Enzyme of bacterial origin promoted the evolution of longhorned beetles
Larvae of longhorned beetles develop primarily in woody tissue, which is difficult for most organisms to digest. However, longhorned beetle larvae possess special enzymes to break down the various components of the plant cell wall. Researchers at the.....»»
Cloudflare once again comes under pressure for enabling abusive sites
Cloudflare masks the origin of roughly 10% of abusive domains, watchdog says. Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) A familiar debate is once again surrounding Cloudflare, the content delivery network that provides a free servi.....»»
Mass extinction 66 million years ago triggered rapid evolution of bird genomes, study finds
Shortly after an asteroid slammed into Earth 66 million years ago, life for non-avian dinosaurs ended, but the evolutionary story for the early ancestors of birds began......»»
Researchers discover high levels of non-coding RNAs in testes, suggesting new roles in sperm function and evolution
Researchers at the University of Toronto have mapped the spatial distribution of around 700 long non-coding RNAs, otherwise known as lncRNAs, in the testes. The team discovered much higher levels of lncRNAs in the testes than had been previously esti.....»»
New derivative from long pepper shows promise against antibiotic resistance
Antibiotic resistant bacterial pathogens are on the rise, while fewer antibiotics are being developed. Prof. Ariel Kushmaro and his local and international colleagues tackled the need by focusing on the long pepper. Known in traditional medicine for.....»»
How bacteria attach their cloaks of invisibility to immune defenses
Bacteria have different strategies for protecting themselves. Some bacterial pathogens surround themselves with a shell made of many sugar chains that lie close together, also known as capsular polymers. This protects the bacteria from drying out and.....»»
Complex life on Earth began around 1.5 billion years earlier than previously thought, new study claims
Environmental evidence of the very first experiments in the evolution of complex life on Earth, has been uncovered by an international team of scientists......»»
The hidden drivers of evolution: Transposable elements in Rosaceae genomes
Transposable elements are mobile DNA sequences that play a crucial role in plant genome architecture and gene regulation. They drive genome size variation and affect gene expression by altering regulatory networks. Despite their significance, the div.....»»
Invasive, blood-sucking fish "may hold the key to understanding where we came from," say biologists
One of just two vertebrates without a jaw, sea lampreys that are wreaking havoc in Midwestern fisheries are simultaneously helping scientists understand the origins of two important stem cells that drove the evolution of vertebrates......»»
Bat evolution study supports gliding-to-flying hypothesis
In new research published in PeerJ, researchers from the University of Washington, University of Texas at Austin and Oregon Institute of Technology, led by undergraduate student Abby Burtner, have advanced our understanding of the evolutionary origin.....»»
Cheesemaking is a complex science—a food chemist explains the process from milk to mozzarella
Cheese is a relatively simple food. It's made with milk, enzymes—these are proteins that can chop up other proteins—bacterial cultures and salt. Lots of complex chemistry goes into the cheesemaking process, which can determine whether the cheese.....»»
"Janus" dual-atom catalyst shows enhanced performance for electrocatalytic oxygen reduction and evolution
A research team led by Prof. Yan Wensheng from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) has created the innovative "Janus" dual-atom catalyst (FeCo-N3O3@C) with Fe and Co atoms coordinated synergistically through an N-O bridge, which.....»»
Scientists assess how large dinosaurs could really get
A new study by Dr. Jordan Mallon of the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, Canada and Dr. David Hone of Queen Mary University of London, U.K., looks at the maximum possible sizes of dinosaurs. It is published in the journal Ecology and Evolution......»»
Waymo will receive $5 billion investment from parent Alphabet; former Cruise CEO fumes
Waymo will receive $5 billion over multiple years from Alphabet, executives said. Its robotaxi rival, GM subsidiary Cruise, drew a rebuke from its former CEO after delaying plans to manufacture the Origin robotaxi......»»
Boosting plant health: The role of gene exchange with bacteria
A recent study has unveiled how plants and bacteria exchange genes to boost plant health and development. The team discovered 75 genes that were transferred between small, fast-growing plants (Arabidopsis thaliana) and its bacterial companions, influ.....»»
Taco-shaped arthropod fossils give new insights into the history of the first mandibulates
A new study, led by paleontologists at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is helping resolve the evolution and ecology of Odaraia, a taco-shaped marine animal that lived during the Cambrian period......»»
The Cruise Origin driverless pod is dead, GM tells investors
The driverless Orion is dead; instead, Cruise will use next-generation Bolt EVs. Enlarge / As Cruise ramps up its robotaxi service, it won't be in these cool-looking driverless pods. (credit: Cruise) The Cruise Origin w.....»»
One elephant can sustain more than 2 million dung beetles in east African savannas, study finds
How many dung beetles are there in East Africa? That question inspired a research project more than 20 years ago when Frank Krell was a research entomologist with the Natural History Museum London. Throughout a three-year-long project along with his.....»»
Nature-inspired novel catalyst paves the way for efficient hydrocarbon decomposition
A research team affiliated with UNIST has developed a novel catalyst that mimics the ability of a natural enzyme to break down harmful hydrocarbons, paving the way for a more environmentally friendly and energy-efficient approach to reducing pollutio.....»»
Dual action antibiotic could make bacterial resistance nearly impossible
A new antibiotic that works by disrupting two different cellular targets would make it 100 million times more difficult for bacteria to evolve resistance, according to new research from the University of Illinois Chicago......»»
Researchers elucidate biogeographic context of human evolution in East African Rift System
Ignacio A. Lazagabaster, a Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), is part of the international team that has published a study of the biogeographic context of human evolution in the Eas.....»»