The host range of the influenza A virus (IAV) is restricted by dysregulated expression of the M viral gene segment, according to a new study. IAV pandemics arise when a virus adapted to a non-human host overcomes species barriers to successfully infect humans and sustain human-to-human transmission. To gauge the adaptive potential and therefore pandemic…

You know the type: Loud. Swaggering. Pushy. The alpha male clearly runs the show. Female alphas are often less conspicuous than their puffed up male counterparts, but holding the top spot still has its perks. Now, a study of female baboons points to another upside to being No. 1. A new study of 237 female…

An international team of scientists has linked increased air pollution to an uptick in cases of lung adenocarcinoma (LADC) worldwide. The same study also concluded an overall lower consumption of tobacco worldwide is statistically linked to less people contracting lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). Lung adenocarcinoma is a type of cancer for which research strongly…

The number of wild bees has fallen dramatically since 1990. An expert urges researchers to assume their responsibility and help save the insects who hold the key to upholding human food production. Van der Sluijs points to the database Global Biodiversity Information Facility, which shows that biodiversity among wild bees has decreased with 25 %…

The world is not only getting hotter but also more humid and new research shows people living in areas where humid-heat extremes are already a significant hazard are bearing the brunt of the impact. Their study, published earlier this month in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, presents the timing, frequency, and severity of extreme humid-heat…

Researchers report the discovery of several sets of fossilized tracks, likely from the brown bear-sized Coryphodon, that represent the earliest known evidence of mammals gathering near an ocean. In a study published in Scientific Reports, geologist Anton Wroblewski, an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics, and applied biodiversity scientist Bonnie Gulas-Wroblewski…

Researchers used a Global Navigation Satellite System-Acoustic ranging combination technique to detect signals due to slow slip events in the Nankai Trough with seafloor deformations of 5 cm or more and durations on the order of one year. These events generally occurred on the shallow sides of regions with strong interplate coupling and represent variations…

A new study has identified serpentinite — a green rock that looks a bit like snakeskin and holds fluids in its mineral structures — as a key driver of the oxygen recycling process, which helped create and maintain the sustaining atmosphere for life on Earth. «This cycle is a really a big deal,» said Esteban…

450 million years ago, the first plants left aquatic life. Researchers have now succeeded in demonstrating that this colonization of land by plants was made possible by a partnership between plants and fungi. Validating this 40-year-old hypothesis allows us to understand a stage that was crucial to the development of life on Earth. About 450…

The combined effect of rapid ocean warming and the practice of targeting big fish is affecting the viability of wild populations and global fish stock says new research. Unlike earlier studies that traditionally considered fishing and climate in isolation, the research found that ocean warming and fishing combined to impact on fish recruitment, and that…