Posts from phys.org
Octopus brain and human brain share the same 'jumping genes'The octopus is an exceptional organism with an extremely complex brain and cognitive abilities that are unique among invertebrates. So much so that in some ways it has more in common with vertebrates than with invertebrates. The neural and cognitive complexity of these animals could originate from a molecular analogy with the human brain, as discovered by a research paper recently published in BMC Biology and coordinated by Remo Sanges from SISSA of Trieste and by Graziano Fiorito from Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn of Naples.
Enabling ecological change amid climate change is key to preserving biodiversity and ecosystem services, says studyAs the need to address climate change becomes increasingly urgent, so too does the concurrent need for proactive stewardship of the Earth's rapidly changing biosphere, according to research published today in the journal Science.
Tubulins named after the Norse god Odin may be the missing link between single-celled organisms and human cellsA team of researchers from Nagoya University in Japan may have discovered a missing link between bacterial cells and animal and plant cells, including those of humans. They named it the Odin tubulin.
Study finds evidence of resonant Raman scattering from surface phonons of Cu(110)Researchers at Johannes Kepler University in Linz have been investigating the physical properties of Cu(110), a surface attained when cutting a single copper crystal in a specific direction, for several years. Their most recent study, featured in Physical Review Letters, provides the first evidence of so-called resonant Raman scattering from the surface of the metal. This phenomenon entails the inelastic scattering of phonons by matter.
Searching for matter–antimatter asymmetry with the Higgs bosonSymmetries make the world go round, but so do asymmetries. A case in point is an asymmetry known as charge–parity (CP) asymmetry, which is required to explain why matter vastly outnumbers antimatter in the present-day universe even though both forms of matter should have been created in equal amounts in the Big Bang.
Wearable antimicrobial copper nanomesh sticks to human skin, killing microbes nearly instantlyA team of researchers from the University of Tokyo, the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology and the Center for Emergent Matter Science & Thin-Film Device Laboratory RIKEN 2-1 Hirosawa has developed a wearable antimicrobial nanomesh material that sticks to human skin, killing microbes nearly instantly. They have published their creation in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Using machine learning to narrow down the possibilities for a better quantum tunneling interfaceA pair of researchers at Fudan University in China has used machine learning to narrow the list of possible improved tunneling interface configurations for use in transistors. They have published their results in Physical Review Letters.
Loss of nature is pushing nations toward sovereign credit downgrades and 'bankruptcy'The world's first biodiversity-adjusted sovereign credit ratings shows how ecological destruction affects public finances—driving downgrades, debt crises and soaring borrowing costs, according to a team of economists led by Cambridge University.
Fertilization reshapes the tree-fungi relationship in boreal forestsHow do nutritional changes affect the interaction between trees and soil microorganisms? This has long remained a black box but a new study has shed light onto this cryptic association. It shows that increased soil nutrition changes the communication between trees and their associated fungi, restructuring the root-associated fungal community with major implications for carbon cycling in the forest.
New gel protects eggs—and maybe someday, heads—from damageHumpty Dumpty, the famous egg of nursery rhyme fame, fell off a wall and couldn't be put back together again. But if he'd worn a protective jacket made of gelatin and cornstarch, he could have stayed intact. Researchers in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces report that by adding starch to gelatin, they have created gels that protect fragile objects, such as eggs—and maybe someday, people's heads.
Babbling discovered in wild baby parrotsA team of researchers from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, working with colleagues from several research facilities in Venezuela, has found evidence of babbling in wild baby parrots. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group describes the unique vocalizations of the baby birds, similar to human infants, and what they learned about the role of stress hormones in the development of their communication skills.