“I keep a series of Post-it notes at my desk, which I update each day with the number of lives lost to Covid… When I’m feeling drained, I look at that number.”
How scientists are working selflessly to help the world … and how they are getting motivated to work day and night …

In their own words : “I keep a series of Post-it notes at my desk, which I update each day with the number of lives lost to Covid … When I’m feeling drained, I look at that number.”

And get back to work - Virologist Katherine McMahan who is working on a potential vaccine for covid 19

“I keep a series of Post-it notes at my desk, which I update each d...

Virologist Katherine McMahan is working on a potential vaccine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts (with Dutch Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceutica), that has shown promise in monkeys. (The New York Times | 13 min read)
Reference: Nature paper

Can a quantum strategy help bring down the house?

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https://www.sciencenews.org/article/water-beetle-frog-eaten-alive-escape-death-butt-excretion?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=latest-newsletter-v2&utm_source=Latest_Headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest_Headlines

Water beetles can live on after being eaten and excreted by a frog

One insect crawled through the amphibian’s insides in just six minutes

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** Some spiders may spin poisonous webs laced with neurotoxins

Image cloaking tool thwarts facial recognition programs

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-08-image-cloaking-tool-thwarts-fac...

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Study suggests embryos could be susceptible to coronavirus

Genes that are thought to play a role in how the SARS-CoV-2 virus infects our cells have been found to be active in embryos as early as during the second week of pregnancy, say scientists at the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The researchers say this could mean embryos are susceptible to COVID-19 if the mother gets sick, potentially affecting the chances of a successful pregnancy.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-08-embryos-susceptible-coronavi...

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https://phys.org/news/2020-08-disparities-common-air-pollutant-visi...

Disparities in a common air pollutant are visible from space

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Land use changes may increase disease outbreak risks

Global changes in land use are disrupting the balance of wild animal communities in our environment, and species that carry diseases known to infect humans appear to be benefiting, according to a new study

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-disease-outbreak.html?utm_source=nwle...

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New study reveals lower energy limit for life on Earth

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-reveals-energy-limit-life-earth.html?...

**The yin and yang of inflammation controlled by a single molecule

Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have now identified a protein called histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) as the orchestrator of the immune system's inflammation response to infection. By using both specially cultured cells and small animal models, HDAC3 was found to be directly involved in the production of agents that help kill off harmful pathogens as well as the restoration of homeostasis, the body's state of equilibrium. This work, published in Nature, shows that some of the methods being tested to fight cancer and harmful inflammation, such as sepsis, that target molecules like HDAC3 could actually have unintended and deadly consequences.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-08-yin-yang-inflammation-molecu...

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Research reveals microplastic content levels in seafood

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-reveals-microplastic-content-seafood....

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https://phys.org/news/2020-08-drivers-world-poorest-cities-windows....

Drivers from the world's poorest cities who keep their windows down are exposed to 80 percent more air pollution

Scientists build ultra-high-speed terahertz wireless chip

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-scientists-ultra-high-speed-terahertz...

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Tested positive for COVID-19? Here’s what happens next – and why day 5 is crucial

https://theconversation.com/tested-positive-for-covid-19-heres-what...

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Here’s how we’re growing meat in labs instead of in animals

A tissue engineer writes the cultured meat explainer you’ve been looking for

https://massivesci.com/articles/what-is-cultured-meat/?utm_source=d...

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These five scientific fields win the most Nobel Prizes

https://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/these-five-scientific-fields-...

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200804134737.htm

Increased global mortality linked to arsenic exposure in rice-based diets

Ammonium nitrate has the chemical formula NH₄NO₃. Produced as small porous pellets, or “prills”, it’s one of the world’s most widely used fertilisers.

It is also the main component in many types of mining explosives, where it’s mixed with fuel oil and detonated by an explosive charge.

For an industrial ammonium nitrate disaster to occur, a lot needs to go wrong. Tragically, this seems to have been the case in Beirut.

Ammonium nitrate does not burn on its own.

Instead, it acts as a source of oxygen that can accelerate the combustion (burning) of other materials.

For combustion to occur, oxygen must be present. Ammonium nitrate prills provide a much more concentrated supply of oxygen than the air around us. This is why it is effective in mining explosives, where it’s mixed with oil and other fuels.

At high enough temperatures, however, ammonium nitrate can violently decompose on its own. This process creates gases including nitrogen oxides and water vapour. It is this rapid release of gases that causes an explosion.

Ammonium nitrate decomposition can be set off if an explosion occurs where it’s stored, if there is an intense fire nearby. The latter is what happened in the 2015 Tianjin explosion, which killed 173 people after flammable chemicals and ammonium nitrate were stored together at a chemicals factory in eastern China.

While we don’t know for sure what caused the explosion in Beirut, footage of the incident indicates it may have been set off by a fire – visible in a section of the city’s port area before the explosion happened.

It’s relatively difficult for a fire to trigger an ammonium nitrate explosion. The fire would need to be sustained and confined within the same area as the ammonium nitrate prills.

Also, the prills themselves are not fuel for the fire, so they would need to be contaminated with, or packaged in, some other combustible material.

https://theconversation.com/what-is-ammonium-nitrate-the-chemical-t...

