Melanin is best known as the pigment that dictates our skin tones, but it is found just about everywhere—in our brains, in our hair. It is even found in cuttlefish. But as abundant as melanin is, its exact macromolecular ...
Materials Science
May 17, 2016
1
1951
Scientists have announced a major breakthrough in their understanding of how the fungus Aspergillus terreus - the cause of serious illness in humans - can move around the body, rather than remaining in the lungs as with similar ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 28, 2016
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20
A 300 million year-old fossil mystery has been solved by a research team led by the University of Leicester, which has identified that the ancient 'Tully Monster' was a vertebrate—due to the unique characteristics of its ...
Archaeology
Apr 13, 2016
6
620
Ten million years ago, a green and black snake lay coiled in the Spanish undergrowth. Once, paleontologists would have been limited to the knowledge they could glean from its colorless fossil remains, but now they know what ...
Archaeology
Mar 31, 2016
0
104
The color of dinosaurs is a fascinating topic, and in recent years the discovery of melanosomes - small, pigment-filled sacs - associated with fossilized dinosaur feathers has given rise to all sorts of speculation about ...
Archaeology
Oct 5, 2015
0
37
Scientists from Virginia Tech and the University of Bristol have revealed how pigment can be detected in mammal fossils, a discovery that may end the guesswork in determining the colors of extinct species.
Paleontology & Fossils
Sep 28, 2015
0
712
A study provides multiple lines of new evidence that pigments and the microbodies that produce them can remain evident in a dinosaur fossil. In the journal Scientific Reports, an international team of paleontologists correlates ...
Archaeology
Aug 27, 2015
1
111
Many factors can change skin pigmentation, including aging, exposure to UV light, certain drugs, as well as certain diseases. A simple technique for measuring skin pigmentation could be a helpful tool for research and diagnostics. ...
Analytical Chemistry
Apr 23, 2015
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20
The popular idea that Northern Europeans developed light skin to absorb more UV light so they could make more vitamin D – vital for healthy bones and immune function – is questioned by UC San Francisco researchers in ...
Evolution
Jun 30, 2014
17
0
(Phys.org) —A team of researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Oregon has used melanin as an ingredient in a cocktail that led to the creation of a biodegradable battery anode. In their paper published ...
