Big answers from tiny particles

A team of scientists led by Kanazawa University proposed a new mathematical framework to understand the properties of the fundamental particles called neutrinos. This work may help cosmologists make progress on the apparent paradox of the existence of matter in the Universe.

Mayumi Aoki et al, Probing charged lepton number violation via ℓ±ℓ′±W∓W∓, Physical Review D (2020). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.101.115019

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-big-tiny-particles.html?utm_source=nw...

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 The consequences of spraying fire retardants on wildfires

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-consequences-retardants-wildfires.htm...

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COVID-19 isn’t the only infectious disease scientists are trying to find a vaccine for. Here are 3 others

https://theconversation.com/covid-19-isnt-the-only-infectious-disea...

Blood Replacement Rescues Mice from Stroke Damage

When mice that had suffered a stroke were given blood from a healthy donor, they experienced less tissue and neurological damage.

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/blood-replacement-rescue...

Researchers have partially mitigated the effects of an ischemic stroke in mice simply by replacing a small amount of their blood with that of a healthy donor. Days after receiving the transplant, mice had less tissue damage surrounding the clot and suffered fewer neurological side effects compared to mice that had not received a blood infusion. 

The results, published August 25 in Nature Communications, highlight the link between strokes in the brain and the immune system. At least some of the damage caused by strokes, the authors say, is the result of an overreactive immune response during which cells sent to an injury to fight infection and facilitate repair instead harm sensitive brain tissue. 

“The initial impetus for the study was to determine the extent to which this immune response, which we know is very rapid and very profound, contributes to brain damage from stroke

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=83&v=DaVJbYPxXhs&am...

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As information flows through brain's heirarchy, higher regions use higher-frequency waves
To produce your thoughts and actions, your brain processes information in a hierarchy of regions along its surface, or cortex, ranging from “lower” areas that do basic parsing of incoming sensations to “higher” executive regions that formulate your plans for employing that newfound knowledge. In a new study, neuroscientists seeking to explain how this organization emerges report two broad trends: In each of three distinct regions, information encoding or its inhibition was associated with a similar tug of war between specific brain wave frequency bands, and the higher a region’s status in the hierarchy, the higher the peak frequency of its waves in each of those bands.  
https://researchnews.cc/news/2508/As-information-flows-through-brai...
https://news.mit.edu/2020/information-flows-through-brains-heirarch...
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Raised blood pressure and diabetes alter brain structure to slow thinking speed and memory  

In a new study published neuroscientists at Oxford university have found that raised blood pressure and diabetes in mid-life alter brain structure to slow thinking speed and memory.

Looking at results from 22,000 volunteers in the UK Biobank who underwent brain scanning, the scientists found that raised blood pressure and diabetes significantly impaired the brain’s cognitive functions, specifically the performance of thinking speed and short-term memory.  Monitoring and treating even modestly raised blood pressure might make a difference to the structure of the brain and speed of thinking in mid-life, while also offering potential to reduce the risks of developing dementia later in life.  
https://researchnews.cc/news/2511/Raised-blood-pressure-and-diabete...

Alcohol and your brain: study finds even moderate drinking is damaging

Tortoise hatchlings found to orient toward objects resembling faces

Researchers have found that freshly hatched tortoises tend to orient themselves toward objects that resemble a face. 

Anecdotal as well as lab research has shown that newly born humans tend to orient their faces toward the face of their mother. Likewise, other animals have been found to do the same. Social scientists have shown that the behavior is hereditary and have theorized that it is part of bonding. In this new effort, the researchers found evidence that suggests face orienteering goes deeper than that, and perhaps goes farther back in evolution than has been thought—to an ancestor common to both humans and reptiles.

To test the possibility of face orienteering in reptiles, the researchers created simple face-like structures by pasting square black blocks onto a white plate, vaguely resembling eyes, nose and mouth. They also pasted the same sort of blocks in other ways on other plates in ways not resembling a face. They then set newly hatched tortoises in the vicinity of their creations and watched how they behaved. In all, the researchers tested 136 tortoises from five Testudo species. In tallying up their results, they found that the tortoise hatchlings oriented themselves toward the faces approximately 70% of the time. In sharp contrast, they showed no preference for any of the structures that did not resemble faces.

The researchers suggest their finding is notable because tortoises are notoriously antisocial creatures. They receive no care from their parents and avoid other tortoises when they see them. They also do not interact with animals of other species. Thus, their inclination to orient themselves toward a face suggests it originates in their genes. Prior research has shown that modern tortoises first appeared around 30 million years ago, which suggests that facial attraction may go back even farther in history—perhaps to a shared common ancestor of humans and reptiles.

Elisabetta Versace et al. Early preference for face-like stimuli in solitary species as revealed by tortoise hatchlings, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2020). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2011453117

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-tortoise-hatchlings-resembling.html?u...

Did our early ancestors boil their food in hot springs?

Microbial biomarkers reveal a hydrothermally active landscape at Olduvai Gorge at the dawn of the Acheulean, 1.7 Ma, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2020). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2004532117 , www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/09/14/2004532117

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-early-ancestors-food-hot.html?utm_sou...

