The Telegraph: Monkeys gobbled up so many rats
Reading Time: 2 minutesBritain’s The Telegraph also screamed it out loud on this strange primate behaviour: “Killer rateating monkeys stun scientists in Malaysia”. The newspaper claimed that the monkeys gobbled so many rats, so much so, palm oil plantations in the Southeast Asian nation may no longer need chemical pest control! Pig-tailed macaques had previously been considered a […]
Anti-arthritis med stops growth of TB bug
Reading Time: 2 minutesIMMUNOLOGIST Johan Van Weyenbergh (KU Leuven) and his Belgian-Brazilian colleagues have shown that a drug used to fight arthritis also stops the process that allows the tuberculosis bacillus to infect and hijack blood stem cells. Tuberculosis (TB) may affect any part of the body, but the spread [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ] of the disease […]
Antibiotic resistance: bacteria can change shape inside humans to avoid antibiotics
Reading Time: 4 minutesWIDESPREAD antibiotic use is largely to blame for the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria, which is currently one of the biggest threats to global health. Not only does antibiotic resistance already cause an estimated 700,000 deaths a year, it’s also made numerous infections, including pneumonia, tuberculosis, and gonorrhoea, harder to treat. Without knowing how to […]
Scientists highlight responsible advancement, safe use of synthetic biology
Reading Time: 2 minutesA TEAM of scientists published a policy forum article on the technological challenges of milestones when writing about genomes. The article focuses on identifying what technological advances are needed to secure the continuously changing field of synthetic biology. The authors also highlighted the need to keep its implementation safe and responsible. The 21 scientists from […]
New way to develop drought-resilient crops
Reading Time: 2 minutesAUSTRALIAN research could help breeders develop more drought-resilient crops that can produce more food and more profit with less water. Drought tolerance is critically important in the face of climate change, population growth and land-use pressures. Scientists from The Australian National University (ANU), ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, and CSIRO Agriculture and […]
Arthropods formed orderly lines 480 million years ago
Reading Time: < 1 minuteRESEARCHERS studied fossilised Moroccan Ampyx trilobites , which lived 480 million years ago and showed that the trilobites had probably been buried in their positions — all oriented in the same direction. Scientists deduced that these Ampyx processions may illustrate a kind of collective behavior adopted in response to cyclic environmental disturbances. Though our understanding […]
‘Artificial leaf’ successfully produces clean gas
Reading Time: 3 minutesA WIDELY-USED gas that is currently produced from fossil fuels can instead be made by an ‘artificial leaf’ that uses only sunlight, carbon dioxide and water, and which could eventually be used to develop a sustainable liquid fuel alternative to petrol. The carbon-neutral device sets a new benchmark in the field of solar fuels, after […]
Mars once had salt lakes similar to those on Earth
Reading Time: 3 minutesMARS once had salt lakes that are similar to those on Earth and has gone through wet and dry periods, according to an international team of scientists that includes a Texas A&M University College of Geosciences researcher. Marion Nachon, a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at Texas A&M, and colleagues […]
A second interstellar visitor has arrived in our solar system
Reading Time: 3 minutesBY RAFI LETZTER FOR the second time ever, astronomers have detected an interstellar object plunging through our solar system. But this time, researchers think they know where it came from. Gennady Borisov, an amateur astronomer working with his own telescope in Crimea, first spotted the interstellar comet on Aug. 30. His find made the object […]
How plant-based JUST turns mung beans into scrambled eggs
Reading Time: 3 minutesTHERE’S a reason most plant-based companies start their product lines with a burger. Sure, figuring out the aroma, sizzle and taste of beef is a challenge, but mushing plant protein into a patty is far easier than trying to replicate the light and fluffy texture of scrambled eggs. Still, that’s exactly what JUST, Inc. is […]