Most recent 40 articles: PHYS.ORG - Biology
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Climate change means we may have to learn to live with invasive species - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 19) |
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Sep 19 · Invasive species are often looked upon with suspicion.
From non-native "weeds" to insects and aquatic invaders, introduced (or non-native) species continue to be misunderstood - and consequently often mismanaged.
Stated plainly, the vast majority of intentionally or unintentionally introduced species are not a threat to native ecosystems.
Governments and conservation organizations spend an enormous amount of their time and funding targeting the control of invasive species. Yet, most introduced species removal efforts are ineffective, time-consuming and usually unsuccessful in the long term.
Certainly, some invasive species - such as the zebra mussel or the ... Read more ...
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Invasive caterpillars can make aspen forests more toxic for native insects - ecologists explain how - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 19) |
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Sep 19 · When we walked with a colleague into an aspen forest near Madison, Wisconsin, in the early spring of 2021, we expected to finalize our plans for a research project on several species of insects that live and feed on the trees. Instead, we found a forest laden with fuzzy, brown egg masses.
These masses, belonging to an invasive species known as the spongy moth, brought our plans to a screeching stop. We knew that within weeks, hungry spongy moth caterpillars would strip the forest bare.
We are chemical ecologists interested in how plant chemistry influences the interactions between plants and plant-feeding insects. As seasoned scientists, we've seen that good science ... Read more ...
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Moderate levels of exotic species invasions may help maintain biodiversity, study suggests - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 19) |
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Sep 19 · Globally, more than 13,000 plant species, equivalent to the entire native flora of Europe, have been naturalized outside their native ranges. A study, jointly conducted by scientists from China and the U.S., provides new insights about biodiversity, exotic invasion, and their relationship to climate change.
A long-standing debate exists over the impact of exotic species on native ecosystems and how to manage it. Some researchers argue that exotic species are simply "hitchhiking" on environmental change rather than driving ecosystem transformation. Understanding whether climate change drives both the loss of native biodiversity and the increase in exotic invasions is critical ... Read more ...
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Scientists discover an unexpected involvement of sodium transport in mitochondrial energy generation - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 19) |
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Sep 19 · The GENOXPHOS (Functional Genetics of the Oxidative Phosphorylation System) group at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) has discovered a crucial role of sodium in the generation of cellular energy.
The study, led by Dr. José Antonio Enríquez, also involved the participation of scientists from the Complutense University of Madrid, the Biomedical Research Institute at Hospital Doce de Octubre, the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and the Spanish research networks on frailty and healthy aging (CIBERFES) and cardiovascular disease (CIBERCV).
The study, published in Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics, reveals that ... Read more ...
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Scientists seek a balance between crop production and protecting the environment - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 19) |
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Sep 19 · Scientists at the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory (NPARL), in Sidney, Montana, completed a study that shows the use of continuous cropping systems can better sustain crop yields while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in semi-arid regions.
"The study revealed that long-term no-till continuous cropping systems can reduce GHG emissions while sustaining crop yields compared to the conventional till crop-fallow system, which is the traditional two-year crop rotation of dryland farming in the Northern Great Plains," explained Sainju.
As the demand for agricultural production increases, it is becoming more ... Read more ...
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The memory in seeds: How plants carry environmental clues across generations - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 19) |
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Sep 19 · Phenotypic plasticity enables plants to adjust their physical traits in response to environmental variations, playing a vital role in their survival and adaptability. While past research has primarily focused on how these traits manifest within a single generation, the genetic basis of transgenerational inheritance remains largely unexplored. Addressing this gap is essential to fully understand how plants transmit adaptive traits from one generation to the next.
Utilizing a nested experimental design, the study explored how maternal light conditions influence the phenotypic traits of Arabidopsis thaliana offspring. By integrating ecological and computational methods, the ... Read more ...
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'Emergency' declared over falling UK butterfly numbers - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 18) |
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Sep 18 · Conservationists on Wednesday voiced concern at a fall in the number of butterflies found in the UK, declaring a "butterfly emergency" and calling for greater protections for under-threat species.
"It's been a bit of a disastrous summer for butterflies," said Dan Hoare, director of conservation at the Butterfly Conservation, a wildlife charity.
