North Carolina State University researchers have made groundbreaking discoveries by examining the genetic material of historic potato leaves. Their study highlights the dynamic evolutionary battle between potato plants and the pathogen responsible for the Irish potato famine. By employing innovative DNA sequencing techniques, they have uncovered how certain pathogen strains could overcome resistance genes before these were even used in breeding, suggesting new directions for future agricultural strategies.

Ancient DNA Reveals Secrets of Potato Pathogen Wars

Extreme environments – such as the International Space Station – are an exceptional source of novel microbial species and metabolites. Through evolution, these microbes have developed novel characteristics that hold potential in biotechnology applications. A new study published in Frontiers in Microbiology has found that highly-adapted microbes exist...

Your Microwave Is Harboring Radiation-Resistant Microbes

Checking whether an avocado is hard or soft by looking at it? This would require recognizing how the plant cells behave behind the skin. The same applies to all other cells on our planet: Despite more than 100 years of intensive research, many of their properties remain hidden inside the cell. Researchers at the University of Göttingen describe in their recent publication in Nature Materials a new approach that can determine the particularly difficult-to-detect mechanical properties of the cell interior by taking a closer look.

New Method Reveals the “Softness” of Cell Interiors

Dark energy remains among the greatest puzzles in our understanding of the cosmos. In the standard model of cosmology called the Lambda-CDM, it is accounted for by adding a cosmological constant term in Einstein's field equation first introduced by Einstein himself. This constant is very small and positive and lacks a complete theoretical understanding of why it has such a tiny value. Moreover, dark energy has some peculiar features, such as negative pressure and does not dilute with cosmic expansion, which makes at least some of us uncomfortable.

A higher-dimensional model can help explain cosmic acceleration without dark energy

DNA is crucial for life, and its organization has been a significant scientific challenge. GROVER, a model developed by BIOTEC, decodes DNA like text, promising advancements in genomics and personalized medicine. DNA holds the essential information required to sustain life. Deciphering how this information is stored and organized has been...

Cracking the Code of Life: New AI Model Learns DNA’s Hidden Language

Scientists at the University of Malaga have shown, in an unprecedented way, how the so-called "elephant graveyard" of the Early Pleistocene archaeological site of Orce—a name given due to the amount of remains of the extinct elephant species Mammuthus meridionalis that it contained—hid a natural trap in quicksand.

Scientists find a natural quicksand trap dated to more than one million years ago in the 'elephant graveyard' of Orce

Imagine peering inside a 520-million-year-old larva, discovering parts of the brain, internal organs, soft tissue, and nervous system preserved in stunning detail. This is precisely what a team of scientists from Britain’s Natural History Museum achieved with an extraordinary fossil unearthed in China. Insights into ancient life. This fossil,...

Scientists discover stunning 520-million-year-old fossil with intact brain and organs

Homo heidelbergensis was taller - averaging 7 ft - and more robust than modern humans [Mounier 2009]. Regarding social behaviour, Homo heidelbergensis may have been the first species to bury their dead, based on 28 skeletons found at Atapuerca, Spain. Evidence suggests the development and use of a proto-language. The discovery of red ochre at Terra Amata indicates personal adornment. Dental analysis suggests they may have been right-handed. Homo heidelbergensis was a sophisticated hunter, suggested by wooden projectile spears found at Schoningen in Germany attributed to this species. Homo heidelbergensisThe first Homo heidelbergensis fossil discovery of this species was made in 1907 by Daniel Hartmann at Mauer in Germany. Other fossils have since been discovered in France, Greece, Italy, Spain and China. In 1994, a discovery was made in England at the Boxgrove Quarry site, known as 'Boxgrove Man'. In terms of the evolutionary tree, with the spread of Homo heidelbergensis out of Africa and into Europe, the climate at this time would have caused a divergence: Homo neanderthalensis diverged from Homo heidelbergensis probably some 300,000 years ago in Europe; Homo sapiens probably diverged between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago in Africa.

Scientists Find 7 ft Ancestor Of Humans in South Africa

BGR.com

Four years ago, back in 2020, a group of scientists at Cardiff University in the UK discovered phosphine in the clouds on Venus. This significant discovery, the researchers said, showed that a gas closely related to life on Earth existed on Earth’s twin still to this day, spurring theories that life on Venus might not be completely extinct just yet.
However, many scientists called back to those researchers and those theories, calling them crazy for even suggesting such a thing. And while it is always good to have a healthy amount of skepticism about things, those scientists didn’t give up. And...