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Molecular basis underlying colorectal cancer revealed

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-molecular-basis-underlying-c...

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Reward and punishment take similar paths in the mouse brain

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-reward-similar-paths-mouse-b...

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Why a vaccine can provide better immunity than an actual infection  

Ocean algae get 'coup de grace' from viruses

Human white blood cells use molecular paddles to swim

Human white blood cells, known as leukocytes, swim using a newly described mechanism called molecular paddling, researchers report

This microswimming mechanism could explain how both immune cells and cancer cells migrate in various fluid-filled niches in the body, for good or for harm.

Cells have evolved different strategies to migrate and explore their environment. For example, sperm cells, microalgae, and bacteria can swim through shape deformations or by using a whip-like appendage called a flagellum. By contrast, somatic mammalian cells are known to migrate by attaching to surfaces and crawling. It is widely accepted that leukocytes cannot migrate on 2-D surfaces without adhering to them.

A prior study reported that certain human white blood cells called neutrophils could swim, but no mechanism was demonstrated. Another study showed that mouse leukocytes could be artificially provoked to swim. It is widely thought that cell swimming without a flagellum requires changes in cell shape, but the precise mechanisms underlying leukocyte migration have been debated.

This new study provide experimental and computational evidence  that human leukocytes can migrate on 2-D surfaces without sticking to them and can swim using a mechanism that does not rely on changes in cell shape. The cells paddle using transmembrane proteins, which span the cell membrane and protrude outside the cell. The researchers show that membrane treadmilling—rearward movement of the cell surface—propels leukocyte migration in solid or liquid environments, with and without adhesion.

Laurene Aoun et al, Amoeboid Swimming Is Propelled by Molecular Paddling in Lymphocytes, Biophysical Journal (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2020.07.033

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-human-white-blood-cells-molecular.htm...

The multiple benefits of a world without air conditioning  and how you can ‘get cooled’ without AC

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-qa-multiple-benefits-world-air.html?u...

https://www.quora.com/q/sciencecommunication/The-multiple-benefits-...  -- check%%

will the tropics eventually become uninhabitable?

https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-will-the-tropics-even...

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A computer can guess more than 100,000,000,000 passwords per second. Still think yours is secure?

https://theconversation.com/a-computer-can-guess-more-than-100-000-...

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Earth’s rarest diamonds form from primordial carbon in the mantle

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/earth-rarest-diamonds-form-prim...

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Athletes show signs of possible heart injury after COVID-19

A small study found indicators of inflammation in images of some athletes’ hearts

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/covid19-coronavirus-heart-injur...

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Research reveals an enormous planet quickly orbiting a tiny, dying star

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-reveals-enormous-planet-quickly-orbit...

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https://www.quora.com/q/sciencecommunication/New-finding-A-lack-of-...; - check &&

Keeping MAX quiet with Chevrons.

A new strategy for the viral manipulation of interneurons in mice and other mammals

the use of viral vectors that were developed by identifying short sequences of DNA restricting the expression of a virus onto the desired target cell type.

Viral manipulation of functionally distinct interneurons in mice, non-human primates and humans. Nature Neuroscience (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-020-0692-9.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-strategy-viral-interneurons-...

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Harnessing DNA molecules for disease detection and electronics

DNA molecules express heredity through genetic information. However, in the past few years, scientists have discovered that DNA can conduct electrical currents. This makes it an interesting candidate for roles that nature did not intend for this molecule, such as smaller, faster and cheaper electric circuits in electronic devices, and to detect the early stages of diseases like cancer and COVID-19.

The  most surprising recent finding was that the current passes through the DNA backbone, contrary to prior assumptions in the scientific community that the current flowed along DNA base pairs. 

 Roman Zhuravel et al. Backbone charge transport in double-stranded DNA, Nature Nanotechnology (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41565-020-0741-2

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-harnessing-dna-molecules-disease-elec...

How Dantu Blood Group protects against malaria—and how all humans could benefit

In 2017, researchers discovered that the rare Dantu blood variant, which is found regularly only in parts of East Africa, provides some degree of protection against severe malaria.

The secret of how the Dantu genetic blood variant helps to protect against malaria has been revealed for the first time by scientists now. They found that red blood cells in people with the rare Dantu blood variant have a higher surface tension that prevents them from being invaded by the world's deadliest malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.

Analysis of the characteristics of the red blood cell samples indicated that the Dantu variant created cells with a higher surface tension—like a drum with a tighter skin. At a certain tension, malaria parasites were no longer able to enter the cell, halting their lifecycle and preventing their ability to multiply in the blood. The Dantu blood group has a novel 'chimeric' protein that is expressed on the surface of red blood cells, and alters the balance of other surface proteins.

This finding could also be significant in the wider battle against malaria. Because the surface tension of human red blood  cells increases as they age, it may be possible to design drugs that imitate this natural process to prevent malaria infection or reduce its severity.

Red blood cell tension protects against severe malaria in the Dantu blood group, Nature (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2726-6 , www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2726-6

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-dantu-blood-group-malariaand...

