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.
Geography may play a more important role than genetics in predicting how the response of the American pika to climate differs across space and time, suggests a paper published in Nature Climate Change. Understanding why variability in responses exists within a species, and how it affects that species’ adaptability to a changing climate, is important for … Read more
Graphene is actually a 3D material as well as a 2D material, according to a new study from Queen Mary University of London. Realising that it is a 3D material is important for understanding its mechanical properties and for developing novel graphene-based devices. Often hailed as a ‘wonder material’, graphene has the highest known thermal … Read more
A single gene in sorghum controls bird feeding behavior by simultaneously regulating the production of bad-tasting molecules and attractive volatiles, according to a study publishing September 23 in the journal Molecular Plant. This gene, called Tannin1, controls the synthesis of bird-deterring astringent polyphenols called tannins, as well as bird-attracting fatty-acid-derived volatile organic compounds. The authors suggest … Read more
Researchers have discovered that gene expression regulators work together to raise an individual’s risk of developing schizophrenia. Schizophrenia-like gene expression changes modeled in human neurons matched changes found in patients’ brains. The researchers, led by Kristen Brennand, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, report on their findings in Nature Genetics. … Read more
In a paper published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, a group of researchers argue that our evolutionary past must be understood as the outcome of dynamic changes in connectivity, or gene flow, between early humans scattered across Africa. Viewing past human populations as a succession of discrete branches on an evolutionary tree may be misleading, they … Read more
A key theory that attributes the climate evolution of the Earth to the breakdown of Himalayan rocks may not explain the cooling over the past 15 million years, according to a Rutgers-led study. The study in the journal Nature Geoscience could shed more light on the causes of long-term climate change. It centers on the long-term cooling that … Read more
Cats have a reputation for being aloof and independent. But a study of the way domestic cats respond to their caregivers suggests that their socio-cognitive abilities and the depth of their human attachments have been underestimated. The findings reported in the journal Current Biology on September 23 show that, much like children and dogs, pet cats form … Read more
The quantum superposition principle has been tested on a scale as never before in a new study by scientists at the University of Vienna in collaboration with the University of Basel. Hot, complex molecules composed of nearly two thousand atoms were brought into a quantum superposition and made to interfere. By confirming this phenomenon – … Read more
An international research team has observed in real time how football molecules made of carbon atoms burst in the beam of an X-ray laser. The study shows the temporal course of the bursting process, which takes less than a trillionth of a second, and is important for the analysis of sensitive proteins and other biomolecules, … Read more
The biodiversity buzz is alive and well in Fiji, but climate change, noxious weeds and multiple human activities are making possible extinction a counter buzzword. Just as Australian researchers are finding colourful new bee species, some of them are already showing signs of exposure to environmental changes. Flinders University PhD candidate James Dorey – whose … Read more