Scientists find more proof of life on Venus

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Fareeha Arshad

The Milky Way, often seen as a static galaxy, is dynamic, with various processes shaping its structure. Recently, scientists discovered the Radcliffe Wave, a massive wave-like structure of star-forming gas, 9,000 light-years long and 500 light-years from the Solar System. This wave is not stationary but oscillates like a travelling wave.

Mysterious Wave-Like Structure in Galaxy Discovered to Be Slowly Moving

Researchers have discovered that baby stars emit plumes of magnetic flux during their formation. Researchers from Kyushu University have unveiled new insights into the development of baby stars. Utilizing the ALMA radio telescope in Chile, the team discovered that the protostellar disk surrounding a nascent star expels plumes of dust, gas, and electromagnetic energy in its early stages. These ejections, referred to as ‘sneezes’ by the researchers, release the magnetic flux within the protostellar disk and may play a crucial role in star formation. Their findings have been published in The Astrophysical Journal.

“Quite Unexpected” – Astronomers Discover Strange Spike-Like Structures Extending From Protostellar Disk

ScienceAlert


 Neanderthals and modern humans had a fascinatingly intertwined past. We know, from studies of our own DNA, that when the paths of the two species crossed, things could get more than a little steamy.



					
			

Traces of  Neanderthal DNA in our own genetic codes suggests that mingling and breeding happened more than once; so intimate has the relationship been that some scientists think we might need to stop classifying Neanderthals as a separate species. There are distinct orca groups with way less interaction.
Orcas aside, what we don't really have a clear idea about is the extent of the human-Neanderthal shenanigans....

Humans And Neanderthals Had a Longer, More Intertwined Relationship Than We Thought

Astronomers are intrigued by the gas giant exoplanetWASP-69b due to the unusually long trail of gas it is leaving behind, approximately seven times longer than its radius. Situated close to its star, the planet's atmosphere is stripped away by the intense radiation from the stellar wind, creating this distinctive tail. Led by researchers from UCLA, observations from the WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii and high-resolution spectrograph readings confirmed the presence of this extended tail and revealed the loss of hydrogen and helium in significant amounts.

WASP-69b’s Giant Gas Tail Surprises Astronomers with Massive Atmospheric Loss

Denver, CO

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David Heitz

More dangerous substances are entering the Denver drug supply, Harm Reduction Action Center warned in a newsletter this week. “The Iron Law of Prohibition posits that as law enforcement becomes more intense, the potency of prohibited substances increases,” HRAC Executive Director Lisa Raville wrote in the newsletter. That is exactly what is happening, she said.

Dangerous substances entering Denver drug supply

The oldest known plague victims date back to around 5,000 years ago in Europe. Ancient DNA reveals the role the disease may have played in a mysterious population decline.

Ancient DNA reveals possible cause of mysterious population collapse 5,000 years ago, scientists say

Interesting Engineering

Study suggests tool marks could be among the oldest known evidence of human occupation in southern South America.

Fossil with cut marks hints at human existence 21,000 years ago in Argentina

IFLScience

Making sure that no matter what happens to Earth, the biological record is preserved.

Vault On The Moon To Preserve Earth’s Biodiversity Proposed By Scientists

Millions of Americans are supplementing their diet with potentially toxic ingredients, according to a new study published in JAMA Network Open. After sifting through national survey data, a research team from the University of Michigan estimated that 4.7% of US adults regularly consume at least one of six botanicals potentially toxic to the liver.

15 Million Americans Take Supplements That Could Be Toxic to the Liver, Say Researchers

South Carolina State

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Explore Beaufort SC

The mantis shrimp is one tough customer. Beautiful and deadly are two words you don’t typically use to describe shrimp, but the mantis shrimp is definitely in a class of its own; earning a reputation as the ‘savage boxer of the sea’ and one of the most fearsome creatures in the ocean. And, they're right at home here in South Carolina.

Savage Boxer of the Sea: The Deadly Beauty of Mantis Shrimp

Long-held beliefs about what chimps are capable of have been challenged – but not everyone is convinced.

Videos Of Chimps Saying "Mama" Fuel Debate Around Speech Capabilities In Non-Human Apes

NewsBreak

AI Model Extracts Biological Meaning From DNA Code

DNA contains foundational information needed to sustain life. Understanding how this information is stored and organized has been one of the greatest scientific challenges of the...

AI Model Extracts Biological Meaning From DNA Code

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