Higher wheat yields and protein content on the horizon
A team of international researchers has discovered a way to have higher quality wheat yields. The scientists from the University of Adelaide and the UK’s John Innes Centre have identified a genetic driver that improves wheat yields traits in wheat, which unexpectedly can also lead to increasing protein content by up to 25 percent. “Little […]
Marine sponges chemical and synthetic derivatives hijack human enzyme to kill cells
A human enzyme converts chemicals produced by marine sponges and related synthetic derivatives into cell-killing compounds, shows a study published today in eLife. The discovery suggests that it may be possible to develop new therapies for cancer or bacterial infections by taking advantage of this enzyme and similar natural or bioinspired compounds. Pharmaceutical companies have […]
UK company reveals micro-launcher rocket
Orbex’s Prime rocket reaching technical readiness represents a significant achievement that brings together key elements of the ground infrastructure and prototype launch vehicle for the first time and is a major step forward for the company and for the U.K. launch industry. The U.K. Space Agency supported the development of Orbex’s Prime rocket with £5.5 […]
Study reveals corrosion of magnesium alloys in marine atmospheric environment
Magnesium alloys are widely used due to their excellent mechanical strength, creep resistance, damping performance and heat-conducting property. However, the activity of the magnesium element can cause the electrochemical corrosion of magnesium alloys, especially in the marine atmospheric environment. Recently, a research team led by Prof. Hou Baorong from the Institute of Oceanology of the […]
Ancient DNA gives new insights into ‘lost’ Indigenous people of Uruguay
The first whole genome sequences of the ancient people of Uruguay provide a genetic snapshot of ancient DNA and Indigenous populations of the region before they were decimated by a series of European military campaigns. PNAS Nexus published the research, led by anthropologists at Emory University and the University of the Republic, Montevideo, Uruguay. “Our […]
Full adoption of existing mitigation strategies can help meet livestock methane reduction targets by 2030
Amid the often-distressing news about climate change, some good news: Existing strategies could mitigate livestock methane emission by enough to help the sector limit its share of global warming to the 1.5°C target by 2030. In a meta-analysis published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Claudia Arndt, Leader of the Mazingira […]
Wealthy nations are carving up space and its riches, and leaving other countries behind
Satellites help run the internet and television and are central to the Global Positioning System. They enable modern weather forecasting, help scientists track environmental degradation and play a huge role in modern military technology. Nations that don’t have their own satellites providing these services rely on other countries. For those that want to develop their […]
Developing an efficient production technique for a novel green fertilizer
A purely mechanical method can produce a novel, more sustainable green fertilizer in a less polluting way. That is the result of a method optimized at DESY’s light source PETRA III. An international team used PETRA III to optimize the production method that is an adaptation of an ancient technique: by milling two common ingredients, […]
As much pressure as Uranus’ core: The first materials synthesis research and study in the terapascal range
Jules Verne could not even dream of this: A research team from the University of Bayreuth, together with international partners, has pushed the boundaries of high-pressure and high-temperature research into cosmic dimensions. For the first time, they have succeeded in generating and simultaneously analyzing materials under compression pressures of more than one terapascal (1,000 gigapascals). […]
Laser bursts drive fastest-ever logic gates
A long-standing quest for science and technology has been to develop electronics and information processing that operate near the fastest timescales allowed by the laws of nature. A promising way to achieve this goal involves using laser bursts to guide the motion of electrons in matter, and then using this control to develop electronic circuit […]