Physics News

Expression pattern, phylogenetic analysis, and sequence alignment of JrWRKY4. Credit: Horticulture Research (2024). DOI: 10.1093/hr/uhae148 A recent study has pinpointed a gene module crucial for enhancing walnut trees’ resistance to anthracnose, a widespread fungal disease threatening the walnut industry. The research reveals how the JrPHL8-JrWRKY4-JrSTH2L module regulates disease defense, opening up new opportunities for breeding … Read more

Group of bottlenose dolphins about to break through the surface in Greece. Credit: MMRP/IDP, Fabien Vivier Using drones to successfully assess the age of critically endangered, free-ranging dolphins in Greece is the focus of new research at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB). This work, done in partnership with … Read more

An illustration from the learning module. Credit: Galactic Polymath In the hybrid zone that encompasses the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, the habitats of the Carolina Chickadee and the Black-capped Chickadee converge, creating an opportunity for the different species to cross-breed and produce hybrid offspring. In a new online module, it’s the too-often disparate worlds of … Read more

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A recent study from researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health has found that Florida’s red flag gun law, which was enacted in response to the 2018 Parkland mass shooting, was associated with an 11% reduction in firearm homicide rates from 2019 to 2021. Firearm homicides are a leading … Read more

Live imaging of embryos at different stages. Chromosomes are labeled in magenta. 4-cell sister blastomeres are shown, along with 3D-reconstructed images of 2-to-4-cell and 4-to-8-cell divisions. Chromosomal copying errors were most prevalent at this stage of embryogenesis (13% of cells). Credit: RIKEN A new discovery by researchers at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics (BDR) … Read more

Geometry and reaction variables. Credit: Nature Chemical Engineering (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s44286-024-00108-3 Hundreds of millions of tons of plastic waste are generated worldwide every year. Scientists are working tirelessly on new methods to recycle a large proportion of this waste into high-quality products and thus enable a genuine circular economy. However, current recycling practices fall short … Read more

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Imperial College London research has found limits to how quickly we can scale up technology to store gigatonnes of carbon dioxide under Earth’s surface. Current international scenarios for limiting global warming to less than 1.5 degrees by the end of the century rely on technologies that remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from … Read more

Thirty million years ago, the Neotropical leaf-nosed bat survived solely on insects. Since then, these bats have diversified into many different species by changing what they eat. Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research Humans must regulate blood sugar concentrations to stay healthy and to fuel our cells. Too little or too much can cause serious … Read more

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon Resilience capsule sits on Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. SpaceX on Tuesday postponed once more its attempt at launching a daring orbital expedition featuring an all-civilian crew that is aiming to carry out the first-ever spacewalk by private citizens. The Polaris Dawn mission, organized … Read more

South Asia remains the region with the world’s worst air pollution. A surprise improvement in air quality in South Asia in 2022 drove a decline in global pollution, with favorable weather a likely factor, a new report said Wednesday. But the region continues to breathe the world’s most-polluted air, with its residents losing more than … Read more