For more than 50 years, it has been suspected that fat cells constantly remodel the lipids they store. Researchers have now demonstrated this process directly for the first time using culture cells. Among other things, the study shows that the cells quickly eliminate harmful fatty acids. They refine others into...
New research shows that bacteria get ‘hangry,’ too
Researchers have discovered, using a recently developed technology, that genetically identical cells within a bacterial community have different functions, with some members behaving more docile and others producing the very toxins that make us feel ill.
Wastewater more potent breeding ground for antibiotic resistance than previously known
Wastewater is a more potent environment for antibiotic resistance to evolve than previously known. A study shows that wastewaters have unique characteristics, allowing resistance genes to start their journey from harmless bacteria to those that cause disease.
Yak milk consumption among Mongol Empire elites
For the first time, researchers have pinpointed a date when elite Mongol Empire people were drinking yak milk, according to a new study.
Molecules precursors to life discovered in the Perseus Cloud
A study has detected the presence of large quantities of complex organic molecules in one of the nearest star forming regions to the solar system.
New, exhaustive study probes hidden history of horses in the American West
Indigenous peoples as far north as Wyoming and Idaho may have begun to care for horses by the first half of the 17th Century, according to a new study by researchers from 15 countries and multiple Native American groups.
Form is (mal)function: Protein’s shape lets bacteria disarm it
Shigella bacteria can infect humans but not mice. A team can now explain why. Their findings may explain the multifariousness of a key weapon of our immune system.
A reconstruction of prehistoric temperatures for some of the oldest archaeological sites in North America
Scientists often look to the past for clues about how Earth's landscapes might shift under a changing climate, and for insight into the migrations of human communities through time. A new study offers both by providing, for the first time, a reconstruction of prehistoric temperatures for some of the first...
Deep ocean currents around Antarctica headed for collapse
Antarctic circulation could slow by more than 40 per cent over the next three decades, with significant implications for the oceans and the climate.
How whale shark rhodopsin evolved to see, in the deep blue sea
A group of researchers discovered that the rhodopsin -- a protein in the eye that detects light -- of whale sharks has changed to efficiently detect blue light, which penetrates deep-sea water easily. The amino acid substitutions -- one of which is counterintuitively associated with congenital stationary night blindness in...