"We've gone from this situation where seeing a butterfly outside on a sunny day was a normal part of our everyday lives to that being a rare event," he told AFP.
Butterfly Conservation runs the "Big Butterfly Count", an annual census carried out by tens of thousands of volunteers across the UK.
This year's count, which ... Read more ...
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Ethanol: A viable alternative to sugar-based carbon sources for biomanufacturing - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 18) |
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Sep 18 · In a recent review published in Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts, a research team led by Associated Professor Wang Peng from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Dr. Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro from Imperial College London, provided a comprehensive overview of ethanol as a renewable carbon source for producing various high-value products, offering new perspectives for the development of eco-friendly industrial biotechnology processes.
Industrial biotechnology often relies on microbes to convert carbohydrate substrates from sugar- or starch-rich crops to valuable products. However, this reliance poses challenges ... Read more ...
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From earthquakes to starquakes: Seismology research helps understand exoplanet migration - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 18) |
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Sep 18 · When Jared Bryan talks about his seismology research, it's with a natural finesse. He's a fifth-year Ph.D. student working with MIT Assistant Professor William Frank on seismology research, drawn in by the lab's combination of GPS observations, satellites, and seismic station data to understand the underlying physics of earthquakes.
He has no trouble talking about seismic velocity in fault zones or how he first became interested in the field after summer internships with the Southern California Earthquake Center as an undergraduate student.
"It's definitely like a more down-to-earth kind of seismology," he jokingly describes it. It's an odd comment. Where else could ... Read more ...
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Greenhouse gains: Cucumbers get a genetic upgrade through innovative pollen tech - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 18) |
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Sep 18 · Genetic modification in horticultural crops, particularly within the Cucurbitaceae family, is often hindered by complex tissue culture requirements and environmental pressures such as climate change. Traditional transformation techniques, like Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer, frequently encounter barriers that limit their success in certain plant species.
Magnetofection, a novel DNA delivery method using magnetic nanoparticles, offers a promising alternative to these conventional approaches. Given these persistent challenges, innovative gene delivery systems are urgently needed to advance crop genetic engineering.
Conducted by scientists at Pusan National University ... Read more ...
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In French Polynesia, boom in whale-based tourism sparks concern - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 18) |
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Sep 18 · A giant whale stole the show at the Summer Olympic Games, shooting out of the water as athletes competed in women's surfing semi-finals on the French Pacific island of Tahiti last month.
It is for spectacular scenes like this that many tourists travel each year to French Polynesia, one of the world's prime destinations to go whale-watching and even swim with the huge mammals.
But even if the French overseas territory seeks to promote eco-friendly tourism, environmentalists and some scientists warn that growing numbers of travelers present a threat to the majestic species.
Every year, between July and November, humpback whales travel from their breeding grounds in ... Read more ...
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New study reveals evolution's role in ecosystem stability and tipping points - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 18) |
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Sep 18 · Monash University biologists have discovered that evolution can significantly impact the stability and tipping points of ecosystems, potentially causing early ecosystem collapse or aiding in their recovery.
The study, led by Ph.D. candidate Chris Blake and Associate Professor Mike McDonald from the Monash University School of Biological Sciences, and published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution, provides the first experimental evidence that evolutionary processes can influence ecosystem tipping points.
The team evolved a microbial community for 4,000 generations, offering critical insights for managing larger ecosystems facing environmental threats.
"Many ... Read more ...
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Ocean sediment is a 'mudtropolis' - meet the carbon-cycling creatures thriving beneath the seabed - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 18) |
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Sep 18 · Sitting in darkness, deep below the sunlit surface, an iridescent nightmare awaits its prey. With precision and speed, it strikes and slices a passing fish clean in half with a set of jaws twice the width of its head. The armor-plated creature retreats into its hole, quarry in tow, to rejoin the bustling metropolis of animals living in a network of burrows in the mud.
This scene of a hunting bobbit worm is not one of science fiction, set on a far-flung planet. This creature lives within the seabed of the Earth's continental shelf. This alien world, collectively the size of the North American continent, has been largely ignored.
Our current research brings the seabed to ... Read more ...
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Scientists urge new conservation approach to save vulnerable species from climate change impacts - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 18) |
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Sep 18 · A team of international scientists alarmed by the loss of biodiversity across the world due to climate change has proposed a new approach to managing vulnerable landscapes, focusing on sites that are least impacted by changing weather.