Why shaving dulls even the sharpest of razors

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-dulls-sharpest-razors.html?utm_source...

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How cells keep growing even when under attack

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-cells.html?utm_source=nwletter&ut...

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Researchers show how to make non-magnetic materials magnetic

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-non-magnetic-materials-magnetic.html?...

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An electrical switch for magnetism

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-electrical-magnetism.html?utm_source=...

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Thermal chaos returns quantum system to its unknown past

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-thermal-chaos-quantum-unknown.html?ut...

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In northern China, scientists have found what may be the 2 billion-year-old birthmarks of Earth's first supercontinent

https://sciencex.com/news/2020-08-northern-china-scientists-billion...

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Chemists create the brightest-ever fluorescent materials

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-chemists-brightest-ever-fluorescent-m...

Quantum Entanglement - The Weirdness Of Quantum Mechanics

Here is the best place on Earth to see stars, according to science

The stars literally twinkle less here because there is hardly any 'atmospheric turbulence' — a phenomenon that confounds scientists the world over.

https://www.livescience.com/best-stargazing-on-earth-dome-a.html

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Brain noise contains unique signature of dream sleep

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-08-brain-noise-unique-signature...

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https://phys.org/news/2020-08-science-biodegradable-algae-based-fli...

science behind biodegradable algae-based flip-flops

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Transgender and gender-diverse individuals more likely to be autistic: study

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-08-transgender-gender-diverse-i...

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Glass-like wood insulates heat, is tough, blocks UV and has wood-grain pattern

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-glass-like-wood-insulates-tough-block...

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Hormones control paternal interest in offspring

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-hormones-paternal-offspring.html?utm_...

People who feel dizzy when they stand up may have higher risk of dementia

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-08-people-dizzy-higher-dementia...

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New stem cell model to study how cancer arises

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-08-stem-cell-cancer.html?utm_so...

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https://phys.org/news/2020-08-link-atlantic-hurricanes-weather-east...

Researchers find link between Atlantic hurricanes and weather system in East Asia

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https://phys.org/news/2020-08-scientists-crispr-gene-messages-early...

Scientists use CRISPR to knock down gene messages early in development

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Why deforestation and extinctions make pandemics more likely

 A viper’s zig-zag colors help blur their predators’ vision

Scientists previously thought that animals’ color patterns were either warning signs or camouflage — on these snakes, they are both

https://massivesci.com/articles/snakes-predation-camouflage-evoluti...

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  ‘Hyper urban’ coyote genomes are growing apart their from city and rural cousins

Humans’ built environment has consequences even for creatures that seem to thrive in cities

https://massivesci.com/articles/city-coyotes-rural-carnivores-habit...

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 Chameleons do more than change color – their bones glow in the dark

Famous for camouflage, their visual communication turns out to run even deeper

https://massivesci.com/articles/chameleons-glow-dark-skeletons-anim...

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DNA from an ancient, unidentified ancestor was passed down to humans living today

A new analysis of ancient genomes suggests that different branches of the human family tree interbred multiple times, and that some humans carry DNA from an archaic, unknown ancestor.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200806153558.htm

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 Four reasons why some people become ‘super smellers’ – from pregnancy to genetic differences

https://theconversation.com/four-reasons-why-some-people-become-sup...

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 Here's How Exploding Stars Forged The Calcium in Your Teeth And Bones

https://www.sciencealert.com/here-s-how-the-calcium-in-your-teeth-a...

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 Here's What Happens in Your Body When You Overeat Just Once

https://www.sciencealert.com/here-s-what-happens-in-your-body-when-...

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 Common Colds May Have 'Primed' Some People's Immune Systems For COVID-19

https://www.sciencealert.com/common-colds-may-have-primed-some-peop...

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New Hybrid Species Remix Old Genes Creatively

 Open windows to help stop the spread of coronavirus

COVID is not only spread by touch and droplets sprayed from the mouth and nose but, importantly, via a third route too. The third infection pathway is in very tiny airborne particles of liquid and material, known as aerosols, that stay suspended in the air for a long time. If the virus attaches to these tiny particles, it can float on the air and spread much further. An effective way to reduce this spread is to purge the air containing those aerosols from rooms by simply opening the windows. By  opening a window to let the virus escape, the amount of it in a room can be reduced, leading to a lower risk of infection.

To prevent COVID from spreading:

• Medical experts promote hand washing, protective clothing, cleaning surfaces, spatial distancing, fewer people in lifts, and the wearing of face masks – all practical and effective actions.

• Heating, ventilating and cooling (HVAC) engineers recommend limiting the spread of the virus with expensive, high-efficiency particulate air and ultraviolet filters for climate-control systems in buildings that work well for those who can afford them.

• Architects, when looking at the impacts of COVID on buildings often deal with issues of social and physical distancing within buildings, and toy with the idea of the “end of tall buildings”, or the effect of the shift to home-working on the energy efficiency of our homes.

Simply opening windows have added benefits of the thermal, emotional and sensual delight of a cooling breeze on the skin on a warm day. Or the relief of clean, fresh air pouring into a stuffy room.

https://theconversation.com/open-windows-to-help-stop-the-spread-of...

