Tag: PNAS
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Titan Chemistry Breakthrough: How Hydrogen Cyanide Forms Co-Crystals With Methane and Ethane
Titan’s Surprising Chemistry: A Break with ‘Like Dissolves Like’ Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, has long captured scientists’ imaginations as a natural laboratory for studying chemistry under frigid conditions. Its surface temperatures hover around 90 kelvin, and its atmosphere is rich in nitrogen and methane — a combination that echoes estimates of Earth’s primordial atmosphere. A…
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Titan breaks ‘like dissolves like’ at ultra-cold temps
Titan’s Cold Chemistry Rewrites a Rule That Often Holds Molecules Apart Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, continues to intrigue scientists as a natural laboratory for prebiotic chemistry. Its frigid surface and thick atmosphere, rich in nitrogen and methane, resemble the conditions thought to exist on the young Earth. By studying Titan, researchers hope to uncover clues…
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Membrane Protein Function: Computational Strategy Illuminated
New Computational Strategy Sheds Light on Membrane Protein Function Membrane proteins orchestrate essential cellular tasks, from moving substances across the lipid bilayer to transmitting signals and aiding cell-to-cell interactions. When these proteins malfunction, it can lead to diseases including cancer, making them prime targets for therapeutics. Yet studying their behavior is notoriously challenging because their…
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AI Protein Language Model Illuminates How Convergent Evolution Shapes Life
AI Language Models Unlock Secrets of Convergent Evolution In a groundbreaking study, Chinese scientists have used an artificial intelligence (AI) protein language model to reveal why distant organisms often develop similar traits when faced with comparable environmental challenges. The research, led by a team from the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences,…
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AI Protein Language Model Reveals Secrets of Convergent Evolution
Unlocking the Mystery of Convergent Evolution with AI In a landmark study that bridges biology and artificial intelligence, researchers from the Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have shed light on why distantly related species sometimes develop strikingly similar traits. Using an artificial intelligence (AI) protein language model, the team uncovered a…
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Disabling a Critical Cellular Pathway Could Be Key to Stopping Deadly Rotavirus Infection
New findings pinpoint a host enzyme as the Achilles’ heel of rotavirus Rotavirus remains a leading cause of dehydration and severe diarrhea in infants and young children, claiming thousands of young lives each year despite vaccination efforts. A recent study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has identified a host cell enzyme,…
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Scientists Crack Loop Current Puzzle in Kagome Metals
What are kagome metals and why they matter Kagome metals are a select class of quantum materials whose atoms arrange in a distinctive basket-weave lattice. Named after the traditional Japanese kagome pattern, this geometry creates geometric frustration among electrons—an inability for them to settle into simple, periodic states. The result is a rich quantum landscape…
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Low-Temperature Limits for Motility in a Eukaryotic Cell: Ice-Gliding Diatoms in Arctic Ice
Introduction: Cold-Weather Motility and the Arctic Microbial World In the harsh Arctic environment, ice-entrapped diatoms persist and thrive far from temperate waters. These ice-dwelling phytoplankton navigate a frozen maze, accessing light and nutrients that would otherwise be out of reach. Our study presents direct cellular observations of diatoms embedded in ice and demonstrates a remarkable…
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Low Temperature Limits for Motility in Arctic Ice Diatoms
Overview: Arctic ice diatoms and ice gliding In the harsh Arctic environment, ice-dwelling diatoms endure extreme cold, variable brine pockets, and constrained liquid pathways within the ice. Our study provides direct cellular observations of these microorganisms embedded in ice and reveals a previously undocumented ice-gliding ability that helps them navigate the ice matrix to reach…
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Sea Sponges: Earth’s First Animals Revealed by MIT Study
Sea Sponges: Earth’s First Animals – What the New MIT Findings Suggest A team of MIT geochemists has sparked renewed debate about the origins of animal life by presenting evidence from some of the planet’s oldest rocks. In a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the researchers argue…