https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A novel concept for a biosensor of the metabolite lactate combines an electron transporting polymer with lactate oxidase, which is the enzyme that specifically catalyzes the oxidation of lactate. Lactate is associated with critical medical conditions, so its detection is important for healthcare. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-metabolites-range.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 22 Jun 2018 14:00:10 EDT news448864576 Art curators will be able to recover images on daguerreotypes, the earliest form of photography that used silver plates, after a team of scientists led by Western University learned how to use light to see through degradation that has occurred over time. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-team-uncovers-lost-images-19th.html Other Fri, 22 Jun 2018 13:02:53 EDT news448891285 Network theory is a method for analyzing the connections between nodes in a system. One of the most compelling aspects of network theory is that discoveries related to one field, such as cellular biology, can be abstracted to a form that applies directly to a completely different field, like interstate traffic patterns. The most well-known application of network theory is social networking. In a social network, each person is a node connected to other nodes. Additionally, a fraction of nodes within one network, so-called interlinks, will connect to nodes in neighboring networks. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-affects-resilience-network.html General Physics Fri, 22 Jun 2018 09:30:03 EDT news448864545 A team of researchers from the University of Naples Federico II and the University of Salerno has found that eels exposed to very small amounts of cocaine in the water suffer health problems. In their paper published in Science of The Total Environment, the group describes their study of the eels and what they found. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-european-eels-muscle-due-cocaine.html Ecology Fri, 22 Jun 2018 08:50:01 EDT news448875505 Colorado State University polymer chemists have taken another step toward a future of high-performance, biorenewable, biodegradable plastics. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-chemists-biorenewable-biodegradable-plastic-alternative.html Materials Science Fri, 22 Jun 2018 08:34:38 EDT news448875270 Fresh insights into plant immunity amount to a new field of discovery that could advance the next generation of disease-resistant crops. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-receptor-networks-underpin-immunity.html Biotechnology Fri, 22 Jun 2018 08:06:19 EDT news448873569 Opioid drugs like morphine and fentanyl are a mainstay of modern pain medicine. But they also cause constipation, are highly addictive, and can lead to fatal respiratory failure if taken at too high a dose. Scientists have long sought to develop new opioid drugs that can drive away pain without these dangerous side effects, but holes in our understanding of exactly how opioids exert their various effects at a biological level has so far kept this dream at bay. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-cryoem-captures-opioid.html Biochemistry Fri, 22 Jun 2018 08:01:40 EDT news448873286 Purdue University scientists have discovered evidence that the repressive structures that plants use to keep genes turned off is built with a potential self-destruct switch. The findings offer insight into ways to control gene expression to alter plants' characteristics. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-unique-genes.html Biotechnology Fri, 22 Jun 2018 08:00:01 EDT news448872692 A new NASA study explains why the Tracy and Heilprin glaciers, which flow side by side into Inglefield Gulf in northwest Greenland, are melting at radically different rates. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-omg-nasa-glacier-puzzle.html Earth Sciences Fri, 22 Jun 2018 07:48:07 EDT news448872473 The human gut is teeming with microbes, each interacting with one another in a mind-boggling network of positive and negative exchanges. Some produce substances that serve as food for other microbes, while others produce toxins—antibiotics—that kill their neighbors. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-dynamic-behaviors-gut-microbes.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 22 Jun 2018 07:47:03 EDT news448872412 Near-Earth objects (NEOs) are small solar system bodies whose orbits sometimes bring them close to the Earth, potentially threatening a collision. NEOs are tracers of the composition, dynamics and environmental conditions throughout the solar system and of the history of our planetary system. Most meteorites come from NEOs, which are thus one of our key sources of knowledge about the solar system's development. Because some of them are easier to reach with spacecraft than the Moon or planets, NEOs are potential targets for NASA missions. The total number of known NEOs exceeds 18000. The discovery rate has risen rapidly recently, driven by in part the 1998 mandate of Congress to identify 90 percent of NEOs larger than 1 km (in 2005 Congress, recognizing the danger posed even by smaller NEOs, extended the mandate to sizes as small as 140 meters.) https://phys.org/news/2018-06-unconfirmed-near-earth.html Astronomy Fri, 22 Jun 2018 07:43:14 EDT news448872184 A team of Texas A&M University and Texas AgriLife Research scientists have made a new discovery of how a single protein, Serrate, plays dual roles in controlling jumping genes. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-genes.html Biotechnology Fri, 22 Jun 2018 07:41:23 EDT news448872069 Scientists have shed light on DNA 'melting' – a crucial process fundamental to all life. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-insights-dna-reveal-chink-bacteria.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 22 Jun 2018 07:40:21 EDT news448872005 In the photoelectric effect, a photon ejects an electron from a material. Researchers at ETH have now used attosecond laser pulses to measure the time evolution of this effect in molecules. From their results they can deduce the exact location of a photoionization event. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-photoelectric-effect-stereo.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 22 Jun 2018 07:40:04 EDT news448871983 Scientists studying bones excavated from an ancient tomb in Shaanxi Province, central China, have discovered an entirely new but already extinct genus of gibbons. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-gibbon-genus-ancient-chinese-tomb.html Archaeology & Fossils Fri, 22 Jun 2018 07:35:31 EDT news448871714 Microelectrodes can be used for direct measurement of electrical signals in the brain or heart. These applications require soft materials, however. With existing methods, attaching electrodes to such materials poses significant challenges. A team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now succeeded in printing electrodes directly onto several soft substrates. