Picture an Antarctic animal and most people think of penguins, but there is a flightless midge, the only known insect native to Antarctica, that somehow survives the extreme climate. How the Antarctic midge (Belgica antarctica) copes with freezing temperatures could hold clues for humans about subjects like cryopreservation, but there remain many mysteries about the tiny insect. One mystery appears to have been solved by an Osaka Metropolitan University-led international research team. Graduate School of Science Professor Shin G. Goto and Dr. Mizuki Yoshida, a graduate student at the time of the research who is now a postdoc at Ohio State University, found ...

A new study explores how complex chemical mixtures change under shifting environmental conditions, shedding light on the prebiotic processes that may have led to life. By exposing organic molecules to repeated wet-dry cycles, researchers observed continuous transformation, selective organization, and synchronized population dynamics. Their findings suggest that environmental factors played a key role in shaping the molecular complexity needed for life to emerge. To simulate early Earth, the team subjected chemical mixtures to repeated wet-dry cycles. Rather than reacting randomly, the molecules organized themselves, evolved over time, and followed predictable patterns. This challenges ...

Global aviation carbon dioxide emissions increased by 1% in 2023 because planes had to fly longer routes to avoid Russian airspace, according to a new study. After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Western airlines were banned from flying over Russia. This forced them to take much longer routes between Europe or North America and East Asia, burning more fuel in the process. Published today (Wednesday, 12 February) in Communications Earth & Environment, the study found that detours caused by the Ukraine war led to planes using 13% more fuel on average compared to their original routes. The impact was even greater for flights between Europe and Asia, which saw a 14.8% increase in ...

For the first time, scientists have demonstrated that negative refraction can be achieved using atomic arrays - without the need for artificially manufactured metamaterials. Scientists have long sought to control light in ways that appear to defy the laws of Nature. Negative refraction - a phenomenon where light bends in the opposite direction to its usual behaviour - has captivated researchers for its potential to revolutionise optics, enabling transformative technologies such as superlenses and cloaking devices. Now, carefully ...

Research Highlights: A data analysis projected that South Asian adults living in the United Kingdom may experience elevated blood pressure nine years earlier than East Asian adults on average. The largest blood pressure disparities between South Asian and East Asian adults were projected to be in 18-39-year-old men and 40–64-year-old women. The projected increase in systolic blood pressure in middle age East Asian adults was linked to a nearly 2.5 times higher risk for heart disease caused by blocked arteries and a nearly fourfold greater risk of stroke. Even at an older age, high systolic ...

Take a look around your home and you’ll find yourself surrounded by familiar comforts—photos of family and friends on the wall, well-worn sneakers by the door, a shelf adorned with travel mementos. Objects like these are etched into our memory, shaping who we are and helping us navigate environments and daily life with ease. But how do these memories form? And what if we could stop them from slipping away under a devastating condition like Alzheimer’s disease? Scientists at UBC’s faculty of medicine have ...

Australian scientists have found an effective new way to clean up methylmercury, one of the world’s most dangerous pollutants, which often builds up in our food and environment because of industrial activities such as illegal gold mining and burning coal. The discovery, published in Nature Communications on 12 February 2025, could lead to new ways of engineering animals to protect both wildlife and human health. The research team from Macquarie University's Applied BioSciences, CSIRO, Macquarie Medical School, and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, has successfully genetically modified fruit flies and zebrafish to transform methylmercury into a ...

New study reveals that coral reefs in the Gulf of Eilat experienced a surprising 3,000-year "shutdown" in growth, from about 4,400 to 1,000 years ago, likely due to a temporary drop in sea level that could have been caused by global cooling. This phenomenon, which aligns with similar reef interruptions in Mexico, Brazil, and Australia, suggests a widespread environmental shift during that period. Despite the long pause, the reef eventually recovered, with coral species reappearing from deeper ...

A new study has revealed the clearest-ever picture of the surface chemistry of worm species that provides groundbreaking insights into how animals interact with their environment and each other. These discoveries could pave the way for strategies to deepen our understanding of evolutionary adaptations, refine behavioural research, and ultimately overcome parasitic infections. Scientists from the University’s School of Pharmacy used an advanced mass spectrometry imaging system to examine the nematodes Caenorhabditis elegans and Pristionchus pacificus, aiming to characterise species-specific surface chemical ...

In human cells, only a small proportion of the information written in genes is used to produce proteins. How does the cell select this information? A large molecular machine called the spliceosome continuously separates the coding and non-coding regions of our genes – and it's doing this even as you read these lines.  The spliceosome is critical for the proper functioning of every cell, and numerous genetic disorders are linked to problems with spliceosome function. In most eukaryotic cells, two types of ...

Glaciers, sediments, and pollen can be used to reconstruct the climate of the past. Beyond ‘nature’s archive,’, other sources, such as diaries, travel notes, parish or monastery registers, and other written documents – known at the ‘society’s archive’ – contain reports and observations about local climates in bygone centuries. In contrast, the second half of the century was characterized by heavy rainfall and floods, particularly in the 1590s. The western parts of the European continent cooled significantly when in the 16th century a period known as the ‘Little Ice Age’ intensified. During the second ...

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 22% of the global population smokes, with more than 9 million smoking-related deaths reported annually. Effective treatments to alleviate nicotine withdrawal symptoms caused by smoking cessation are essential for successful smoking cessation. Currently, approved treatments for nicotine withdrawal include Bupropion and Varenicline, but there is a pressing need for new therapeutic options to improve smoking cessation success rates. The research team led by Dr. Heh-In Im at the Center for Brain Disorders of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) has identified a novel brain region and neural mechanism ...

