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Yearly Archives: 2020
Scientists explore how females shut off their second X chromosome
Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg and Institut Curie in Paris have shown that the protein SPEN plays a crucial...
Smartphone lab delivers test results in ‘spit’ second
Engineers with the University of Cincinnati have created a tiny portable lab that plugs into your phone, connecting it automatically to a doctor's office...
How iron carbenes store energy from sunlight—and why they aren’t better at it
Photosensitizers are molecules that absorb sunlight and pass that energy along to generate electricity or drive chemical reactions. They're generally based on rare, expensive...
Researchers study elephants’ unique interactions with their dead
Stories of unique and sentient interactions between elephants and their dead are a familiar part of the species' lore, but a comprehensive study of...
One small grain of moon dust, one giant leap for lunar studies
Back in 1972, NASA sent their last team of astronauts to the Moon in the Apollo 17 mission. These astronauts brought some of the...
Water-conducting membrane allows carbon dioxide to transform into fuel more efficiently
Methanol is a versatile and efficient chemical used as fuel in the production of countless products. Carbon dioxide (CO2), on the other hand, is...
Key molecular machine in cells pictured in detail for the first time
Scientists from the UNC School of Medicine, Columbia University, and Rockefeller University have revealed the inner workings of one of the most fundamental and...
Why bumble bees are going extinct in time of ‘climate chaos’
When you were young, were you the type of child who would scour open fields looking for bumble bees? Today, it is much harder...
Researchers revise timing of Easter island’s societal collapse
The prehistoric collapse of Easter Island's monument-building society did not occur as long thought, according to a fresh look at evidence by researchers at...
Researchers demonstrate optical backflow of light
Researchers at Tel Aviv University have for the first time demonstrated the backflow of optical light propagating forward. The phenomenon, theorized more than 50...
Secondary forests provide deforestation buffer for old-growth primary forests
Currently, re-growing forests comprise roughly 21% of previously deforested areas in the Brazilian Amazon. However, these forests, referred to as secondary vegetation, have been...
