ScienceDaily: All - June 07, 2024
Today's top research news
A new study reveals that marine cyanobacteria communicate
A breakthrough study changes the way we understand cyanobacteria, which are essential for the sustenance of life. The study shows that these organisms do not operate in isolation, but rather physically interact through membrane-nanotubes, which function as exchange bridges between cells.
Nanoparticles: Risk for babies in the womb
Little is yet known about the health effects of nanoparticles on pregnancy. An interdisciplinary team is currently analyzing the risks for babies in the womb. Using a lab model, the researchers were able to determine that certain nanoparticles impair the release of chemical messengers in the placenta and thus the formation of blood vessels.
Using oceanography to understand fronts and cyclones on Jupiter
New research led by Lia Siegelman, a physical oceanographer at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography, shows that the roiling storms at the planet Jupiter's polar regions are powered by processes known to physicists studying Earth's oceans and atmosphere. The geophysical commonalities spanning the 452 million miles between the two planets could even help facilitate an improved understanding of those processes on Earth.
Image: Weil Mathias/Shutterstock.com
Crystal engineering modifies 2D metal halide perovskites into 1D nanowires
Engineers have created a patent-pending method that creates layered perovskite nanowires with exceptionally well-defined and flexible cavities that exhibit a wide range of unusual optical properties beyond conventional perovskites.
People feel more connected to 'tweezer-like' bionic tools that don't resemble human hands
Some say the next step in human evolution will be the integration of technology with flesh. Now, researchers have used virtual reality to test whether humans can feel embodiment -- the sense that something is part of one's body -- toward prosthetic 'hands' that resemble a pair of tweezers. They report that participants felt an equal degree of embodiment for the tweezer-hands and were also faster and more accurate in completing motor tasks in virtual reality than when they were equipped with a virtual human hand.
Planet-forming disks around very low-mass stars are different
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, a team of astronomers studied the properties of a planet-forming disk around a young and very low-mass star. The results reveal the richest hydrocarbon composition seen to date in a protoplanetary disk, including the first extrasolar detection of ethane and a relatively low abundance of oxygen-bearing species. By including previous similar detections, this finding confirms a trend of disks around very low-mass stars to be chemically distinct from those around more massive stars like the Sun, influencing the atmospheres of planets forming there.
Tiny roundworms carve out unique parasitic niche inside pseudoscorpion's protective covering
In a parasitic first, a Baltic amber specimen has revealed that millions of years ago tiny worms known as nematodes were living inside of and feeding on the outer protective layer of pseudoscorpions.
Could taking certain drugs reduce risk of ruptured brain aneurysm?
A new study suggests that people who take a few common drugs may have a decreased risk of having a bleeding stroke due to a ruptured brain aneurysm. The results do not prove that these drugs reduce the risk of this type of aneurysm; they only show an association.
Researchers solve 2,000-year-old mystery of the shipworm
They bedeviled ancient Greek navies, helped shipwreck Christopher Columbus, aided in the sinking of the Spanish Armada and caused the wharves in San Francisco Bay to collapse into the sea, but until now, scientists have been unable to pinpoint exactly how shipworms -- a family of mollusks -- are able to cause such damage. A team of researchers has discovered that a population of symbiotic microbes, living in an overlooked sub-organ of the gut called the 'typhlosole,' have the ability to secrete the enzymes needed to digest lignin -- the toughest part of wood.
Healthcare providers should watch out for new and highly contagious forms of ringworm or jock itch, which are emerging as a potential public health threat, according to a pair of reports.