** A titanate nanowire mask that can eliminate pathogens

Researchers are working on a membrane made of titanium oxide nanowires, similar in appearance to filter paper but with antibacterial and antiviral properties. Their material works by using the photocatalytic properties of titanium dioxide: when exposed to ultraviolet radiation, the fibers convert resident moisture into oxidizing agents such as hydrogen peroxide, which have the ability to destroy pathogens.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200807093800.htm

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 SpaceX Just Launched 57 New Starlink Satellites With Controversial Sun Shades

https://www.sciencealert.com/spacex-just-launched-57-new-satellites...

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** Some Coronavirus Patients Are Getting Rashes, And It May Signal Underlying Issues

Patients with severe coronavirus may experience rashes and lesions indicative of underlying blood clots, a new report suggests.


In the paper, published in JAMA Dermatology Wednesday, researchers described four New York City patients who were intubated with severe coronavirus and had skin complications.  Even though all patients received therapy to help prevent blood clots when they were admitted, all developed clots in their skin and were thought to have pulmonary embolisms, or an artery blockage in the lung. The findings are a lesson to other healthcare professionals to take skin manifestations as a potential sign of abnormal underlying blood clots, which can lead to strokes, heart attacks, pulmonary embolisms, and other potentially fatal complications.


https://www.sciencealert.com/some-coronavirus-patients-are-getting-...

Sonocytology

How Do Our Cells Produce Sound?

The motion of molecular motors (motor proteins) in transporting cell organelles and setting the stage for cell activities like cell division, muscle contraction, etc. is believed to be root cause for cellular sounds. The study of the sounds of a cell is called sonocytology. 

Well, not really, but your cells do sing and they might be able to give opera singers a run for their money.

Researchers in the year 2004 discovered that cells vibrate; when those vibrations are amplified, they sound like squeals. Also, each individual cell is thought to vibrate uniquely. Scientists argue that decoding these squeals could help us recognize the state of a cell and thus predict the arrival of a disease. This study of the sounds of a cell is called sonocytology (“sonos” ~ sound, “cytology” ~ study of cell structure and function).

https://www.scienceabc.com/pure-sciences/how-do-our-cells-produce-s...

https://www.nature.com/articles/423106b

The extra hygiene precautions we’re taking for COVID-19 won’t weaken our immune systems

https://theconversation.com/no-the-extra-hygiene-precautions-were-t...

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 Why Are Only 10% of People Left-Handed? Here's What Scientists Know So Far

https://www.sciencealert.com/why-are-only-10-of-people-left-handed-...

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 We May Have 'Recycled' a Key Region of Our Brains as Humans Learned to Read

https://www.sciencealert.com/we-may-have-recycled-parts-of-our-brai...

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Mpemba effect: Why hot water can freeze faster than cold

https://phys.org/news/2010-03-mpemba-effect-hot-faster-cold.html

Theories for the Mpemba effect have included:

• • faster evaporation of hot water, which reduces the volume left to freeze

• • formation of a frost layer on cold water, insulating it

• different concentrations of solutes such as carbon dioxide, which is driven off when the water is heated

The problem is that the effect does not always appear, and cold water often freezes faster than hot water.

 Recent observations show supercooling is involved. water usually supercools at 0°C and only begins freezing below this temperature. The freezing point is governed by impurities in the water that seed ice crystal formation. Impurities such as dust, bacteria, and dissolved salts all have a characteristic nucleation temperature, and when several are present the freezing point is determined by the one with the highest nucleation temperature.

 When researchers took two water samples at the same temperature and placed them in a freezer, they found that one would usually freeze before the other, presumably because of a slightly different mix of impurities. They then removed the samples from the freezer, warmed one to room temperature and the other to 80°C and then froze them again. The results were that if the difference in freezing point was at least 5°C, the one with the highest freezing point always froze before the other if it was heated to 80°C and then re-frozen.

The researchers said the hot water cools faster because of the bigger difference in temperature between the water and the freezer, and this helps it reach its freezing point before the cold water reaches its natural freezing point, which is at least 5°C lower. They also said all the conditions must be controlled, such as the location of the samples in the freezer, and the type of container, which they said other researchers had not done.

The effect now known as the Mpemba effect was first noted in the 4th century BC by Aristotle, and many scientists have noted the same phenomenon in the centuries since Aristotle’s time. It was dubbed the Mpemba effect in the 1960s when schoolboy Erasto Mpemba from Tanzania claimed in his science class that ice cream would freeze faster if it was heated first before being put in the freezer. The laughter ended only when a school inspector tried the experiment himself and vindicated him.

Physicists Demonstrate a Weird Effect Where Heating Particles Causes Them to Freeze!

https://www.sciencealert.com/physicists-demonstrated-a-weird-effect...

The idea of freezing particles by warming them is counterintuitive, to say the least. But physicists have shown how specially designed mixtures 'melt' in the dark but crystallise the moment the lights come on, thanks to their unique thermal activity.

Instead of bouncing the particles around and spreading them out, the researchers showed that by using light to heat up the mixture, they were able to lock particles in place and force them to clump together, as if they were frozen. 

Researchers from the University of Cambridge in the UK carried out their experiments on a colloid made up of water, polystyrene and small droplets of oil coated in DNA to better understand the dynamics taking place between them when warmed by light. 

particles suspended in a temperature gradient flow away from hot spots towards cooler ones. 