EMBARGOED UNTIL WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2025 Mountain View, CA (Feb. 12, 2025) – According to the U.S. Physician Workforce Data Dashboard, only about 17% of cardiologists are women, ranking as one of the lowest specialties among female physicians, yet heart disease remains the number one killer of women, accounting for one in five female deaths. El Camino Health is innovating a solution to address the unique symptoms and risk factors of heart disease in women. A new national survey conducted by El Camino Health found women (59%) are ...

A new study has uncovered a novel P-type PPR protein, BoYgl-2, which plays a crucial role in chloroplast RNA editing and chlorophyll biosynthesis in cabbage. This discovery sheds new light on the molecular mechanisms governing leaf color formation and chloroplast development, filling a significant knowledge gap in plant physiology. By identifying a spontaneous yellow-green leaf mutant and deciphering the function of BoYgl-2, the research paves the way for innovative crop breeding strategies that could enhance plant productivity and agricultural sustainability. Leaf color is more than just an aesthetic trait—it is a vital agronomic characteristic ...

Accumulation of fat molecules is detrimental to the cell. Researchers from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine), have made a breakthrough in understanding how our cells manage to stay healthy by recycling important fat molecules. Their study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), reveals how a protein called Spinster homolog 1 (Spns1) helps transport fats out of cell compartments known as lysosomes.   Led by Associate Professor Nguyen Nam Long, from the Department of Biochemistry and Immunology Translational Research Programme (TRP) at NUS Medicine, the team found that Spns1 is like a cellular ...

Classic Graph Convolutional Networks (GCNs) often learn node representation holistically, which would ignore the distinct impacts from different neighbors when aggregating their features to update a node's representation. Disentangled GCNs have been proposed to divide each node's representation into several feature channels. However, current disentangling methods do not try to figure out how many inherent factors the model should assign to help extract the best representation of each node. To solve the problems, a research team led by Chuliang WENG published their new ...

Male hoverflies are outflown by females when it comes to long-distance migration, new research shows. Marmalade hoverflies leave northern Europe each autumn to escape the cold winter. The study – by the University of Exeter – compared the number of males and females migrating at a northern point (Denmark) and further south (Spain). At the northern point, 50% of hoverflies were male and 50% were female – but at the southern point about 90% were female, suggesting males are “poor long-distance fliers”. “We carried out a range of tests and found females were better adapted for long-distance ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Certain groups of consumers appear to be open to drinking smoke-impacted wines, a finding in a new study that could provide market opportunities for winemakers increasingly dealing with the effects of wildfire smoke on grapes. The study by researchers at Oregon State University and in New Zealand found that consumers, particularly those that like smokey flavors in food and beverages, are open to drinking smoke-impacted wines. They also found that the type of information on the label can modulate consumer acceptance. “This ...

New research has highlighted microalgae’s capacity as a solution in the fight against climate change, but researchers warn that “smart microalgal bioprospecting” is needed to unlock its full potential.   The study highlights the vast, largely unexplored capacity of microalgae to mitigate CO2 emissions while driving sustainable industry.  “Microalgae have remarkable properties that make them an ideal tool for tackling climate change,” said lead author, PhD candidate Joan Labara Tirado from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).  The review paper, The need for smart microalgal bioprospecting was ...

Fewer wildfires burn in North American forests today than in previous centuries, increasing the risk of more severe wildfires, according to research published this week in Nature Communications. The findings may seem counterintuitive, but frequent low-lying surface fires often maintain balance in forests by reducing fuel sources across large areas.  The new study led by the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder and the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station ...

Older people have greater general happiness, life satisfaction and sense of purpose than they did before the Covid-19 pandemic. That’s according to a new study which tracked 3,999 over 50s in England for 11 years, published today in the peer-reviewed journal, Aging and Mental Health. Analysing data to understand positive psychological well-being and depression within this group, an expert team from UCL (University College London), funded by the National Institute of Ageing, a consortium of UK government departments coordinated by the National Institute ...

Dr. Alison Altman, an assistant professor in the Texas A&M Chemistry Department, has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, which supports early-career faculty in research and education. The award recognizes her work on underexplored elements of the periodic table and her dedication to teaching. For Altman, it’s a launchpad for future discoveries. “It’s an honor to receive this award, as it acknowledges not just my research program but also my teaching efforts,” ...

Micro- and nanoscale plastic particles in soil and water can significantly increase how much toxic chemicals plants and human intestinal cells absorb, according to two new studies from Rutgers Health that raise fresh concerns about food safety from plastic pollution. The first study in NanoImpact found that lettuce exposed to both nanoscale plastic particles and common environmental pollutants such as arsenic took up substantially more of the toxic substances than plants exposed to the pollutants, alone confirming the risks of polycontamination of our food chain. A companion study in Microplastics journal showed ...

Seeking to understand what constitutes a healthy vaginal microbiome, a global research collaboration that includes a Rutgers-New Brunswick scientist has reported a series of findings, including identifying which bacteria thwart vaginal disease and determining that microbiomes vary significantly across human populations. Authors of the study, published in Trends in Microbiology, are part of a Belgium-based initiative called the Isala Sisterhood. Members of the group aim to inspire research on microbiomes worldwide by creating a “reference map” of vaginal microbiota. Launched in 2020 at the University of Antwerp, the project has expanded to include more than 3,000 ...

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) today announced that University of Pittsburgh Professor Fang Peng, an internationally acclaimed power electronics researcher, is among the newest cohort elected to the academy. The NAE is recognizing Peng for “contributions to the development of high-powered electronic technologies for advanced power grid and energy conversion.” Peng, the RK Mellon Endowed Chair Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Director of the Energy GRID Institute at Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering, ...