You don’t need glue to hold these materials together—just electricity

You don’t need glue to hold these materials together—just electricity

These soft materials (chicken on the left and tomato on the right) permanently stick to hard surfaces just by passing electricity through them. Credit: Adapted from ACS Central Science 2024, DOI:10.1021/acscentsci.3c01593 Is there a way to stick hard and soft materials together without any tape, glue or epoxy? A new study published in ACS Central … Read more

Air quality in Europe shows significant improvements over the last two decades, study finds

Air quality in Europe shows significant improvements over the last two decades, study finds

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) has consistently estimated daily ambient concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, NO2 and O3 across a large ensemble of European regions between 2003 and 2019 based on machine learning techniques. The aim was to assess the occurrence of days exceeding the 2021 … Read more

Colombia’s Caribbean jewel slowly sinking as sea waters rise

Colombia’s Caribbean jewel slowly sinking as sea waters rise

View of a grave destroyed due to sea level rise at the Tierra Bomba island cemetery in Cartagena, Colombia. A skeleton lies exposed to the elements as turquoise Caribbean waters lap the shores near a shattered tomb—a grisly reminder that the Colombian city of Cartagena is slowly being swallowed by the sea. With low-lying communities … Read more

Researchers connect declining atmospheric sulfur dioxide levels to rise in Legionnaires’ disease

Researchers connect declining atmospheric sulfur dioxide levels to rise in Legionnaires’ disease

Legionella sp. colonies growing on an agar plate and illuminated using ultraviolet light to increase contrast. Obtained from the CDC Public Health Image Library. Credit: CDC/James Gathany (PHIL #: 7925) Declining atmospheric sulfur dioxide levels might be related to the global rise in Legionnaires’ disease—a severe form of pneumonia caused by inhaling the pathogenic bacteria … Read more

Alaska dinosaur tracks reveal a lush, wet environment

Alaska dinosaur tracks reveal a lush, wet environment

A theropod track lies in rock near the west bank of the Kukpowruk River. Credit: Anthony Fiorillo A large find of dinosaur tracks and fossilized plants and tree stumps in far northwestern Alaska provides new information about the climate and movement of animals near the time when they began traveling between the Asian and North … Read more

Tsetse fly fertility damaged after just one heat wave, study finds

Tsetse fly fertility damaged after just one heat wave, study finds

Tsetse fly. Credit: Dr. Hester Weaving The fertility of both female and male tsetse flies is affected by a single burst of hot weather, researchers at the University of Bristol and Stellenbosch University in South Africa have found. The effects of a single heat wave were even felt in the offspring of heat-exposed parents, with … Read more

Team makes progress with fluorescent dyes to better visualize lipid membrane order in live cells

Team makes progress with fluorescent dyes to better visualize lipid membrane order in live cells

Development of solvatochromic membrane probes and molecular design concept. a) Historical development of solvatochromic membrane probes. b) Conceptual diagram of the molecular design. Elements in black are photochemically required, whereas elements in red are biologically required. Credit: Advanced Science (2024). DOI: 10.1002/advs.202309721 A new solvatochromic probe could help shed light on the relationship between lipid … Read more

Giant sequoias are a rapidly growing feature of the UK landscape

Giant sequoias are a rapidly growing feature of the UK landscape

Redwood Trees at Wakehurst Horsebridge Woods. Credit: Visual Air RBG Kew Imported giant sequoia trees are well adapted to the UK, growing at rates close to their native ranges and capturing large amounts of carbon during their long lives, finds a new study led by UCL researchers with colleagues at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. … Read more

Organic ginger’s response to propagation, fertilizer in high-tunnel

Organic ginger’s response to propagation, fertilizer in high-tunnel

Credit: American Society for Horticultural Science Ginger is one of the world’s leading spice crops, and is used for both its medicinal and flavor qualities. It grows well in tropical regions and its rhizomes mature in eight to nine months from planting. Rising consumer demands for organically grown crops in the U.S. provide the opportunity … Read more

Exploring the transferability of extracytoplasmic function switches across bacterial species

Exploring the transferability of extracytoplasmic function switches across bacterial species

(A) The ECF profile of S. meliloti is compared to the heterologous ECF switches that were shown to be active in the Rm1021 wild type and/or the ECF/anti-σ-free strain. Phylogenetic groups are given on top. If 2 groups are listed, the first one refers to the initial classification [13] and the second one to the … Read more