Native stinging tree toxins match the pain of spiders and scorpions

The painful toxins wielded by a giant  stinging tree are surprisingly similar to the venom found in spiders and cone snails researchers have found.

The Gympie-Gympie stinging tree is one of the world's most venomous plants and causes extreme long-lasting pain. Researchers found a new family of toxins, which they've named 'gympietides' after the Gympie-Gympie stinging tree.

The tree's scientific name is Dendrocnide which literally means 'stinging tree'—a member of the nettle family. Like other stinging plants such as nettles, the giant stinging tree is covered in needle-like appendages called trichomes that are around five millimetres in length—the trichomes look like fine hairs, but actually act like hypodermic needles that inject toxins when they make contact with skin.

 Small molecules in the trichomes such as histamine, acetylcholine and formic acid have been tested but injecting these does not cause the severe and long-lasting pain of the stinging tree, suggesting that there was an unidentified neurotoxin to be found.

Although they come from a plant, the gympietides are similar to spider and cone snail toxins in the way they fold into their 3-D molecular structures and target the same pain receptors—this arguably makes the Gympie-Gympie tree a truly "venomous" plant. The long-lasting pain from the stinging tree may be explained by the gympietides permanently changing the sodium channels in the sensory neurons, not due to the fine hairs getting stuck in the skin.

By understanding how this toxin works, scientists hope to provide better treatment to those who have been stung by the plant, to ease or eliminate the pain.

With these toxins from both plants and animals having a shared method of causing pain, it begs the question, when and how did these toxins evolve?

The researchers point to two possibilities for the toxin's evolution from either an ancestral gene in an ancient shared ancestor or convergent evolution, where nature re-invents the most fitting structure to fit a common purpose.

E.K. Gilding el al., "Neurotoxic peptides from the venom of the giant Australian stinging tree," Science Advances (2020). advances.sciencemag.org/lookup … .1126/sciadv.abb8828

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-native-tree-toxins-pain-spiders.html?...

Discovery of a new mass extinction

It's not often a new mass extinction is identified; after all, such events were so devastating they really stand out in the fossil record. In a new paper, published today in Science Advances, an international team has identified a major extinction of life 233 million years ago that triggered the dinosaur takeover of the world. The crisis has been called the Carnian Pluvial Episode.

The cause was most likely massive volcanic eruptions in the Wrangellia Province of western Canada, where huge volumes of volcanic basalt was poured out and forms much of the western coast of North America.

"Extinction and dawn of the modern world in the Carnian (Late Triassic)" Science Advances (2020). advances.sciencemag.org/lookup … .1126/sciadv.aba0099

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-discovery-mass-extinction.html?utm_so...

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World fails to meet a single target to stop destruction of nature – UN report

The world has failed to meet a single target to stem the destruction of wildlife and life-sustaining ecosystems in the last decade, according to a devastating new report from the UN on the state of nature.

https://www.cbd.int/gbo5

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/15/every-global-ta...

Anti-reflective coating inspired by fly eyes

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-anti-reflective-coating-eyes.html?utm...

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Why do hospital germs bind more strongly to certain surfaces than to others?

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-hospital-germs-strongly-surfaces.html...

https://www.quora.com/q/sciencecommunication/More-research-news-Bio...;  - check%%

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Astronomers discover a 2-km asteroid orbiting closer to the sun than Venus

Ip et al., A kilometer-scale asteroid inside Venus's orbit. arXiv:2009.04125 [astro-ph.EP]. arxiv.org/abs/2009.04125

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-astronomers-km-asteroid-orbiting-clos...

Molecular 'dances' determine how liquids take up heat

Scientists have uncovered a link between the microscopic movements of particles in a liquid and its ability to absorb heat.

When a liquid is heated the molecules within it start to move about and jump around. As the temperature increases, particles begin to move more frequently and cover increasingly larger distances. Together, these motions create different patterns of molecular "dances," known as collective excitations.

Researchers now found that the collective excitations observed in liquids can eventually become so intense that they start to interact with each other, changing the way the liquid itself takes up heat.

The 

findings in many different types of liquids and found that this relationship was universal across liquids.

The discovery of this new relationship bridges the gap between the microscopic behavior of liquids and their key macroscopic property—heat capacity. It also suggests that there is an optimal temperature region for cooling applications and it is possible to control this region by tuning the pattern of molecular "dances."

Nikita P. Kryuchkov et al. Universal Effect of Excitation Dispersion on the Heat Capacity and Gapped States in Fluids, Physical Review Letters (2020). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.125501

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-molecular-liquids.html?utm_source=nwl...

Synthetic clothing fibers contribute vast amounts of plastic pollution on land

176,500 metric tons of synthetic microfibers—chiefly polyester and nylon—are released every year onto terrestrial environments across the globe, according to a new study. The microfibers are shed from clothing during washing, and the amount ending up on land now exceeds the amount that enters waterbodies.

