ScienceDaily: Plants & Animals News |
| Nano-sensor detects pesticides on fruit in minutes Posted: 07 Jun 2022 09:10 AM PDT Researchers have developed a tiny sensor for detecting pesticides on fruit in just a few minutes. The technique uses flame-sprayed nanoparticles made from silver to increase the signal of chemicals. While still at an early stage, the researchers hope these nano-sensors could help uncover food pesticides before consumption. |
| Targeted micronutrition ameliorates allergy symptoms Posted: 07 Jun 2022 09:10 AM PDT Micronutrient deficiencies can promote inflammation and render the immune system particularly sensitive to allergenic substances. In particular, iron deficiency signals danger to immune cells and leads to a more pronounced, exaggerated immune response. For the first time, scientists have conducted a placebo-controlled trial and showed that targeted dietary measures can reduce the symptom burden in allergic reactions. The researchers are therefore treading a completely new path in the care of allergy sufferers. |
| Death of bats at wind turbines interrupts natural food chains Posted: 07 Jun 2022 09:10 AM PDT The numerous casualties of bats at wind turbines (WT) have a negative impact on the populations of affected species and potentially far-reaching consequences for the biodiversity in rural areas. Until now, it could only be assumed that the death of bats had further consequences. Now, a team of scientists show that natural food chains are interrupted, which can have far-reaching negative consequences for agriculture and forestry. The study demonstrates the extent to which the functional importance of bats for habitats has been underestimated so far. |
| Intriguing connection between diet, eye health and lifespan uncovered Posted: 07 Jun 2022 09:09 AM PDT Researchers have demonstrated a link between diet, circadian rhythms, eye health and lifespan in Drosophila. They additionally and unexpectedly found that processes in the fly eye are actually driving the aging process. |
| How fast-growing bacteria can resist antibiotics Posted: 07 Jun 2022 09:09 AM PDT New insights into how some bacteria survive antibiotics could lead to the development of novel treatment strategies. |
| Low levels of high-risk salmonella evade traditional methods of detection Posted: 07 Jun 2022 09:09 AM PDT Poultry is responsible for more than one out of every five cases of salmonella infection in the U.S. But traditional methods of testing the chicken you grab off the grocery shelf may not be enough to detect all strains of the bacteria, according to new research. |
| Data reveal 20-year transformation of Gulf of Maine Posted: 07 Jun 2022 09:09 AM PDT Two decades of research show a startling transformation of the Gulf of Maine. Many trends point to an overarching pattern: more warm, North Atlantic water is coming in and changing the foundation of the Gulf's food web. |
| Lessons from the past: How cold-water corals respond to global warming Posted: 07 Jun 2022 09:09 AM PDT Corals react to changes in their environment. This is true for tropical as well as cold-water corals and includes, among others, changes in temperature, salinity and pH values. Researchers have now investigated how warmer temperatures occurring as a result of climate change are affecting cold-water corals. For this purpose, they examined in detail how these corals have reacted to environmental changes over the past 20,000 years. |
| Scientists develop novel computational model for aptamer generation, with wide applications Posted: 07 Jun 2022 09:07 AM PDT Aptamers are single-stranded oligonucleotides generated by the systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX). They have a wide variety of applications, but computational approaches are necessary to efficiently identify candidate aptamers. A team of researchers has now developed RaptGen, a variational autoencoder that efficiently discovers new aptamers not included in the input SELEX dataset. This novel computational model could one day be the standard method for aptamer generation. |
| Deciphering the migratory pattern of the smallest seabird in the Mediterranean Posted: 07 Jun 2022 09:05 AM PDT It had always been thought that the Mediterranean population of the European storm petrel -- the smallest seabird in the Mediterranean -- spent the year in this sea and that only a small part of the population migrated to the Atlantic during the winter season. Now, a study reveals that most of the European storm petrels that nest in the western Mediterranean move to the Atlantic Ocean as their main wintering area. |
| Bacterial cellulose could enable microbial life on Mars Posted: 06 Jun 2022 03:12 PM PDT An international research team has investigated the chances of survival of kombucha cultures under Mars-like conditions. Kombucha is known as a drink, sometimes called tea fungus or mushroom tea, which is produced by fermenting sugared tea using kombucha cultures -- a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. Although the simulated Martian environment destroyed the microbial ecology of the kombucha cultures, surprisingly, a cellulose-producing bacterial species survived. |
| Warning labels could help customers identify hidden sugar in restaurant menus Posted: 06 Jun 2022 03:12 PM PDT Seeing a warning icon on a restaurant menu may help consumers identify the high amounts of added sugar hidden in menu items -- and it may even convince them to reach for healthier items like water, say researchers. |
| How species form: What the tangled history of polar bear and brown bear relations tells us Posted: 06 Jun 2022 03:12 PM PDT A new study is providing an enhanced look at the intertwined evolutionary histories of polar bears and brown bears. Becoming separate species did not completely stop these animals from mating with each other. Scientists have known this for some time, but the new research draws on an expanded dataset -- including DNA from an ancient polar bear tooth -- to tease out more detail. |