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-microelectrode-array-sensors-gummi-candy.html Engineering Fri, 22 Jun 2018 05:28:15 EDT news448864081 Scientists have solved the riddle behind one of the most recognisable, and annoying, household sounds: the dripping tap. And crucially, they have also identified a simple solution to stop it, which most of us already have in our kitchens. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-tapand.html General Physics Fri, 22 Jun 2018 05:00:04 EDT news448860565 Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have discovered a novel strategy for creating superatoms—combinations of atoms that can mimic the properties of more than one group of elements of the periodic table. These superatoms could be used to create new materials, including more efficient batteries and better semiconductors; a core component of microchips, transistors and most computerized devices. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-template-superatoms-batteries.html Materials Science Thu, 21 Jun 2018 17:49:45 EDT news448822176 Princeton chemists have found a way to make a naturally occurring enzyme take on a new, artificial role, which has significant implications for modern chemistry, including pharmaceutical production. Their work appears in the journal Nature Chemistry. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-chemists-enzyme-potential-molecules.html Biochemistry Thu, 21 Jun 2018 17:47:08 EDT news448822009 The earth is rising in one part of Antarctica at one of the fastest rates ever recorded, as ice rapidly disappears and weight is lifted off the bedrock, a new international study has found. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-bedrock-west-antarctica-surprisingly-rapid.html Earth Sciences Thu, 21 Jun 2018 14:00:21 EDT news448798327 Many animals have evolved fur or feather colors to blend in with the environment and hide from predators. But how do animals stay camouflaged when their environment changes with each new season? Researchers at the University of Montana recently discovered that hybridization played an important role in snowshoe hares' ability to match their environment. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-snowshoe-hares-evolved-seasonally-camouflaged.html Plants & Animals Thu, 21 Jun 2018 14:00:16 EDT news448798529 Experiencing regret can leave a "bad taste" in one's mouth and drive an individual to compensate for one's losses. This immediate post-regret phenomenon was once thought to be unique to humans, but it has been recently demonstrated in other species. However, it was previously unknown if other species are capable of learning from these mistakes over time. New research from the University of Minnesota publishing 21 June in the open access journal PLOS Biology from authors Brian M. Sweis, Mark J. Thomas, and A. David Redish has now discovered that mice are capable of learning to plan ahead in order to avoid regret down the road even if there is no additional gain in rewards. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-mice-future.html Plants & Animals Thu, 21 Jun 2018 14:00:14 EDT news448798870 In a study published in Science this week, the researchers describe the dielectric properties of water that is only a few molecules thick. Such water was previously predicted to exhibit a reduced electric response but it remained unknown by how much. The new study shows that atomically thin layers of water near solid surfaces do not respond to an electric field, a finding that has very important implications for understanding of many phenomena where water is involved, including life of course. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-dead-electrically.html Condensed Matter Thu, 21 Jun 2018 14:00:13 EDT news448798950 The U.S. oil and gas industry emits 13 million metric tons of the potent greenhouse gas methane from its operations each year, 60 percent more than estimated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to a new study published today in the journal Science. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-oil-gas-methane-emissions-percent.html Environment Thu, 21 Jun 2018 14:00:12 EDT news448804048 An international team of astronomers have made the most precise test of gravity outside our own solar system. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-einstein-galaxy.html General Physics Thu, 21 Jun 2018 14:00:11 EDT news448804219 Opioids are powerful painkillers that act on the brain, but they have a range of harmful side effects including addiction. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (MPIB) in collaboration with researchers from the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria, University of Innsbruck, and the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM), have developed a tool that gives deeper insights into the brain's response to opioids. Using mass spectrometry, they determined changes of proteins' phosphorylation patterns—the molecular switches of proteins—in five different regions of the brain and assigned them to the desired and the undesired effects of opioid treatment. Their results, which are published in the journal Science, will lead the way for identification of novel drug targets and design of a new class of painkillers with fewer side effects. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-insights-brain-response-opioids.html Biochemistry Thu, 21 Jun 2018 14:00:06 EDT news448796292 Synthetic polymers are ubiquitous—nylon, polyester, Teflon and epoxy, to name just a few—and these polymers are all long, linear structures that tangle into imprecise structures. Chemists have long dreamed of making polymers with two-dimensional, grid-like structures, but this goal has proven challenging. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-unprecedented-polymer-grids.html Polymers Thu, 21 Jun 2018 14:00:04 EDT news448795801 States will be able to force more people to pay sales tax when they make online purchases under a Supreme Court decision Thursday that will leave shoppers with lighter wallets but is a big financial win for states. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-high-court-online-shoppers-sales.html Business Thu, 21 Jun 2018 12:40:01 EDT news448803008 About a decade ago, astronomers discovered a population of small, but massive galaxies called "red nuggets." A new study using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory indicates that black holes have squelched star formation in these galaxies and may have used some of the untapped stellar fuel to grow to unusually massive proportions. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-red-nuggets-galactic-gold-astronomers.html Astronomy Thu, 21 Jun 2018 12:35:52 EDT news448803331 For the first time ever, researchers at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) have identified a specific amino acid residue that is responsible for inverting the communication between the opening of the activation gate and the inactivation of a potassium channel's selectivity filter. The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) April issue. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-team-reverse-potassium-channels-bacteria.html Biochemistry Thu, 21 Jun 2018 12:28:42 EDT news448802911