All articles tagged with #science
Three phage-encoded lysis proteins—SglM, SglPP7, and SglCJ3—converged on MurJ, trapping the lipid II flippase in a periplasm-open state and blocking cell-wall synthesis; cryo-EM structures reveal a shared MurJ interface and a blueprint for MurJ-targeted antibacterials, with overexpression of MurJ homolog Amj able to suppress lysis.
A 1.85 km-wide crater in Heilongjiang’s Lesser Xing’an mountains, named Yilan, is dated to about 46,000–53,000 years ago and may be the youngest major meteor impact on Earth. It was uncovered with satellite imagery from NASA’s Landsat 8 in 2021 and confirmed by geological evidence (shocked quartz, glass). The southern rim is incomplete, with erosion or other geological events proposed as explanations, and while it may be younger than Meteor Crater, the exact age comparison remains cautious.
A 190-million-year-old ichthyosaur skeleton nicknamed the Sword Dragon of Dorset, Xiphodracon goldencapensis, is described as a nearly complete Early Jurassic specimen that sheds new light on marine reptile evolution; its discovery helps pinpoint a major faunal turnover in the Jurassic, reveals a sword-like snout and signs of injury, and will join the Royal Ontario Museum for public display.
A lethal avian influenza strain H5N1 has infected Northern elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Park, with seven pups testing positive and about 30 seals dead since late last week, marking the first documented cases in this population.
A Nature study introduces AH-LNP, a pancreatic-targeted lipid nanoparticle whose protein adsorption enlarges it to enable capsule-filtration–driven pancreas accumulation and receptor-mediated uptake, allowing efficient delivery of Cas9 mRNA and sgRNA for genome editing as well as mRNA encoding therapeutic cytokines. The approach yields precise pancreatic gene editing, enhances antitumor responses when combined with vaccines or CAR-T therapy across multiple pancreatic cancer models, and shows safety in several animal models including non-human primates, highlighting a promising platform for precision treatments of pancreatic diseases.
A study of 23 runners found that very long-distance races can injure red blood cells, reducing their flexibility and accelerating aging due to inflammation and oxidative stress, with longer races like the UTMB causing more damage; researchers caution the small sample size and call for more research into training and recovery strategies to minimize cellular damage.
Brazilian researchers have identified the country’s first tektite field, Geraisites, a collection of glassy fragments spread across Minas Gerais and adjacent states that indicate a substantial ancient impact. Dating with 40Ar/39Ar places the event at about 6.3 million years ago, during the Miocene, with isotopic signatures pointing to a very old continental crust source in the São Francisco craton. The field now spans over 900 km, and while no crater is yet known, the data imply a powerful impact with dispersed molten material; researchers plan aerogeophysical surveys and modeling to estimate the event’s energy, velocity, and crater geometry. This discovery expands South America’s sparse tektite record and suggests tektites may be more common than previously thought.
A study of about 3,000 geometric signs carved on 260 Stone Age artifacts from the Swabian Alps in southwestern Germany (roughly 34,000–45,000 years old) finds patterns that resemble proto-cuneiform, suggesting an early sign system that could encode information long before writing. The markings appear on mammoth and horse figurines as well as tools, indicating sophisticated cognitive behavior, though researchers caution that the exact meanings remain unknown.
On March 3, a total lunar eclipse—often called a Blood Moon—will be visible across the United States in the early morning, with totality peaking between 6:04 and 7:03 a.m. ET. The eclipse runs from 3:44 a.m. to 9:23 a.m. ET, and the Moon will appear copper-red during totality. The event is viewable with the naked eye, with binoculars or a telescope enhancing detail; best viewing is where the Moon is higher in the sky, particularly in the western U.S.
Using high-speed imaging and acoustic analysis, the study shows that squeaking at soft–rigid interfaces is governed by opening slip pulses that travel near the soft material’s shear wave speed; on flat samples these pulses produce irregular, broadband noise, but introducing a thin surface ridge confines pulse propagation and yields a uniform, one-dimensional pulse train with a squeak at the first shear mode frequency, revealing a structure-driven mechanism to stabilize rupture across bimaterial contacts.
A Nature study shows that in infancy, exposure to common allergens triggers a dual response: locally in the skin, peripheral immune-inducer dendritic cells (pii-DCs) activate γδ T17 cells via IL-23, initiating type 17 inflammation, while a canonical Th2 response is primed in draining lymph nodes. The pii-DC state is enabled by an immature hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis with low systemic glucocorticoids; deleting the glucocorticoid receptor in DCs recapitulates this phenotype. This reveals a developmental neuroendocrine checkpoint that shapes age-specific allergen responses and primes exaggerated allergic lung inflammation upon subsequent exposures.
A total lunar eclipse, nicknamed a Blood Moon, will briefly tint the Moon red as Earth blocks the Sun. The total phase runs from 7:03 AM to 9:23 AM EST on March 3, visible across the Americas; in Ohio, sunrise is just after 7 AM, so viewing depends on clear skies. Binoculars or a telescope can enhance the view, but aren’t required.
New research argues Einstein–Rosen bridges are not spatial shortcuts but two-directional structures in time, acting as complementary halves of a quantum state with forward and backward arrows of time. This framework preserves information across horizons, offering a natural resolution to the black hole information paradox without new physics and suggesting the Big Bang could be a quantum bounce between time-reversed phases. While it does not imply traversable wormholes, the idea points to a deeper quantum gravity picture and potential observational hints such as remnants in the cosmic microwave background or relic black holes.
Mount Sinai researchers found that aging in hematopoietic stem cells is driven by hyperactive lysosomes; by inhibiting lysosomal activity in aged cells ex vivo, they restored youthful function and boosted in vivo blood-forming capacity by over eightfold, offering a potential path to treating age-related blood disorders and improving stem cell transplants.
Nobel laureate Richard Axel resigns as co-director of Columbia's Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute amid revelations of a multi-year association with Jeffrey Epstein; he calls the ties a serious error and will focus on his lab, while Columbia says no policy violations occurred and notes the broader fallout from the Epstein documents.