| New evidence about when, where, and how chickens were domesticated Posted: 06 Jun 2022 03:11 PM PDT New research transforms our understanding of the circumstances and timing of the domestication of chickens, their spread across Asia into the west, and reveals the changing way in which they were perceived in societies over the past 3,500 years. |
| Gene variation may be early indicator for gastric cancer Posted: 06 Jun 2022 03:11 PM PDT Researchers are hoping to catch stomach cancer before it develops in at-risk patients. Researchers identified a genetic variation that could help identify when patients with Helicobacter pylori are more likely to develop stomach cancer. |
| Study explores the promises and pitfalls of evolutionary genomics Posted: 06 Jun 2022 11:54 AM PDT A new study examines mathematical models designed to draw inferences about how evolution operates at the level of populations of organisms. The study concludes that such models must be constructed with the greatest care, avoiding unwarranted initial assumptions, weighing the quality of existing knowledge and remaining open to alternate explanations. |
| New study deepens understanding of how animals see, and what colors Posted: 06 Jun 2022 11:54 AM PDT Gathering vision data for hundreds of vertebrates and invertebrates, biologists have deepened scientists' understanding of animal vision, including the colors they see. The researchers determined that animals adapted to land are able to see more colors than animals adapted to water. Animals adapted to open terrestrial habitats see a wider range of colors than animals adapted to forests. |
| Cover crops not enough to improve soil after decades of continuous corn Posted: 06 Jun 2022 11:54 AM PDT Although about 20% of Illinois cropping systems are planted to continuous corn, it's nearly impossible to find fields planted this way for decades at a time. Yet long-term experiments, including over 40 years of continuous corn under different nitrogen fertilizer rates, provide incredible learning opportunities and soil management lessons for researchers and farmers alike. |
| Color-changing mouse model allows researchers to non-invasively study deep tissues Posted: 06 Jun 2022 11:54 AM PDT Biomedical and genetic engineers have developed a process to change the color of a mouse's tissue to better image its internal physiology. The approach will help researchers isolate and remove sources of strong background noise in biomedical images, giving them unprecedented access to observe, influence and image biological processes with a swiftly developing imaging technique called photoacoustic imaging. |
| Posted: 06 Jun 2022 10:44 AM PDT Many of us try to repress the thought of them, while others have come to accept them. Whatever your take on parasites is, they can tell scientists a lot about ecology, health and the environment. |
| Breakthrough study examines evolution of snake venom genes Posted: 06 Jun 2022 10:44 AM PDT A new study provides the first comprehensive explanation of how snake venom regulatory systems evolved -- an important example that illuminates the evolution of new complex traits. |
| Genetically modified corn does not damage non-target organisms Posted: 06 Jun 2022 10:44 AM PDT The largest, highest quality analysis of data ever conducted reveals that genetically modified Bt corn has little impact on nontarget insects and other organisms, especially compared to growing conventional corn. |
| Small package, big potential to help cell-based therapies Posted: 06 Jun 2022 10:44 AM PDT Innovative research is exploring the use of a new cell delivery method to help cells stick and stay where they're needed most. |
| Vocal non-native songbird could change Britain's dawn chorus as we know it Posted: 06 Jun 2022 08:15 AM PDT A tiny but loud, brightly colored songbird from subtropical Asia could be emerging as a new invasive species in Britain, threatening to dominate the dawn chorus of native Robins, Blackbirds and warblers. A new study warns the Red-billed Leiothrix could become as familiar in gardens, parks and woodland as Ring-necked Parakeets. |
| Posted: 06 Jun 2022 08:15 AM PDT Over 200 years ago, a Spanish botanist described Artocarpus odoratissimus, a species of fruit-bearing tree found in Borneo and the Philippines. The Iban people, who are Indigenous to Borneo, know the tree to have two different varieties, which they call lumok and pingan, distinguished by their fruit size and shape. Despite this knowledge, Western botanists have long considered the tree as a single species, but a genetic analysis confirms the Iban people were right all along. |
| Molecules found in mucus can thwart fungal infection Posted: 06 Jun 2022 08:15 AM PDT Researchers have identified components of mucus that can specifically interact with the fungus Candida albicans and prevent it from causing infection. These molecules, known as glycans, are a major constituent of mucins, the gel-forming polymers that make up mucus. |
| Beyond 'plant trees!': Research finds tree plantations encroaching on essential ecosystems Posted: 06 Jun 2022 08:15 AM PDT Trees planted in the tropics as part of nations' reforestation commitments can have unintended consequences, sometimes degrading biodiversity hotspots, damaging ecosystems like grasslands, or encroaching on protected areas. |
| Newly discovered coronavirus common in bank voles Posted: 03 Jun 2022 09:48 AM PDT Researchers have identified a new coronavirus. Their study of approximately 260 bank voles shows that the virus is well established in Sweden's red-backed voles. |
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