Ancient pheromones keep queens in charge
When it comes to social insects, queens maintain their monopoly on reproduction by emitting chemical signals that render their loyal workers infertile. Now, Annette Van Oystaeyen and colleagues...
View ArticleNo speed limit for soil in New Zealand’s mountains
Scientists working in the mountains of New Zealand report very high rates of soil weathering, contradicting previous studies suggesting mountainous soil weathering has a speed limit. Since the...
View ArticleAt last, the receptor revealed
Long elusive, the plant version of the receptor for ATP has finally been found, a new study reports, and it’s a lot different than the ATP receptor in animals. ATP is a universal compound present in...
View ArticleCoaxing out the sugar to bring on the biofuel
Thanks to a new technique for coaxing the sugar out of dry plant matter, making the biofuels we need to replace dwindling petroleum-based fuel sources may be less of a challenge, a new study reports....
View ArticleThe scientific explanation of why beer overflows
Scientists at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) reveal the physical phenomenon that explains beer’s rapid transformation from a liquid to a foamy state as the result of an impact. This research...
View ArticleMeasuring global entrepreneurship
Counting billionaire entrepreneurs provides a better cross-country measure of entrepreneurship than more commonly used measures, a study finds. Magnus Henrekson and Tino Sanandaji examined measures of...
View ArticleMicroscopy method identifies pigments and techniques in paintings
An imaging technique using near-infrared laser microscopy may allow for 3D analysis of pigments and methods used in paintings, a study finds. Analyzing the materials used in a painting often involves...
View ArticlePiezoelectric nanoribbons generate energy from organ motion
A study finds that piezoelectric nanoribbons can generate enough energy from natural organ motion to power implantable biomedical devices. Implantable electronics, such as pacemakers, heart monitors,...
View ArticleMistimed sleep disrupts rhythms of gene expression in humans
A study finds that disruption of sleep timing can affect the circadian transcription of many genes in humans. Circadian clocks regulate the human body’s daily transitions from day to night and from...
View ArticleOutsourced manufacturing in China and air pollution over the western United...
An assessment of the impacts of trade-related Chinese air pollutant emissions on the global atmospheric environment attributes more than 20% of the pollution to the production of China-to-United...
View ArticleHuman and rodent working memory
Rats might possess the ability to store and manipulate sensory information over short time periods, a study suggests. Rodents are valuable animal models to explore the neural basis of perception and...
View ArticleCocaine use and social pleasure
Cocaine users show blunted emotional responses and low activation in the brain’s reward center during social interactions, according to a study. Drug abuse is associated with social impairments, such...
View ArticleHow zebrafish pigment cells form stripes
The signature stripes of the zebrafish reflect movement and interactions between pigment cells across the animal’s skin, according to a study. Although researchers have long noted that mathematical...
View ArticleMediterranean diet associated with lower risk of peripheral artery disease
A multicenter study conducted in Spain finds that a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or with nuts is associated with a lower risk of peripheral artery disease, according to...
View ArticleBiomarkers in blood show potential as early detection method of pancreatic...
Researchers have identified diagnostic microRNA panels in whole blood that had the ability to distinguish, to some degree, patients with and without pancreatic cancer, according to a study in the...
View ArticleForm of estrogen may treat epileptic seizures
The sex hormone estradiol may be able to stop or reduce seizures associated with a severe form of childhood epilepsy, a new study reports. Treating epilepsy patients with the hormone could potentially...
View ArticleNew opportunity results complement curiosity’s
NASA’s Opportunity rover landed on Mars in 2004 -- more than eight years before the Curiosity rover touched down -- and new data from the mission is now showing that water stirred the rocks on the rim...
View ArticleNothing sees color like the mantis shrimp
Why do the eyes of mantis shrimp have 12 different types of photoreceptors when four to seven are all that is needed to encode every color under the sun? A new study by Hanne Thoen and colleagues...
View ArticleAncient dog cancer hints at first canine host
Researchers have provided the first whole-genome sequence of a transmissible tumor that originated in a single dog thousands of years ago and continues to spread among domestic dogs to this day. Their...
View ArticleEven without their vitamins, immune cells protect a host
Malnutrition zaps the immune system, reducing its strength and power, but now a new study shows that one of the most common malnutrition woes in the world -- lack of Vitamin A -- boosts levels of a...
View Article