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Swiss rivers on track to overheat by the end of the century
According to a new study, if we take immediate measures to reduce CO2 emissions, we could limit the rise in the temperature of Swiss rivers to 1°C between now and 2090 without drastically affecting their discharge. Three scenarios Michel’s research lays out three possible scenarios that depend on whether greenhouse gas emissions are low, moderate…
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The Earth has a pulse — a 27.5-million-year cycle of geological activity, researchers say
Geologic activity on Earth appears to follow a 27.5-million-year cycle, giving the planet a ‘pulse,’ according to a new study. «Many geologists believe that geological events are random over time. But our study provides statistical evidence for a common cycle, suggesting that these geologic events are correlated and not random,» said Michael Rampino, a geologist…
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9,900-year-old Mexican female skeleton distinct from other early American settlers
A new skeleton discovered in the submerged caves at Tulum sheds new light on the earliest settlers of Mexico. Humans have been living in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula since at least the Late Pleistocene (126,000-11,700 years ago). Much of what we know about these earliest settlers of Mexico comes from nine well-preserved human skeletons found in…
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The climate-driven mass extinction no one had seen
Two thirds of all mammals vanished from Africa and the Arabian Peninsula around 30 million years ago, when the climate on Earth changed from swampy to icy. But we are only finding out about this mass extinction now. Researchers examined hundreds of fossils from multiple sites in Africa, built evolutionary trees, and pinpointed each species’…
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Spider silks supposed ‘healing properties’ might have no basis in science
As far back as ancient Rome, spider silk has been used as a remedy to treat everything from skin lesions to warts. In the past, doctors have covered open wounds in cobwebs or advised patients to place cocoons on infected teeth. In modern times, however, the literature contains conflicting reports of whether or not spider…
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In a first for ‘sonogenetics,’ researchers control mammalian cells with sound
Scientists have engineered mammalian cells to be activated using ultrasound. The method paves the way toward non-invasive versions of deep brain stimulation, pacemakers and insulin pumps. «Going wireless is the future for just about everything,» says senior author Sreekanth Chalasani, an associate professor in Salk’s Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory. «We already know that ultrasound is safe,…
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Chickens and pigs with integrated genetic scissors
Genetically engineered animals provide important insights into the molecular basis of health and disease. Research has focused mainly on genetically modified mice, although other species, such as pigs, are more similar to human physiology. Researchers have now generated chickens and pigs in which target genes in desired organs can be efficiently altered. CRISPR/Cas9 enables desired…
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Cannabis impacts sperm counts, motility in two generations of mice
An intense but short-term exposure to cannabis vapor lowered sperm counts and slowed sperm movement, or motility, not only in the directly exposed male mice but also in their sons, according to a new study. The findings build on other human and animal research, showing that cannabis can impede male reproductive function. The current study…
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Move over CRISPR, the Retrons are coming
Researchers have created a new gene editing tool called Retron Library Recombineering (RLR) that can generate up to millions of mutations simultaneously, and ‘barcodes’ mutant bacterial cells so that the entire pool can be screened at once. It can be used in contexts where CRISPR is toxic or not feasible, and results in better editing…
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How oral bacteria suppress protection against viral growth
Researchers have discovered details of how proteins produced by oral epithelial cells protect humans against viruses entering the body through the mouth. They also found that oral bacteria can suppress the activity of these cells, increasing vulnerability to infection. A family of proteins known as interferon lambdas produced by epithelial cells in the mouth serve…