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Electronic nose on a drone sniffs out wastewater treatment plant stink
Researchers have engineered a portable electronic nose (e-nose) that’s almost as sharp as a human nose at sniffing out the stink of wastewater treatment plants. Coupled with a drone, the lightweight e-nose can measure the concentration of different smells, predict odor intensity, and produce a real-time odor map of the plant for management. Conventionally, a…
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New treatment for drug-resistant bacterial infections
A new antibacterial agent that has been engineered to essentially hide from the human immune system may treat life-threatening MRSA infections. A new article provides details on the agent, which is the first lysin-based treatment with the potential to be used multiple times on a single patient, making it ideal to treat particularly persistent drug-resistant…
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The persistent danger after landscape fires
Every year, an estimated four percent of the world’s vegetated land surface burns, leaving more than 250 megatons of carbonized plants behind. A study has now recorded elevated concentrations of environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFR) in these charcoals — in some cases even up to five years after the fire. These EPFR may generate reactive…
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Pictograms are first written accounts of earthquakes in pre-Hispanic Mexico
The Codex Telleriano Remensis, created in the 16th century in Mexico, depicts earthquakes in pictograms that are the first written evidence of earthquakes in the Americas in pre-Hispanic times, according to a pair of researchers who have systematically studied the country’s historical earthquakes. Gerardo Suarez of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico and Virginia Garcia-Acosta…
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Can organic plant protection products damage crops?
Some organic pesticides contain live spores of the fungus Trichoderma to suppress other pathogens. Researchers found one Trichoderma species can cause severe rot in cobs of maize (corn). The results were published in the journal Frontiers in Agronomy. The massive outbreak of a previously unknown species of Trichoderma on corn cobs in Europe was first…
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Sustainable bioeconomy: Development of environmentally friendly bio-shampoos and plant protection agent technologies
With the early assessment of sustainable, newly developed chemicals and products it is possible to assess a potential risk of toxic substances being released at a later point in product cascades. In the course of the study the toxicity of sustainable biosurfactants, potentially applied in, e.g., bio-shampoos, and of a new technology for the economical…
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Early dengue virus infection could ‘defuse’ zika virus
The Zika virus outbreak in Latin America has affected over 60 million people up to now. The infection can have potentially fatal consequences for pregnant women and their unborn children: many children have subsequently been born with malformations of the head (microcephaly). A particularly high incidence of these Zika-associated malformations exists in northeastern Brazil. Scientists…
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Roundworm linked to lower lung-function and asthma in younger males
Exposure to the parasitic roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides among young men can cause a striking reduction in lung function and nearly five times higher odds of having asthma compared to the non-exposed, study shows. The paper «Ascaris exposure associated with lung function, asthma and DNA-methylation in Northern-Europe» was just published in The Journal of Allergy and…
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Precise data for improved coastline protection
Researchers have conducted the first precise and comprehensive measurements of sea level rises in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. A new method now makes it possible to determine sea level changes with millimeter accuracy even in coastal areas and in case of sea ice coverage. This is of vital importance for planning protective…
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Team rewires a behavioral circuit in the worm using hydra parts
New research highlights the development of HySyn, a system designed to synthetically reconnect neural circuits using neuropeptides from Hydra, a small, freshwater organism, into the model organism C. elegans. The research, published in Nature Communications, highlights the development of HySyn, a system designed to synthetically reconnect neural circuits using neuropeptides from Hydra, a small, freshwater…