Plastic pollution in the ocean has received lots of attention in recent years, but waterways are not the only place that plastic accumulates. Fourteen percent of all plastic is used to make synthetic fibers, chiefly for clothing. Microfibers, defined as particles less than 5 millimeters in length, are generated in large quantities at every stage of a fiber's life cycle, especially during washing, which mechanically fragments synthetic fibers. When wash water becomes part of the flow to a wastewater treatment plant, the microfibers it contains may be retained along with biosolid sludge, which may be applied to cropland or buried in landfills.

Gavigan J, Kefela T, Macadam-Somer I, Suh S, Geyer R (2020) Synthetic microfiber emissions to land rival those to waterbodies and are growing. PLoS ONE 15(9): e0237839. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237839

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-synthetic-fibers-contribute-vast-amou...

The Big Picture 

https://www.sciencealert.com/teen-in-ohio-blasts-away-retina-by-sta...

New invention: Eco-aerogels made from pineapple leaf fibres 

Does wearing glasses protect you from coronavirus?  

A scientific first: How psychedelics bind to key brain cell receptor

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-scientific-psychedelics-key-brain-cel...

Supercooled water is a stable liquid, scientists show for the first time

Supercooled water is really two liquids in one. That's the conclusion reached by a research team after making the first-ever measurements of liquid water at temperatures much colder than its typical freezing point.

The finding, published today in the journal Science, provides long-sought experimental data to explain some of the bizarre behavior water exhibits at extremely cold temperatures found in outer space and at the far reaches of Earth's own atmosphere. Until now, liquid water at the most extreme possible temperatures has been the subject of competing theories and conjecture. Some scientists have asked whether it is even possible for water to truly exist as a liquid at temperatures as low as -117.7 F (190 K) or whether the odd behavior is just water rearranging on its inevitable path to a solid.

I 's shown now that liquid water at extremely cold temperatures is not only relatively stable, it exists in two structural motifs. The findings explain a long-standing controversy over whether or not deeply supercooled water always crystallizes before it can equilibrate. The answer is: no.

"Reversible structural transformations in supercooled liquid water from 135 to 245 K" Science (2020). science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi … 1126/science.abb7542

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-supercooled-stable-liquid-scientists....

Making tuberculosis more susceptible to antibiotics

Every living cell is coated with a distinctive array of carbohydrates, which serves as a unique cellular "ID" and helps to manage the cell's interactions with other cells.

 chemists have now discovered that changing the length of these carbohydrates can dramatically affect their function. In a study of mycobacteria, the type of bacteria that cause tuberculosis and other diseases, they found that shortening the length of a carbohydrate called galactan impairs some cell functions and makes the cells much more susceptible to certain antibiotics.

The findings suggest that drugs that interfere with galactan synthesis could be used along with existing antibiotics to create more effective treatments.

Alexander M. Justen et al. Polysaccharide length affects mycobacterial cell shape and antibiotic susceptibility, Science Advances (2020). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba4015

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-tuberculosis-susceptible-antibiotics....

 Human footprints dating back 120,000 years found in Saudi Arabia

Around 120,000 years ago in what is now northern Saudi Arabia, a small band of homo sapiens stopped to drink and forage at a shallow lake that was also frequented by camels, buffalo and elephants bigger than any species seen today.

The humans may have hunted the big mammals but they did not stay long, using the watering hole as a waypoint on a longer journey.

This detailed scene was reconstructed by researchers in a new study published in Science Advances on Wednesday, following the discovery of ancient human and animal footprints in the Nefud Desert that shed new light on the routes our ancient ancestors took as they spread out of Africa.

M. Stewart el al., "Human footprints provide snapshot of last interglacial ecology in the Arabian interior," Science Advances (2020). advances.sciencemag.org/lookup … .1126/sciadv.aba8940

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-ancient-footprints-saudi-arabia-human...

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Self-imaging of a molecule by its own electrons

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-self-imaging-molecule-electrons.html?...

The brain's memory abilities inspire AI experts in making neural networks less 'forgetful'

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-09-brain-memory-abilities-ai-exper...

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The Immune Hallmarks of Severe COVID-19

Researchers are trying to make sense of immune systems gone haywire and develop biomarkers to predict who will become the sickest from a coronavirus infection.

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/the-immune-hallmarks-of-...

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The four most promising worlds for alien life in the solar system

https://theconversation.com/the-four-most-promising-worlds-for-alie...

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Botanists unearth new 'vampire plant'

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-botanists-unearth-vampire-uk-carpark....

The Science of a Cheetah's Speed

Immune system may have another job—combatting depression

An inflammatory autoimmune response within the central nervous system similar to one linked to neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) has also been found in the spinal fluid of healthy people, according to a new  study comparing immune system cells in the spinal fluid of MS patients and healthy subjects. The research, published Sept. 18 in the journal Science Immunology, suggests these immune cells may play a role other than protecting against microbial invaders—protecting our mental health.

The results buttress an emerging theory that gamma interferons, a type of immune cell that helps induce and modulate a variety of immune system responses, may also play a role in preventing depression in healthy people.

J.L. Pappalardo el al., "Transcriptomic and clonal characterization of T cells in the human central nervous system," Science Immunology (2020). immunology.sciencemag.org/look … 6/sciimmunol.abb8786

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-immune-jobcombatting-depress...

