science newsletter: Science News SciGuru.com

Σάββατο 20 Απριλίου 2013

Science News SciGuru.com

Research Harnesses Solar-Powered Proteins to Filter Harmful Antibiotics from Water
Something's Fishy in the Tree of Life
Scientists produce best image yet of atoms moving in real time
Muscle Repair After Injury Helped by Fat-Forming Cells
When it comes to survival of the fittest, stress is a good thing

Research Harnesses Solar-Powered Proteins to Filter Harmful Antibiotics from Water

Posted: 19 Apr 2013 09:46 AM PDT

New research, just published, details how University of Cincinnati researchers have developed and tested a solar-powered nano filter that is able to remove harmful carcinogens and antibiotics from water sources – lakes and rivers – at a significantly higher rate than the currently used filtering technology made of activated carbon.

Something's Fishy in the Tree of Life

Posted: 19 Apr 2013 09:29 AM PDT

Fishes account for over half of vertebrate species, but while groups such as mammals, birds and reptiles have been fairly well understood by scientists for decades, knowledge about relationships among many types of fishes was essentially unknown – until now.

Scientists produce best image yet of atoms moving in real time

Posted: 19 Apr 2013 09:13 AM PDT

Call it the ultimate nature documentary. Scientists at the University of Toronto have recorded atomic motions in real time, offering a glimpse into the very essence of chemistry and biology at the atomic level.

Their recording is a direct observation of a transition state in which atoms undergo chemical transformation into new structures with new properties – in this case the transfer of a charge leading to metallic behaviour in organic molecules. It is described in a study reported in the April 18 issue of Nature.

Muscle Repair After Injury Helped by Fat-Forming Cells

Posted: 19 Apr 2013 09:00 AM PDT

UC San Francisco scientists have discovered that muscle repair requires the action of two types of cells better known for causing inflammation and forming fat.

The finding in mice, published in the April 11 issue of Cell, showed that a well-known immune cell called the eosinophil [ee-oh-SIN-oh-fil] carries out the beneficial role in two ways – by clearing out cellular debris from damaged tissue and teaming up with a type of cell that can make fat to instead trigger muscle regrowth.

When it comes to survival of the fittest, stress is a good thing

Posted: 19 Apr 2013 08:38 AM PDT

When the woods get crowded, female squirrels improve their offspring’s odds of survival by ramping up how fast their offspring grow.

In a study led by Michigan State University and the University of Guelph (Canada), researchers showed for the first time how females use social cues to correctly prepare their offspring for life outside the nest. The results, published in the current issue of Science, confirm that red squirrel mothers boosted stress hormone production during pregnancy, which increased the size and the chances of survival of their pups.