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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 14, 2024 at 8:44am

Researchers demonstrate universal control of a quantum dot-based system with four singlet-triplet qubits

Being able to precisely manipulate interacting spins in quantum systems is of key importance for the development of reliable and highly performing quantum computers. This has proven to be particularly challenging for nanoscale systems with many spins that are based on quantum dots (i.e., tiny semiconductor devices).

Researchers recently demonstrated the universal control of a quantum dot-based system with four singlet-triplet qubits. Their paper, published in Nature Nanotechnology, could open new possibilities for the successful upscaling of quantum information processing systems.

Xin Zhang et al, Universal control of four singlet–triplet qubits, Nature Nanotechnology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41565-024-01817-9

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 13, 2024 at 1:11pm

Stem-cell transplants restore lost vision

Three people with severely impaired vision have had their sight substantially improved by a stem-cell transplant. These improvements have now lasted more than a year. A fourth person also experienced a boost in their vision, but it did not last. The four are the first to receive a transplant of reprogrammed stem cells to treat damaged corneas, the transparent outer surface of the eye. The team behind the treatment will launch larger clinical trials next year.

Nature | 
Reference: The Lancet paper

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 13, 2024 at 12:05pm

I Made Kidney Stones So I Could DESTROY THEM FOREVER

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 11, 2024 at 9:55am

Biomolecular Condensates

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 9, 2024 at 11:02am

Memories are not only in the brain, human cell study finds

It's common knowledge that our brains—and, specifically, our brain cells—store memories. But a team of scientists has discovered that cells from other parts of the body also perform a memory function, opening new pathways for understanding how memory works and creating the potential to enhance learning and to treat memory-related afflictions.

Learning and memory are generally associated with brains and brain cells alone, but this new study shows that other cells in the body can learn and form memories, too.

The research sought to better understand if non-brain cells help with memory by borrowing from a long-established neurological property—the massed-spaced effect—which shows that we tend to retain information better when studied in spaced intervals rather than in a single, intensive session—better known as cramming for a test.

In the research, the scientists replicated learning over time by studying two types of non-brain human cells in a laboratory (one from nerve tissue and one from kidney tissue) and exposing them to different patterns of chemical signals—just like brain cells are exposed to patterns of neurotransmitters when we learn new information.

In response, the non-brain cells turned on a "memory gene"—the same gene that brain cells turn on when they detect a pattern in the information and restructure their connections in order to form memories.

To monitor the memory and learning process, the scientists engineered these non-brain cells to make a glowing protein, which indicated when the memory gene was on and when it was off.

The results showed that these cells could determine when the chemical pulses, which imitated bursts of neurotransmitter in the brain, were repeated rather than simply prolonged—just as neurons in our brain can register when we learn with breaks rather than cramming all the material in one sitting.

Specifically, when the pulses were delivered in spaced-out intervals, they turned on the "memory gene" more strongly, and for a longer time, than when the same treatment was delivered all at once.

This reflects the massed-space effect in action. 

It shows that the ability to learn from spaced repetition isn't unique to brain cells, but, in fact, might be a fundamental property of all cells.

The researchers add that the findings not only offer new ways to study memory, but also point to potential health-related gains.

This discovery opens new doors for understanding how memory works and could lead to better ways to enhance learning and treat memory problems.

At the same time, it suggests that in the future, we will need to treat our body more like the brain—for example, consider what our pancreas remembers about the pattern of our past meals to maintain healthy levels of blood glucose or consider what a cancer cell remembers about the pattern of chemotherapy.

N. V. Kukushkin et al, The massed-spaced learning effect in non-neural human cells, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-53922-x

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 9, 2024 at 9:56am

Elephant turns a hose into sophisticated showering tool

Tool use isn't unique to humans. Chimpanzees use sticks as tools. Dolphins, crows, and elephants are known for their tool-use abilities, too. Now a report in Current Biology on November 8, 2024, highlights elephants' remarkable skill in using a hose as a flexible shower head. As an unexpected bonus, researchers say they also have evidence that a fellow elephant knows how to turn the water off, perhaps as a kind of "prank."

 Water hose tool use and showering behavior by Asian elephants, Current Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.10.017. www.cell.com/current-biology/f … 0960-9822(24)01371-X

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 8, 2024 at 11:21am

 Plate tectonics research provide a new view of deep Earth's carbon emissions

From time to time, when Earth's tectonic plates shift, the planet emits a long, slow belch of carbon dioxide. In a new modeling study published in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, researchers show how this gas released from deep Earth may have affected the climate over the past billion years.

Volcanoes, undersea vents, and mid-ocean ridges are all found where Earth's plates collide or separate. Each of these structures gives carbon dioxide a route to escape from the depths of the planet and enter the atmosphere. Although their impact on the climate is minor compared to anthropogenic emissions, gases released from deep Earth are thought to have a substantial impact on the composition of Earth's atmosphere over geologic timescales.

Scientists have often estimated the volume of such carbon emissions solely on the basis of the gas released by plate tectonics. But plate tectonics can also capture carbon by incorporating it into new crust formed at mid-ocean ridges. In the new work, researchers drew on two recent studies about the past billion years of plate movement to more precisely model how much carbon dioxide this process has generated.