Known as climate change-refugia, these places experience weather conditions that are the most favorable for their survival and could hold the key to reducing species extinctions, ecologists say.
In a new paper authored by scientists from Australia, Canada, the United States and Hungary, the researchers have laid out a framework to identify, protect and restore refugia from climate change.
The paper, published in Trends in Ecology & ... Read more ...
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Which plant species will survive the global change challenge? - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 18) |
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Sep 18 · In a temperate montane forest in southern Québec, all is quiet. But if you dig a little deeper, you'll see the landscape has a story to tell. Waterloo plant ecologist Dr. Julie Messier, alongside her collaborators from Sherbrooke, is uncovering vital insights into the changes affecting our forests - knowledge that could be crucial in safeguarding Canada's temperate forests.
Her study derives from previous research in 1970 and 2012 that showed some species were thriving after 40 years of global change, while others were declining, and it wasn't clear why.
"Many factors can change how favorable an environment is, and a lot of them are based on climate change and air ... Read more ...
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Surface water sampling reveals large numbers of juvenile krill undetected by conventional monitoring methods - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 17) |
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Sep 17 · In 2018–2019, researchers of Wageningen Marine Research joined the Japanese research vessel Kaiyo-maru (Fisheries Agency Japan; FAJ) on an Antarctic expedition to sample the upper surface waters with the Surface and Under Ice Trawl. Results showed that a large part of the Antarctic krill population resided in the upper two meters of the water column.
The upper surface layer is usually missed by standard survey nets or acoustics that are used in monitoring. The individuals that remained close to the surface were almost all juvenile krill, in contrast to deeper water layers in which adult individuals were also found. During the second half of the expedition, the krill ... Read more ...
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How gaps in the canopy of a European floodplain forest influence microclimate and soil biological activity - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 16) |
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Sep 16 · Canopy gaps in a mixed floodplain forest have a direct effect on forest soil temperature and moisture, but only have a minor impact on soil biological activity. This is the conclusion of a study by Leipzig University, the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig and the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry.
The study was recently published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.
Gaps in the forest stand, whether caused by silvicultural intervention or by the death of large trees, can play a central role in the microclimate and biological processes in the forest soil. In view of climate change, the question of how such ... Read more ...
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Monitoring the health of lakes through the microbes that live in them - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 16) |
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Sep 16 · A lake is much more than a body of water where we bask on sunny summer days. It's also more than just a source of fresh water surrounded with nature and tranquility.
Lakes play a vital role in our ecosystems and in our daily lives. They provide drinking water, are home to an impressive diversity of life forms and support important economic activities.
Unfortunately, the water quality of these precious environments is increasingly being threatened by different environmental factors and human activity.
In order to protect and preserve lakes, it is vital to monitor the state of their health in a proactive, quick and effective way. As researchers in aquatic ecology, we ... Read more ...
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Researchers use training model to map planted and natural forests via satellite image - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 16) |
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Sep 16 · While planting trees may seem like an easy win to combat climate change, planted forests often encroach on natural forests, wetlands, and grasslands. This can reduce biodiversity, disturb the natural environment, and disrupt carbon and water cycling.
While there has been a global increase in forest cover, it's hard to know if this forest is the regeneration and growth of natural forests or if it is planting new trees. Accurately mapping these forests with remote sensing technology could help.
However, comprehensive maps of planted forests and natural forests are lacking, even though it is possible to distinguish planted forests and natural forests on satellite images ... Read more ...
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Size matters: Why fish size diversity is vital for healthy oceans - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 16) |
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Sep 16 · A hundred years ago, fish lived longer and grew bigger - they continued to breed, engineered ecosystems through predation and were more resilient to ocean changes such as marine heat waves.
Today these larger, long-lived fish are gone, and it's affecting fish populations, marine ecosystems, and ultimately our own food security.
Pew Marine Fellow Dr. Asta Audzijonyte is a researcher at the University of Tasmania's Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS). She's investigating the impacts of human activity and a changing climate on fish size, what that means for fisheries productivity and marine ecosystems, and how we can bring big fish back.
"There's a ... Read more ...
