Plant seeds may strike the casual observer as unspectacular—but they have properties that are nothing short of superpowers. In a dry state they can store their energy for years and then suddenly release it for germination ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 27, 2019
0
295
The efficient conversion of sunlight into useful energy is one of the challenges which stand in the way of meeting the world's increasing energy demand in a clean, sustainable way without relying on fossil fuels. Photosynthetic ...
Quantum Physics
Jun 20, 2013
5
0
Early life forms on Earth may have been able to generate metabolic energy from sunlight using a purple-pigmented molecule called retinal that possibly predates the evolution of chlorophyll and photosynthesis. If retinal has ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 16, 2018
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300
LMU researchers have identified a set of proteins that enable plants to adjust their photosynthesis in response to fluctuating light intensities so as to make the best use of the light available.
Biotechnology
Dec 22, 2016
0
533
For nearly nine decades, science's favorite explanation for the origin of life has been the "primordial soup". This is the idea that life began from a series of chemical reactions in a warm pond on Earth's surface, triggered ...
Biochemistry
Aug 16, 2016
27
78
How did human intelligence evolve? Anthropologists have studied this question for decades by looking at tools found in archaeological digs, evidence of the use of fire and so on, and changes in brain size measured from fossil ...
Archaeology
Jan 27, 2020
0
180
Brown fat is a hot topic, pardon the pun. Brown fats cells, as opposed to white fat cells, make heat for the body, and are thought to have evolved to help mammals cope with the cold. But, their role in generating warmth might ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 14, 2013
0
0
Scientists are reporting deep new insights into whys and hows of the famous caste system that dominates honey bee societies, with a select few bee larvae destined for royalty and the masses for worker status. Their study ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 21, 2011
0
0
For the first time, a University of Michigan chemist has used quantum entanglement to examine protein structures, a process that requires only a very small number of photons of light.
Condensed Matter
Dec 6, 2018
0
378
Why do some yeast cells produce ethanol? Scientists have wondered about this apparent waste of resources for decades. Now, University of Groningen scientists think they have a solution: yeast cells produce ethanol as a 'safety ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 7, 2019
1
158