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How the oil industry made us doubt climate change

https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-53640382

Mosquito-borne viruses linked to stroke

A deadly combination of two mosquito-borne viruses may be a trigger for stroke, new research has found.

Researchers  have been investigating the link between neurological disease and infection with the viruses Zika and chikungunya. These viruses, which mostly circulate in the tropics, cause large outbreaks of rash and fever in places like Brazil and India. Zika is widely known to cause brain damage in babies following infection in pregnancy, but the new research shows it can also cause nervous system disease in adults.

The new research shows that each virus can cause a range of neurological problems. Zika was especially likely to cause Guillain-Barre syndrome, in which the nerves in the arms and legs are damaged. Chikungunya was more likely to cause inflammation and swelling in the brain (encephalitis) and spinal cord (myelitis). However, stroke, which could be caused by either virus alone, was more likely to occur in patients infected with the two viruses together.

The study also showed that many of the people who had a stroke had other stroke risk factors, such as high BP, indicating that stroke following Zika and chikungunya viral infection may most often be seen in those who are already high risk.

Maria Lúcia Brito Ferreira et al, Neurological disease in adults with Zika and chikungunya virus infection in Northeast Brazil: a prospective observational study, The Lancet Neurology (2020). DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(20)30232-5

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-mosquito-borne-viruses-linke...

FameLab international competition in sci-com
FameLab Basel Semi-Finals 2020

Cheap, innovative venom treatments could save tens of thousands of snakebite victims

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/snake-bite-venom-cheap-innovati...

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Shape matters for light-activated nanocatalysts

Points matter when designing nanoparticles that drive important chemical reactions using the power of light.

 Nanophotonics (LANP) researchers have long known that a nanoparticle’s shape affects how it interacts with light, and their latest study shows how shape affects a particle’s ability to use light to catalyze important chemical reactions.

In a comparative study aluminum nanoparticles with identical optical properties but different shapes were used. The most rounded had 14 sides and 24 blunt points. Another was cube-shaped, with six sides and eight 90-degree corners. The third, which the team dubbed “octopod,” also had six sides, but each of its eight corners ended in a pointed tip.

All three varieties have the ability to capture energy from light and release it periodically in the form of super-energetic hot electrons that can speed up catalytic reactions. They also conducted  experiments to see how well each of the particles performed as photocatalysts for hydrogen dissociation reaction. The tests showed octopods had a 10 times higher reaction rate than the 14-sided nanocrystals and five times higher than the nanocubes. Octopods also had a lower apparent activation energy, about 45% lower than nanocubes and 49% lower than nanocrystals.

The experiments demonstrated that sharper corners increased efficiencies.

https://news.rice.edu/2020/09/18/shape-matters-for-light-activated-...

https://researchnews.cc/news/2612/Shape-matters-for-light-activated...

New Research Helps Explain Why Tiny Humans And Animals Sleep So Much

https://www.sciencealert.com/new-research-helps-explain-why-tiny-hu...

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If there is life on Venus, how could it have got there? Origin of life experts explain

https://theconversation.com/if-there-is-life-on-venus-how-could-it-...

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How could wearing a mask help build immunity to COVID-19? It’s all about the viral dose

https://theconversation.com/how-could-wearing-a-mask-help-build-imm...

This video shows just how easily COVID-19 could spread when people sing together

and how online singing is safe …..

Other options for safer group singing now and in the future include: singing outside or in a well-ventilated room with large open windows as this is likely to dissipate aerosols and further reduce the risk physical distancing of at least two metres while singing short performances to minimise exposure humming rather than singing during rehearsals, because we show consonants (such as “do”) generate the most aerosols singing softly (and using amplifiers) as this is likely to emit fewer aerosols using rapid test kits, if available, which would allow singers to be screened before performing assessing risk factors for individual singers based on age, chronic diseases and other risk factors for COVID-19. It is more important people at high risk of complications from COVID-19 avoid group singing while there is community transmission. Some people recommend wearing face shields while group singing. But these allow you to breathe in aerosols through the gap underneath, which may be even more likely with the powerful inhalations during singing.

https://theconversation.com/this-video-shows-just-how-easily-covid-...

Big Wind: The Ultimate Fire Extinguisher

Why there is no speed limit in the superfluid universe

Physicists  have established why objects moving through superfluid helium-3 lack a speed limit.

Helium-3 is a rare isotope of helium, in which one neutron is missing. It becomes superfluid at extremely low temperatures, enabling unusual properties such as a lack of friction for moving objects.

It was thought that the speed of objects moving through superfluid helium-3 was fundamentally limited to the critical Landau velocity, and that exceeding this speed limit would destroy the superfluid. Prior experiments in Lancaster have found that it is not a strict rule and objects can move at much greater speeds without destroying the fragile superfluid state.

Now scientists from Lancaster University have found the reason for the absence of the speed limit: exotic particles that stick to all surfaces in the superfluid.

The discovery may guide applications in quantum technology, even quantum computing, where multiple research groups already aim to make use of these unusual particles.

Superfluid helium-3 feels like vacuum to a rod moving through it, although it is a relatively dense liquid. There is no resistance, none at all.