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Sunflowers make small moves to maximize sun exposure - physicists can model them to predict how they grow - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 16) |
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Sep 16 · Most of us aren't spending our days watching our houseplants grow. We see their signs of life only occasionally - a new leaf unfurled, a stem leaning toward the window.
But in the summer of 1863, Charles Darwin lay ill in bed, with nothing to do but watch his plants so closely that he could detect their small movements to and fro. The tendrils from his cucumber plants swept in circles until they encountered a stick, which they proceeded to twine around.
"I am getting very much amused by my tendrils," he wrote.
This amusement blossomed into a decades-long fascination with the little-noticed world of plant movements. He compiled his detailed observations and ... Read more ...
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Brazil vets heal burns of jaguar burned in Pantanal fire - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 15) |
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Sep 15 · At a shelter for big cats in Brazil, a vet gingerly dresses wounds on a jaguar that was caught in wildfires raging in the world's largest tropical wetland.
While the animal is expected to heal, her home in the Pantanal continues to burn.
The Pantanal, south of the Amazon in Mato Grosso do Sul state, has the world's highest density of jaguars. It is also home to millions of caimans, parrots and giant otters.
Brazil has been parched by a historic drought that experts link to climate change and which has sparked what authorities have called a "fire pandemic." So far this year, some 6.7 million hectares (16.6 million acres) have burned in the Brazilian Amazon, ... Read more ...
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An 'invasive' marine organism has become an economic resource in the eastern Mediterranean - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 13) |
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Sep 13 · Pamela Hallock, a biogeological oceanographer and distinguished university professor at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science, typically finds little comfort in climate change.
Hallock has spent her career studying the ocean. She leads USF's Reef Indicators Lab and is no stranger to the impacts of human activities on marine environments.
Still, she couldn't help but notice a bright spot in the results of her recent paper on a species of single-celled organisms called foraminifera (forams), published in the Journal of Foraminiferal Research.
"These forams have been increasing in numbers in suitable environments," Hallock said. "Now they're so ... Read more ...
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Researchers identify novel approach to minimize nitrogen loss in crops - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 13) |
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Sep 13 · While agriculture producers apply nitrogen fertilizer to supply nutrients to their crops, they can't always keep those nutrients in the soil for maximum efficiency, often losing them into the atmosphere or water supply as nitrates and nitrous oxide.
A Texas A&M AgriLife Research team is working to find crop varieties, starting with sorghum, that will minimize that escaped nitrogen, thus reducing input costs for farmers and greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.
The project is led by Nithya Rajan, Ph.D., recently named director of the Center for Greenhouse Gas Management in Agriculture and Forestry. Rajan is an AgriLife Research crop physiologist and professor of ... Read more ...
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Study shows microbial diversity differences in volcanic cones and craters - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 13) |
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Sep 13 · Volcanic activity alters the Earth's surface and promotes the development of new ecosystems, providing valuable models for studying soil formation processes such as microbial composition and vegetation succession. Increasing evidence suggests that soil microbes are pivotal in numerous ecological and biogeochemical processes, encompassing carbon mineralization, humus formation, and nutrient cycling.
Given the intricate and dynamic interactions between soil properties, plant life, and soil microbial communities, a comprehensive understanding of soil microbial communities is critical to improving our understanding of ecosystem processes. The study shows that the rhizosphere ... Read more ...
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Temperature fluctuations found to mar fish quality of large yellow croaker - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 13) |
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Sep 13 · Large yellow croaker is a highly nutritious and economically valuable mariculture species, but its perishable nature poses significant challenges in storage and transport. Cold chain logistics play a crucial role in maintaining seafood quality, but frequent temperature fluctuations during transit and handling can trigger microbial growth, enzymatic activities, and chemical reactions that degrade fish quality.
Addressing these challenges requires deeper insights into how temperature variations affect seafood and identifying reliable indicators of spoilage. This study aims to fill that gap, providing essential data to improve cold chain management and reduce quality ... Read more ...
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Trees in tropical logged forests release carbon at greater rate despite faster growth, study finds - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 13) |
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Sep 13 · Tree stems in tropical forests recovering from logging produce carbon dioxide at a greater rate than those in unlogged forests, according to a new study from the University of Leicester.
