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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 11, 2021 at 8:50am

Hydrogen sulfide critical to innate ability of bacteria to survive antibiotics

The signaling molecule hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) plays a critical role in antibiotic tolerance, the innate ability of bacteria to survive normally lethal levels of antibiotics, a new study finds.

the study revolves around tolerance, wherein bacteria in general have evolved to use common defense systems to resist antibiotics. Tolerance differs from antibiotic resistance, where one species happens to acquire a genetic change that helps them resist treatment.

In one defense mechanism, tolerant bacteria, also called "persisters," stop multiplying (proliferating), reducing their energy use (metabolism) to survive antibiotic treatment, but resuming growth when the treatment ends. Persisters are particularly abundant in biofilms, bacterial colonies that live in tough polymeric matrices which further prevent their eradication.

The combined trends toward resistant infections and fewer new antimicrobials are projected to kill 10 million people annually by the year 2050. New approaches are urgently needed to prevent this, and this  study suggests that suppressing bacterial H₂S would make different antibiotics more potent.

K. Shatalin el al., "Inhibitors of bacterial H₂S biogenesis targeting antibiotic resistance and tolerance," Science (2021). science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi … 1126/science.abd8377

https://phys.org/news/2021-06-hydrogen-sulfide-critical-innate-abil...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 11, 2021 at 8:47am

How cells measure themselves

Ever since scientists discovered cells under the microscope more than 350 years ago, they have noted that each type of cell has a characteristic size. From tiny bacteria to inches-long neurons, size matters for how cells work. The question of how these building blocks of life regulate their own size, however, has remained a mystery.

Now we have an explanation for this long-standing biological question. In a study focusing on the growing tip of plants, researchers show that cells use their DNA content as an internal gauge to assess and adjust their size.

"Cell size controlled in plants using DNA content as an internal scale" Science (2021). science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi … 1126/science.abb4348

https://phys.org/news/2021-06-cells.html?utm_source=nwletter&ut...

How cells measure themselves 

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 11, 2021 at 8:20am

'Vegan spider silk' provides sustainable alternative to single-use plastics

Researchers have created a plant-based, sustainable, scalable material that could replace single-use plastics in many consumer products.

The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, created a polymer film by mimicking the properties of spider silk, one of the strongest materials in nature. The new material is as strong as many common plastics in use today and could replace plastic in many common household products.

The material was created using a new approach for assembling plant proteins into materials which mimic silk on a molecular level. The energy-efficient method, which uses sustainable ingredients, results in a plastic-like free-standing film, which can be made at industrial scale. Non-fading 'structural' color can be added to the polymer, and it can also be used to make water-resistant coatings.

The material is home compostable, whereas other types of bioplastics require industrial composting facilities to degrade.

Nature Communications (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23813-6

https://phys.org/news/2021-06-vegan-spider-silk-sustainable-alterna...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 11, 2021 at 6:56am

AMAZING Cases of Animal MIMICRY!

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mimicry+of+animals+to+...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 10, 2021 at 12:09pm

Scientists Have Calculated The Weight of All The SARS-CoV-2 in The World

If all the SARS-CoV-2 particles currently circulating in humans around the globe were gathered together into one place, they would weigh somewhere between the weight of an apple and that of a young toddler, according to a new study.

A group of researchers recently calculated that each infected individual carries about 10 billion to 100 billion individual SARS-CoV-2 particles at the peak of their infection. That suggests that all of the SARS-CoV-2 viruses currently infecting people around the world — which has been about 1 million to 10 million infections at any given time during the course of the pandemic  — have a collective mass of somewhere between 0.22 and 22 pounds (0.1 and 10 kilograms).

Small doesn't mean insignificant, however.

Here we are talking about a super-tiny mass of viruses, and they are completely wreaking havoc on the world.

