Sugar aversion hampers cockroach coupling
A new study from North Carolina State University shows the behavioral mechanism behind a sweet cockroach mating ritual that takes a bitter turn, resulting in rejected males......»»
Researchers Create Light Waves That Can Penetrate Even Opaque Materials
fahrbot-bot shares a report from Phys.Org: Why is sugar not transparent? Because light that penetrates a piece of sugar is scattered, altered and deflected in a highly complicated way. However, as a research team from TU Wien (Vienna) and Utrecht Uni.....»»
The road to quantum computing is paved in qubits
The race for the quantum computer will most likely be decided at the quantum bit (qubit) – the smallest information unit of the quantum computer. The coupling of several qubits into a computing system is currently one of the greatest challenges in.....»»
Plasmon-coupled gold nanoparticles useful for thermal history sensing
Researchers have demonstrated that stretching shape-memory polymers embedded with clusters of gold nanoparticles alters their plasmon-coupling, giving rise to desirable optical properties. One potential application for the material is a sensor that r.....»»
Size of grass blades offers better understanding of their vulnerability to climate change
One-third of the Earth's surface is covered by more than 11,000 grass species—including crops like wheat, corn, rice and sugar cane that account for the bulk of the world's agricultural food production and important biofuels. But grass is so common.....»»
Glycans are crucial in COVID-19 infection
A research group at the RIKEN Center for Computational Science (R-CCS) has found that glycans—sugar molecules—play an important role in the structural changes that take place when the virus which causes COVID-19 invades human cells. Their discove.....»»
Weekly insulin helps patients with type 2 diabetes achieve similar blood sugar control to daily insulin
A new once-weekly basal insulin injection demonstrated similar efficacy and safety and a lower rate of low blood sugar episodes compared with a daily basal insulin, according to a phase 2 clinical trial. The study results compared an investigational.....»»
Eating before 8:30 a.m. could reduce risk factors for type 2 diabetes
People who start eating before 8:30 a.m. had lower blood sugar levels and less insulin resistance, which could reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a new study......»»
How ESA helps South Africa share water fairly
Clustered at the edge of the Crocodile River in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, stand thousands of farms and small holdings growing fresh fruit and sugar cane. Water to irrigate the crops is taken from the river, but this slows its flow rate and l.....»»
Cold molecular clouds as cosmic ray detectors
The ionization of the neutral gas in an interstellar molecular cloud plays a key role in the cloud's evolution, helping to regulate the heating and cooling processes, the chemistry and molecule formation, and coupling the gas to magnetic fields. Usua.....»»
Insulin rises before cells develop resistance, new diabetes research implies
Researchers have now presented results that may change our basic view of how type 2 diabetes occurs. Their study indicates that free fatty acids (FFAs) in the blood trigger insulin release even at a normal blood-sugar level, without an overt uncompen.....»»
Consumption of added sugar doubles fat production
Too much sugar is unhealthy - that we know, but it's not just down to the many calories. Even moderate amounts of added fructose and sucrose double the body's own fat production in the liver, researchers have shown. In the long term, this contributes.....»»
Helping stevia plants brave the cold
It's a fact—humans love sugar. For those of us who also like to watch our calories, sugar substitutes can help......»»
Researchers design a new highly-selective tool to study "undruggable" proteins through the sugars they depend on
Sugar has been called "evil," "toxic," and "poison." But the body needs sugars, too. Sugar molecules help cells recognize and fight viruses and bacteria, shuttle proteins from cell to cell, and make sure those proteins function. Too much or too littl.....»»
First the treats, then the tough stuff: A bacterial dinner plan for degrading algal blooms
Each spring in the North Sea, tiny algae grow in large numbers and release loads of sugar into the water—a feast for bacteria. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology and the University of Greifswald have now investigated t.....»»
Time needed to sequence key molecules could be reduced from years to minutes
Using a nanopore, researchers have demonstrated the potential to reduce the time required for sequencing a glycosaminoglycan—a class of long chain-linked sugar molecules as important to our biology as DNA—from years to minutes......»»
Graph theory helps biologists study homeostasis
Healthy human bodies are good at regulating: Our temperatures remain around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, no matter how hot or cold the temperature around us. The sugar levels in our blood remain fairly constant, even when we down a glass of juice. We kee.....»»
Common bacteria modified to make designer sugar-based drug
Envisioning an animal-free drug supply, scientists have reprogrammed a common bacterium to make a designer polysaccharide molecule used in pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals......»»
Common bacteria modified to make designer sugar-based drug
Envisioning an animal-free drug supply, scientists have—for the first time—reprogrammed a common bacterium to make a designer polysaccharide molecule used in pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals. Published today in Nature Communications, the resear.....»»
Recycled cotton becomes new fabric
A lot of us recycle our old textiles, but few of us know that they are very difficult to re-use, and often end up in landfills anyway. Now, researchers at Lund University in Sweden have developed a method that converts cotton into sugar, that in turn.....»»
Novel catalysts improve efficiency of urea synthesis at ambient conditions
Converting both nitrogen (N2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) into value-added urea molecules via C-N coupling reaction is a promising method to solve the problem of excessive CO2 emissions......»»