Scientists find evidence for alternate theory of how life arose

A new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) offers a twist on a popular theory for how life on Earth began about four billion years ago.

Structural biology research conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has uncovered how small insecticidal protein crystals that are naturally produced by bacteria might be tailored ...

An essential molecule in cells, called phosphatidic acid (PA), is at the center of a cellular biology mystery.

Copper-based sensor capable of measuring glucose levels from body fluids other than blood.

Protein drugs, which derive from biological sources, represent some of the most important and effective biopharmaceuticals on the market. Some, like insulin, have been used for decades, while many more based on cloned genes ...

Using high-resolution electron microscopy, Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have uncovered new details of the structure and function of an intracellular channel that controls the contraction of skeletal ...

Researchers with the Virginia Tech Center for Drug Discovery have identified a compound that blocks the growth of a fungus that causes deadly lung infections and allergic reactions in people with compromised immune systems.

Researchers have known that the peptide amyloid beta plays a role in causing Alzheimer's disease, but they are still working to determine how it becomes toxic.

Abundant, chock full of energy and bound so tightly that the only way to release its energy is through combustionlignin has frustrated scientists for years. With the help of an unusual soil bacteria, researchers at Sandia ...

Researchers can now predict the odds of experimental drugs succeeding in clinical trials, thanks to a new data-driven approach developed by Weill Cornell Medicine scientists. The method detects toxic side effects that may ...

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have brought physics and biology together to further understand how cells' crowded surfaces induce complex protein behavior.

The human digestive tract contains trillions of bacteria, many of which help digest food and fight off harmful bacteria. Recent studies have shown that some of these bacteria may influence, for better or worse, human diseases ...

Researchers in Singapore have developed a new protein that can alter DNA in living cells with much higher precision than current methods.

One of the hallmarks of cancer is a change in cellular metabolism, a series of chemical reactions so fundamental to life that their alteration makes cancer cells seem creepily malevolent.

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Argonne National Laboratory have mapped out two very different types of protein. One helps soil bacteria digest carbon compounds; the other protects cells from the effects ...

Experiments performed by ETH scientists have shown that it is remarkably easy for protein-like, two-dimensional structuresamyloidsto form from basic building blocks. This discovery supports the researchers' hypothesis ...

An international study led by The Australian National University (ANU) will help underpin the development of next-generation medical treatments and industrial applications such as removing pesticides from waterways.

DNA, our genetic material, normally has the structure of a twisted rope ladder. Experts call this structure a double helix. Among other things, it is stabilized by stacking forces between base pairs. Scientists at the Technical ...

A team of chemists including Daniel Weix from the University of Rochester has developed a process for identifying new catalysts that will help synthesize drugs more efficiently and more cheaply. The trick was to do something ...

(Phys.org)Physicists have implemented the first experimental demonstration of everlasting quantum coherencethe phenomenon that occurs when a quantum system exists in a superposition of two or more states at once. Typically, ...

By forcefully embedding two silicon atoms in a diamond matrix, Sandia researchers have demonstrated for the first time on a single chip all the components needed to create a quantum bridge to link "People have already built ...

Research Triangle engineers have developed a simple, energy-efficient way to create three-dimensional acoustic holograms. The technique could revolutionize applications ranging from home stereo systems to medical ultrasound ...

Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have made a discovery that could lay the foundation for quantum superconducting devices. Their breakthrough solves one the main ...

JILA physicists have demonstrated a novel laser design based on synchronized emissions of light from the same type of atoms used in advanced atomic clocks. The laser could be stable enough to improve atomic clock performance ...

In research published inScience, aStanford-led international team used a new analytic technique to map recent evolution. The technique relies exclusively on the DNA sequences of modern humans, yet it can reveal rapid ...

(Phys.org)A team of researchers with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan has discovered the existence of a microbe that is able to convert organic compounds released from coal ...

Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have developed a new way of driving fluid droplets across surfaces in a precisely controlled way. The method could open up new possibilities for highly adaptable microfluidic devices, as well ...

The resolution of an optical system (like a telescope or a camera) is limited by the so-called Rayleigh criterion. An international team, led by Complutense University of Madrid, has broken this limit, showing that it is ...

When scientists reported in 2014 that they had successfully engineered a poplar plant "designed for deconstruction," the finding made international news. The highly degradable poplar, the first of its kind, could substantially ...

Naturally occurring bacteria could consume pent-up hydrogen gas in nuclear waste repositories to prevent radioactive leaks, say researchers at EPFL.

The Paris Agreement on climate change and the carbon-reduction plans of many governments (including the UK) are unwittingly reliant on unproven technologies to suck hundreds of billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide directly ...

Scientists in Germany have flipped the switch on a 60 million euro ($66 million) machine designed to help determine the mass of the universe's lightest particle.

On Friday, Sept. 30, at 9:25 p.m. EDT, scientists and engineers at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center made a leap forward in the pursuit of clean energy. The team set a new world record for plasma pressure in the Institute's ...

Ithaca, NY-Legendary conservationist Aldo Leopold once advised: "To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering."For the Endangered Florida Scrub-Jay, new research shows that saving every last ...

Scientists from MIPT's Research Center for Molecular Mechanisms of Aging and Age-Related Diseases, together with Inria research center, Grenoble, France, have developed a software package called Knodle to determine an atom's ...

Researchers at North Carolina State University have determined that the surface texture of gallium nitride (GaN) materials can influence the health of nearby cells. The work is significant because GaN is a material of interest ...

Thirteen years after its first, failed attempt to place a rover on Mars, Europe reaches a crucial stage Sunday in a fresh quest to scour the Red Planet for signs of life, this time with Russia.

Quantum physics is a field that appears to give scientists superpowers. Those who understand the world of extremely small or cold particles can perform amazing feats with themincluding teleportationthat appear to bend ...

New work from a team led by Carnegie's Alexander Goncharov has created a new extremely incompressible carbon nitride compound. They say it could be the prototype for a whole new family of superhard materials, due to the unexpected ...

Checking email, tracking fitness, and listening to music, are just a few things that a smartwatch can do but what if your hands aren't free (i.e. carrying groceries or holding a bus handle)? A Dartmouth-led team has come ...

Less than a micrometre thin, bendable and giving all the colours that a regular LED display does, it still needs ten times less energy than a Kindle tablet. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have developed ...

Harnessing solid-state quantum bits, or qubits, is a key step toward the mass production of electronic devices based on quantum information science and technology. However, realizing a robust qubit with a long lifetime is ...

A new approach represents a potential environmentally friendly method to control tenacious shellfish that attach to the hulls of ships, increasing drag and hiking fuel consumption by as much as 50 percent.

For wild chimpanzees, social status is more than just a matter of pride. High-ranking chimpanzees of both sexes usually have better access to food and mates, boosting chances of survival for themselves and their offspring.

New research, led by the University of Southampton, has found that human activities such as shipping are having a noticeable impact on marine species and their native habitats.

Ribosomes are the cellular machines that make proteins, the molecules that carry out the majority of life's functions. To make ribosomes, cells need to make an abundance of amino acids (the raw material of proteins) and adenosine ...

An extensive study led by a researcher at Lund University in Sweden has mapped the effects of small farmers on the rain forests of Southeast Asia for the first time. The findings are discouraging, with regard to environmental ...

Coastal defences could be designed to better withstand powerful storms triggered by climate change, a study of wave dynamics suggests.

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