So it'd stand to reason that if we heated suspensions of oil, focussing on the boundary with its watery surrounds, you would expect the mix of molecules to jiggle with excitement, bumping and grinding their way towards cooler areas and causing the fluids to move.

There's even a term for this oil and water flow; the Marangoni effect.

Putting it simply, the contrasting surface tension between oil and water makes each susceptible to variations in temperature in slightly different ways, forcing their particles to scatter.

Small particles freezing when warmed by light

New reports in Physics

1. Time-reversal of an unknown quantum state

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-time-reversal-unknown-quantum-state.h...

2. Robotics

Exploring the interactions between sound, action and vision in robotics

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-08-exploring-interactions-action-v...

3. 

Discovery of massless electrons in phase-change materials provides next step for future electronics

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-discovery-massless-electrons-phase-ch...

4. Understanding vacuum fluctuations in space

An international research team of scientists has created structures in which light fields interact with electrons so strongly that the quantum vacuum itself is significantly altered. Using extremely short bursts of light, they interrupted this coupling much faster than the timescale of a vacuum fluctuation and observed an intriguing ringing of the emitted electromagnetic field, indicating the collapse of the vacuum state. Their key achievement could improve our understanding of the nature of nothingness—the vacuum of space itself, paving a way toward photonics exploiting vacuum fluctuations. The results are published in the current issue of Nature Photonics.

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-vacuum-fluctuations-space.html?utm_so...

Environment:

!. 

Agriculture replaces fossil fuels as largest human source of sulfur to the environment

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-agriculture-fossil-fuels-largest-huma...

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Breakthrough demonstrates photosynthetic hacks can boost yield, conserve water

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-breakthrough-photosynthetic-hacks-boo...

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Researchers use nanocellulose to create materials with new properties

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-nanocellulose-materials-properties.ht...

Biology:

1. Imaging method highlights new role for cellular 'skeleton' protein

While your skeleton helps your body to move, fine skeleton-like filaments within your cells likewise help cellular structures to move. Now,  researchers have developed a new imaging method that lets them monitor a small subset of these filaments, called actin. 

Until now, it's been really hard to tell where individual actin molecules of interest are, because it's difficult to separate the relevant signal from all the background."

With the new imaging technique, the researchers have been able to home in on how actin mediates an important function: helping the cellular "power stations" known as mitochondria divide in two. The work, which appeared in the journal Nature Methods on August 10, 2020, could provide a better understanding of mitochondrial dysfunction, which has been linked to cancer, aging, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Actin chromobody imaging reveals sub-organellar actin dynamics, Nature Methods (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41592-020-0926-5 , www.nature.com/articles/s41592-020-0926-5

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-imaging-method-highlights-role-cellul...

Medicine: 

Gulf War illness, chronic fatigue syndrome distinct illnesses, study suggests

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-08-gulf-war-illness-chronic-fat...

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How to get more cancer-fighting nanoparticles to where they are needed

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-cancer-fighting-nanoparticles.html?ut...

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Nanocatalysts that remotely control chemical reactions inside living cells

The enzymes responsible for catalytic reactions in our body's biological reactions are difficult to use for diagnosis or treatment as they react only to certain molecules or have low stability. Many researchers anticipate that if these issues are ameliorated or if artificial catalysts are developed to create a synergetic effect by meeting the enzymes in the body, there will be new ways to diagnose and treat diseases. In particular, if artificial catalysts that respond to external stimuli such as magnetic fields are developed, new treatment methods that remotely control bioreactions from outside the body can become a reality.

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-nanocatalysts-remotely-chemical-react...

Breakthrough technology purifies water using the power of sunlight

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-08-breakthrough-technology-purifie...

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Transgender and gender diverse people up to six times more likely to be autistic – new study

https://theconversation.com/transgender-and-gender-diverse-people-u...

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Heatwaves don’t just give you sunburn – they can harm your mental health too

https://theconversation.com/heatwaves-dont-just-give-you-sunburn-th...

How pulse oxytometer works and how it discriminates ...

How a Popular Medical Device Encodes Racial Bias

To picture what’s happening inside a pulse ox—as health care providers call it—start by thinking about what’s happening inside your body. Blood saturated with oxygen is bright crimson thanks to iron-containing hemoglobin, which picks up the gas molecules from your lungs to deliver them to your organs. In the absence of oxygen, the same hemoglobin dims to a cold purple-red. The oximeter detects this chromatic chemistry by shining two lights—one infrared, one red—through your finger and sensing how much comes through on the other side. Oxygen-saturated hemoglobin absorbs more infrared light and also allows more red light to pass through than its deoxygenated counterpart. Adjusting for certain technicalities using your pulse, the device reads out the color of your blood several times a second.

To “see” your blood, though, the light must pass through your skin. This should give us pause, since a range of technologies based on color sensing are known to reproduce racial bias. Photographic film calibrated for white skin, for example, often created distorted images of nonwhite people until its built-in assumptions started to be acknowledged and reworked in the 1970s; traces of racial biases remain in photography still today. Similar disparities have surfaced around several health devices, including Fitbits. How had designers managed to avoid such problems in the case of the oximeter, I wondered? As I dug deeper, I couldn’t find any record that the problem ever was fully fixed. Most oximeters on the market today were initially calibrated primarily for light skin, and they still often reproduce subtle errors for nonwhite people.

https://bostonreview.net/science-nature-race/amy-moran-thomas-how-p...

