Modern technologies have made it possible to uncover a growing "hidden proteome"—proteins encoded by parts of the genome that researchers previously overlooked. Advances in sequencing and protein analysis are making it possible to find more of these potential proteins and investigate what they do. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have now identified one such protein.
What are the chances of finding extraterrestrial life in our solar system? Frank Postberg, a professor of planetary science at Freie Universität Berlin, has published a study in Science Advances with an international team of researchers. They present new evidence that it is easier to determine the constituents of the ocean hidden beneath Enceladus's icy surface than previously assumed.
When plant roots are injured—by insects, for example—the pressure inside the root drops, and a pressure wave spreads rapidly throughout the root system. In neighboring roots, tiny proteins that act as mechanical pressure sensors detect the change and generate electrical and calcium signals.
When Pliny the Younger recorded his firsthand experience of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius 2,000 years ago—a cataclysm that buried Pompeii and killed his uncle, Pliny the Elder—he provided enough detail about the date to allow scientists to benchmark methods for dating volcanic eruptions.
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) scientists have developed a way to "supercharge" a plant's natural immune response.
Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have teamed up with pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company to uncover how storage conditions affect mRNA lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), the technology behind COVID-19 vaccines and other treatments, and how to make them more effective.
SKA-Low is a radio telescope under construction in Western Australia. It will operate across a wide frequency range, from 50 to 350 MHz, and will be the most sensitive telescope of its kind ever built. The completed instrument will link 512 stations spread across an area roughly 75 km (47 miles) wide. Each station's antennas work together like a single large dish, so their arrangement directly shapes what the telescope can detect.
Medical researchers, clinicians and pharmaceutical scientists often study small molecules called metabolites, which are produced in living cells through a variety of processes, including the breakdown of food, chemicals or drugs. This area of study is known as metabolomics, and it can be used to identify new signs of disease, measure the effectiveness of medical treatment or study how diet and nutrition affect the body.
We are continuously sending information to each other, transmitting zeros and ones through a giant network of connected computers and devices. Scientists are now trying to extend this familiar concept of the internet to the quantum realm, looking for an efficient way to exchange quantum rather than classical information: qubits instead of bits. The motivation is not just scientific curiosity. Qubits can be a 0, a 1 or any superposition of the two. They can also become entangled, showing a degree of correlation that is out of reach for classical bits.
The U.S. housing bubble of the early 2000s sent home prices soaring before the market crashed in 2007–08, triggering a foreclosure crisis and a deep recession.
