SciGlow | All Science News In One Place
SciGlow is a newsletter of science stories from the major research labs. Headlines link to in-depth articles and editorials. SciGlow keeps scientists and others up-to-date on current research.
When it comes to archery, choosing the right feathers for an arrow is the key to winning. This necessity for precision makes it crucial to understand how environment and design effect arrows in flight. Scientists from the Laboratoire d’Hydrodynamique at the Ecole Polytehcnique will explain the physics behind optimal arrow design at the 72nd Annual … Read more
Named one of the world’s ‘weirdest’ animals by National Geographic, basking sharks are also the second largest shark after the whale shark. They are also Canada’s most endangered marine fish as the Pacific Ocean population is almost extinct. That’s why any confirmation of transatlantic movement for the large-mouthed leviathan is a game-changing finding. A new … Read more
New research from The Australian National University (ANU) has found overconfidence driven by outstanding performance is the decisive factor when companies behave badly. When high-performing companies and individuals behave unethically it is because past successes make them arrogant or cut corners to maintain strong performance. The research also found that under-performing companies tended to engage … Read more
The Victorian Government is in breach of its own forest laws, allowing logging on steep slopes and putting lives at risk, according to researchers from The Australian National University (ANU). The researchers say the breaches are serious, widespread and have been committed over the last 15 years. They warn it also increases the risk of … Read more
Most of us know nitrous oxide as “laughing gas”, used for its anaesthetic effects. But nitrous oxide (N2O) is actually the third most important long-lived greenhouse gas, after carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane. Nitrous oxide is also one of the main stratospheric ozone depleting substances – and we are releasing more of it into the … Read more
The emergence of a new coral disease in Micronesian reefs, termed grey-patch disease, is reported in the open access journal Microbiome. The disease alters the community of microbes found on the host coral and measuring these changes may be a useful tool for monitoring coral health across reefs. Coral reef communities are sensitive to the environmental … Read more
A new mathematical model uses the size of a cancer patient’s initial, primary tumor to predict whether undetectable secondary tumors are already present. Stefano Avanzini and Tibor Antal of the University of Edinburgh, U.K., present the model in PLOS Computational Biology. As cancer grows, cells can spread from the initial tumor site to other parts of … Read more
The challenge of building an energy future that preserves and improves the planet is a massive undertaking. But it all hinges on the charged particles moving through invisibly small materials. Scientists and politicians have recognized the need for an urgent and substantial shift in the world’s mechanisms of energy production and consumption in order to … Read more
When studying how organisms evolve, biologists consider most traits, or features, as derived from some earlier version already present in their ancestors. Few traits are regarded as truly “novel.” Insects were wingless, then winged. Animals were blind, then had eyes. And in biology textbooks, novelty has a strict definition: it must have no relationship to … Read more
The DNA of a single cell is 2-3 meters long end-to-end. To fit and function, DNA is packaged around specialized proteins. These DNA-protein complexes are called nucleosomes, and they are a small part of a larger structure called chromatin. Nucleosomes can be thought of as the cell’s DNA storage and protection unit. When a particular … Read more