How Our Exhalations Help Spread Pathogens Such as SARS-CoV-2

Digital content on track to equal half Earth's mass by 2245

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-digital-content-track-equal-earth.htm...

Storing energy in red bricks

Red bricks—some of the world's cheapest and most familiar building materials—can be converted into energy storage units that can be charged to hold electricity, like a battery, according to new research

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-08-energy-red-bricks.html?utm_sour...

How boundaries become bridges in evolution

There's a paradox within the theory of evolution: The life forms that exist today are here because they were able to change when past environments disappeared. Yet, organisms evolve to fit into specific environmental niches.

Ever-increasing specialization and precision should be an evolutionary dead end, but that is not the case. How the ability to fit precisely into a current setting is reconciled with the ability to change is the most fundamental question in evolutionary biology. There are two general possible solutions, according to researchers. First, the mechanisms that enable organisms to fit well into their current environment and the mechanisms that enable change in adaptations are distinct—the latter are suppressed as organisms fit better and better into their current setting and activated only when the environment changes. The second is that the mechanisms that make organisms fit into current environments are themselves modified during evolution.

Distinguishing between these possibilities is challenging because in evolutionary biology we necessarily study processes that occurred in the past, the events that we missed. So, instead, we infer what we missed from comparisons of species that exist today. Although this approach can tell us how well the current organisms fit into their current environment, it cannot tell us how they got here."

Ultimately, the first scenario was supported by the researchers' work. The mechanisms that make organisms locally fit and those responsible for change are distinct and occur sequentially in evolution.

 Ahva L. Potticary et al, Turning induced plasticity into refined adaptations during range expansion, Nature Communications (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16938-7

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-boundaries-bridges-evolution.html?utm...

Enzyme discovered in the gut could lead to new disease biomarker

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-enzyme-gut-disease-biomarker.html?utm...

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Immunotherapy-resistant cancers eliminated in mouse study

Immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment by stimulating the patient's own immune system to attack cancer cells, yielding remarkably quick and complete remission in some cases. But such drugs work for less than a quarter of patients because tumors are notoriously adept at evading immune assault.

A new study in mice by researchers  has shown that the effects of a standard immunotherapy drug can be enhanced by blocking the protein TREM2, resulting in complete elimination of tumors. The findings, which are published Aug. 11 in the journal Cell, point to a potential new way to unlock the power of immunotherapy for more cancer patients.

Cell (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.07.013

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-08-immunotherapy-resistant-canc...

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 Using physics to improve root canal efficiency

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-physics-root-canal-efficiency.html?ut...

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Research exposes new vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-exposes-vulnerability-sars-cov-.html?...

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 Making masks and PPE with hydrophilic surfaces, could reduce infection risk

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-masks-ppe-hydrophilic-surfaces-infect...

**Malaria discovery could expedite antiviral treatment for COVID-19

A new study  outlines a strategy that could save years of drug discovery research and millions of dollars in drug development by repurposing existing treatments designed for other diseases such as cancer.The study, published in Nature Communications, demonstrated that the parasites that cause malaria are heavily dependent on enzymes in red blood cells where the parasites hide and proliferate.It also revealed that drugs developed for cancer, and which inactivate these human enzymes, known as protein kinases, are highly effective in killing the parasite and represent an alternative to drugs that target the parasite itself.These host enzymes are in many instances the same as those activated in cancer cells, so we can now jump on the back of existing cancer drug discovery and look to repurpose a drug that is already available or close to completion of the drug development process 

 Analysis of erythrocyte signalling pathways during Plasmodium falciparum infection identifies targets for host-directed antimalarial intervention, Nature Communications (2020).  DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17829-7
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-08-malaria-discovery-antiviral-...  

Scientists create compact particle accelerators that drive electron beams nearer speed of light

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-scientists-compact-particle-electron-...

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**  X-rays indicate that water can behave like a liquid crystal

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-x-rays-liquid-crystal.html?utm_source...

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** Ultraviolet communication to transform Army networks

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-ultraviolet-army-networks.html?utm_so...

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Laser beams reflected between Earth and moon boost science

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-laser-earth-moon-boost-science.html?u...

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** Researchers identify a protein that may help SARS-CoV-2 spread rapidly through cells

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-protein-sars-cov-rapidly-cells.html?u...

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** How Breastfeeding Protects Mothers

Breastfeeding reduces type 2 diabetes risk by boosting beta cells.

https://www.the-scientist.com/infographics/infographic-how-breastfe...

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Male Flies’ Y Chromosome May Contribute to Earlier Deaths

As male Drosophila grow old, selfish genetic elements that are abundant on the Y chromosome become more active, which appears to reduce longevity.

https://www.the-scientist.com/the-literature/male-flies-y-chromosom...

How airplanes counteract St. Elmo's Fire during thunderstorms -1

At the height of a thunderstorm, the tips of cell towers, telephone poles, and other tall, electrically conductive structures can spontaneously emit a flash of blue light. This electric glow, known as a corona discharge, is produced when the air surrounding a conductive object is briefly ionized by an electrically charged environment.

