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Root symbiosis is regulated through nutrient status of plants
Phosphorus is one of the most important nutrients for plants. Among other functions, it is needed to create substances for the plant’s immune system, for the healthy development of seeds and for root growth. Researchers have now demonstrated how a root symbiosis with fungi is driven at the molecular level by the plant’s phosphate status.…
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How nodules stay on top at the bottom of the sea
Rare metallic elements found in clumps on the deep-ocean floor mysteriously remain uncovered despite the shifting sands and sediment many leagues under the sea. Scientists now think they know why, and it could have important implications for mining these metals while preserving the strange fauna at the bottom of the ocean. The growth of these…
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Decline in CO2 cooled Earths climate over 30 million years ago
New research demonstrates that a decline in the concentration of atmospheric CO2 played a major role in driving Earth’s climate from a warm greenhouse into a cold icehouse world around 34 million years ago. This transition could be partly reversed in the next centuries due to the anthropogenic rise in CO2. Between 40 and 34…
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Super trees may help save Houston and beyond
Statisticians are sharing strategies to identify ‘super trees’ for urban areas that help mitigate pollution, flooding and heat. A new study by collaborators at Rice University, the Houston Health Department’s environmental division and Houston Wilderness establishes live oaks and American sycamores as champions among 17 «super trees» that will help make the city more livable…
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Rising greenhouse gases pose continued threat to Arctic ozone layer
A new study shows that extremely low winter temperatures high in the atmosphere over the Arctic are becoming more frequent and more extreme because of climate patterns associated with global warming. The study also shows that those extreme low temperatures are causing reactions among chemicals humans pumped into the air decades ago, leading to greater…
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Hidden link between cellular defense systems
Researchers have discovered that heparanase, HPSE, a poorly understood protein, is a key regulator of cells’ innate defense mechanisms. Innate defense responses are programmed cellular mechanisms that are triggered by various danger signals, which have been conserved in many species throughout evolution. These systems can be set into action by pathogens, such as viruses, bacteria…
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Using archeology to better understand climate change
Anthropologists, geographers and earth scientists look to the past to assess how different cultures have — and will — adapt to global warming. Yes, say an international team of anthropologists, geographers and earth scientists in Canada, the U.S. and France led by Universite de Montreal anthropologist Ariane Burke. In a paper published today in the…
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Cultural diversity in chimpanzees
Termite fishing by chimpanzees was thought to occur in only two forms with one or multiple tools, from either above-ground or underground termite nests. By carefully observing the techniques required to termite fish at ten different sites, researchers have created a catalog of behaviors for each chimpanzee in the study. Prior to this study, termite…
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California mice eat monarch butterflies
At the largest winter monarch aggregation in central Mexico, scientists have observed that rodents attack monarchs that fall to the ground. Biologists have now discovered that the western harvest mouse also eats grounded monarchs. Documenting this new feeding behavior is a reminder of little we know about the interactions that may be lost as insect…
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The oldest Neanderthal DNA of Central-Eastern Europe
A new study reports the oldest mitochondrial genome of a Neanderthal from Central-Eastern Europe. The mitochondrial genome of the tooth, discovered at the site of Stajnia Cave in Poland, is closer to a Neanderthal specimen from the Caucasus than to the contemporaneous Neanderthals of Western Europe. Stone tools found at the site are also analogous…