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May 24, 2021 SHARE
Just in time for picnic-table trivia, a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences rewrites the origins of domesticated watermelons.
Using DNA from greenhouse-grown plants representing all species and hundreds of varieties of watermelon, scientists discovered that watermelons most likely came from wild crop progenitors in northeast Africa.
The study corrects a 90-year-old mistake that lumped watermelons into the same category as the South African citron melon. Instead, researchers, including a first author now at Washington University in St. Louis, found that a Sudanese form with non-bitter whitish pulp, known as the Kordofan melon (
On December 24, 1971, 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke boarded Líneas Aéreas Nacionales S.A. (LANSA) Flight 508 at the Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima, Peru with her mother, Maria. She had her whole life in front of her, the two having just attended her high school graduation ball in Lima the day before, and now they were headed back to Juliane’s parents’ Panguana research station in the Amazon rainforest in a festive mood. The father had warned them not to fly with the airline as it had a poor reputation and record, but it was meant to be just a one-hour flight, so they had booked it anyway. It would be a decision they would learn to regret, and would launch one of the strangest and most inspiring tales of survival against all odds.
Using DNA from greenhouse-grown plants representing all species and hundreds of varieties of watermelon, scientists discovered that watermelons most likely came from wild crop progenitors in northeast Africa. The study corrects a 90-year-old mistake that had previously tied watermelons to South Africa. The genetic research is consistent with newly interpreted Egyptian tomb paintings that suggest the watermelon may have been consumed in the Nile Valley as a dessert more than 4,000 years ago.
Memory B cells with a functional anti-SARS-CoV-2 response persist despite loss of specific IgG
In Munich, Germany, scientists at Ludwig Maximilian University studied temporal adaptive immunity to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to better understand protection against re-infection. They found functional properties of persisting memory B specific to SARS-CoV-2 may help in protect against the virus.
When a pathogen infects, it elicits an active immune response. The adaptive immunity protects the individual against re-infection. It is associated with the development of antibodies, memory B cells, and several T cell subsets.
Analysis of immune responses to viruses, including coronaviruses, has shown that the lifespan of adaptive immunity varies. Even antibody levels decrease with time. It is reported that the serum antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 persist for more than 6 months after primary infection.
Meet the man behind controversial iPhone-cracking company Cellebrite
The digital forensics company beloved by British police is coming out of the shadows as it prepares to go public
23 May 2021 • 6:00am
Yossi Carmil was one of the founders of Cellebrite, an Israeli forensics company
Credit: Cellebrite
Kayleigh Haywood, a 15-year-girl from Measham, Leicestershire, met her killer through Facebook. When her body was found, police used a special phone unlocking device to extract information from her badly damaged and locked smartphone, which helped them track down who she had been messaging and their whereabouts.
This evidence helped uncover her groomer, Luke Harlow and her killer, Luke’s neighbour Stephen Beardman. It also helped clear a suspect who had not been anywhere near the scene at the time of Haywood’s murder.