Science News

It’s one honor after another for UC Santa Barbara’s Erika Eliason. The assistant professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology (EEMB) has been recognized by two research societies for her work in ecological and evolutionary physiology. The Society for Experimental Biology (SEB) has awarded Eliason the 2021...Read Full StoryRainbow TroutMore FishAnimalsTemperatureMolecular BiologyGlobal LeadershipEvolutionary BiologyUC Santa Barbara 'sEEMBCSZSEBBoutilierUCSBMarine BiologyDepartment Of EcologyScott Hodges

With the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), it came to light that there were no specific and highly effective preventive or therapeutic agents against this virus. The result has been an enormous amount of studies reporting the efficacy or otherwise of novel drug candidates or repurposed drugs against this infection.Read Full StorySarsDrugsScientific ReportsPublic HealthBiological CellsHuman CellsVirtual CellsClinical TestingDrug TestingCoronavirusesCamostatCovalent InhibitionNon-covalent HitsSilicoPotential Inhibitors

Gold prospectors first discovered the so-called Shigir Idol at the bottom of a peat bog in Russia’s Ural mountain range in 1894. The unique object—a nine-foot-tall totem pole composed of ten wooden fragments carved with expressive faces, eyes and limbs and decorated with geometric patterns—represents the oldest known surviving work of wooden ritual art in the world.Read Full StoryEgyptian PyramidsSculptureArt MuseumArt WorldStonehengeTree RingsMade ObjectsARTShigir IdolGöttingen UniversityQuaternary InternationalThe New York TimesArtnet NewsRussianEuropeanFranz Lidz

Before the clouds and the rain brought the gloom back, the Northern part of our state lit up with celestial beams. The Northern Lights were alive and flickering over Northern Michigan the last few days, and the amateur and professional photographers in our state took to social media to document it.Read Full StoryNorthern MichiganLight ShowLight PollutionAstronomyNorthern LightsSolar WindEarthRainFamous Historic HomesFieldDisturbancesVideosCities

Scientists have confirmed that the Ural wooden idol “Shiger”, which was found in the Ural swamps, is the oldest and largest wooden monument in the world. And it became clear to the experts that this wooden idol is older than what was previously thought. Archaeologists confirm that people in that period of time knew how to process wood, so it is not excluded that there are many idols similar to this monument and older than it in the swamps and peat of the Ural region.Read Full StoryGermanyRussiaEuropeReligionIdolsEgyptianUralic DeityPine Tree WoodArchaeologistsSurfaceScientistsVestiEvilPeopleFaces

EAST LANSING, MI. – The implementation of natural enemies to reduce and/or mitigate pests, a process known as biological control, is one of the most viable long-term solutions to address invasive species. Michigan State University Department of Entomology Professor Marianna Szucs is focused on exploring evolutionary and ecological processes to better understand these methods.Read Full StoryMsuInvasive SpeciesInsectInvasive PlantsEcologyNative SpeciesMIOakland County ParksInvasive Plant SpeciesInvasive Pest ControlMSU EntomologyBiological Control AgentsMethodsGenetic DiversityPest Management Programs

Grasslands are inherently dynamic in space and time, evolving with frequent disturbance from fire and herbivores (bison, cattle, etc.). As a consequence of human actions, many remaining grasslands have become homogenous, which has led to biodiversity loss and decreased ecological services. Enter the concept of grassland heterogeneity. Host Bob St.Pierre...Read Full StoryPodcastBirdsLivestockBisonBiologyWildlifeHabitat LossMasterPheasants ForeverLuke ZilverbergGrassland HeterogeneityZilverberg TalksGrassland DiversityGrasslandsBiodiversity Loss

Chimpanzee (PA Archive)A study has discovered how humans develop larger brains than other apes.Researchers identified a key molecular switch that can make ape brain organoids grow more like human organoids, and vice versa.The study compared brain organoids – 3D tissues grown from stem cells which model early brain development – grown from human, gorilla and chimpanzee stem cells.Researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge found that similar to actual brains, the human brain organoids grew a lot larger than those from other apes.Dr Madeline Lancaster, from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, who led the study, said: “This provides some of the first insight into what is different about the developing human brain that sets us apart from our closest living relatives, the other great apes.“The most striking difference between us and other apes is just how incredibly big our brains are.”During the early stages of brain development, neurons are made by stem cells called neural progenitors.These progenitor cells initially have a cylindrical shape that makes it easy for them to split into identical daughter cells with the same shape.The more times the neural progenitor cells multiply at this stage, the more neurons there will be later.As the cells mature and slow their multiplication, they elongate, forming a shape like a stretched ice-cream cone.Previous research in mice had shown that their neural progenitor cells mature into a conical shape and slow their multiplication within hours.Now, brain organoids have allowed researchers to uncover how this development happens in humans, gorillas and chimpanzees.Researchers found that in gorillas and chimpanzees the transition occurs over approximately five days.Human progenitors took around seven days.I feel like we’ve really learnt something fundamental about the questions I’ve been interested in for as long as I can remember – what makes us humanThe study, published in the journal Cell, found that the human cells maintained their cylinder-like shape for longer than other apes and during this time they split more frequently, producing more cells.This difference in the speed of transition means human cells have more time to multiply.This could be largely responsible for the approximately three-fold greater number of neurons in human brains than in gorilla or chimpanzee brains, researchers say.Dr Lancaster said: “We have found that a delayed change in the shape of cells in the early brain is enough to change the course of development, helping determine the numbers of neurons that are made.“It’s remarkable that a relatively simple evolutionary change in cell shape could have major consequences in brain evolution.“I feel like we’ve really learnt something fundamental about the questions I’ve been interested in for as long as I can remember – what makes us human.”However, the researchers noted that organoids are a model and do not to fully replicate real brains, especially mature brain function.But they said that for fundamental questions about our evolution, these brain tissues in a dish provide an unprecedented view into key stages of brain development that would be impossible to study otherwise.The study was funded by the Medical Research Council, European Research Council and Cancer Research UK.Brain ResearchHuman EvolutionHuman BrainsApesResearch ScientistsHuman CellsBrain CellsCancer Research UKLarger BrainsBrain EvolutionReal BrainsActual BrainsChimpanzee BrainsApe Brain OrganoidsMature Brain Function

Cheetahs run. Snakes slither. Kangaroos hop. The association between these animals and the way they move is so strong, that it feels unnatural to even imagine these creatures manoeuvre any other way. However, this may not have been the case with one of the aforementioned animals, had one of their extinct relatives survived until the present day.Read Full StoryKangaroosExtinctFossilsSnakesMammoth CaveEarthPlant MaterialFood ScienceAustralia DayCheetahsMurdoch UniversityFlinders UniversityMacropodTreesAnimalsEve Taylor

The arrival of spring also marks the peak of the North Sound’s rainbow season. Rainbows can occur any time of year, but the combination of spring showers and a higher sun angle than winter creates a greater number of rainbows during this season. Rainbows are created by sunlight and rainfall...Read Full StoryRainbowsViolet LightDouble RainbowVisible LightAstronomyCool ColorsPrimary ColorsWinter TimeFacebookRainbow SeasonCloudsSunlightWater DropletsSpring ShowersPictures