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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 22, 2020 at 6:54am

Nine COVID-19 Myths That Just Won’t Go Away

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nine-covid-19-myths-that...

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In a Lab on Earth, Scientists Just Replicated Pressures Found on White Dwarf Stars

https://www.sciencealert.com/in-a-lab-here-on-earth-scientists-have...

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Security Researchers Found a New Way to Pick Locks, Using Only The Sound of The Key

The sound of a key sliding into a lock could be enough information to potentially create a copy of that key and open the lock – that's the conclusion of researchers who've been investigating "acoustics-based physical key inference".

https://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-can-break-locks-just-from-...

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Scientists are trying to find out exactly how much plastic is in ou...

We know we’re ingesting plastic every day. But what happens to it is still a mystery. Scientists are now trying to figure out how much is staying in our organs, and what the long-term health effects might be.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90540118/scientists-are-trying-to-find-...

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** Math of the Penguins

Emperor penguins display rigorously geometric spacing and mathematical efficiency when they huddle together for warmth, which may reveal secrets to their overall health.

https://www.quantamagazine.org/math-of-the-penguins-20200817/

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Strange Numbers Found in Particle Collisions

An unexpected connection has emerged between the results of physics experiments and an important, seemingly unrelated set of numbers in pure mathematics.

https://www.quantamagazine.org/strange-numbers-found-in-particle-co...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 22, 2020 at 6:09am

Researchers create bioluminescent tag to detect DNA break repair

A new bioluminescent reporter that tracks DNA double stranded break (DSB) repair in cells has been developed by researchers . The international team's novel bioluminescent repair reporter (BLRR)-based system can be used to monitor DNA repair pathways directly in animals as well as cell lines. No such system previously existed for in vivo studies. These pathways play a crucial role in multiple conditions, including cancer.

Jasper Che-Yung Chien et al, A multiplexed bioluminescent reporter for sensitive and non-invasive tracking of DNA double strand break repair dynamics in vitro and in vivo, Nucleic Acids Research (2020). DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa669

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-bioluminescent-tag-dna.html?utm_sourc...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 22, 2020 at 6:00am

Researchers discover first 'open-charm' tetraquark

The LHCb experiment at CERN has developed a penchant for finding exotic combinations of quarks, the elementary particles that come together to give us composite particles such as the more familiar proton and neutron. In particular, LHCb has observed several tetraquarks, which, as the name suggests, are made of four quarks (or rather two quarks and two antiquarks). Observing these unusual particles helps scientists advance our knowledge of the strong force, one of the four known fundamental forces in the universe. At a CERN seminar held virtually on 12 August, LHCb announced the first signs of an entirely new kind of tetraquark with a mass of 2.9 GeV/c²:  the first such particle with only one charm quark.

indico.cern.ch/event/900975/at … ug-11_DanJohnson.pdf

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-open-charm-tetraquark.html?utm_source...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 22, 2020 at 5:49am

Scientists discover a social cue of safety

When people think about social communication of danger, they normally think about alarm calls.

Freezing is one of the three universal defense responses, together with fight and flight. This response is the best course of action in situations where escape is either impossible or less advantageous than just staying still with the hope of remaining unnoticed.

Freezing may actually be a safer way of conveying the existence of danger to others. This manner of social communication does not require the active production of a signal that may result in drawing unwelcome attention. Also, freezing may constitute a public cue that can be used by any surrounding animal regardless of species

individual fruit flies freeze in response to an inescapable threat. The researchers wondered if this behavior would change if there other flies were around.

placed the flies in a transparent closed chamber and repeatedly exposed them to an expanding dark disk, which mimics an object on a collision course. Just imagine the visual effect of an approaching open palm. Many visual animals that are exposed to such a stimulus respond defensively, including humans. If they freeze, they often stay motionless for quite some time, even after the threat is gone."

Their results revealed that group size matters. All groups—from two to 10—froze less than individual flies. However, we were surprised to find a complex effect of group size on the flies' behavior

In groups of six and more, the flies froze transiently when the threat appeared and then resumed movement once it was gone. On the other hand, the flies' response pattern in groups of five or less was more similar to that of individual flies

Flies in those groups still froze less than single flies. However, their freezing time increased as the experiment progressed. The more repetitions of the threatening stimulus they experienced, the longer they would remain motionless when it reappeared. These results were very intriguing. "This was the first time the effect of group size on freezing was systematically characterized in any species, and it revealed a fascinating and intricate relation."

