Page 5 - Cell Press News Today

Chemists repurpose blockchain mining for creating a vast network of prebiotic reactions.

A leading scientific journal group will implement AI-based quality control program to screen for doctored images in research submitted for publication.

<p>In work published in the prestigious Cell Press journal <em>Chem</em>, UMaine theoretical physicist R. Dean Astumian and collaborators Ayusman Sen and Niladri Sekhar Mandal at Penn State have published a different mechanism by which single molecules can interact non-reciprocally without hydrodynamic effects. This mechanism invokes the local gradients of reactants and products due to the reactions facilitated by every chemical catalyst, a biological example of which is an enz...

<p>Arctic seals have evolved many adaptations to cope with their frosty environment—one that you might not immediately think of is the bones in their nasal cavity. Arctic seals have more convoluted nasal passages than seal species that live in milder environments, and researchers report December 14 in the <em>Biophysical Journal </em>that these structures help the seals more efficiently retain heat and moisture as they breathe in and out.</p>

<p>While the lithium-ion batteries in disposable electronic cigarettes are discarded after a single use, they can continue to perform at high capacity for hundreds of cycles, according to a study published December 12 in the journal <em>Joule</em>. The analysis, conducted by scientists from University College London and the University of Oxford and supported by The Faraday Institution, highlights a growing environmental threat from these increasingly popular vape pens, which ar...

<p>The current emoji library doesn’t accurately represent the “tree of life” and the breadth of biodiversity seen in nature according to an analysis presented December 11 in the journal <em>iScience</em>. A team of conservation biologists categorized emojis related to nature and animals and mapped them onto the phylogenetic tree of life. They found that animals are well represented by the current emoji catalog, whereas plants, fungi, and microorgan...

<p>Despite the Roman Empire’s extensive military and cultural influence on the nearby Balkan peninsula, a DNA analysis of individuals who lived in the region between 1 and 1000 CE found no genetic evidence of Iron Age Italian ancestry. Instead, a study published December 7 in the journal <em>Cell</em> revealed successive waves of migrations from Western Anatolia, central and northern Europe, and the Pontic-Kazakh Steppe during the Empire’s reign.</p>

The findings could help researchers develop mushrooms with unique psychedelic compounds.

<p>Researchers report December 5 in the journal <em>Neuron </em>that mice display behavior that resembles self-recognition when they see themselves in the mirror. When the researchers marked the foreheads of black-furred mice with a spot of white ink, the mice spent more time grooming their heads in front of the mirror—presumably to try and wash away the ink spot. However, the mice only showed this self-recognition-like behavior if they were already accustomed to mirr...

Researchers in Australia have analyzed the genomes of over 100 commercial and wild-grown varieties of Psilocybe cubensis, a psychoactive fungi known as the magic mushroom. The findings may eventually help growers develop “designer shrooms” that have their own unique health benefits, the team says.