News of Science
Giant living power cables let bacteria respire
24.9.2012 | News of Science
NewScientist 29.6. 2012 by Sara Reardon. IT IS the ultimate in subsea communications: bacteria living in sulphurous mud beneath the seabed respire by transforming themselves into long, insulating cables and shuttling electrons from one to another. This phenomenon has now been imaged for the first time, allowing us to see how some microbes pull off...
Lucky you! Accidents of evolution that made us human
17.9.2012 | News of Science
New Scientist: 06 June 2012 by Clare Wilson EARTH, several million years ago. A cosmic ray blasts into the atmosphere at close to the speed of light. It collides with an oxygen atom, generating a shower of energetic particles, one of which knocks into a DNA molecule within a living creature.
Was humanity born in the mother of all plagues?
10.9.2012 | News of Science
New Scientist 04 June 2012: Around 100,000 years ago, the human race was on the brink of extinction. Confined to Africa, our population had fallen to less than 10,000. Yet within a few tens of thousands of years, we began spreading around the world.
MNT: Stress May Cause Illness By Changing Genes
6.9.2012 | News of Science
A new study suggests that acute psychological stress, which is known to increase the risk of physical and mental illness, may do so by altering the control of genes.
Wireless \'tooth tattoo\' detects harmful bacteria
3.9.2012 | News of Science
Using silk strands pulled from cocoons and gold wires thinner than a spider's web, researchers at Princeton University have created a removable tattoo that adheres to dental enamel and could eventually monitor a patient's health with unprecedented sensitivity.
Physics of Going Viral: Rate of DNA Transfer from Viruses to Bacteria Measured
23.8.2012 | News of Science
ScienceDaily (June 27, 2012) — Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have been able, for the first time, to watch viruses infecting individual bacteria by transferring their DNA, and to measure the rate at which that transfer occurs.
Plant enzyme's origins traced to non-enzyme ancestors
20.8.2012 | News of Science
PhysOrg: As plants began to transition from aquatic habitats to dry land some 500 million years ago, their needs changed. Those primitive ancestors of modern plants were ill-equipped to survive in a dry, sunlight-blasted world. But gradually, they evolved enzymes that let them synthesize new kinds of chemicals to protect them from the threats of...
MNT: DNA Clue Discovered For Why Women Outlive Men
15.8.2012 | News of Science
Medical News today: A new study of mitochondrial DNA in fruit flies offers a number of clues that might explain why females tend to outlive males across much of the animal kingdom, including humans.
Evolution re-run test to probe life's predictability
6.8.2012 | News of Science
New Scientist: A 500-million-year-old bacterial gene got a second chance at evolution this year. The experiment may help biologists understand the extent to which evolution is predictable.
PhysOrg: Study reveals how ancient viruses became genomic 'superspreaders'
23.7.2012 | News of Science
Scientists have uncovered clues as to how our genomes became riddled with viruses. The study, supported by the Wellcome Trust, reveals important information about the so–called 'dark matter' of our genome.