These findings clearly demonstrated that flies change their defensive responses when others are present. This novel observation raised a pressing question—what social cues were the flies responding to? To find the answer, Ferreira and Moita meticulously analyzed their previous results and conducted additional experiments using blind flies and controllable magnetic "dummy flies."

The results revealed a two-part answer. "The first part describes the flies' response to the appearance of the threat. "We learned that an individual fly was more likely to enter freezing if its peers (magnetic or otherwise) froze in response to the threat. We were somewhat expecting to see this. Previous studies in the lab showed that in specific situations, freezing is a social cue of danger in rats. Here, we witnessed a similar behavior in flies."

The second part of the answer: Flies were more likely to stop freezing if others began to move. "This means that flies were using the resumption of movement as a social cue of safety"

Clara H. Ferreira et al. Behavioral and neuronal underpinnings of safety in numbers in fruit flies, Nature Communications (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17856-4

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-scientists-social-cue-safety.html?utm...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 22, 2020 at 5:39am

In times of ecological uncertainty, brood parasites change their hosts

Some birds lay their eggs in the nests of other bird species and let the host parents raise their young. A new study finds that in times of environmental flux, these brood parasites "diversify their portfolios," minimizing the risks of their unorthodox lifestyle by increasing the number and variety of hosts they select as adoptive parents.

Researchers found that, in unstable environments, brood parasites choose to not put all their eggs in one basket. These results  are consistent with the idea that brood parasites diversify their reproductive risk in areas that are ecologically, behaviorally or environmentally unpredictable.

Brood parasite success depends on the host's acceptance of the outsider's eggs and its ability to raise the young. Some birds learn to recognize that the foreign eggs are different and eject them or build new nests. Others seem not to notice. They incubate, hatch and care for the parasitic offspring as if they were their own.

Several other factors could influence how many hosts and which host species a brood parasite targets. The host must be in egg-laying mode when the interloper comes to call. If only one foster parent is involved in taking care of the young, its nest might not succeed as well as one with two parents present. But having two parents around makes it more difficult for parasites to get into the nest to lay their eggs.

Similarly, if the host returns from a long migratory trip and begins to nest right away, the parasite might have fewer chances to locate its nest for sneaking in the extra egg. Variability in temperature and precipitation during the breeding season is another potential influence.

in unpredictable environments, brood parasites target more—and more diverse—hosts. The parasites take advantage of as many host species as possible when opportunity allows. The team found a particularly pronounced relationship between temperature variability and bet-hedging.

"In areas where temperatures are stable, brood parasites tend to specialize on fewer and less diverse host species. Those hosts also tend to build more complex and potentially safer nests," Antonson said. "But as the thermal environment becomes more uncertain, the evolutionary pattern that we see is that they spread around the risk of offspring survival by drawing from a larger and more diverse pool of host species."

"Ecological uncertainty favours the diversification of host use in avian brood parasites" Nature Communications (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18038-y

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-ecological-uncertainty-brood-parasite...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 22, 2020 at 5:31am

Tiny engineered therapeutic delivery system safely solves genetic problems in mice

Inserting genetic material into the body to treat diseases caused by gene mutations can work but getting those materials to the right place safely is tricky.

But now the lipid-based nanoparticles scientists engineered, carrying two sets of protein-making instructions, showed in animal studies that they have the potential to function as therapies for two genetic disorders.

In one experiment, the payload-containing nanoparticles prompted the production of the missing clotting protein in mice that are models for hemophilia. In another test, the nanoparticles' cargo reduced the activation level of a gene that, when overactive, interferes with clearance of cholesterol from the bloodstream.

Each nanoparticle contained an applicable messenger RNA—molecules that translate genetic information into functional proteins.

With this work, researchers have lowered potential side effects and toxicity, and have broadened the therapeutic window.

"Functionalized lipid-like nanoparticles for in vivo mRNA delivery and base editing" Science Advances (2020). advances.sciencemag.org/lookup … .1126/sciadv.abc2315

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-tiny-therapeutic-delivery-safely-gene...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 21, 2020 at 8:33am

Why Some People Get Terribly Sick from COVID-19

Beyond factors such as age and sex, underlying aspects of biology and society influence disease severity

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-some-people-get-terr...

