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.
Upside-down “rivers” of warm ocean water are eroding the fractured edges of thick, floating Antarctic ice shelves from below, helping to create conditions that lead to ice-shelf breakup and sea-level rise, according to a new study. The findings, published today in Science Advances, describe a new process important to the future of Antarctica’s ice and the … Read more
An international team consisting of researchers from the Macromolecular Complexes in DNA Damage Response Group, headed by Óscar Llorca at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), and the group led by Sebastian Geibel at the University of Würzburg (Germany), worked together in a multidisciplinary effort to obtain an accurate 3D model of the mechanism … Read more
Usually moderate to big earthquakes are followed by many other events, whose magnitude and number decreases with time, the so-called aftershocks. However, a bigger event can occur. That happens, for example, in Italy in 2016: on August, an earthquake with Mw 6.2 hit the town of Amatrice, killing about 300 people and severe damaging the … Read more
In a world first, scientists have created the human developmental liver cell atlas that provides crucial insights into how the blood and immune systems develop in the foetus. It maps changes in the cellular landscape of the developing liver between the first and second trimesters of pregnancy, including how stem cells from the liver seed … Read more
Using a fluorescent probe that lights up when brain cells are electrically active, MIT and Boston University researchers have shown that they can image the activity of many neurons at once, in the brains of mice. This technique, which can be performed using a simple light microscope, could allow neuroscientists to visualize the activity of … Read more
High-entropy alloys, which are made from nearly equal parts of several primary metals, could hold great potential for creating materials with superior mechanical properties. But with a practically unlimited number of possible combinations, one challenge for metallurgists is figuring out where to focus their research efforts in a vast, unexplored world of metallic mixtures. A … Read more
All neutron stars are magnetic, but some are more magnetic than others. The latter, so-called magnetars, are the strongest magnets in the Universe. The reason for their exceptionally large magnetic field is most probably that they formed in supernovae of already highly magnetized stars. But how do these massive stars acquire their large magnetic field? … Read more
More accurate clocks and sensors may result from a recently proposed experiment, linking an Einstein-devised paradox to quantum mechanics. University of Queensland physicist Dr Magdalena Zych said the international collaboration aimed to test Einstein’s twin paradox using quantum particles in a ‘superposition’ state. The research is published in Science Advances. “The twin paradox is one of … Read more
In a new study published this week (Wednesday 9 October) in the journal Biological Conservation, an international team of researchers recommends the need for additional measures to protect and conserve one of the most iconic Antarctic species – the emperor penguin (Aptenodyptes forsteri). The researchers reviewed over 150 studies on the species and its environment as … Read more
The teeth of mammals experience constant wear. However, the details of these wear processes are largely unknown. Researchers at the University of Zurich have now demonstrated that the various areas of herbivores’ teeth differ in how susceptible they are to dental wear, detailing an exact chronology. “In our clinic, we regularly treat guinea pigs and … Read more