Nature Communications (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18499-1

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-limit-superfluid-universe.html?utm_so...

Researchers identify new type of superconductor

Until now, the history of superconducting materials has been a tale of two types: s-wave and d-wave. Now researchers have discovered a possible third type: g-wave.

Electrons in superconductors move together in what are known as Cooper pairs. This "pairing" endows superconductors with their most famous property—no electrical resistance—because, in order to generate resistance, the Cooper pairs have to be broken apart, and this takes energy.

In s-wave superconductors—generally conventional materials, such as lead, tin and mercury—the Cooper pairs are made of one electron pointing up and one pointing down, both moving head-on toward each other, with no net angular momentum. In recent decades, a new class of exotic materials has exhibited what's called d-wave superconductivity, whereby the Cooper pairs have two quanta of angular momentum.

Physicists have theorized the existence of a third type of superconductor between these two so-called "singlet" states: a p-wave superconductor, with one quanta of angular momentum and the electrons pairing with parallel rather than antiparallel spins. This spin-triplet superconductor would be a major breakthrough for quantum computing because it can be used to create Majorana fermions, a unique particle which is its own antiparticle.

For more than 20 years, one of the leading candidates for a p-wave superconductor has been strontium ruthenate (Sr2RuO4), although recent research has started to poke holes in the idea.

Researchers now  set out to determine once and for all whether strontium ruthenate is a highly desired p-wave superconductor. Using high-resolution resonant ultrasound spectroscopy, they discovered that the material is potentially an entirely new kind of superconductor altogether: g-wave.

 Thermodynamic evidence for a two-component superconducting order parameter in Sr2RuO4, DOI: 10.1038/s41567-020-1032-4 , www.nature.com/articles/s41567-020-1032-4

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-superconductor.html?utm_source=nwlett...

Defying a 150-year-old rule for phase behaviour

Frozen water can take on up to three forms at the same time when it melts: liquid, ice and gas. This principle, which states that many substances can occur in up to three phases simultaneously, was explained 150 years ago by the Gibbs phase rule. Now researchers  are defying this classical theory, with proof of a five-phase equilibrium, something that many scholars considered impossible.

Gibbs' thermodynamics rule: If we take water as an example, there is one point, with a specific temperature and pressure, where water occurs as gas, liquid and ice at the same time, the so-called triple point.

But researchers   now show that in this mixture, there is a whole series of circumstances in which four phases exist at the same time. There is even one point at which there are five coexisting phases—two too many.

 At that specific point, also called a five-phase equilibrium, a gas phase, two liquid crystal phases, and two solid phases with 'ordinary' crystals exist simultaneously. And that has never been seen before. This is the first time that the famous Gibbs rule has been broken.

The crux lies in the shape of the particles in the mixture. scientists now show that it is precisely the specific length and diameter of the particles that play a major role.

In addition to the known variables of temperature and pressure, you get two additional variables: the length of the particle in relation to its diameter, and the diameter of the particle in relation to the diameter of other particles in the solution.

V. F. D. Peters et al, Defying the Gibbs Phase Rule: Evidence for an Entropy-Driven Quintuple Point in Colloid-Polymer Mixtures, Physical Review Letters (2020). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.127803

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-defying-year-old-phase-behavior.html?...

**‘I didn’t mean to hurt you’: new research shows funnel webs don’t set out to kill humans

https://theconversation.com/i-didnt-mean-to-hurt-you-new-research-s...

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Mass Elephant Deaths in Botswana Caused By Bacteria Toxin In Waterholes

The mysterious deaths of at least 330 elephants in Botswana this year was caused by cyanobacteria-infected water, say wildlife officials. There are still many unanswered questions, including why only elephants seem to have been affected and why this mostly occurred in one region. 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-21/botswana-says-ma...

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Are Humans Still Evolving? Find out ….

https://www.sciencealert.com/are-humans-still-evolving

Giant spider provides promise of pain relief for irritable bowel syndrome

How your brain finds the good objects

How your brain finds the good objects

In the wild, it is essential for animals to pick out good or bad objects within their visual field. Whether it be food or predator, split-second recognition and action need to be made for survival.

https://researchnews.cc/news/2629/How-your-brain-finds-the-good-obj...

The underlying mechanisms that govern this behavior in the brain has been gradually uncovered by researchers. Nowscientists have revealed how the brain controls eye movements toward the 'good objects'.

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Seismic data explains continental collision beneath Tibet

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-seismic-continental-collision-beneath...

Solstices and equinoxes are the products of Earth's axial tilt: the degree to which the planet is tilted relative to the Sun.

The axis around which the Earth spins isn't straight up and down - it's about 23.5 degrees off. Because of that, different parts of the Earth get exposed to more or less sunlight as the planet rotates around the Sun. That's why we have seasons.

It's also why the northern and Southern Hemisphere experience seasons at opposite times: During winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the Southern Hemisphere is tilted more towards the Sun, and vice versa.

Meanwhile, Earth is also constantly rotating, which keeps its heating even - kind of like a planet-sized rotisserie chicken twisting over a spit.