With fewer surrounding trees to compete with, the tree stems in logged forests are able to grow and take up carbon dioxide at a faster rate than stems in unlogged forests, but this faster growth is combined with faster release of carbon dioxide as well.
Collectively when considering the all the trees in the logged forest they are giving out as much carbon dioxide as an equivalent area of unlogged forest.
In the new study, led by the University of Leicester and published in the ... Read more ...
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'Historic': Bad weather slashes wine harvest in France's Jura - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 12) |
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Sep 12 · Heavy rainfall, hail and mildew have destroyed most of the wine harvest in eastern France's Jura region for this year, leaving winegrowers struggling.
The Jura, nestled between the famous Burgundy wine region and Switzerland, is one of France's oldest wine-growing areas, featuring some 200 vineyards spread over 2,000 hectares.
Their unusual elevation and the region's cool climate give a distinctive flavor to its wines some of which are famous, notably the white wine known as "Vin Jaune" (yellow wine).
But this year is delivering a bitter taste for winegrowers as the Jura - the smallest of France's 17 major wine-growing regions - is headed for a spectacular drop of ... Read more ...
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Plants can grow in near-darkness, new research shows - here are three promising benefits - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 12) |
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Sep 12 · Plants can grow with much less light than previously thought, according to a new study on tiny water-based organisms called microalgae that has been published in Nature Communications. The German-led team of researchers lowered light sensors into Arctic water to a depth of 50 meters to test how low light levels must become before plant life ceases to exist, with incredible results.
They found that plants were able to perform photosynthesis - the process in which their leaves convert sunlight into energy - with very little light indeed. Not only did the microalgae carry out this process at the lowest light levels ever recorded (just 0.04 micromoles of photons m?²/s?¹), this ... Read more ...
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Revitalizing pak choi: Unveiling the genetic mechanisms behind drought tolerance - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 12) |
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Sep 12 · Drought stress is a major challenge for crop production, causing oxidative damage and reducing plant growth. Ascorbic acid plays a key role in protecting plants from this damage, but the regulatory mechanisms that control its levels during drought are not well understood. Addressing these gaps could lead to new approaches for developing drought-resistant crops.
The study shows that BcSRC2 is pivotal in enhancing drought tolerance in pak choi by increasing ascorbic acid levels and reducing APX enzyme activity, which helps minimize oxidative damage. Silencing BcSRC2 decreases ascorbic acid, making the plants more vulnerable to drought, while overexpression increases drought ... Read more ...
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Astronomers track bubbles on star's surface - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 11) |
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Sep 11 · For the first time, astronomers have captured images of a star other than the sun in enough detail to track the motion of bubbling gas on its surface. The images of the star, R Doradus, were obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a telescope co-owned by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), in July and August 2023. They show giant, hot bubbles of gas, 75 times the size of the sun, appearing on the surface and sinking back into the star's interior faster than expected.
"This is the first time the bubbling surface of a real star can be shown in such a way," says Wouter Vlemmings, a professor at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, and ... Read more ...
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Century-old experiment secures beer and whiskey's future - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 11) |
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Sep 11 · Thanks to an experiment started before the Great Depression, researchers have pinpointed the genes behind the remarkable adaptability of barley, a key ingredient in beer and whiskey. These insights could ensure the crop's continued survival amidst rapid climate change.
Grown everywhere from Asia and Egypt to Norway and the Andes mountains of South America, barley is one of the world's most important cereal crops and has been for at least 12,000 years. As it has spread across the globe, random changes to its DNA allowed it to survive in each new location.
It is critical to identify the genes that changed to predict which varieties will thrive in places now struggling with ... Read more ...
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How the oceans' most abundant bacteria impact global nutrient flows - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 11) |
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Sep 11 · If you were to collect all the organisms from the ocean surface down to 200 meters, you'd find that SAR11 bacteria, though invisible to the naked eye, would make up a fifth of the total biomass. These bacteria, also known as Pelagibacterales, have evolved to thrive in nutrient-poor marine environments and play a significant role in global nutrient cycles. Despite their importance, the mechanisms behind their impact on the planetary ecosystem have remained unclear.
But now, a Nature paper by researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) sheds light on a crucial aspect of these bacteria.
"We knew that SAR11 is a key player in important nutrient ... Read more ...
