MI weekly selection #556

Cells in upper airway may trigger coughs to block water

When a drink goes down the wrong way or reflux gurgles up, neuroendocrine cells in the upper airway set off coughing or other reflexes by telling the nervous system to expel the water or acid.

Full Story: Live Science

Sinking cities put millions of people in China at risk

Almost half of 82 major cities in China are sinking, according to systematic satellite measurements that indicate more significant subsidence than similar data for Europe and the US. Tens of millions of China’s urban-dwellers live in sinking areas.

Full Story: National Public Radio

How life could have formed in space, landed on Earth

Life may have arrived on Earth from space, say researchers whose work challenges previous ideas, demonstrating that water in molecular ice that covers cosmic dust particles does not prevent basic peptide formation. Experiments in a vacuum chamber that simulates outer space, gauged by precise mass spectrometric analyses, have found that the water slows peptide formation by 50% but does not stop it.

Full Story: Tech Explorist

New imaging techniques illuminate cell structure

Researchers reconstructed the assembly of the human centriole for the first time using imaging techniques, shedding light on its role in cell organization and disease pathology. The findings also showed that combining expansion microscopy with kinematic reconstruction offers a novel approach to study organelle genesis, opening new options for cellular and molecular biology research.

Full Story: SciTechDaily

Bees in hibernation live underwater for a week

Hibernating eastern common bumblebee queens can survive underwater for as long as a week, scientists have found after accidentally submerging the insects. Research could lead to deeper understanding of bees’ resistance to flooding, and the ability could be due to diapause, a state of reduced oxygen intake when respiratory openings close, blocking water from the bees’ bodies.

Full Story: CNN