A significant portion of an organism’s genome is non-coding; that is, it does not carry information to make proteins. Part of the non-coding DNA is transcribed into functional non-coding RNA molecules (e.g., transfer RNA, ribosomal RNA and regulatory RNA). Other functions of non-coding DNA include transcriptional and translational regulation of protein coding sequences, nuclear scaffold […]
Deep canyons on Mars created by ancient floods Deep canyons and valleys on Mars were likely carved by flooding caused by overflowing lakes billions of years ago. “Our results show that many Martian valleys are in fact more analogous to catastrophic floods on Earth, such as those that shaped the northwest United States at the […]
The study of the formation and evolution of galaxies through cosmic time has been addressed in the last decades by understanding how their physical properties leave footprints in the spectral energy distribution. Both the analysis of the light coming from stars and the ionized interstellar gas can be converted by well-known recipes to physical quantities […]
The eastern North American population of monarch butterflies are famous for their annual, multi-generational, round-trip migration from the oyamel fir forests of Central Mexico through the United States to Canada and back. Sadly, the population of monarch butterflies is declining, and the future of the monarch migratory phenomenon is uncertain. Scientists can study migrations by […]
Author: Martha R. Villabona works at Subdirección General de Cooperación Territorial e Innovación Educativa of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, where she coordinates the area of multiple literacies. Communication trough networks has changed how relationships between governments, citizens, politicians and other social actors develop. This form of communication, interconnection and interaction is […]
Humans walked the Americas earlier than once thought Archaeologists have uncovered footprints in New Mexico that date back as much as 23,000 years, suggesting humans traversed the Americas much earlier than previously believed. The 61 footprints, described in the journal Science, were found near a dry lake bed and hint that humans were trying to […]
In the last decades, a mathematical description of symmetries in nature called topology has been applied to describe and predict new electronic and magnetic properties of materials. A very simple aspect of topology connects a symmetry in the atomic structure of a crystal with a class of materials. Many materials that we know or use […]
The James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to head to space on Dec. 18, 2021. With it, astronomers hope to find the first galaxies to form in the universe, will search for Earthlike atmospheres around other planets and accomplish many other scientific goals. I am an astronomer and the principal investigator for the Near Infrared […]
If you’re like me and spent hours of your day sitting at a desk typing on a keyboard, I am sure you have imagined how cool it’d be to just have your thoughts translated into typed words just like that. Well, new research on brain implants recently published in the journal Nature has shown that […]
Organic molecules found in planet-forming disk material Planet-forming disk material orbiting some young stars has been found to contain a large amount of organic molecules, “some which are implicated in the origins of life here on Earth,” said Karin Oberg, an author of one of 20 papers on the discovery scheduled for publication in The […]