Curated News: Nature (journal)

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Micron-size microplastic debris can be carried by the jet stream across oceans and continents, and their shape plays a crucial role in how far they travel.

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UC San Diego engineers have developed modular nanoparticles that can be easily customized to target different biological entities such as tumors, viruses or toxins. The surface of the nanoparticles is engineered to host any biological molecules of choice, making it possible to tailor the nanoparticles for a wide array of applications, ranging from targeted drug delivery to neutralizing biological agents.

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Researchers have developed a new method for 3D printing metal that could help reduce costs and make more efficient use of resources.

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A study from an international team led by researchers from Nagoya University in Japan and the University of New Hampshire in the United States has revealed the importance of the Earth’s upper atmosphere in determining how large geomagnetic storms develop.

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Researchers have identified multiple species of bacteria that, when present in the gut, are linked to an increased risk of developing severe malaria in humans and mice. Their findings could lead to the development of new approaches targeting gut bacteria to prevent severe malaria and associated deaths.

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There are few things tastier than the crisp bite of a cold IPA…for now.   A recent study published in the journal Nature Communications found the changing global climate may be affecting the flavor and cost of beer.   A warmer and drier climate is expected to lower the yield of hops — the aromatic flowers of the Humulus lupulus plant that give beer its signature bitter flavor — in Europe up to 18 percent by 2050.

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CRISPR-Cas9-based genome editing offers hope for treating severe immunodeficiency disorders like SCID, with a novel approach for precise gene replacement, reducing risks and potentially aiding various genetic diseases.

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Research and collection of microbiome samples from Indigenous communities has a history of exploiting and harming Indigenous peoples

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Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have successfully isolated a pattern of lab-made ‘foreshock’ tremors. The finding offers hope that future earthquakes could be forecast by the swarm of smaller tremors that come before them.

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In a mouse study designed to explore the impact of marijuana’s major psychoactive compound, THC, on teenage brains, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they found changes to the structure of microglia, which are specialized brain immune cells, that may worsen a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia. The

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Using Webb’s spectacular sensitivity, scientists captured the first mid-infrared spectrum from space of a kilonova, which marked Webb’s first direct look at an individual heavy element from such an event.

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As climate change warms the Earth, higher-latitude regions will be at greater risk for toxins produced by algal blooms, according to new research led by Carnegie’s Anna Michalak, Julian Merder, and Gang Zhao.

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Diamonds contain evidence of the mantle rocks that helped buoy and grow the ancient supercontinent Gondwana from below, according to new research from a team of scientists led by Suzette Timmerman.

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What if your house plant could tell you your water isn’t safe? Scientists are closer to realizing this vision, having successfully engineered a plant to turn beet red in the presence of a banned, toxic pesticide.

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The quintessential female sex hormone estrogen stimulates cells that line blood vessels to deliver insulin to muscles, lowering blood sugar and protecting against Type 2 diabetes, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report. The findings, published in Nature Communications, could eventually lead to new therapies for Type 2 diabetes, a disease that affects hundreds of millions of people around the globe and continues to grow more prevalent.

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Introducing medical devices — commonly made of materials such as titanium, silicone, or collagen — into our bodies can elicit a host of different immune responses. While some responses can harm our bodies, others can help heal them. Researchers have not fully grasped the rhyme or reason behind the body’s reactions, but a new study fills in a critical piece of the puzzle.

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A revised method to create hydrophobic surfaces has implications for any technology where water meets a solid surface, from optics and microfluidics to cooking

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Using satellite images, a team of researchers led by Northern Arizona University found that fires in North America's boreal forest may be changing the environment in ways that researchers didn't previously anticipate.

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A team of astronomers has found a new clue that a recently discovered near-Earth asteroid, Kamo`oalewa, might be a chunk of the moon.

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A team of researchers describes in Nature Cell Biology the mechanism by which the MEC-2 protein condensates of the touch receptor neurons transition from fluid to solid-like states, switching their role in the transmission of mechanical forces. These findings pave the way for developing innovative therapies and treatments.

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Research shows it could potentially prevent Graft versus Host Disease from occurring.

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Johns Hopkins researchers looking to develop a long-acting, injectable malaria preventive using atovaquone have shown in a new study that resistance may not be the challenge scientists thought it was, particularly when using atovaquone as a malaria preventive.

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In a paper published today in Nature Photonics, researchers from the University of Oxford, along with collaborators from the Universities of Muenster, Heidelberg, and Exeter, report on their development of integrated photonic-electronic hardware capable of processing three-dimensional (3D) data, substantially boosting data processing parallelism for AI tasks.

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In study after study, the psychoactive drug ketamine has given profound and fast relief to many people suffering from severe depression.

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A team of researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has developed a new method for using extracellular vesicles to enhance responses to immunotherapy in glioblastoma, potentially opening the door for wider use of engineered messenger RNA (mRNA) for cancer therapy. The study was published today in Nature Communications.

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As the wind and rain pound the blades of a wind turbine, UBC Okanagan researchers carefully monitor screens, hundreds of kilometres away analyzing if the blade’s coatings can withstand the onslaught.

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Scientists have breathed new life into the study of a protein with an outsized link to human cancers because of its dangerous mutations, using advanced research techniques to detect its hidden regions.

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Between the Inflation Reduction Act and the EU’s Just Transition Mechanism, both the United States and Europe are poised to put tens of billions of dollars toward creating green jobs.

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Tropical forests are among the most important habitats on our planet. They are characterised by extremely high species diversity and play an eminent role in the global carbon cycle and the world climate.

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New technique could be used in medical diagnostics and advanced manufacturing.

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Human sensory systems are very good at recognizing objects that we see or words that we hear, even if the object is upside down or the word is spoken by a voice we’ve never heard.

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Researchers led by Prof. GAO Xiang from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Prof. LU Lu from the Harbin Institute of Technology have proposed a novel method to transform wastewater contaminants into valuable chemicals using sunlight, thus paving the way for sustainable and eco-friendly chemical manufacturing.

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Lithium-ion batteries are useful for electric vehicles but use raw materials that are costly and face potential supply chain issues. The performance of one alternative, sodium-ion batteries, declines rapidly with repeated charges and discharges.

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Reservoir computing, a type of machine learning, to program a robot to move two arms on a 2D plane in a computer simulation, allows the robot to change trajectory between predefined paths with only partial knowledge of the surrounding environment.