Self-assembling proteins can store cellular 'memories'

As cells perform their everyday functions, they turn on a variety of genes and cellular pathways. MIT engineers have now coaxed cells to inscribe the history of these events in a long protein chain that can be imaged using ...

Scientists discover mechanism plants use to control 'mouths'

Because breathing is generally involuntary, we sometimes forget how complicated it is. But biologists are gaining new insight into the intricate process in plants, with big implications for how to feed the world in the future.

Team develops new tools to help search for life in deep space

Are we alone in the universe? An answer to that age-old question has seemed tantalizingly within reach since the discovery of ice-encrusted moons in our solar system with potentially habitable subsurface oceans. But looking ...

Seeing antibiotics in action inside a pathogenic bacterium

Every living cell relies on proteins in order to function and the process of protein synthesis—translation—is critical for survival. Bacteria are no exception, with molecular machines involved in translation being one ...

Dying stars could seed interstellar medium with carbon nanotubes

Evidence suggests that carbon nanotubes, tiny tubes consisting of pure carbon, could be forged in the envelopes of dust and gas surrounding dying stars. The findings propose a simple, yet elegant mechanism for the formation ...

Exact simulations of environmental influences on quantum systems

Today, quantum systems are becoming increasingly important for technological innovations in information processing, cryptography, photonics, spintronics, and high-performance computing. They are in constant interaction with ...

Nanomagnets offer clues to how avalanches work

The behavior of avalanches has generated interest among physicists for the insights that they can provide about many other systems, not least of which is how snow falls down a mountainside. To that end, a team of researchers ...

How COVID-19 wreaks havoc on human lungs

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have published the first detailed atomic-level model of the SARS-CoV-2 "envelope" protein bound to a human protein essential for maintaining ...

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