ScienceDaily: Featured - April 07, 2024
Featured research news
A simple, inexpensive way to make carbon atoms bind together
The active ingredient in many drugs is what's known as a small molecule: bigger than water, much smaller than an antibody and mainly made of carbon. It's tough, however, to make these molecules if they require a quaternary carbon -- a carbon atom bonded to four other carbon atoms. But now, scientists have uncovered a potential cost-effective way to produce these tricky motifs.
Image: carbon atom, Designua/shutterstock.com
Certain RNA molecules in the nerve cells in the brain last a life time without being renewed. Neuroscientists have now demonstrated that this. RNAs are generally short-lived molecules that are constantly reconstructed to adjust to environmental conditions. The research group hopes to decipher the complex aging process of the brain and gain a better understanding of related degenerative diseases.
CHEOPS detects a 'rainbow' on an exoplanet
The CHEOPS space telescope is providing new information on the mysterious exoplanet WASP-76b. This ultra-hot giant is characterized by an asymmetry between the amount of light observed on its eastern terminator -- the fictitious line that separates its night side from its day side -- and that observed on its western terminator. This peculiarity is thought to be due to a 'glory', a luminous phenomenon similar to a rainbow, which occurs if the light from the star -- the 'sun' around which the exoplanet orbits -- is reflected by clouds made up of a perfectly uniform substance. If this hypothesis is confirmed, this would be the first detection of this phenomenon outside our solar system.
Stellar collisions produce strange, zombie-like survivors
Densely packed, fast-moving stars at the Milky Way's center can collide with each other. New research uses simulations to explore the outcomes of these collisions. Some collisions are more like 'violent high fives' while others are full-on mergers.
Finds at Schöningen show wood was crucial raw material 300,000 years ago
During archaeological excavations in the Schoningen open-cast coal mine in 1994, the discovery of the oldest, remarkably well-preserved hunting weapons known to humanity caused an international sensation. Spears and a double-pointed throwing stick were found lying between animal bones about ten meters below the surface in deposits at a former lakeshore. In the years that followed, extensive excavations have gradually yielded numerous wooden objects from a layer dating from the end of a warm interglacial period 300,000 years ago. The findings suggested a hunting ground on the lakeshore.
Discovery of how limiting damage from an asthma attack could stop disease
Scientists have discovered a new cause for asthma that sparks hope for treatment that could prevent the life-threatening disease.
Out of the park: New research tallies total carbon impact of tourism at Yellowstone
New research makes a case study of Yellowstone National Park -- calculating surplus carbon that visitors from across the world add to the atmosphere each year as a direct result of a park visit.
NASA's Webb probes an extreme starburst galaxy
A team of astronomers has used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to survey the starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82). Located 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major, this galaxy is relatively compact in size but hosts a frenzy of star formation activity. For comparison, M82 is sprouting new stars 10 times faster than the Milky Way galaxy.
Evolution in action? New study finds possibility of nitrogen-fixing organelles
A new study finds that UCYN-A, a species of nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria, may be evolving organelle-like characteristics.
Early dinosaurs grew up fast, but they weren't the only ones
The earliest dinosaurs had rapid growth rates, but so did many of the other animals living alongside them, according to a new study.
Researchers map how the brain regulates emotions
A new study is among the first of its kind to separate activity relating to emotion generation from emotion regulation in the human brain. The findings provide new insights that could help inform therapeutic treatments regarding mental health and drug addiction.
'Smart swarms' of tiny robots inspired by natural herd mentality
Researchers gave nanorobots a trait called adaptive time delay, which allows them to better work together.
Discovery could end global amphibian pandemic
A fungus devastating frogs and toads on nearly every continent may have an Achilles heel. Scientists have discovered a virus that infects the fungus, and that could be engineered to save the amphibians.
Plastic-free vegan leather that dyes itself grown from bacteria
Researchers have genetically engineered bacteria to grow animal- and plastic-free leather that dyes itself.
Researchers have developed a programmable meta-fluid with tunable springiness, optical properties, viscosity and even the ability to transition between a Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid. The first-of-its-kind meta-fluid uses a suspension of small, elastomer spheres -- between 50 to 500 microns -- that buckle under pressure, radically changing the characteristics of the fluid. The meta-fluid could be used in everything from hydraulic actuators to program robots, to intelligent shock absorbers that can dissipate energy depending on the intensity of the impact, to optical devices that can transition from clear to opaque.
First results from BREAD experiment demonstrate a new approach to searching for dark matter
One of the great mysteries of modern science is dark matter. We know dark matter exists thanks to its effects on other objects in the cosmos, but we have never been able to directly see it. And it s no minor thing currently, scientists think it makes up about 85% of all the mass in the universe.
Australia on track for unprecedented, decades-long megadroughts
Australia could soon see megadroughts that last for more than 20 years, according to new modelling. The researchers' bleak findings are before factoring in human impact on the climate since the Industrial Revolution. According to the scientists, the findings paint a worrying picture of future droughts in Australia that are far worse than anything in recent experience.
100 kilometers of quantum-encrypted transfer
Researchers have taken a big step towards securing information against hacking. They have succeeded in using quantum encryption to securely transfer information 100 kilometers via fiber optic cable -- roughly equivalent to the distance between Oxford and London.
We've had bird evolution all wrong
Genomic anamolies dating back to the time of the dinosaurs misled scientists about the evolutionary history of birds.
I spy with my speedy eye: Scientists discover speed of visual perception ranges widely in humans
Using a blink-and-you'll-miss-it experiment, researchers have discovered that individuals differ widely in the rate at which they perceive visual signals. Some people perceive a rapidly changing visual cue at frequencies that others cannot, which means some access more visual information per timeframe than others. This discovery suggests some people have an innate advantage in certain settings where response time is crucial, such as in ball sports, or in competitive gaming.
Universal brain-computer interface lets people play games with just their thoughts
Engineers have created a brain-computer interface that doesn't require calibration for each user, paving the way for widespread clinical applicability.
Chatbot outperformed physicians in clinical reasoning in head-to-head study
ChatGPT-4, an artificial intelligence program designed to understand and generate human-like text, outperformed internal medicine residents and attending physicians at two academic medical centers at processing medical data and demonstrating clinical reasoning.
Researchers produce grafts that replicate the human ear
Using state-of-the-art tissue engineering techniques and a 3D printer, researchers have assembled a replica of an adult human ear that looks and feels natural. The study offers the promise of grafts with well-defined anatomy and the correct biomechanical properties for those who are born with a congenital malformation or who lose an ear later in life.