Orchids deploy parasitism to boost growth New research on the orchid species Oreorchis patens reveals that these plants can switch to parasitism by extracting nutrients from fungi near decomposing wood, without abandoning photosynthesis. This dual strategy allows the orchids to grow larger and produce more flowers. Full Story: Popular Science Permafrost thaw alters size of […]
Hydrogels are fascinating materials that can absorb and retain large amounts of water, making them useful in various fields such as medicine, environmental science, and engineering. A recent study has explored a new type of hydrogels made from cellulose nanofibres (CNFs) and lignocellulose nanofibres (LCNFs), aiming to enhance their strength and water-absorbing capabilities. Cellulose and […]
The ability to uptake cellular debris and process the engulfed antigens for MHC class I presentation is mainly performed by a minority subset of dendritic cells . Immunologists identified them as “conventional-type 1 dendritic cells”, and characterized them identifying the presence of surface coexpression of CD11c, XCR1, and DNGR-1 molecules . In mice, two subsets […]
For decades, Type Ia supernovae have played a pivotal role in the discovery and study of dark energy—the mysterious force responsible for the accelerating expansion of the Universe. To do so, cosmologists compare two quantities: the redshift, i.e., the photon’s wavelength stretch caused by the geometrical expansion of the Universe ; and the Supernovae brightness […]
Whale songs reveal similarities to human speech Two new studies reveal that whale songs share sophisticated similarities with human speech, challenging the uniqueness of human language. Researchers found that humpback whales exhibit communication efficiency akin to human languages, adhering to linguistic laws such as Menzerath’s and Zipf’s laws. Full Story: ScienceAlert Birds, mammals evolved complex […]
Cement is a fundamental material in modern construction, used in everything from buildings to bridges. One of its key components, tricalcium aluminate (C₃A), plays a crucial role in determining cement’s setting time and durability. A recent study has provided new insights into how C₃A behaves under heat, combining computer simulations with experimental data to deepen […]
A new study presents a methodology to test the assumption of cosmic homogeneity and isotropy, known as the Cosmological Principle, by leveraging weak gravitational lensing—a light distortion effect described by general relativity—in astronomical images collected by new observatories such as the Euclid Space Telescope. Finding evidence of anomalies in the Cosmological Principle could have profound […]
A new study reveals that implementing enhanced weathering (EW), the practice of adding crushed basalt to soils, with U.S. agriculture could remove between 160 and 300 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere annually by 2050, rising to 250 to 490 million tons of CO2 removal by 2070. The authors demonstrate that […]
Author: Roberto Rey Agudo, Research Assistant Professor of Spanish and Portuguese, Dartmouth College The idea of a humanlike artificial intelligence assistant that you can speak with has been alive in many people’s imaginations since the release of “Her,” Spike Jonze’s 2013 film about a man who falls in love with a Siri-like AI named Samantha […]