Peroxiredoxins are among the most abundant enzymes involved in managing oxidative stress. They control the levels of peroxides such as hydrogen peroxide, relay redox signals, and help protect other proteins during stress. For decades,…
A collaborative research team has uncovered a previously unknown mechanism of action of yaku'amide B, a structurally complex peptidic natural product derived from deep-sea sponge found in the waters near Yakushima Island, Japan. Natural…
The 2025 Eaton fire's smoke did more than darken the sky: It generated a carbon monoxide and particulate matter surge that far exceeded Los Angeles County's average daily human-caused emissions, according to a new study led by researchers…
An international team of astronomers has employed the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe a complex planetary nebula known as NGC 6302. The observations, detailed in a paper published Feb. 25 on the arXiv pre-print server,…
Photoreceptors are specialized cells in the eye that convert light energy into neural signals. Several diseases that cause irreversible vision loss, including age-related macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa and retinal detachment,…
The More You Know: This week, researchers successfully reconstructed videos from the brain activity of mice. According to a new study, female birds are more likely to sing when their extended families help with childcare. And…
A team of US researchers has gained new insights into how large protein molecules consistently fold themselves into useful shapes. Using a new approach to fluorescence microscopy, Hoi Sung Chung and colleagues at the National Institute of…
Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have documented the farthest trek of a young female fisher (Pekania pennanti) moving 118 kilometers (over 73 miles) from Durham to the outskirts of Lincoln, a small town in New Hampshire's…
Microbial bioelectronic sensors use living bacteria that can create an electrical signal in response to the presence of a target substance, or analyte. These types of sensors offer many advantages over other types of biosensors based on…
In 2000, a group of STRI botanists collected samples of all the plants from the genus Clusia they could find in Panama to find out how the different species in this group are related.
Math nerds and dessert enthusiasts unite to celebrate Pi Day every March 14, the date that represents the first three digits of the mathematical constant pi.
In the middle of the old-growth forests of Congaree National Park in South Carolina, fireflies put on an otherworldly display every May. Thousands of male insects belonging to the species Photuris frontalis flash together at the same time…
Wet wipes conveniently clean and sanitize soiled surfaces and skin. Because some labels do not clearly indicate how consumers should dispose of them, these small cloths are often flushed down the toilet and released by sewage plants into…
Wildlife populations that become small and isolated, often due to habitat loss, inevitably experience inbreeding which can lead to the loss of fitness and eventual extinction. One solution is to perform a genetic rescue: a management…
Multiferroic metals are materials that exhibit both electric polarization and magnetic order in the same crystal—a state known as multiferroicity. Because these properties coexist, they can interact through magnetoelectric (ME) coupling,…
MLIP calculations successfully identify suitable dopants for a novel photocatalytic material, report researchers from the Institute of Science Tokyo. As demonstrated in their study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society…
An international team from China and Italy has reported a possible cosmic encore to the landmark 2017 multi-messenger discovery. In November 2024, the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observatories detected gravitational waves from a binary black hole…
A new LMU study shows how proteins function reliably even without a stable 3D structure—and the crucial importance not only of short sequence motifs, but also of chemical characteristics.
A tropical insect has been found to change color from vivid hot pink to green within a fortnight, which scientists believe may mimic the young leaves of rainforest plants. The findings, published this week in the journal Ecology, focuses…
Scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a biochemical technique that captures fleeting "handshakes" between newly made proteins and the cellular helpers. These short interactions are important because they…
It's long been assumed that for an organism to learn, remember or draw conclusions, it needs a brain. But mounting evidence, including a recent Cognitive Science study, challenges that assumption, suggesting that neurons might not be…
An international team of researchers has achieved a breakthrough in the production of doxorubicin, a vital chemotherapy agent. The study identifies and resolves molecular "bottlenecks" that have limited the natural production of this drug…
There is a near-infinite number of material candidates out there—and simply not enough time to hunker down in the lab and test them all. Thankfully, researchers have a variety of tools (such as AI) at their disposal to streamline what…
Engineers at Duke University have demonstrated a technique that uses microbubbles and ultrasound to help relatively large cancer drugs enter tumor cells and cause them to self-destruct. Dubbed "Sonoporation-assisted Precise Intracellular…
Urban parks are a vital component of urban ecosystems and provide distinctive habitats for soil microorganisms. Yet scientists have questioned whether—and how—the functional diversity and evolutionary potential of microbial communities are…
In reptiles, a simple temperature change can determine whether an egg develops into a male or female. This process is formally known as temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), in which the sex of an embryo is determined by the…
In the journal Science Advances, scientists in Sweden and the U.S. report the first-ever direct observation of a type of short-lived molecule that has shaped decades of thinking in atmospheric chemistry, combustion research and biomedical…
The tiny Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa) has always fascinated researchers because, according to the rules of evolution, it shouldn't have survived as a species, let alone thrive as a species for over 100,000 years. Using advanced genetic…
Fleeting electron-hole pairs are giving scientists a new window into optimizing light-emitting devices (LEDs). Using quantum magnetic resonance, Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have discovered how shifting internal electric…
To survive in areas where it is difficult to photosynthesize, some organisms adopt unique strategies. Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have found that a freshwater alga captures far-red light as an additional energy source by…