Buckyballs are geometric shapes previously only seen in nature at the molecular scale. Scientists recently found them in marine animals dating to the Cretaceous. Source: https://www.livescience.com/hollow-buckyballs-in-cretaceous-fossils.html
Tag: Molecular
Collision experiments for understanding molecular interactions at the individual particle level
Collision experiments provide the means for a detailed understanding of molecular interactions at the individual particle level. Theoretical and experimental physicists within the Institute for Molecules and Materials have published a paper in Science in which they fully characterize molecular collisions at temperatures near absolute zero. …
Quantum resonances near absolute zero
Recently, Prof. Yang Xueming from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Prof. Yang Tiangang from the Southern University of Science and Technology discussed significant advances in the study of quantum resonances in atomic and molecular collisions at near absolute zero temperature. Their article was published in Science on May 7. …
Coronavirus genome like a shipping label that lets epidemiologists track where it’s been
Every time the virus copies itself it makes mistakes, creating a trail that researchers can use to build a family tree with information about where it’s traveled, and when. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/coronavirus-genome-epidemiologists-track…
Scientists Create ‘Xenobots’ — Virtual Creatures Brought to Life
“If the last few decades of progress in artificial intelligence and in molecular biology hooked up, their love child — a class of life unlike anything that has ever lived — might resemble the dark specks doing lazy laps around a petri dish in a laboratory at Tufts University.” The New York Times reports on a mind-boggling living machine that’s programmable…
Physical Force Alone Spurs Gene Expressions, Study Reveals
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Phys.Org: Cells will ramp up gene expression in response to physical forces alone, a new study finds. Gene activation, the first step of protein production, starts less than one millisecond after a cell is stretched — hundreds of times faster than chemical signals can travel, the researchers report. The scientists tested forces that are…
More essential coronavirus links: March 17-23
A roundup of information from physicians, scientists and journalists. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/more-essential-coronavirus-links-march-17-23…
Have the first proteins been found in meteorites?
Researchers say they’ve discovered the first complete proteins inside 2 meteorites. It’s tantalizing, since proteins play a key role in the cells of living creatures. But will the results hold up to scrutiny? Source: https://earthsky.org/space/proteins-amino-acids-meteorites-acfer-086-and-allende-origin-of-life…
Ten-Minute Coronavirus Test For $1 Could Be Game Changer
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Already exhausted from testing for monkeypox and Lassa fever, Nigerian molecular bio-engineer Nnaemeka Ndodo had to work well past midnight earlier this month to find out if six Chinese construction workers were infected with the coronavirus. Ndodo had to collect samples from a hospital an hour away in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, then wait…
Early Riser or Night Owl? New Study May Help To Explain the Difference
Some people are early risers, wide awake at the crack of dawn. Others are night owls who can’t seem to get to bed until well after midnight and prefer to sleep in. Why is this? An NIH-funded team has some new clues based on evidence showing how a molecular “switch” wired into the biological clocks of extreme early risers leads them…