For centuries, sailors observed corona discharges at the tips of ship masts during storms at sea. They coined the phenomenon St. Elmo's fire, after the patron saint of sailors.

Scientists have found that a corona discharge can strengthen in windy conditions, glowing more brightly as the wind further electrifies the air. This wind-induced intensification has been observed mostly in electrically grounded structures, such as trees and towers. Now aerospace engineers at MIT have found that wind has an opposite effect on ungrounded objects, such as airplanes and some wind turbine blades.

In some of the last experiments performed in MIT's Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel before it was dismantled in 2019, the researchers exposed an electrically ungrounded model of an airplane wing to increasingly strong wind gusts. They found that the stronger the wind, the weaker the corona discharge, and the dimmer the glow that was produced.

Within a storm cloud, friction can build up to produce extra electrons, creating an electric field that can reach all the way to the ground. If that field is strong enough, it can break apart surrounding air molecules, turning neutral air into a charged gas, or plasma. This process most often occurs around sharp, conductive objects such as cell towers and wing tips, as these pointed structures tend to concentrate the electric field in a way that electrons are pulled from surrounding air molecules toward the pointed structures, leaving behind a veil of positively charged plasma immediately around the sharp object.

Once a plasma has formed, the molecules within it can begin to glow via the process of corona discharge, where excess electrons in the electric field ping-pong against the molecules, knocking them into excited states. In order to come down from those excited states, the molecules emit a photon of energy, at a wavelength that, for oxygen and nitrogen, corresponds to the characteristic blueish glow of St. Elmo's fire.

How airplanes counteract St. Elmo's Fire during thunderstorms -2

In previous laboratory experiments, scientists found that this glow, and the energy of a corona discharge, can strengthen in the presence of wind. A strong gust can essentially blow away the positively charged ions, that were locally shielding the electric field and reducing its effect—making it easier for electrons to trigger a stronger, brighter glow.

More here: 

These experiments were mostly carried out with electrically grounded structures, and the MIT team wondered whether wind would have the same strengthening effect on a corona discharge that was produced around a sharp, ungrounded object, such as an airplane wing.

To test this idea, they fabricated a simple wing structure out of wood and wrapped the wing in foil to make it electrically conductive. Rather than try to produce an ambient electric field similar to what would be generated in a thunderstorm, the team studied an alternative configuration in which the corona discharge was generated in a metal wire running parallel to the length of the wing, and connecting a small high-voltage power source between wire and wing. They fastened the wing to a pedestal made from an insulating material that, because of its nonconductive nature, essentially made the wing itself electrically suspended, or ungrounded.

C. Guerra‐Garcia et al. Corona Discharge in Wind for Electrically Isolated Electrodes, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres (2020). DOI: 10.1029/2020JD032908

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-airplanes-counteract-st-elmo-thunders...

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1 in 10 women are affected by endometriosis. So why does it take so long to diagnose?

Endometriosis is a debilitating, chronic condition that affects 1 in 10 women worldwide. It occurs when tissue which has similar properties to the womb lining, ends up in the body and attaches to organs, forming a patch of tissue called a lesion.

The condition can cause chronic pelvic pain, bowel and bladder dysfunction, and pain during sex. Painful symptoms can often make it hard for women to work or study, which has long-term socioeconomic impacts.

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New guidance on brain death could ease debate over when life ends

This clarity may help identify when the brain has stopped working, completely and irrevocably

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Climate explained: why does geothermal electricity count as renewable?

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Quantum researchers create an error-correcting cat

physicists have developed an error-correcting cat—a new device that combines the Schrödinger's cat concept of superposition (a physical system existing in two states at once) with the ability to fix some of the trickiest errors in a quantum computation.

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Chemists discover way to make new nitrogen products 'out of thin air'

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From cave art to climate chaos: how a new carbon dating timeline is changing our view of history

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Painting Eyes on The Butts of Cattle Can Protect Them From Lions, Research Shows

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New robotic system remotely controls ventilators in COVID-19 patient rooms

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Chemists expand genetic code of E. coli to produce 21st amino acid, giving it new abilities

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Eggshell-based surgical material for skull injuries:

A bioactive polymer-ceramic composite for fixing implants and restoring bone defects in the skull was developed by an international group of materials scientists .  An innovative composition of the material based on eggshell-derived bioceramic provides increased strength and biointegration of implants.

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Restoring degraded tropical forests generates big carbon gains

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** Hubble finds that Betelgeuse's mysterious dimming is due to a traumatic outburst

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** Bird and reptile tears aren't so different from human tears

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Scientists discover way to make quantum states last 10,000 times longer

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** Researchers use supercomputer to gain insights into hepatitis B

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Sustainable nylon production made possible by bacteria discovery

Nylon manufacture could be revolutionized by the discovery that bacteria can make a key chemical involved in the process, without emitting harmful greenhouse gases.

Bacterial enzymes 'hijacked' to create complex molecules normally made by plants

Chemists at Scripps Research have efficiently created three families of complex, oxygen-containing molecules that are normally obtainable only from plants.

These molecules, called terpenes, are potential starting points for new drugs and other high-value products—marking an important development for multiple industries. In addition, the new approach could allow chemists to build many other classes of compounds.