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Report recommends 'highly ambitious enterprise' to create UK microbiome biobank - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 11) |
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Sep 11 · CABI has played a leading role in the creation of a new report, facilitated by the National Biofilms Innovation Centre (NBIC), which is calling for a "highly ambitious enterprise" to create a microbiome biobank that will contribute significantly to the advancement of science and its application to human health.
It is anticipated that the world-leading UK Microbiome Biobank (UKMB) will support academic and industrial scientists in the quest for new medicines and solutions to some of the most significant challenges faced by the world.
Dr. Matthew Ryan is Senior Research Lead, Biological Resources at CABI and lead author of the report entitled "Securing the future of ... Read more ...
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Superior light-to-chemical energy conversion with Coulombic dyads - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 11) |
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Sep 11 · Inspired by nature's photosynthesis, photocatalysts use light to trigger a chemical reaction that would otherwise only occur at high temperatures or under harsh conditions. For this concept to be widely applicable in an economical fashion, the quantum efficiency of the light-induced transformation has to be high.
Tailored photocatalysts with outstanding efficiencies in photocatalytic applications are oftentimes composed of two photoactive units with a covalent bond in-between. These so-called molecular dyads have to be prepared in a multi-step synthesis, which is why they would be too expensive for large-scale applications.
A team of researchers led by Professor ... Read more ...
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A roadmap for using viruses to enhance crop performance - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 10) |
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Sep 10 · Humans, livestock and companion animals benefit from virus-based vaccines and gene therapies, but crops do not. This paradox is highlighted by an international research group led by the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology of Plants (IBMCP) within the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), in an article published in Nature Reviews Bioengineering.
The study proposes a roadmap to use attenuated viruses to enhance the performance of crops, making them more resistant to extreme and changing climate conditions, or to produce dietary supplements for improved human nutrition. According to the authors, this is a more efficient and sustainable alternative to agrochemicals and ... Read more ...
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How researchers discovered a new type of wood - and how it could help fight climate change - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 10) |
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Sep 10 · For as long as scientists have studied trees, we have categorized them into two types based on the sort of wood they make. Softwoods include pines and firs and generally grow faster than hardwoods, like oaks and maples, which can take several decades to mature and make a denser wood.
However, our recent research has uncovered something completely new: a third category we're calling "midwood." This discovery could prove to be valuable in the fight against rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in Earth's atmosphere - the primary cause of climate change.
Trees are natural carbon sinks. This means they absorb huge amounts of CO2 from the air and store it in their wood. The ... Read more ...
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RNA folding at low temperatures sheds light on primordial biochemistry - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 10) |
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Sep 10 · Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a biological molecule with crucial functions in the genetics of organisms and plays a key role in the origin and evolution of life. With a composition quite similar to DNA, RNA is able to perform a variety of biological functions conditioned by its spatial conformation, i.e. the way the molecule folds in on itself. Now, a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describes for the first time how the process of RNA folding at low temperatures may open up a novel perspective on primordial biochemistry and the evolution of life on the planet.
The study was led by Professor Fèlix Ritort, from the Faculty of Physics and ... Read more ...
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Study finds tire abrasion particles threaten fresh water habitats - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 10) |
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Sep 10 · Their study, now published in the journal Science of The Total Environment, shows that the toxic particle mixture resulting from road traffic harms important aquatic organisms. The researchers warn of this underestimated danger to our environment.
The negative effects of road traffic on the environment, the climate, and human health are generally known and are widely discussed in society. The primary focus is on CO2 emissions and air pollution due to exhaust fumes and particulates. Less attention is paid to emissions that are not released into the air.
The nano- to micrometer-sized particles, which are continuously generated by the wear and tear of tires and road ... Read more ...
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Study offers hope for the resilience of the American lobster fishery - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Sep 10) |
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Sep 10 · According to a study by researchers at William & Mary's Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences, the American lobster may be more resilient to the effects of climate change than expected. For the first time, experiments performed at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) have documented how female American lobsters groom their offspring, providing evidence that these behaviors are not significantly impacted by temperature and acidity levels forecasted for Maine's coastal waters by the end of the century.
The findings are published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series.
Despite being one of the largest commercial fisheries in the U.S. with an annual ... Read more ...
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