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.
If you look at a snail’s shell, the chances are it will coil to the right. But, occasionally, you might find an unlucky one that twists in the opposite direction – as fans of Jeremy the lefty snail will remember, these snails struggle to mate with the more common rightward-coiling individuals. This chirality (direction of … Read more
Ten per cent of the oxygen we breathe comes from just one kind of bacteria in the ocean. Now laboratory tests have shown that these bacteria are susceptible to plastic pollution, according to a study published in Communications Biology. “We found that exposure to chemicals leaching from plastic pollution interfered with the growth, photosynthesis and oxygen … Read more
Most amber inclusions are organisms that lived in the forest. It is very rare to find sea life trapped in amber. However, an international research group led by Prof. WANG Bo from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS) reported the first known ammonite trapped in amber in … Read more
Brain injuries like stroke can be debilitating and require time-sensitive treatment. Clotting factors like thrombin are commonly administered to patients, but there are many other stroke-related signs that can be targeted, such as swelling and ion imbalances in the surrounding fluids. New research shows that brain fluids can be normalized with adrenergic receptor antagonists, a … Read more
Mice exposed to the Zika virus during later stages of gestation present behaviors reminiscent of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, according to a study of genetically diverse animals. The findings, published in JNeurosci, suggest children exposed to the virus during the 2015-16 epidemic may harbor increased risk for developmental disorders. Microcephaly – a smaller than normal head – is … Read more
Using extensive computer simulations, the scientists Dr Dirk Olonscheck, Dr Thorsten Mauritsen and Dr Dirk Notz from the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M) in Hamburg and the University of Stockholm are now able to explain why the Arctic sea ice varies greatly from year to year. Their results were recently published in Nature Geoscience. … Read more
For the first time ever, researchers have measured the fidelity – that is, the accuracy – of two-qubit logic operations in silicon, with highly promising results that will enable scaling up to a full-scale quantum processor. The research, carried out by Professor Andrew Dzurak’s team in UNSW Engineering, was published today in the world-renowned journal Nature. … Read more
Thousands of young cliff-like, fault scarps detected in images taken by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) are evidence of a shrinking moon and recently active lunar faults. But just how recently these faults were active was not known. The Apollo astronauts placed seismometers on the moon that recorded shallow moonquakes, but the source of … Read more
To move through the world, you need a sense of your surroundings, especially of the constraints that restrict your movement: the walls, ceiling and other barriers that define the geometry of the navigable space around you. And now, a team of neuroscientists has identified an area of the human brain dedicated to perceiving this geometry. … Read more
Mario Wannier, a career geologist with expertise in studying tiny marine life, was methodically sorting through particles in samples of beach sand from Japan’s Motoujina Peninsula when he spotted something unexpected: a number of tiny, glassy spheres and other unusual objects. Wannier, who is now retired, had been comparing biological debris in beach sands from … Read more