Highly dynamic sex chromosomes in cichlid fishes

The cichlids of Lake Tanganyika in Africa are highly diverse—including with regard to sex chromosomes. These have changed extremely frequently in the course of the evolution of these fish and, depending on the species, can be of the type XY or ZW. This has been reported by a research team from the University of Basel and the Research Museum Koenig in Bonn in the scientific journal Science Advances.

New data shows strong air pollution policies lengthen life expectancy

Over the last year, COVID-19 lockdowns brought blue skies to the most polluted regions of the globe, while wildfires exacerbated by a drier and hotter climate sent smoke to the normally clean skies of cities thousands of miles away. The conflicting events offer two visions of the future. The difference between those futures lies in policies to reduce fossil fuels.

Wired for efficiency: How methanogenic microbes manage electrons

Methanogenic archaea use sophisticated enzyme systems to live in energy-limited anoxic environments. A key mechanism for saving energy is electron bifurcation, a reaction that 'splits' the energy of a pair of electrons, making one more strongly reducing at the expense of the other. Researchers from the Max Planck Institutes for Terrestrial Microbiology (Marburg) and Biophysics (Frankfurt am Main) have discovered a massive enzyme complex from a methanogenic archaeon that directly transfers electrons from the electron bifurcation reaction to CO2 reduction and fixation. Their detailed insights into these efficient energy-transforming processes may open new possibilities for sustainable biotechnological development.

Freshwater lakes on the Tibetan Plateau act like lenses that accumulate heat from solar radiation

The largest alpine lake system in the world sits atop the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, commonly known as the Tibetan Plateau, which is the highest and largest plateau in the world. Researchers know the lakes influence the transfer of heat between the land and atmosphere, affecting regional temperatures and precipitation. But little is known about the physical properties and thermal dynamics of Tibetan lakes, especially during the winter months when the lakes are covered in ice.

Psychologist shares tips for studying smarter this school year

Students of all ages are heading back to schools across the country this fall amid continued uncertainty over the coronavirus pandemic and concerns about learning loss and student burnout. But insights from psychology research could help to maximize learning, even in limited study time.

Florigen sequestering in cell membranes modulates temperature-responsive flowering

A team of researchers from Korea University, Sogang University and the National University of Singapore has found that the protein florigen binds to a membrane phosopholipid when temperatures are low and unbinds when temperatures rise, allowing flowering in a plant. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their study of the flowering process in plants. Yvon Jaillais and François Parc with Université de Lyon, ENS de Lyon and Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, respectively, have published a Perspective piece in the same journal issue outlining work toward better understand flowering times in plants and the work done by the team on this new effort.

Social tiger sharks may hold the secret to impacts of dive tourism

A team of conservation scientists looking at the impact of tourism on tiger sharks have, for the first time observed them in social groups near an area called Tiger Beach off the north-west side of Little Bahama bank in the Bahamas, a popular spot for tourists.

Fish eyes grown in a petri dish from embryonic stem cells

A research team from the Centre for Organismal Studies (COS) of Heidelberg University has demonstrated that complex retinal tissue can be cultured in a Petri dish from embryonic stem cells of bony fish. Until now, stem cells from mammals, including humans, have been used in organoid research. For the first time, researchers led by Prof. Dr. Joachim Wittbrodt have demonstrated that stem cells from medaka and zebrafish can also form highly organized neural structures under controlled laboratory conditions. Among other things, the researchers expect to gain new insights into the basic mechanisms of retinal development.

Identification of plant-parasitic nematode attractant

A research collaboration based in Kumamoto University, Japan has become the first to successfully purify and identify an attractant for crop-infecting root-knot nematodes from flax seeds. Their experiments revealed that rhamnogalacturonan-I (RG-I), a flaxseed cell wall component, can attract root-knot nematodes. The linkages between rhamnose and L-galactose are essential for the attraction.

Large-scale phase retrieval

Wide field of view and high resolution are both desirable for imaging applications, providing multi-dimensional and multi-scale target information. As the recent development of phase imaging, large-scale detection has been widely employed in a variety of imaging modalities, which largely extends the spatial-bandwidth product (SBP) of optical systems from million scale to billion scale. Such a large amount of data poses a great challenge for post phase retrieval (PR) processing. Therefore, large-scale PR technique with low computational complexity and high fidelity are of great significance for those imaging and perception applications in various dimensions. However, the existing PR algorithms suffer from the tradeoff among low computational complexity, robustness to measurement noise and strong generalization, making them inapplicable for general large-scale phase retrieval.

How drug-resistant pathogen strains meet and evolve on plant bulbs

Just when we thought it was safe to go to the local garden center, researchers from Japan have discovered that fungicide-resistant strains of a nasty pathogen have been getting up to no good among the tulip bulbs.

Study reveals threat of catastrophic supervolcano eruptions ever-present

Curtin scientists are part of an international research team that studied an ancient supervolcano in Indonesia and found such volcanoes remain active and hazardous for thousands of years after a super-eruption, prompting the need for a rethink of how these potentially catastrophic events are predicted.

Swiss glaciologist bears witness to relentless Alpine glacier melt

After hiking for hours across the mountain and a vast expanse of white, Swiss glaciologist Matthias Huss crouches down near the middle of the massive glacier and checks the measurements.

Climate crisis triggers spike in lightning strike deaths in India

Faizuddin is still traumatised from the lightning strike that killed his three friends as they took selfies atop a 400-year-old fort in India, where climate change is making lethal strikes more common.

Colombian photographer documents world's largest variety of butterflies

Like the more than 3,000 species of butterflies in Colombia, agronomist Juan Guillermo Jaramillo underwent his own metamorphosis several years ago, as his passion for photographing nature took an unexpected twist.

NASA thinks Mars rover succeeded in taking rock sample

NASA's Perseverance rover succeeded in its second attempt to scoop up a piece of Martian rock for future analysis by scientists on Earth—probably.

Climate change blamed for New Zealand's warmest winter

New Zealand saw its warmest winter on record this year as climate change fuelled rising temperatures, a government scientific agency said Friday.

Floating Dutch cow farm aims to curb climate impact

Among the cranes and containers of the port of Rotterdam is a surreal sight: a herd of cows peacefully feeding on board what calls itself the world's first floating farm.

Flights resume, some power restored in New Orleans after Ida

Commercial flights resumed in New Orleans and power returned to parts of the business district Thursday, four days after Hurricane Ida slammed into the Gulf Coast, but electricity, drinking water and fuel remained scarce across much of a sweltering Louisiana.

Lake Tahoe resort city OK for now, wildfire fight not over

Better weather on Thursday helped the battle against a huge California wildfire threatening communities around Lake Tahoe, but fire commanders warned firefighters to be prepared for ongoing dangers.