, Skip to content Menu Follow us on Threads Our Bloggers Google News Substack FaceBook Contribute Contact Search For the sunflower , turning toward the sun requires multiple complex systems October 31, 2023 PLOS ONE A sunflowerâ s ability to track the sun east to west during the day , and to face east again before the next sunrise , relies on multiple types of photoresponses , according to a new study publishing October 31 st  in the open access journal PLOS Biology  by Stacey Harmer and colleagues at the University of California Davis , US . The results deepen the understanding of this well-known plant behavior , and upend previous assumptions about its dependence on a canonical light-dependent response . pathway Because plants are rooted in place , they canâ t get up and move when
Skip to content Menu Follow us on Threads Our Bloggers Google News Substack FaceBook Contribute Contact Search Killer whalesâ diet more important than location for pollutant exposure October 30, 2023 McGill University Both elegant and fierce , killer whales are some of the oceansâ top predators , but even they can be exposed to environmental pollution . Now , in the largest study to date on North Atlantic killer whales , researchers in the American Chemical Societyâ  Environmental Science Technology  report the levels of legacy and emerging pollutants in 162 individualsâ blubber . The animalsâ diet , rather than location , greatly impacted contaminant levels and potential health risks â information thatâ s helpful to conservation . efforts As the largest member of the dolphin
Skip to content Menu Follow us on Threads Our Bloggers Google News Substack FaceBook Contribute Contact Search A sustainable alternative to air conditioning October 30, 2023 McGill University As the planet gets hotter , the need for cool living environments is becoming more urgent . But air conditioning is a major contributor to global warming since units use potent greenhouse gases and lots of . energy Now , researchers from McGill University , UCLA and Princeton have found in a new study  an inexpensive , sustainable alternative to mechanical cooling with refrigerants in hot and arid climates , and a way to mitigate dangerous heat waves during electricity . blackouts The researchers set out to answer how to achieve a new benchmark in passive cooling inside naturally conditioned
Skip to content Menu Follow us on Threads Our Bloggers Google News Substack FaceBook Contribute Contact Search Underwater robot finds new circulation pattern in Antarctic ice shelf October 29, 2023 Cornell University The Icefin underwater vehicle has sonar , chemical and biological sensors that help researchers characterize sub-ice environments . More than merely cracks in the ice , crevasses play an important role in circulating seawater beneath Antarctic ice shelves , potentially influencing their stability , finds Cornell University-led research based on a first-of-its-kind exploration by an underwater . robot The remotely operated Icefin robotâ s climb up and down a crevasse in the base of the Ross Ice Shelf produced the first 3D measurements of ocean conditions near where it meets
Skip to content Menu Follow us on Threads Our Bloggers Google News Substack FaceBook Contribute Contact Search Mammalian cells may consume bacteria-killing viruses to promote cellular health October 27, 2023 PLOS ONE Bacteriophage particle interacting with mammalian cells . Bacteriophages , also called phages , are viruses that infect and kill bacteria , their natural hosts . But from a macromolecular viewpoint , phages can be viewed as nutritionally enriched packets of nucleotides wrapped in an amino acid shell . A study published October 26 th  in the open access journal PLOS Biology  by Jeremy J . Barr at Monash University , Victoria , Australia , and colleagues suggests that mammalian cells internalize phages as a resource to promote cellular growth and . survival Phage
Skip to content Menu Follow us on Threads Our Bloggers Google News Substack FaceBook Contribute Contact Search Excess fluoride linked to cognitive impairment in children October 27, 2023 Tulane University Long-term consumption of water with fluoride levels far above established drinking water standards may be linked to cognitive impairments in children , according to a new pilot study from Tulane . University The study , published in the journal Neurotoxicology and Teratology was conducted in rural Ethiopia where farming communities use wells with varying levels of naturally occurring fluoride ranging from 0.4 to 15.5 mg L . The World Health Organization recommends fluoride levels below 1.5 mg . L Researchers recruited 74 school-aged children and rated their ability to draw familiar