Follow ScienceDaily - Environment, filter it, and define how you want to receive the news (via Email, RSS, Telegram, WhatsApp etc.) https://follow.it/rss51 Mon, 11 Dec 2023 12:01:59 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKMeLSGBQkYCsHn9ye8UNv30 Viruses have limited genetic material -- and few proteins -- so all the pieces must work extra hard. Zika is a great example; the virus only produces 10 proteins. Now researchers have shown how the virus does so much with so little and may have identified a therapeutic vulnerability.]]> Sat, 09 Dec 2023 02:00:12 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKMeLSGBQkYCsHn9ye8UNv30 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKMeLSGBQkYCsKCY3L745TL_ While auroras occur at high latitude, the associated phenomena Steve and the picket fence occur farther south and at lower altitude. Their emissions also differ from aurora. A physics graduate student has proposed a physical mechanism behind these emissions, and a rocket launch to test the theory. She argues that an electric field in the upper atmosphere parallel to Earth's magnetic field could explain the green picket fence spectrum and perhaps Steve and the enhanced aurora.]]> Sat, 09 Dec 2023 01:59:54 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKMeLSGBQkYCsKCY3L745TL_ https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKMMZecLJbNOBKCY3L745TL_ New miniature virtual reality (VR) goggles provide more immersive experiences for mice living in laboratory settings. By more faithfully simulating natural environments, the researchers can more accurately and precisely study the neural circuitry that underlies behavior. Compared to current state-of-the-art systems, which simply surround mice with computer or projection screens, the new goggles provide a leap in advancement.]]> Fri, 08 Dec 2023 20:31:29 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKMMZecLJbNOBKCY3L745TL_ https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKNNC0tH7Mt0v5VjH6qdYdAk Wildfires are some of the most destructive natural disasters in the country, threatening lives, destroying homes and infrastructure, and creating air pollution. In order to properly forecast and manage wildfires, managers need to understand wildfire risk and allocate resources accordingly.]]> Fri, 08 Dec 2023 20:31:15 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKNNC0tH7Mt0v5VjH6qdYdAk https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKOzuOZb-G_NQiejEQ2Mq9rY Record breaking marine heatwaves will cause devastating mass coral bleaching worldwide in the next few years, according to a coral reef scientist.]]> Fri, 08 Dec 2023 20:31:07 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKOzuOZb-G_NQiejEQ2Mq9rY https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKNGb1aH12RwB11cWWor9YPv The complexity of living organisms is encoded within their genes, but where do these genes come from? Researchers resolved outstanding questions regarding the origin of small regulatory genes, and described a mechanism that creates their DNA palindromes. Under suitable circumstances, these palindromes evolve into microRNA genes.]]> Fri, 08 Dec 2023 20:30:39 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKNGb1aH12RwB11cWWor9YPv https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKNHFd_TrvkXeV1cWWor9YPv Paleontologists are getting a glimpse at life over a billion years in the past based on chemical traces in ancient rocks and the genetics of living animals. New research combines geology and genetics, showing how changes in the early Earth prompted a shift in how animals eat.]]> Thu, 07 Dec 2023 23:15:17 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKNHFd_TrvkXeV1cWWor9YPv https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKNHFd_TrvkXecb1naedg1wr A recently published study puts forth a new theory that volcanic eruptions combined with widespread ocean detoxification pushed Earth's biology to a tipping point in the Late Devonian era, triggering a mass extinction.]]> Thu, 07 Dec 2023 23:15:09 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKNHFd_TrvkXecb1naedg1wr https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKPfVj_UZRnoc8b1naedg1wr Despite the Roman Empire's extensive military and cultural influence on the nearby Balkan peninsula, a DNA analysis of individuals who lived in the region between 1 and 1000 CE found no genetic evidence of Iron Age Italian ancestry. Instead, a new study has revealed successive waves of migrations from Western Anatolia, central and northern Europe, and the Pontic-Kazakh Steppe during the Empire's reign.]]> Thu, 07 Dec 2023 23:13:43 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKPfVj_UZRnoc8b1naedg1wr https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKPfVj_UZRnocylmFkX7M1Jw A new study of paper wasps suggests social interactions may make animals smarter. The research offers behavioral evidence of an evolutionary link between the ability to recognize individuals and social cooperation.]]> Thu, 07 Dec 2023 23:08:54 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKPfVj_UZRnocylmFkX7M1Jw https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKOCBJ11V8NLhps0ohxaO6Yr Researchers re-examined a plant fossil found decades ago in Colombia and realized that it wasn't a plant at all: it's a fossilized baby turtle. It's a rare find, because juvenile turtles' shells are soft and often don't fossilize well.]]