Off the coast of Antarctica, the sea ice retreated toward the southernmost continent and, like a bottle cap taken off a soda bottle, that reduced pressure slowed down a process of critical carbon dioxide capture, dramatically accelerating the warming of the planet.
On islands, many plants rely on animals such as birds, bats and reptiles to disperse their seeds and help them grow in new places. When native animals go extinct, this naturally reduces seed dispersal.
After a slight delay, Australia and Papua New Guinea formally signed a defense treaty this week committing the two nations to come to each other's aid if one is faced with an attack.
Stress granules are droplet-like protein hubs that temporarily shield fragile RNA from cellular stresses such as toxins. VCP is a protein essential for breaking up stress granules and has been linked to neurodegenerative diseases. However, VCP has a protein partner, ASPL, whose role has been unclear until now.
A new artificial intelligence-powered tool can help researchers determine how well an enzyme fits with a desired target, helping them find the best enzyme and substrate combination for applications from catalysis to medicine to manufacturing.
A research team led by Prof. Ben Ko Chi-bun, Associate Professor of the PolyU Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, has discovered the critical mechanism of action of tetrandrine, a compound derived from Chinese medicine Stephania tetrandra. Their work opens the door to innovative treatments for viral infections and neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
A tree can sequester quite a bit of carbon, and forests can sequester and store quite a bit more, but knowing exactly how much is important for many reasons, from planning and management decisions to assessing a forest's health. However, estimating how much carbon is stored in a forested landscape is a tedious and time-consuming process.
Long before plants and algae, cyanobacteria were already performing photosynthesis—filling Earth's skies with oxygen and setting the stage for life as we know it. The ultra-prevalent bacteria are critical to the global carbon cycle, responsible for fixing as much as 30% of the world's carbon dioxide and converting it into oxygen we breathe. And because they're the simplest organisms that carry out this complex process, they're both ideal for studying fundamentals of biology as well as promising contenders for bioengineering.
The chemistry Nobel was awarded on Wednesday to three scientists who discovered a revolutionary way of making materials full of tiny holes that can do everything from sucking water out of the desert air to capturing climate-warming carbon dioxide.
A new study from The University of Texas at El Paso has uncovered how financial incentives may subtly shape officiating decisions in one of America's most iconic institutions: the National Football League. By analyzing more than 13,000 penalty calls from 2015 to 2023, researchers found that postseason officiating has disproportionately favored the Patrick Mahomes-era Kansas City Chiefs, coinciding with their rise as one of the NFL's most marketable franchises.
