Human activity is responsible for nearly all global warming, new research says – SBS News
Virtually all global warming since the industrial era is caused by manmade emissions, according to research published Monday that concludes Earth’s natural processes contribute only “negligibly” to climate change. Near-surface air temperatures have increased on average around the world just over one…
Rare lichen unique to Florida discovered in museum collections, may be extinct
Scientists have found a new species of fleshy verdigris lichen, thanks to DNA analysis of museum specimens. Misidentified by its original collectors, the lichen is only known from 32 specimens collected in North and Central Florida scrubland between 1885 and 1985. Now the hunt is on to find it in the wild — if it still exists.
Rare lichen unique to Florida discovered in museum collections, may be extinct
Scientists have found a new species of fleshy verdigris lichen, thanks to DNA analysis of museum specimens. Misidentified by its original collectors, the lichen is only known from 32 specimens collected in North and Central Florida scrubland between 1885 and 1985. Now the hunt is on to find it in the wild — if it still exists.
How plants produce defensive toxins without harming themselves
Scientists describe the biosynthesis and exact mode of action of diterpene glycosides in wild tobacco. These antiherbivory compounds attack the cell membrane. To protect themselves from their own toxins, tobacco plants store them in a non-toxic form. Autotoxicity and the protection against it seem to play a greater role in the evolution of plant defenses than previously thought.
New U.S./U.K. startup collaboration brings clean energy and climate tech to
(NYU Tandon School of Engineering) Beginning in January, the Urban Future Lab at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering will be the U.S. landing pad for Innovate UK’s Global Incubator Programme (GIP), which is designed to cultivate and support the launch of innovative cleantech companies with a strong potential to scale internationally to new markets. The program will provide eight U.K.-based businesses with the opportunity to explore the potential of the U.S. market and access to world-class mentors.
Immune response biomarkers, novel pathways in four marine mollusk species
A new study assessed immune responses in four economically important marine mollusk species — the blue mussel, soft-shell clam, Eastern oyster, and Atlantic jackknife clam — and identified new biomarkers relating to changes in protein function involved in novel regulatory mechanisms of important metabolic and immunological pathways.
Scientists reveal how gut microbes can influence bone strength in mice
Gut microbes passed from female mice to their offspring, or shared between mice that live together, may influence the animals’ bone mass.
Researchers find nonnative species in Oahu play greater role in seed dispersal
Oahu’s ecosystems have been so affected by species extinctions and invasions that most of the seeds dispersed on the island belong to nonnative plants, and most of them are dispersed by nonnative birds.
Pillar-like molecules as biosensors for metabolites
Researchers report that a molecule known as pillar[6]arene can form a host-guest compound with a cancer-associated metabolite. The phenomenon can be used to efficiently detect the metabolite in crude biological samples, which is important for preventing and treating metabolic syndrome and associated pathologies.
How different plants can share their genetic material with each other
The genetic material of plants, animals and humans is well protected in the nucleus of each cell and stores all the information that forms an organism. For example, information about the size or color of flowers, hair or fur is predefined here. In addition, cells contain small organelles that contain their own genetic material. These include chloroplasts in plants, which play a key role in photosynthesis, and mitochondria, which are found in all living organisms and represent the power plants of every cell. But is the genetic material actually permanently stored within one cell? No! As so far known, the genetic material can migrate from cell to cell and thus even be exchanged between different organisms. Researchers have now been able to use new experimental approaches to show for the first time how the genetic material travels.
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