> Thu, 07 Dec 2023 23:08:38 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKOCBJ11V8NLhps0ohxaO6Yr https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKOCBJ11V8NLhnn9ye8UNv30 An international consortium of geoscientists has reconstructed atmosphereric levels of CO2 going back 66 million years using proxies in the geoloogical record. Today's concenteration, 420 parts per million, is higher than it's ever been in 14 million years.]]> Thu, 07 Dec 2023 23:04:21 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKOCBJ11V8NLhnn9ye8UNv30 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKOCBJ11V8NLhuT5HJgy6HUf A study finds the greater honeyguide can learn distinct vocal signals to help people in Africa locate bee colonies. In parts of Africa, people communicate with a wild bird -- the greater honeyguide -- in order to locate bee colonies and harvest their stores of honey and beeswax. It's a rare example of cooperation between humans and wild animals, and a potential instance of cultural coevolution.]]> Thu, 07 Dec 2023 23:04:10 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKOCBJ11V8NLhuT5HJgy6HUf https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKNpltTUQbkH3ilmFkX7M1Jw A team of sustainability scientists recently announced that they have developed a community-based framework, founded on extensive local and traditional knowledge, to help assess and respond to the kinds of ecological threats that are widely dispersed across a varied landscape and whose solutions are not immediately obvious. The framework, which was developed to address watershed issues in Honduras's Lake Yojoa, is widely applicable to a broad range of threats facing ecological commons wherever they may occur around the world.]]> Wed, 06 Dec 2023 22:05:42 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKNpltTUQbkH3ilmFkX7M1Jw https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKOtp2zwa9WqLClmFkX7M1Jw A protein in the immune system programmed to protect the body from fungal infections is also responsible for exacerbating the severity of certain autoimmune diseases such as irritable bowel disease (IBS), type 1 diabetes, eczema and other chronic disorders, new research has found.  The discovery could pave the way for new and more effective drugs, without the nasty side effects of existing treatments. In addition to helping to manage severe autoimmune conditions, the breakthrough could also help treat all types of cancer.  ]]> Wed, 06 Dec 2023 22:05:38 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKOtp2zwa9WqLClmFkX7M1Jw https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKOtp2zwa9WqLOT5HJgy6HUf Tropical coral reefs are among our most spectacular ecosystems, yet a rapidly warming planet threatens the future survival of many reefs. However, there may be hope for some tropical reefs in the form of feathered friends. A new study has found that the presence of seabirds on islands adjacent to tropical coral reefs can boost coral growth rates on those reefs by more than double.]]> Wed, 06 Dec 2023 22:05:25 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKOtp2zwa9WqLOT5HJgy6HUf https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKMeFn-SNr28npVjH6qdYdAk New research has shown that fire-ice -- frozen methane which is trapped as a solid under our oceans -- is vulnerable to melting due to climate change and could be released into the sea.]]> Wed, 06 Dec 2023 18:59:15 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKMeFn-SNr28npVjH6qdYdAk https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKOAQnXACzSk9nn9ye8UNv30 The ocean is a global life-support system, and climate change causes such as ocean warming, acidification, deoxygenation, and nitrogen-deposition alter the delicate microbial population in oceans. The marine microbial community plays an important role in the production of greenhouse gases like nitrous oxide and methane. Scientists have explored the climate change impact on marine microbes. Their research helps raise awareness about climate change severity and the importance of ocean resources.]]> Wed, 06 Dec 2023 18:59:04 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKOAQnXACzSk9nn9ye8UNv30 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKMKm4f7Yyw4_KCY3L745TL_ The fracturing and friction of coffee beans during grinding generates electricity that causes coffee particles to clump together and stick to the grinder. Researchers report that coffee beans with higher internal moisture produce less static electricity, which means less coffee is wasted and there is less mess to clean up. This effect can be simulated by adding a small amount of water to beans immediately before grinding them. The team also showed that grinding with a splash of water produces more consistent and intense espresso.]]> Wed, 06 Dec 2023 18:58:53 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKMKm4f7Yyw4_KCY3L745TL_ https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKNzjA-nLc-BHJVjH6qdYdAk In southern Germany just north of the Danube, there lies a large circular depression between the hilly surroundings: the Nördlinger Ries. Almost 15 million years ago, an asteroid struck this spot. Today, the impact crater is one of the most useful analogues for asteroid craters on early Mars. Studying the deposits of the former lake that formed in the crater is particularly informative. These deposits have been of great interest ever since NASA began exploring Martian craters for signs of water and life on Mars.]]> Wed, 06 Dec 2023 00:06:54 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/dFe7vigFEKNzjA-nLc-BHJVjH6qdYdAk