We don't tend to think of the British Isles as a land of volcanoes. However, over geologic timescales, things can be very different. ~50-60 million years ago, the North Atlantic Ocean was opening and the area around the modern North Sea was rife with volcanic activity. Much of these eruptions were lava flows, producing flood basalt provinces similar to the Columbia River Basalt -- but now mainly under the waters and ice of the North Atlantic and Greenland. Yet, over in what is called the Bri ...read more
P. gingivalis can destroy gums and cause tooth loss. In infected mice, it also led to Alzheimer’s hallmark amyloid beta plaque.(Credit: Cortexyme, Inc.)
In a new study out Wednesday, scientists reveal yet another reason to keep up on dental hygiene. Bacteria that cause a common yet largely preventable gum infection may also play a role in Alzheimer’s disease. The discovery also offers hope for a treatment that could slow neurodegeneration.
“There were many clues in the [featu ...read more
Not getting enough oxygen to tissues during pregnancy can lead to offspring with high blood pressure as adults. Vitamin C may counteract that. (Credit: Rattiya Thongdumhyu/shutterstock)
High blood pressure in adulthood may extend all the way back to before birth, according to new research in sheep. Scientists found not getting enough oxygen to tissues during pregnancy led to offspring with high blood pressure as adults. However, giving a high-dose of vitamin C to pregnant e ...read more
(Credit: CI Photos/shutterstock)
CRISPR-Cas9 is here to stay. And for good reason. The gene editing system — which is cheap, fast and more precise than previous techniques — blew the gates open for all sorts of research when it hit the scene back in 2012. Traditionally, it’s hinged on the use of a protein that’s right there in the name, Cas9, a member of the Cas protein family.
Now, researchers at the Broad Institute and the National Institutes of Health have announced ...read more
Ash tree killed by the invasive emerald ash borer. (Credit: K. Steve Cope / Shutterstock)
Compared to gene-edited babies in China and ambitious projects to rescue woolly mammoths from extinction, biotech trees might sound pretty tame.
But releasing genetically engineered trees into forests to counter threats to forest health represents a new frontier in biotechnology. Even as the techniques of molecular biology have advanced, humans have not yet released a genetically engineered plant tha ...read more
This composite image is made of several exposures shot in Arizona of the Perseids meteor shower. On Friday, a rocket launched from Japan carrying satellites that will put on the world’s first artificial meteor shower. (Credit: Jeremy Perez)
Artificial Meteor Showers
A rocket blasted off from Japan on Friday, Jan. 18, carrying satellites that will deliver the first-ever artificial meteor shower.
The Tokyo-based start-up ALE Co. Ltd has developed a new micro-satellite that will put on quit ...read more
The study was conducted in a climate-regulated growth chamber in the Netherlands. (Credit:Silje Wolff, NTNU Social Research (CIRiS))
(Inside Science) — Scientists in Norway and the Netherlands may have brought us closer to workable space farms, which experts agree are necessary if astronauts are ever going to reach Mars.
“Astronauts stay on the International Space Station for six months and they can bring everything they need in either freeze-dried or vacuum packs, but the next goa ...read more
Using a new strategy, one researcher believes that he has solved the longstanding mystery of the length of a day on Saturn. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)
The Time on Saturn
For years, the length of a day on Saturn has remained an unsolved puzzle to frustrated astronomers. But now, a graduate student from the University of California Santa Cruz believes that he has finally solved the mystery. Christopher Mankovich used the planet’s rings to determine that a day on Sat ...read more
