life's earliest ancestors revealed in new study
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have shed light on Earth's earliest ecosystem, showing that within a few hundred million years of planetary formation, life on Earth was already flourishing.
Published How plant cold specialists can adapt to the environment
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Evolutionary biologists studied spoonworts to determine what influence genome duplication has on the adaptive potential of plants. The results show that polyploids -- species with more than two sets of chromosomes -- can have an accumulation of structural mutations with signals for a possible local adaptation, enabling them to occupy ecological niches time and time again.
Published How the 'heart and lungs' of a galaxy extend its life
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Galaxies avoid an early death because they have a 'heart and lungs' which effectively regulate their 'breathing' and prevent them growing out of control, a new study suggests. If they didn't, the universe would have aged much faster than it has and all we would see today is huge 'zombie' galaxies teeming with dead and dying stars. That's according to a new study that investigates one of the great mysteries of the Universe -- why galaxies are not as large as astronomers would expect.
Published A comprehensive derivative synthesis method for development of new antimicrobial drugs
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A method to screen a wide variety of drug candidates without laborious purification steps could advance the fight against drug-resistant bacteria.
Published Respiratory bacteria 'turn off' immune system to survive
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have identified how a common bacterium is able to manipulate the human immune system during respiratory infections and cause persistent illness.
Published A stealth fungus has decimated North American bats but scientists may be a step closer to treating white-nose syndrome
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An invasive fungus that colonizes the skin of hibernating bats with deadly consequences is a stealthy invader that uses multiple strategies to slip into the small mammals' skin cells and quietly manipulate them to aid its own survival. The fungus, which causes the disease white-nose syndrome, has devastated several North American species over the last 18 years.
Published Muscle machine: How water controls the speed of muscle contraction
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The flow of water within a muscle fiber may dictate how quickly muscle can contract, according to a new study.
Published Hatcheries can boost wild salmon numbers but reduce diversity, studies find
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The ability of salmon hatcheries to increase wild salmon abundance may come at the cost of reduced diversity among wild salmon, according to a new study.
Published Introducing co-cultures: When co-habiting animal species share culture
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Cooperative hunting, resource sharing, and using the same signals to communicate the same information -- these are all examples of cultural sharing that have been observed between distinct animal species. In a new article, researchers introduce the term 'co-culture' to describe cultural sharing between animal species. These relationships are mutual and go beyond one species watching and mimicking another species' behavior -- in co-cultures, both species influence each other in substantial ways.
Published Nanoplastics and 'forever chemicals' disrupt molecular structures, functionality
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have made significant inroads in understanding how nanoplastics and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) -- commonly known as forever chemicals -- disrupt biomolecular structure and function. The work shows that the compounds can alter proteins found in human breast milk and infant formulas -- potentially causing developmental issues downstream.
Published Mapping the world's fungi from air samples
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have found that the key to a quick and cost-effective mapping of biodiversity has been right in front of our eyes all along, but at the same time invisible -- i.e., in the air that surrounds us.
Published Early Pyrenean Neolithic groups applied species selection strategies to produce bone artifacts
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study has revealed that the earliest Neolithic groups to settle some 7,000 years ago in the Pyrenean site of Coro Trasito (Tella, Huesca) used species selection strategies to manufacture their tools made out of bone and chose deer for the projectile tips. The study applied for the first time in a Neolithic site an innovative combination of methods to obtain these results.
Published Opening the right doors: 'Jumping gene' control mechanisms revealed
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source International joint research led by Akihisa Osakabe and Yoshimasa Takizawa of the University of Tokyo has clarified the molecular mechanisms in thale cresses (Arabidopsis thaliana) by which the DDM1 (Decreased in DNA Methylation 1) protein prevents the transcription of 'jumping genes.' DDM1 makes 'jumping genes' more accessible for transcription-suppressing chemical marks to be deposited. Because a variant of this protein exists in humans, the discovery provides insight into genetic conditions caused by such 'jumping gene' mutations.