Sodium, Potassium and zinc have all been promising contenders for lithium's place in rechargeable batteries of the future, but researchers have added an unusual and more abundant competitor to the mix: chloride, the richest negatively charged ions in seawater. Xiaowei Teng, the James H. Manning professor of Chemical Engineering at...
Microplastics found embedded in tissues of whales and dolphins
Microscopic plastic particles have been found in the fats and lungs of two-thirds of the marine mammals in a graduate student's study of ocean microplastics. The presence of polymer particles and fibers in these animals suggests that microplastics can travel out of the digestive tract and lodge in the tissues.
Mechanism underlying bacterial resistance to the antibiotic albicidin revealed
A new analysis shows that infectious bacteria exposed to the antibiotic albicidin rapidly develop up to a 1,000-fold increase in resistance via a gene amplification mechanism.
How a massive North Atlantic cooling event disrupted early human occupation in Europe
A new study finds that around 1.12 million years ago a massive cooling event in the North Atlantic and corresponding shifts in climate, vegetation and food resources disrupted early human occupation of Europe.
A climate-orchestrated early human love story
A new study finds that past changes in atmospheric CO2 and corresponding shifts in climate and vegetation played a key role in determining when and where early human species interbred.
Researchers engineer bacteria that can detect tumor DNA
Creating new technologically advanced sensors, scientists have engineered bacteria that detect the presence of tumor DNA in live organisms. Their innovation could pave the way to new biosensors capable of identifying various infections, cancers and other diseases.
The positional transmitter of statoliths unveiled: It keeps plants from getting lazy
Plants orient their organs in response to the gravity vector, with roots growing towards gravity and shoots growing in the opposite direction. The movement of statoliths responding to the inclination relative to the gravity vector is employed for gravity sensing in both plants and animals. However, in plants, the statolith...
Researchers find new pathway for HIV invasion of cell nucleus
A study has identified a new pathway that human immune deficiency virus (HIV) uses to enter the nucleus of a healthy cell, where it can then replicate and go on to invade other cells.
Scientists reverse hearing loss in mice
New research has successfully reversed hearing loss in mice. Scientists used a genetic approach to fix deafness in mice, restoring their hearing abilities in low and middle frequency ranges.
Study ties fracking to another type of shaking
New research confirms fracking causes slow, small earthquakes or tremors, whose origin was previously a mystery to scientists. The tremors are produced by the same processes that could create large, damaging earthquakes.