The axial tilt's most dramatic effect comes during the solstices, since those are the two days when one side of the planet is tilted the farthest away from the Sun and the other is the closest. On December 21, the Northern Hemisphere receives less than nine hours of daylight, while the Southern Hemisphere receives more than 15.

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-september-equinox-is-this-tuesday-...

Evolution of radio-resistance is very complicated 

The toughest organisms on Earth, called extremophiles, can survive extreme conditions like extreme dryness (desiccation), extreme cold, space vacuum, acid, or even high-level radiation. So far, the toughest of all seems to be the bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans—able to survive doses of radiation a thousand times greater than those fatal to humans. 

How this radio-resistance could have evolved in several organisms on our planet, naturally protected from solar radiation by its magnetic field? While some scientists suggest that radio-resistance in extremophile organisms could have evolved along with other kinds of resistance, such as resistance to desiccation, a question remained: which genes are specifically involved in radio-resistance?

To find out the researchers started with the naturally non-resistant bacteria, E. coli, and exposed it to iterative cycles of high-level irradiation. After many rounds of radiation exposure and outgrowth, a few radio-resistant populations emerged. Using whole-genome sequencing, the researchers studied the genetic alterations present in each radio-resistant population and determined which mutation provided radio-resistance to the bacteria.

The study of their genetic profile highlighted three mutations responsible for radio-resistance—all in genes linked to DNA repair mechanisms. The results show that the populations of radioresistant E. coli, continued to evolve and sub-populations emerged. Surprisingly, while radio-resistance induced by the first series of ionization could mainly be associated with three mutations, the second induced hundreds of mutations including large deletions and duplications of several genes. The four populations scienitsts are evolving in this new trial have now achieved levels of radio-resistance that are approaching the levels seen with Deinococcus radiodurans. As the current trial has progressed, the genomic alterations have proven to be much more complex than anticipated.

The researchers show that more cellular metabolisms are affected (ATP synthesis, iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis, cadaverine synthesis, and reactive oxygen species response). Furthermore, this study proves that radio-resistance can develop to the level of Deinococcus radiodurans, independently to desiccation-resistance. 

As the exposition to radiation and experimental evolution continues, more data are gathered on how to induce radio-resistance in bacteria. This could one day constitute a precious toolbox of mutations to engineer radioresistant probiotics helping for example patients treated with radiotherapy, or astronauts exposed to space radiation.

 Frontiers in Microbiology, DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.582590 , www.frontiersin.org/articles/1 … 2020.582590/abstract

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-evolution-radio-resistance-complicate...

Scientists identify hormone that might help treat malabsorption

Scientists  used human intestinal organoids grown from stem cells to discover how our bodies control the absorption of nutrients from the food we eat. They further found that one hormone might be able to reverse a congenital disorder in babies who cannot adequately absorb nutrients and need intravenous feeding to survive.

Researchers found that the hormone peptide YY, also called PYY, can reverse congenital malabsorption in mice. With a single PYY injection per day, 80% of the mice survived. Normally, only 20% to 30% survive. This indicates PYY might be a possible therapeutic for people with severe malabsorption.

Poor absorption of macronutrients is a global health concern, underlying ailments such as malnutrition, intestinal infections and short-gut syndrome. So, identification of factors regulating nutrient absorption has significant therapeutic potential. Scientists reported that the absorption of nutrients—in particular, carbohydrates and proteins—is controlled by enteroendocrine cells  in the gastrointestinal tract.

Babies born without enteroendocrine cells —or whose enteroendocrine cells don't function properly—have severe malabsorption and require IV nutrition. This work could help them.

Enteroendocrine cells couple nutrient sensing to nutrient absorption by regulating ion transport," Nature Communications (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18536-z

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-scientists-hormone-malabsorp...

New drug candidate found for hand, foot and mouth disease

A study  offers some good news in the search for antiviral drugs for hard-to-treat diseases. Researchers have identified a potential new drug candidate against enterovirus 71, a common cause of hand, foot and mouth disease in infants and young children. While most people get better within 7 to 10 days after suffering little more than a fever and rash, severe cases can cause brain inflammation, paralysis and even death.

The compound of interest is a small molecule that binds to RNA, the virus's genetic material, and changes its 3-D shape in a way that stops the virus from multiplying without harming its human host.

"Small Molecule Targeting IRES Domain Inhibits Enterovirus 71 Replication via an Allosteric Mechanism that Stabilizes a Ternary Complex," Nature Communications (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18594-3

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-drug-candidate-foot-mouth-di...

New finding: Why some cancers may respond poorly to key drugs 

Patients with BRCA1/2 mutations are at higher risk for breast, ovarian and prostate cancers that can be aggressive when they develop—and, in many cases, resistant to lifesaving drugs. Now scientists  have identified a driver of the drug resistance that can make a life or death difference for patients with these cancers.

A major issue with cancer treatments is the development of resistance. When treatments stop working for patients, it's incredibly demoralizing and it's been a huge drive in research to understand these resistance mechanisms.

In a new paper published, researchers describe a protein that may help doctors predict which patients will become resistant to a class of drugs frequently used to treat BRCA 1/2-deficient tumours. The finding could help create more effective treatment plans for their patients.

