Cristae-dependent quality control of the mitochondrial genome

Mitochondrial genomes (MtDNA) comprise essential subunits of the mitochondrial respiratory chain; therefore, mutations in mtDNA can reduce cellular energy support and cause mitochondrial diseases. Researchers seek to understand how cells can secure the integrity of mtDNA across generations. In a new study now published on Science Advances, Christopher Jakubke and an international research team in biology and biophysics, demonstrated how single-celled yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae could intracellularly distinguish between functional and defective mtDNA. The outcomes of the research can support a model that shows how the proximity between mtDNA and the proteins it encodes can create a sphere of influence to understand the functional mtDNA in cells.

Quantifying the ecosystem services of glaciers highlights their importance to humankind

As the world's glaciers disappear, one group of scientists is seeking to understand their impact on humans before they are gone. By applying the ecosystem services framework to glaciers, the authors of an August 2021 paper published in Ecosystem Services hope to drive home the important role that glaciers play for humans.

Digital data drives better soil management

When we think about limited resources in agriculture, water is normally the first that springs to mind. The bad news is that just like water, soil is a finite resource that is fast deteriorating as a result of human activity. The good news: Research is providing farmers, landowners and policymakers with new tools to turn the tide.

South American musical instruments reflect population relationships

Music is an intrinsic expression of cultural diversity and a fundamental element of identity, ritual symbolism, and daily social interaction. The study of material culture, and musical instruments in particular, represents a relevant and innovative tool to characterize societies and reconstruct their historical trajectories and relationships in time and space.

Molecule-mediated surface reconstruction enables giant upconversion luminescence enhancement

National University of Singapore researchers have developed a synthetic method to enhance upconversion luminescence in protein-sized lanthanide-doped nanocrystals by surface reconstruction through molecule coordination. This innovation prevents surface-associated energy loss and marks a significant breakthrough in the field of lanthanide luminescence.

The mysterious optical device Jan van Eyck may have used to paint his masterpieces

For centuries, the work of Flemish painter Jan van Eyck (c. 1390–1441) has perplexed art historians. Van Eyck is famed for his empirical use of perspective, yet many have struggled to find geometrical coherence in his representation of space.

Deep-sea biodiversity off New Zealand higher than assumed

During a research cruise off the coast of New Zealand, a team led by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich geobiologist Gert Wörheide discovered six new species of glass sponge.

From septic to sustainable: A potential new source of fertilizer

A recently published study focuses on a new process for converting human waste from home septic systems into phosphorus-rich fertilizer.

How many satellites are orbiting Earth?

It seems like every week, another rocket is launched into space carrying rovers to Mars, tourists or, most commonly, satellites. The idea that "space is getting crowded" has been around for a few years now, but just how crowded is it? And how crowded is it going to get?

Directed energy weapons shoot painful but non-lethal beams: Are similar weapons behind Havana syndrome?

The latest episodes of so-called Havana syndrome, a series of unexplained ailments afflicting U.S. and Canadian diplomats and spies, span the globe. They include two diplomats in Hanoi, Vietnam—which disrupted Vice President Kamala Harris's foreign travel schedule—in August, several dozen reports at the U.S. Embassy in Vienna earlier this year, and a pair of incidents at the White House last November.

Something big just hit Jupiter

In 1994, the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (SL9) impacted Jupiter, which had captured the comet shortly before (and broken apart by its gravity). The event became a media circus as it was the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision of Solar System objects. The impact was so powerful that it left scars that endured for months and were more discernible than Jupiter's Great Red Spot.

Pandemic workaround: Keeping eyes on Pacific water quality from afar

A Griffith University researcher has overcome a key challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to lead a monitoring program in Vanuatu aiming to improve the water quality of a popular lagoon used for fishing and swimming.

Uncovering how T-cells recognise the SARS-COV-2 virus spike protein

The immune system is vitally important for resolving COVID-19 when individuals are infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Moreover, the vaccines that are being administered to millions of people across the globe are designed to 'pre-warn and arm' the immune system so that if infected with SARS-CoV-2, individuals are significantly less likely to develop severe disease or die. Here, two crucial arms of the immune system, namely B cells and T cells, play a central role.

The unexplored region of the atmosphere that could help predict climate change

About 17 kilometers above the Earth's surface, the first layer of the atmosphere meets the second one. At a boundary called the tropopause, the troposphere ends and the stratosphere begins. Straddling this interface, for about five kilometers on either side, is a band of the atmosphere labeled, matter-of-factly, the "upper troposphere/lower stratosphere"—the UTLS.

Hubble takes 31st anniversary image: Two new views showcase the dual nature of the star AG Carinae

Comparing two images shows puffing dust bubbles and an erupting gas shell—the final acts of a monster star's life.

How cultural differences affect behavior on social media

Research published in the International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising has looked at how cultural differences affect behavior on social media. Myron Guftométros and João Guerreiro Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, in Lisbon, Portugal, focused on what is perhaps the most well-known and well-populated online social network, Facebook. They used an organic approach to assimilate data from 6750 posts from 225 different Facebook brand pages across fifteen different countries.

Male seahorses develop placentas to support their growing babies

Supplying oxygen to their growing offspring and removing carbon dioxide is a major challenge for every pregnant animal. Humans deal with this problem by developing a placenta, but in seahorses—where the male, not the female, gestates and gives birth to the young—exactly how it worked hasn't always been so clear.

Missing wind variability means future impacts of climate change may be underestimated in Europe and North America

Extratropical winds have a strong influence on climate in extratropical regions, and are known to vary from decade to decade. However, their variability is currently not factored into climate models making predictions for future climates in these regions. Researchers inserted these into predictions for how extratropical climates will change by the middle of the century, and found uncertainty increased significantly, meaning unusually hot, cold, dry or wet decades are likely to be more frequent here than previously thought.

Faroe Islands mass dolphin slaughter casts shadow over tradition

Every summer in the Faroe Islands hundreds of pilot whales and dolphins are slaughtered in drive hunts known as the "grind" that residents defend as a long-held tradition.

The nanophotonics orchestra presents: Twisting to the light of nanoparticles

Physics researchers at the University of Bath in the UK discover a new physical effect relating to the interactions between light and twisted materials—an effect that is likely to have implications for emerging new nanotechnologies in communications, nanorobotics and ultra-thin optical components.

Leaving by staying: Dispersal decisions of young giraffes

Dispersal, the process where animals reaching sexual maturity move away from family, is important for maintaining genetic diversity and is key to the long-term persistence of natural populations. For most animals, this involves having to make risky journeys into the unknown in the hope of finding new communities in which to settle and reproduce. However, many animal societies—including those of humans—have structured social communities that overlap in space with one another. These potentially provide opportunities for maturing individuals to disperse socially without having to make large physical displacements. New research published today in the Journal of Animal Ecology shows that this strategy is employed by young dispersing giraffes.