Новости за 01.12.2021

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have shown for the first time the potential for linear induction accelerators (LIAs) to deliver effective, targeted doses of "FLASH" radiation to cancer patients. The new technique selectively kills cancer cells with minimal damage to healthy cells. The approach is outlined in a Scientific Reports paper.

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have demonstrated a method for increasing the depth at which optical coherence tomography (OCT) can image structures beneath skin.

Bicultural consumers such as Asian Americans or Hispanic Americans are the fastest growing demographic in the U.S., and one of the challenges marketers face is how to build brands that resonate with consumers who have assimilated norms from different cultures and are able to code-switch between behaviors in response to social cues.

Do others see you as a reckless risk-taker who behaves compulsively without weighing potential consequences? Or a courageous risk-taker who takes responsible risks?

The dusty surface of the moon—immortalized in images of Apollo astronauts' lunar footprints—formed as the result of asteroid impacts and the harsh environment of space breaking down rock over millions of years. An ancient layer of this material, covered by periodic lava flows and now buried under the lunar surface, could provide new insight into the Moon's deep past, according to a team of scientists.

Life is water, and water is life. This truism certainly applies to the Pacific coast, where streams and rivers function as the region's arteries. The water they carry fosters plant life and wildlife in Southern California's Mediterranean climate. They provide sanctuary during droughts and often serve as the nexus for recovery after fires.

There are few places farther from your medicine cabinet than the tissues of an ascidian, or "sea squirt," on the icy Antarctic sea floor—but this is precisely where scientists are looking to find a new treatment for melanoma, one of the most dangerous types of skin cancer.

The warming of the planet is taking a deadly toll on seabirds that are suffering population declines from starvation, inability to reproduce, heat waves and extreme weather.

Researchers in Brazil and Belgium have developed a molecule of pharmaceutical interest from collinein-1, a protein found in rattlesnake venom. They used a technique called PEGylation to make the molecule, now called PEG-rCollinein-1, more stable in the organism and resistant to the immune system, obtaining a drug candidate to modulate blood clotting.

Wheat and barley growers know the devastating effects of Fusarium head blight, or scab. The widespread fungal disease contaminates grain with toxins that cause illness in livestock and humans, and can render worthless an entire harvest. As Fusarium epidemics began to worsen across the eastern U.S. in the 1990s and beyond, fewer and fewer farmers were willing to risk planting wheat.

America needs to rethink and reduce the way it generates plastics because so much of the material is littering the oceans and other waters, the National Academy of Sciences says in a new report.

A brown blotch on a plant leaf may be a sign that the plant's defenses are hard at work: When a plant is infected by a virus, fungus or bacterium, its immune response keeps the disease from spreading by killing the infected cell, as well as a few surrounding ones. A new study at the Weizmann Institute of Science points to the evolutionary origins of this plant immune mechanism. The study may help explain how major plant defenses work and how they may one day be strengthened to increase resilience... Читать дальше...

The value of long-term studies can be found when you're ready to dig deep. WUR scientists and European partners asked: what happens when organic farmers stop plowing? In a joint effort, we sampled nine field trials across Europe and assessed the impact of reduced tillage versus plowing on soil carbon storage: Humus was always enriched in the soil surface layer in reduced tillage systems, which is essential to protect soils from erosion and helps rain to infiltrate faster.

Researchers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian have observed a new type of binary star that has long been theorized to exist. The discovery finally confirms how a rare type of star in the universe forms and evolves.

An important player in the healthy development of female embryos turns out also to play a key role in regulating the behavior of chromosome loops and gene expression in both sexes, according to a new study by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). These findings, reported in the journal Cell, could help create new targets for drug development.

Since the tsunami that devastated coasts around the Indian Ocean in December 2004 and the Fukushima disaster in March 2011, people worldwide are aware that geological processes in the ocean can cause significant damage. From a European perspective, such events are seen to occur mostly in distant regions. "It is often forgotten that the European coasts are also located in areas that are tectonically very active—and that many catastrophes have occurred here in the past", says Prof. Dr. Heidrun Kopp... Читать дальше...

Equilibrium may be hard to achieve in our lives, but it is the standard state of nature.

Astronomers at The University of Texas at Austin's McDonald Observatory have discovered an unusually massive black hole at the heart of one of the Milky Way's dwarf satellite galaxies, called Leo I. Almost as massive as the black hole in our own galaxy, the finding could redefine our understanding of how all galaxies—the building blocks of the universe—evolve. The work is published in a recent issue of The Astrophysical Journal.

Researchers from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) have decoded for the first time the demographic history, genetic structure, and population connectivity of a deep-sea limpet widely distributed in vent and seep ecosystems in the Northwest Pacific. This study not only enhances our knowledge of the historical population divergence and contemporary gene flow of deep-sea organisms under the intricate interactions amongst local habitats... Читать дальше...

A team of researchers with the Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, in Belgium has found that non-targeted creatures that are impacted by nearby pesticide applications adapt to both traditional and organic pesticides. In their paper published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group describes testing pond-dwelling water fleas in a variety of environments.

Researchers have used direct chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth of wafer-scale, high-quality graphene on dielectrics for versatile applications. However, graphene synthesized this way has shown a polycrystalline film with uncontrolled defects, a low carrier mobility, and high street resistance; therefore, researchers aim to introduce new methods to develop wafer-scale graphene. In a new report now published in Science Advances, Zhaolong Chen and an international research team in nanochemistry, intelligent materials and physics, in China, U.

A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in the Netherlands and one in the U.S. has found that Risso's dolphins use a special type of spin move to conserve energy and oxygen when they dive deep for prey. In their paper published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the group describes their study of the underwater mammals living near Portugal's Terceira Island.

A team of researchers from the University of Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, CEA Institut de Biologie Structurale and one with the National (Taiwan) University has learned more about the unique protein made by tardigrades that allows them to survive in extremely hostile conditions. They've published their findings in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.