The total number and mass of SARS-CoV-2 virions

https://www.pnas.org/content/118/25/e2024815118/tab-article-info

https://www.sciencealert.com/how-much-does-all-the-sars-cov-2-in-th...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 10, 2021 at 10:54am

Researchers create quantum microscope that can see the impossible

In a major scientific leap,  researchers have created a quantum microscope that can reveal biological structures that would otherwise be impossible to see.

This paves the way for applications in biotechnology, and could extend far beyond this into areas ranging from navigation to medical imaging.

The microscope is powered by the science of quantum entanglement, an effect Einstein described as "spooky interactions at a distance".

The quantum entanglement in this microscope provides 35 percent improved clarity without destroying the cell, allowing us to see minute biological structures that would otherwise be invisible.

"The benefits are obvious—from a better understanding of living systems, to improved diagnostic technologies.

 Quantum-enhanced nonlinear microscopy, Nature (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03528-w , www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03528-w

https://phys.org/news/2021-06-quantum-microscope-impossible.html?ut...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 10, 2021 at 9:59am

Bacteria-sized robots take on microplastics and win by breaking them down

Small pieces of plastic are everywhere, stretching from urban environments to pristine wilderness. Left to their own devices, it can take hundreds of years for them to degrade completely. Catalysts activated by sunlight could speed up the process, but getting these compounds to interact with microplastics is difficult. In a proof-of-concept study, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces developed self-propelled microrobots that can swim, attach to plastics and break them down.

While plastic products are omnipresent indoors, plastic waste and broken bits now litter the outdoors, too. The smallest of these—microplastics less than 5 mm in size—are hard to pick up and remove. In addition, they can adsorb heavy metals and pollutants, potentially harming humans or animals if accidently consumed. So, previous researchers proposed a low-energy way to get rid of plastics in the environment by using catalysts that use sunlight to produce highly reactive compounds that break down these types of polymers. However, getting the catalysts and tiny plastic pieces in contact with each other is challenging and usually requires pretreatments or bulky mechanical stirrers, which aren't easily scaled-up. so wanted to create a sunlight-propelled catalyst that moves toward and latches onto microparticles and dismantles them.

To transform a catalytic material into light-driven microrobots, the researchers made star-shaped particles of bismuth vanadate and then evenly coated the 4–8 µm-wide structures with magnetic iron oxide. The microrobots could swim down a maze of channels and interact with microplastic pieces along their entire lengths. The researchers found that under visible light, microrobots strongly glommed on to four common types of plastics. The team then illuminated pieces of the four plastics covered with the microrobot catalyst for seven days in a dilute hydrogen peroxide solution. They observed that the plastic lost 3% of its weight and that the surface texture for all types changed from smooth to pitted, and small molecules and components of the plastics were found in the left-over solution. The researchers say the self-propelled microrobot catalysts pave the way toward systems that can capture and degrade microplastics in hard-to-reach-locations.

Seyyed Mohsen Beladi-Mousavi et al, A Maze in Plastic Wastes: Autonomous Motile Photocatalytic Microrobots against Microplastics, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2021). DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c04559

https://phys.org/news/2021-06-bacteria-sized-robots-microplastics.h...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 10, 2021 at 9:34am

Low Doses of "Laughing Gas" Could Be Fast, Effective Treatment for Severe Depression

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 10, 2021 at 5:43am

Popularity runs in families

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 9, 2021 at 12:13pm

Cloud Avalanche

This "cloud avalanche" occurred near the Kapuche Glacier Lake in the mountains of Nepal last month. At that time, a group of travel companions were camping by the lake, and they took the risk of taking pictures of this rare visual feast. The white snow clouds rushed down the valley, unstoppable, instantly swallowing the mountains and hitting the lake surface. Against the backdrop of the blue sky and the yellow-brown mountains, they were more distinct, magnificent and shocking. The strong air flow overturned the tents and sleeping bags, frightening the travellers, but fortunately no casualties were reported. After that, a small rainbow appeared by the lake, which was extremely beautiful, and the travelers all cheered and marveled at it. Call it "perfect cloud collapse".

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