For the first time, scientists have developed artificial nucleotides, the building blocks of DNA, with several additional properties in the laboratory.
Duke-NUS Research Discovery Sparks Hope: Zika Virus Vaccine Emerges as an Unlikely Hero in Battling Brain Cancer
Scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS) have developed a new approach using the Zika virus to destroy brain cancer cells and inhibit tumour growth, while sparing healthy cells.
New Study Reveals Insight Into Which Animals Are Most Vulnerable to Extinction Due to Climate Change
Past climate change (often caused by natural changes in greenhouse gases due to volcanic activity) has been responsible for countless species’ extinctions during the history of life on Earth.
Mercury Rising: Study Sheds New Light on the Environmental Impact of Ancient Volcanoes
Massive volcanic events in Earth’s history that released large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere frequently correlate with periods of severe environmental change and mass extinctions.
Good news for coral reef restoration efforts: Study finds ‘full recovery’ of reef growth within four years
While the majority of the world's reefs are now under threat or even damaged potentially beyond repair, a new study offers some encouraging news: efforts to restore coral reefs not only increase coral cover, but they can also bring back important ecosystem functions, and surprisingly fast.
Interstellar signal linked to aliens was actually just a truck
Sound waves thought to be from a 2014 meteor fireball north of Papua New Guinea were almost certainly vibrations from a truck rumbling along a nearby road, new research shows. The findings raise doubts that materials pulled last year from the ocean are alien materials from that meteor, as was...
Need to Tackle Microplastics
Looking for solutions to manage the global crisis of microplastics pollution, particularly in marine environments, will be the focus of the 1st Nano and Microplastics Australian Conference at Flinders University (7-8 March 2024).
Uncertainty in Measuring Biodiversity Change Could Hinder Progress Towards Global Targets for Nature
More than ever before, there is a growing interest in dedicating resources to stop the loss of biodiversity, as recently exemplified by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) decided at COP15 in December 2022.
Bee-2-Bee influencing: Bees master complex tasks through social interaction
Bumblebees successfully learned a two-step puzzle box task through social observation. This task was too complex for individual bees to learn on their own. Observing trained demonstrator bees performing the first unrewarded step was crucial for successful social learning. Individual bees failed to solve the puzzle without previous demonstration, despite...
Nanodevices can produce energy from evaporating tap or seawater
Researchers have discovered that nanoscale devices harnessing the hydroelectric effect can harvest electricity from the evaporation of fluids with higher ion concentrations than purified water, revealing a vast untapped energy potential.