Bacteria are the workhorses for a large number of biotechnological processes. From different fermentation processes to insulin production, they are widely used in industry due to their efficiency, fast duplication times and ease of maintenance. But often their behaviour it´s much more complex than one would expect from a unicellular organism. This is where the […]
LPS core mutants open the way for more effective brucellosis vaccines Brucellosis is a worldwide extended infectious disease of livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, cows, pigs, …) and remains one of the most common zoonotic infections, with more tan 500,000 new human cases worldwide every year. “ Brucellosis is a threat to human health and a […]
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Glowing sharks living in dark depths evolve special vision Some species of bioluminescent sharks that live in the darkest depths of the ocean have eyes that have evolved to detect complex patterns of light to communicate with each other, locate prey or hide themselves. Researchers found that the eyes of bioluminescent sharks provide better resolution […]
A couple of weeks ago I had the chance of having a fulfilling chat with Riccardo Cerulli, one of DAMA main researchers. They are at the very center of a skepticism tornado about their results on Dark Matter direct detection, and I asked as many questions as he let me to try to solve this […]
The study of the spontaneous activity in the brain –and its origin– is one of the major puzzles in modern neural science. In many situations, the same neurons which behave smoothly and in an easily predictable way in in vitro experimental conditions, turn into unpredictable units, firing spikes irregularly and even chaotically, when they are […]
Jon Agar is a Professor of Science and Technology Studies at University College London. He writes on contemporary technologies (such as mobile phones, ID cards) and the history of modern science and technology. He is the author of Science in the Twentieth Century and Beyond published by Polity Press. He is also editor of the […]
Mineral-rich Sahara Desert dust may feed bacteria in Bahamas Mineral-rich dust carried by wind from the Sahara Desert to the Bahamas may be providing sustenance to the islands’ bacteria, according to a study. Scientists tracked the iron and manganese in the dust to the Great Bahama Bank over a three-year period. The study suggests that […]
Modern societies are growing old and we should be proud of such great accomplishment. Substantial improvement in hygiene, health and nutrition has allowed mankind to even surpass a three-digit age. Leaving any further social consideration aside, seems obvious that life sciences will have to make a big effort to understand the so called healthy ageing […]
That the so-called “Mediterranean diet” is good to keep a healthy heart is well known. However, how the eating habits of this population help them to stay healthy is not fully understood yet. Researchers from the University of Cambridge in the UK have investigated the effect of lycopene , the substance that gives the red […]
Perhaps the most repeated words in the last few years when talking about graphene – since scientists Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 for their groundbreaking experiments – are “the material of the future”. There are some risks regarding so many expectations about everything related to materials science, since […]