The scientists identified that a protein called PCAF promotes DNA damage in BRCA 1/2-mutated cancer cells. Patients with low levels of this protein are likely to have poor outcomes and develop resistance to a type of drug that is used to treat BRCA-deficient tumors, called a PARP inhibitor.

PARP inhibitors are an important breakthrough in treating these aggressive cancers. What the researchers  found now 's that when levels of PCAF are low, it actually protects the cancer cells from this drug. By testing biopsy samples, doctors may be able to tell using PCAF as a molecular marker for PARP inhibitor responses what treatment may work best for a patient."

Fortunately, there is already another class of drugs on the market, called HDAC inhibitors, that can boost the effectiveness of the PCAF protein. HDAC inhibitors and PARP inhibitors have the potential to be prescribed as a combination therapy.

Molecular Cell (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2020.08.018

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-cancers-poorly-key-drugs.htm...

Without oxygen, Earth's early microbes relied on arsenic to sustain life

Much of life on planet Earth today relies on oxygen to exist, but before oxygen was present on our blue planet, lifeforms likely used arsenic instead. These findings are detailed in research published recently.

A key component of the oxygen cycle is where plants and some types of bacteria essentially take sunlight, water, and CO₂, and convert them to carbohydrates and oxygen, which are then cycled and used by other organisms that breathe oxygen. This oxygen serves as a vehicle for electrons, gaining and donating electrons as it powers through the metabolic processes. However, for half of the time life has existed on Earth, there was no oxygen present, and for the first 1.5 billion years.

Light-driven, photosynthetic organisms appear in the fossil record as layered carbonate rocks called stromatolites dating to around 3.7 billion years ago, says Visscher. Stromatolite mats are deposited over the eons by microbial ecosystems, with each layer holding clues about life at that time. There are contemporary examples of microbes that photosynthesize in the absence of oxygen using a variety of elements to complete the process, however it's unclear how this happened in the earliest life forms.

Theories as to how life's processes functioned in the absence of oxygen have mostly relied on hydrogen, sulfur, or iron as the elements that ferried electrons around to fulfill the metabolic needs of organisms. These theories were contested though.

Arsenic is another theoretical possibility, and evidence for that was found in 2008.The link with arsenic was strengthened in 2014 when researchers found evidence of arsenic-based photosynthesis in deep time.

 found a blood red river. The red sediments are made up by anoxogenic photosynthetic bacteria. The water is very high in arsenic as well. The water that flows over the mats contains hydrogen sulfide that is volcanic in origin and it flows very rapidly over these mats. There is absolutely no oxygen."

The team also showed that the mats were making carbonate deposits and creating a new generation of stromatolites. The carbonate materials also showed evidence for arsenic cycling—that arsenic is serving as a vehicle for electrons—proving that the microbes are actively metabolizing arsenic, much like oxygen in modern systems. Visscher says these findings, along with the fossil evidence, gives a strong sense of the early conditions of Earth.

Pieter T. Visscher et al. Modern arsenotrophic microbial mats provide an analog for life in the anoxic Archean, Communications Earth & Environment (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s43247-020-00025-2

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-oxygen-earth-early-microbes-arsenic.h...

An acoustically actuated microscopic device

Researchers  have developed remote-controlled, mechanical microdevices that, when inserted into human tissue, can manipulate the fluid that surrounds them, collect cells or release drugs. This breakthrough offers numerous potential applications in the biomedical field, from diagnostics to therapy.

Murat Kaynak, Pietro Dirix, and Mahmut Selman Sakar. “Addressable Acoustic Actuation of 3D Printed Soft Robotic Microsystems,” Advanced Science, 2020.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/advs.202001120 

https://actu.epfl.ch/news/an-acoustically-actuated-microscopic-devi...

https://researchnews.cc/news/2649/An-acoustically-actuated-microsco...

SCI-COM: Scientists don’t share their findings for fun – they want their research to make a difference

Scientists don’t take time away from their research to share their expertise with journalists, policymakers and everyone else just to let us know about neat scientific facts. They share findings from their research because they want leaders and the public to use their hard-won insights to make evidence-based decisions about policy and personal issues. That’s according to two surveys of  researchers  conducted.

Scientists  reported “ensuring that policymakers use scientific evidence” is at the top of their list of communication goals. Helping their fellow citizens make better personal decisions also scores high. Further, scientists say they’re not communicating just to burnish their own reputation.

We know from other interviews and surveys that many scientists will often initially indicate that their communication “goal” is simply to increase knowledge or correct misinformation. However, if prodded by questions like “But why do you want to increase knowledge?” or “What do you hope will happen if you correct misinformation?” they will often identify their ultimate aim as helping people make better decisions.

Highly trained scientists seem especially willing to share what they’ve learned if they think it can help society make smarter choices. 

Scientists are more likely to say they’re willing to communicate, as well as to prioritize specific objectives or tactics, if they see a choice as ethical, able to make a difference and within their capacity.

https://theconversation.com/scientists-dont-share-their-findings-fo...