During chemical reactions, atoms in the reacting substances break their bonds and re-arrange, forming different chemical products. This process entails the movement of both electrons (i.e., negatively charged particles) and nuclei (i.e., the positively charged central parts of atoms). Valence electrons are shared and re-arranged between different atoms, creating new bonds. [...]
A new study has quantified, for the first time, how much heat stress beef cattle actually experience across South America—as cumulative time spent in heat-related discomfort. [...]
Scientists can peer into cells to get a limited view of their activity using microscopes and other tools. However, cells and the molecular events within them are dynamic, and developmental processes, disease progression and certain molecular cues are still difficult to discern. Ideally, scientists could leverage a system to obtain an unbiased record of a genome's functional output, showing how cells respond to different conditions over time to gain useful insights. Now, it seems a group of researchers may have found a way to do just that. [...]
Inward foreign direct investment (IFDI) is known to be a significant driver of local economic development, especially in fostering entrepreneurship. Current studies have conducted in-depth investigations into the impact of IFDI on the survival, productivity, and innovation of established firms. [...]
Research from Monash University explores how rising temperatures and growing urban environments can affect behavior in native Australian bees and the European honeybee. [...]
Mass shootings in white-majority neighborhoods received roughly twice the news coverage of mass shootings in neighborhoods where a majority of residents were people of color, while coverage of police-involved shootings was disproportionately high in majority-minority communities, according to new research. [...]
Reliable predictions of how the Earth's climate will respond as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels increase are based on climate models. These models, in turn, are based on data from past geological times in which the CO2 content in the Earth's atmosphere changed in a similar way to today and the near future. The data originate from measurable indicators (proxies), the interpretation of which is used to reconstruct the climate of the past. [...]
Inflammation has to fight pathogens fast—but it can't get out of control. Researchers at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now deciphered in more detail how the organism masters this balancing act. Their work shows that cells use two different strategies to precisely control inflammatory genes and thus precisely regulate the inflammatory response. [...]
Chirality—often described as "handedness"—is a fundamental property of nature, underlying the behavior of molecules ranging from DNA to pharmaceuticals. While chemists have long known how to separate left- and right-handed forms of organic compounds, achieving the same control in inorganic crystals has remained a major scientific challenge. [...]
New research has found that roughly half of Australia's freshwater fish are fond of snacking on animal and plant material, including fruits, from outside their aquatic habitats. [...]
Is that bird feeder in your backyard really helping nature? How about feeding the chipmunks that come to your patio? Or handouts to wildlife in their natural environment, far from human habitation? [...]
An international group of researchers led by Pompeu Fabra University has discovered the nanomachine that controls constitutive exocytosis: the uninterrupted delivery of spherical molecular packages to the cell surface. This is an essential activity present in virtually all organisms to preserve cell fitness and other vital functions such as communication with the cell's exterior, cell growth and division. [...]
Valery Kyembo was leading an inspection of his community's protected forest reserve deep in the Democratic Republic of Congo's mining belt when two armed Congolese soldiers blocked their way. [...]
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are pioneering the design and synthesis of quantum materials, which are central to discovery science involving synergies with quantum computation. These innovative materials, including magnetic compounds with honeycomb-patterned lattices, have the potential to host states of matter with exotic behavior. [...]
Sharks are the most feared predators in the sea, and their survival hinges on fearsome teeth that regrow throughout their lives. But changes in the ocean's chemistry could put those weapons at risk. [...]
While a wealth of nutrient export models exists, a knowledge gap persists regarding how climate and land-use changes specifically drive dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) export in subtropical catchments. [...]
Dog attacks are on the rise in Australia. The most recent data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show dog-related hospital admissions more than doubled in the eight years to 2021. [...]
Victoria has just suffered some of its worst bushfires since the Black Summer fires of 2019–20. Over 400,000 hectares are estimated to have burnt so far, an area more than five times larger than Singapore. [...]
The success of restoration efforts hinges on involving local communities. That was the finding of our recent study which explored restoration programs around the world. [...]
When a protest by angry traders about what they see as the Islamic Republic's poor handling of the economy morphed into a national uprising across Iran, the authorities moved quickly to shut down the internet. It's a tactic the regime has used before. Closing down communications makes it harder for resistance to organize. It also makes it hard for people protesting in Iran to communicate with and enlist support from the outside world. [...]
An international team of scientists from South Africa, Canada, France and the UK has uncovered fossil evidence of a tiny ecosystem that helped kick-start the recovery of Earth's oceans after a global mass extinction. [...]
Every time our body encounters a new disease-causing agent, a crucial defense system called adaptive immunity comes into play. T cells, the top agents in this system, survey the internal environment of infected cells and start eliminating the pathogen. T cells are extremely dynamic, capable of changing their structure and makeup when making contact with other cells. [...]
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology and the University of Kiel have provided experimental evidence showing that reducing plant species diversity alters plant chemical signals across whole communities and within individual plants. [...]
Scientists have discovered there is more to Antarctica than meets the eye. A new map of the landscape beneath the frozen continent's ice sheet has revealed a previously hidden world of mountains, deep canyons and rugged hills in unprecedented detail. [...]
A new discovery about how cells communicate with each other in the body's immune system has revealed deeper insights for an international team of scientists into fundamental immune system function. [...]
Once the world's most populous nation, China is now among the many Asian countries struggling with anemic fertility rates. In an attempt to double the country's rate of 1.0 children per woman, Beijing is reaching for a new tool: taxes on condoms, birth control pills and other contraceptives. [...]
Oceans shape everyday life in powerful ways. They cover 70% of the planet, carry 90% of global trade, and support millions of jobs and the diets of billions of people. As global competition intensifies and climate change accelerates, the world's oceans are also becoming the front line of 21st-century geopolitics. [...]
Whales, dolphins and other marine mammals are highly social, but those social ties can also help diseases spread through populations of rare or threatened species. [...]
Research reveals when and why ancient tropical seas transitioned from oxygen oases to marine dead zones, providing clues to the long-term evolution of oceanic environments. [...]
Many people are familiar with histamine, a biological molecule that serves as a key driver of allergic reactions and other immune responses. However, histamine is also a major neurotransmitter in the mammalian brain, regulating essential cognitive functions like wakefulness, attention, and learning. [...]
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