The model's findings are consistent with how Earth's climate is thought to have changed over time. For example, the periods during which the model suggests more carbon was being released line up with warmer periods of Earth's history, such as the start of the Ediacaran period about 653 million years ago.

Periods that the model suggests may have had lower levels of carbon outgassing coincide with colder periods of Earth's history, such as the "snowball Earth" period from 700 million to 600 million years ago.

The research also suggests that Pangea's breakup allowed large amounts of carbon dioxide to be released as the planet's plates moved apart, which is consistent with the warming that's thought to have occurred during that time.

Tectonic activity is a major determinant of Earth's atmospheric composition over geologic time, the researchers conclude.

R. Dietmar Müller et al, Solid Earth Carbon Degassing and Sequestration Since 1 Billion Years Ago, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (2024). DOI: 10.1029/2024GC011713

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 8, 2024 at 9:56am

This tells us that having a yellow bill rather than a red one provided some benefit to these birds over many generations."

The study provides new insights into how animal coloration evolves and may help explain similar color variations seen in other bird species around the world.

Daniel M. Hooper et al, Spread of yellow-bill-color alleles favored by selection in the long-tailed finch hybrid system, Current Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.10.019

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 8, 2024 at 9:55am

Researchers discover genetic reason for the red, yellow and orange bills of Australian finches

What gives an Australian finch its brilliantly colored red, yellow or orange bill? A major new study has uncovered the genetic switches controlling these distinctive colors, revealing a key piece in the puzzle of how animals develop their colouration.

The research published in Current Biology, reveals how yellow and red bill colors evolved in the long-tailed finch through changes in just a few key genes that control how birds process yellow pigments from their diet.

The study focused on two subspecies of the long-tailed finch found across northern Australia—one with a yellow bill based in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, and the other with a red bill from the Northern Territory. Where these subspecies meet, they produce hybrid offspring with orange bills.

Most long-tailed finches in Australia today have bright red bills, with the color coming from carotenoid (yellow) pigments in the seeds they eat. The birds produce enzymes that chemically turn the yellow pigments from their diet into red pigments, which are deposited in their growing bills.

By analyzing the DNA of more than 900 finches, the researchers identified the exact genetic changes responsible for the different bill colors. They discovered that yellow-billed finches have genetic variations that prevent them from converting yellow dietary pigments into red ones.

When red-billed and yellow-billed finches mate, their offspring have orange bills. By studying the exact shade of orange in these hybrid birds, researchers could identify the different genes controlling bill colour.

This discovery helps us understand how animals can evolve different color signals, contributing to the amazing colors of nature.

There's another fascinating twist to the story. Birds use carotenoid pigments for decorative feather, skin and bill colors—but also for vision. These pigments are used in the retinas of their eyes, where tiny oil droplets containing carotenoids help filter light and enable colour vision.

This led to a key discovery. While yellow-billed finches don't produce red carotenoids in their bills, they can still make them in their retinas.

It's not that yellow-billed birds lack the genes for making red colouring; rather, they control these genes differently in different parts of their bodies.

The research team found evidence buried deep in the genome—the complete DNA code for the different forms—that the yellow bill color, which first appeared about 100,000 years ago, provided some evolutionary advantage, allowing the genes for yellow bills to spread into populations of red-billed finches.

While red-colored bills were the ancestral state for these finches, we can see natural selection has favored the yellow coloration as these populations have mixed.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 8, 2024 at 9:45am

Defense or growth: Study finds trade-off in how plants allocate resources

The more a plant species invests in defense, the less potential it has for growth, according to a new study. Research made possible by open science provides new insights into plant adaptation and interspecies variation.

Pathogens can significantly weaken the fitness of their hosts, sometimes even causing host mortality. Yet considerable variation is found between species in their investment in disease defense. Evolutionary theory predicts that allocation costs regulate this investment, but testing this hypothesis has been challenging.
In a study published in Science, researchers used open databases to identify plant defense genes and growth traits in 184 plant species.

They found striking variation among plant species in the number of defense genes, which ranged from 44 to 2,256. Examples include asparagus, which has only 72 resistance genes, while one chili variety has as many as 1,095.

They also discovered a negative correlation between defense investment and growth traits in wild plants: the higher the proportion of a plant's genome is dedicated to defense genes, the lower growth potential it has.

The study demonstrates the significant role of allocation costs in the generation and maintenance of biodiversity. The findings also shed light on mechanisms that limit the evolution of defense.

Allocation costs refer to the trade-off in distributing resources among different life functions. For plants, this means that if a plant uses many resources (like energy and nutrients) to maintain its defenses, this may detract from other functions such as growth. In other words, the plant must balance its resource use, which can lead to a scenario where a strong defense reduces growth potential, or vice versa.

The study also examined cultivated plants that have been bred for specific traits. In these plants, a negative correlation between growth and defense was not observed due to the breeding that reduced natural variation in the genomes of crop plants.

Michael Giolai et al, A trade-off between investment in molecular defence repertoires and growth in plants, Science (2024). DOI: 10.1126/science.adn2779. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adn2779

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