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How our food choices cut into forests and put us closer to viruses

https://theconversation.com/how-our-food-choices-cut-into-forests-a...

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Wildfires are both environmental catastrophes and public health problems

https://massivesci.com/articles/california-public-health-wildfire-s...

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Wildfires are burning with an intensity that microbial communities haven’t evolved to endure

As desertification threatens, synthetic biologists are pondering new ways of helping soil heal

https://massivesci.com/articles/soil-wildfires-synthetic-biology/?u...

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Potential new asthma treatment: protein linked to omega-3 fatty acids shows promise

https://theconversation.com/potential-new-asthma-treatment-protein-...

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Lidar technology demonstrates how light levels determine mosquito 'rush hour'

The first study to remotely track wild mosquito populations using laser radar (lidar) technology found that mosquitoes in a southeastern Tanzanian village are most active during morning and evening "rush hour" periods, suggesting these may be the most effective times to target the insects with sprays designed to prevent the spread of malaria.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-05/aaft-ltd051120.php

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 21, 2020 at 7:17am

Scientists develop 'biorubber' glue for faster surgical recovery and pain relief

Materials scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have invented a new type of surgical glue that can help join blood vessels and close wounds faster and may also serve as a platform to deliver pain relief drugs.

The  researchers showed that their glue can bond soft tissues including muscle and blood vessels, even when their surfaces are wet.

Ivan Djordjevic et al. CaproGlu: Multifunctional tissue adhesive platform, Biomaterials (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2020.120215

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-scientists-biorubber-faster-surgical-...

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Exposure to common colds might give some people a head start in fighting COVID-19

https://theconversation.com/exposure-to-common-colds-might-give-som...

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We’re using microbes to clean up toxic electronic waste – here’s how

https://theconversation.com/were-using-microbes-to-clean-up-toxic-e...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 21, 2020 at 7:00am

Firefighters exposed to more potentially harmful chemicals than previously thought

Study suggests that firefighters are more likely to be exposed to potentially harmful chemicals while on duty compared to off duty. The on-duty firefighters experienced higher exposures of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, which are a family of chemicals that are known to have the potential to cause cancer. They were also exposed to 18 PAHs that have not been previously reported as firefighting exposures in earlier research.

The results are important because previous studies have shown that firefighters have an increased risk of developing cancer and other damaging health effects.

PAHs are a large group of chemical compounds that contain carbon and other elements. They form naturally after almost any type of combustion, both natural and human-created. In addition to burning wood, plants and tobacco, PAHs are also in fossil fuels.

Carolyn M. Poutasse et al, Discovery of firefighter chemical exposures using military-style silicone dog tags, Environment International (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105818

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-firefighters-exposed-potentially-chem...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 21, 2020 at 6:51am

Plants take in less carbon in a warming world

As world temperatures rise, the rate at which plants in certain regions can absorb carbon dioxide is declining, according to research. Plants' optimum temperature range for photosynthesis in our study area is between 24.1 and 27.4 degrees Celsius.

But due to anthropogenic climate change, temperatures—particularly in warmer months—often go well beyond this 'healthy' range for carbon absorption. It was eye opening—temperatures exceeded this range between 14 and 59.2 percent of the time, depending on which site you were looking at. Plants in these regions simply aren't able to absorb carbon like they used to, which is seriously concerning.

The research team also measured the rate at which photosynthesis was occurring, with alarming results. Once this temperature range is exceeded, the ability for plants to appropriate carbon falls off a cliff.

Hamish A. McGowan et al. Identification of Optimum Temperatures for Photosynthetic Production in Subtropical Coastal Ecosystems: Implications for CO 2 Sequestration in a Warming World, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (2020). DOI: 10.1029/2020JG005678

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-carbon-world.html?utm_source=nwletter...

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Humans overshoot 2020 planetary 'budget' on August 22: report

Humanity will have burned through all the natural resources that the planet can replenish for 2020 by Saturday, according to researchers who said the grim milestone is slightly later than last year after the pandemic slowed runaway overconsumption.

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