The chemistry feat is detailed in the Aug. 13 edition of the journal Science.

The key to this new method of making molecules is the harnessing, or hijacking, of natural enzymes—from bacteria, in this case—to assist in complex chemical transformations that have been impractical or impossible with synthetic chemistry techniques alone.

Natural enzymes that help build molecules in cells usually perform only one or two highly specific tasks. But the Scripps Research team showed that natural enzymes, even without modification, can be made to perform a wider range of tasks. We think that in general, enzymes are a mostly untapped resource for solving problems in chemical synthesis. Enzymes tend to have some degree of promiscuous activity, in terms of their ability to spur chemical reactions  beyond their primary task, and scientists  were able to take advantage of that here.

Enzymes help build molecules in all plant, animal and microbial species. Inspired by their efficiency in constructing highly complex molecules, chemists for more than half a century have used enzymes in the lab to help build valuable compounds, including drug compounds—but usually these compounds are the same molecules the enzymes help build in nature.

Harnessing natural enzymes in a broader way, according to their basic biochemical activity, is a new strategy with vast potential. Our view now is that whenever we want to synthesize a complex molecule, the solution probably already exists among nature's enzymes—we just have to know how to find the enzymes that will work. The team succeeded in making nine terpenes known to be produced in Isodon, a family of flowering plants related to mint. The complex compounds belong to three terpene families with related chemical structures: ent-kauranes, ent-atisanes, and ent-trachylobanes. Members of these terpene families have a wide range of biological activities including the suppression of inflammation and tumor growth.

"Divergent synthesis of complex diterpenes through a hybrid oxidative approach" Science (2020). science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi … 1126/science.abb8271

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-bacterial-enzymes-hijacked-complex-mo...

Recalling memories from a third-person perspective changes how our brain processes them

 recalling memories from an observer-like perspective—instead of through your own eyes—leads to greater interaction between the anterior hippocampus and the posterior medial network.

"These findings contribute to a growing body of research that show that retrieving memories is an active process that can bias and even distort our memories.

Adopting an observer-like perspective involves viewing the past in a novel way, which requires greater interaction among brain regions that support our ability to recall the details of a memory and to recreate mental images in our mind's eye."

Adopting an observer-like perspective may also serve a therapeutic purpose, explained St Jacques. "This may be an effective way of dealing with troubling memories by viewing the past from a distance and reducing the intensity of the emotions we feel."

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Pandemic Conspiracies And Rumours Have Killed Over 800 People, Study Shows

"Infodemic" – an oversupply of information, carrying with it fake news, rumours, and conspiracy theories that put people in harm's way. Bad ideas and poor advice, shared amongst friends, family, and total strangers alike.

In a new study, an international team of infectious disease researchers scoured social media and news websites to monitor how COVID-19 misinformation was circulating on online platforms.

In total, they identified over 2,300 reports of COVID-19-related rumours, stigma, and conspiracy theories, communicated in 25 languages from 87 different countries.

None of this misinformation is helpful – even if it's intended to be – and much of it is harmful. In some cases, it's lethal, leading to preventable death and injury on a truly tragic scale.

"For example, a popular myth that consumption of highly concentrated alcohol could disinfect the body and kill the virus was circulating in different parts of the world," the authors write in their study.

"Following this misinformation, approximately 800 people have died, whereas 5,876 have been hospitalised and 60 have developed complete blindness after drinking methanol as a cure of coronavirus."

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We Finally Know The Chemical That Triggers Locust Swarms. Now to Use It Against Them

A single locust is just bigger than a paper clip.

But when these solitary critters attract others into a growing swarm, billions of locusts wind up flying together, forming a moving carpet that can block out the sun and strip the landscape of plants and crops.

Giant swarms like this have devastated large swaths of crops in Africa and Asia since January, threatening food supplies for millions.

But until now, scientists weren't sure what causes the insects to come together and abandon their solitary lifestyles. 

A study published Wednesday in the journal Nature pinpointed the trigger: Migratory locusts respond to a pheromone called 4-vinylanisole (4VA).

4VA is specific to that one type of locust, but the finding could offer a way to control many devastating swarms, including those wreaking global havoc this year. The study authors suggest using 4VA to corral locusts into areas in which they can then be killed en masse with pesticides.

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The migratory locust is the most widely distributed locust species on the planet.

Like all locust species, these insects can follow one of two paths as they mature: some become solitary creatures, while others gather together in a cohesive mass. Locusts can also transition from solitary to gregarious creatures at any point during their life cycle.

Scientists had long thought this change in lifestyle might be prompted by a pheromone put out by other locusts. Yet until the discovery of 4VA, they hadn't figured out what that chemical klaxon was.

This study has found the long-anticipated but never-before-described aggregation pheromone that is responsible for bringing solitary locusts together and turning them into gregarious, dangerous swarming locusts

The study authors found that 4VA was equally attractive to male and female migratory locusts, as well as juveniles and adults.

Their results also showed that as the density of a locust swarm grew, the amount of 4VA in the air "increased markedly," Voss wrote. That could explain why swarms, once they start, gather more and more solitary locusts over time.

