Scientists once assumed that flooding and mudslides after wildfires were linked to the waxy coating that builds up on charred soil, preventing water absorption. Researchers found that water flow came from absorbed water in both burnt and unburnt areas, suggesting that water was, in fact, being absorbed into burnt ground....
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Search Engines and Social Media Can Forecast Disease Outbreaks
Internet search engine queries and social media data can be early warning signals, creating a real-time surveillance system for disease forecasting, says a recent University of Waterloo study.
Addressing the Future Challenges of Global Surface Water Quality
As the world's population continues to grow, ensuring access to clean and safe water has become an increasingly important concern, yet little is known about how surface water quality will change in the future.
In Florida, endangered coral finds a way to blossom
In a new study, researchers have found that the restoration efforts of the critically endangered species elkhorn coral depend largely on the animal's location, microbiome, and the right conditions to provide an abundance of food.
Building better lipid nanoparticles for drug delivery
Pharmaceutical scientists and biologists are teaming up to make the next generation of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) for drug delivery. Combining structural biology with cutting edge pharmaceutical science, the team is designing LNPs that can precisely deliver vaccines and therapeutics to target tissues while improving the product's shelf life and duration...
Breaking Barriers in Drug Delivery with Better Lipid Nanoparticles
Many diseases can be successfully treated in the simple environment of a cell culture dish, but to successfully treat real people, the drug agent has to take a journey through the infinitely more complex environment within our bodies and arrive, intact, inside the affected cells.
Building a Better Forest Tree With CRISPR Gene Editing
Researchers at North Carolina State University used a CRISPR gene-editing system to breed poplar trees with reduced levels of lignin, the major barrier to sustainable production of wood fibers, while improving their wood properties.
Form and function of island and mainland plants
Oceanic islands provide useful models for ecology, biogeography and evolutionary research. Many ground-breaking findings -- including Darwin's theory of evolution -- have emerged from the study of species on islands and their interplay with their living and non-living environment. Now, an international research team has investigated the flora of the...
James Webb Telescope Catches Glimpse of Possible First-Ever ‘Dark Stars’
Stars beam brightly out of the darkness of space thanks to fusion, atoms melding together and releasing energy. But what if there’s another way to power a star?
Tipping Points Can be Triggered Unexpectedly by Dangerous Rates of Change
A recent paper by mathematicians at the University of Exeter in England, and University College Cork in Ireland, highlights the dangers of tipping points in systems that are being rapidly changed by humankind.