Additionally, the researchers found that once four or five solitary locusts crowd out together, they begin to produce and emit 4VA.

As a substance, 4VA would smell sweet to humans. he discovery of 4VA could facilitate a more surgical approach to fighting swarms: The study authors suggest deploying a synthetic version of the scent to lure locusts into traps where they can be killed. 

Another option, they wrote, might be to figure out ways to stop locusts from detecting 4VA at all.

Locusts detect the pheromone via their antennae; the molecules attach to an olfactory receptor. So the researchers genetically engineered locusts to lack that receptor, and found that the mutant locusts were less attracted to 4VA than their wild counterparts.

Based on those findings, the authors think "anti-VA" chemicals could be developed to obstruct the locusts' olfactory process.

"Such molecules could be widely deployed to prevent locust aggregation, in effect making the locusts blind to their own scent," 

https://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-have-finally-worked-out-th...

Nanoparticles to immunize plants against heat stress

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Researchers capture footage of fluid behaving like a solid

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Space bricks for lunar habitation

In what could be a significant step forward in space exploration, a team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed a sustainable process for making brick-like structures on the moon. It exploits lunar soil, and uses bacteria and guar beans to consolidate the soil into possible load-bearing structures. These 'space bricks' could eventually be used to assemble structures for habitation on the moon's surface.

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Forensic research proves that textile fibres can be transferred between clothing in the absence of contact

Breakthrough forensic research at Northumbria University, Newcastle, has revealed for the first time that textile fibers can, under certain circumstances, be transferred between clothing in the absence of contact.

This new forensic discovery has not been demonstrated before and could have a major implication for fiber evidence in certain criminal cases.

Researchers within Northumbria University's Department of Applied Sciences have proved that contactless transfer of fibers between garments can be possible through airborne travel.

Because it has largely been assumed that fiber transfer only occurs when two surfaces touch, it is generally accepted in a case that two surfaces have, at some point, been in contact with each other. However, researchers at Northumbria University have revealed that under certain conditions, this is not necessarily always the case.

when people travel on elevators this can happen.

It not only proved that textile fibers can transfer between garments in the absence of contact, but they can do so in relatively high numbers."

In this study, the potential of fiber transfer between different items of sheddable clothing through airborne travel has been assessed for small, compact and semi-enclosed spaces, such as elevators.

The results of this study demonstrate that when certain strict conditions are met (i.e. time, sheddability of garment, proximity and confined space), airborne transfer of fibers can occur in forensic scenarios, and that these could be in potentially significant numbers for fiber types, such as cotton and polyester.

The results of this study define a set of circumstances that can be used as a baseline to evaluate the likelihood of an alleged activity being conducive to contactless transfer. What is equally, if not more, important, is how that fiber was transferred from one surface to another," he said. "This research shows that airborne transfer is viable in a number of case scenarios despite previous beliefs and could explain the presence of fibers on a variety of surfaces.

 A study on contactless airborne transfer of textile fibers between different garments in small compact semi-enclosed spaces, Forensic Science International (2020).

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-forensic-textile-fibres-absence-conta...

Tree ferns are older than dinosaurs. And that's not even the most interesting thing about them

tree ferns are ferns, but they are not really trees. To be a tree, a plant must be woody (undergo secondary plant growth, which thickens stems and roots) and grow to a height of at least three meters when mature. While tree ferns can have single, thick trunk-like stems and can grow to a height of more than 15 meters, they are never woody.

They're also incredibly hardy—tree ferns are often the first plants to show signs of recovery in the early weeks after bushfires. The unfurling of an almost iridescent green tree fern fiddlehead amid the somber black of the bushfire ash is almost symbolic of the potential for bushfire recovery.

Tree ferns are generally slow growing, at rates of just 25-50 millimeters height increase per year. This means the tall individuals you might spot in a mature forest may be several centuries old.

However, in the right environment they can grow faster, so guessing their real age can be tricky, especially if they're growing outside their usual forest environment.

As a plant group, tree ferns are ancient, dating back hundreds of millions of years and pre-dating dinosaurs.

They existed on earth long before the flowering or cone-bearing plants evolved, and were a significant element of the earth's flora during the Carboniferous period 300-360 million years ago, when conditions for plant growth were near ideal. This explains why ferns don't reproduce by flowers, fruits or cones, but by more primitive spores.

In fact, fossilized tree ferns and their relatives called the fern allies laid down during the carboniferous then have provided much of the earth's fossil fuels dating from that period. And tree ferns were a great food source, with Indigenous people once eating the pulp that occurs in the center of the tree fern stem either raw or roasted as a starch.

The way tree ferns grow is quite complex. That's because growth, even of the roots, originates from part of the apex of the stem. If this crown is damaged, then the fern can die.

At the right time of the year, the new fronds unfurl in the crown from a coil called a fiddlehead. The stem of the tree fern is made up of all of the retained leaf bases of the fronds from previous years.

The stems are very fibrous and quite strong, which means they tend to retain moisture. And this is one of the reasons why the stems of tree ferns don't easily burn in bushfires—even when they're dry or dead.

https://theconversation.com/tree-ferns-are-older-than-dinosaurs-and...

Mitochondria May Hold Keys to Anxiety and Mental Health

Climate change could put tropical plant germination at risk: Study

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