NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has reached an area where orbital images had piqued researchers’ interest in patches of ground with striations all oriented in a similar direction.
A close-up look at some of the striations from the rover’s Navigation Camera gains extra drama by including Mount Sharp in the background. The lower slopes of that layered mountain are the mission’s long-term science destination. The image is online at: (more…)
ANN ARBOR — Simply making nanoparticles spin coaxes them to arrange themselves into what University of Michigan researchers call ‘living rotating crystals’ that could serve as a nanopump. They may also, incidentally, shed light on the origin of life itself.
The researchers refer to the crystals as ‘living’ because they, in a sense, take on a life of their own from very simple rules. (more…)
UD professor seeks holistic understanding of disease resistance in maize
The University of Delaware is leading an interdisciplinary project aimed at unraveling the biology of a durable form of disease resistance in maize.
A grant from the National Science Foundation Plant Genome Research Program (NSF-PGRP) has brought together a team of experts in breeding, genetics, pathology, bioimaging and computer science to generate new knowledge that can be leveraged in the staple crop when breeding for disease resistance. (more…)
Geomikrobiologen messen dem Humus im Boden große Bedeutung für die bakterielle Atmung und das Klima bei
Methan ist ein Treibhausgas, das dem Klima 25 Mal so stark zusetzt wie Kohlendioxid. Es entsteht unter anderem in Böden, wenn den Bodenbakterien kein Sauerstoff zur Verfügung steht. Solche Bedingungen finden sich zum Beispiel in vielen Mooren, die dafür jedoch reich an Zersetzungsprodukten von Pflanzen und Lebewesen sind, den sogenannten Huminstoffen. Die Geomikrobiologen Professor Andreas Kappler und Dr. Annette Piepenbrock vom Zentrum für Angewandte Geowissenschaften der Universität Tübingen haben zusammen mit den Umweltchemikern Dr. Michael Sander und Laura Klüpfel von der ETH Zürich im Rahmen eines von Seiten der ETH geleiteten Projekts ein solches Stoffwechselsystem genauer untersucht. Sie stellten fest, dass die Bodenbakterien unter Sauerstoffmangel in weit größerem Ausmaß als bisher bekannt Huminstoffe in ihren Stoffwechsel einbeziehen können. Dies kommt dem Klima zugute, weil dabei kein Methan entsteht. Nach Schätzungen der Forscher lässt sich in Mooren über diesen Weg die Bildung von rund 3000 Kilo Methan pro Quadratkilometer und Jahr verhindern – ein bedeutender Betrag. (more…)
The closest supernova of its kind to be observed in the last few decades has sparked a global observing campaign involving legions of instruments on the ground and in space, including NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. With its dust-piercing infrared vision, Spitzer brings an important perspective to this effort by peering directly into the heart of the aftermath of the stellar explosion.
Dust in the supernova’s host galaxy M82, also called the “Cigar galaxy,” partially obscures observations in optical and high-energy forms of light. Spitzer can, therefore, complement all the other observatories taking part in painting a complete portrait of a once-in-a-generation supernova, which was first spotted in M82 on Jan. 21, 2014. A supernova is a tremendous explosion that marks the end of life for some stars. (more…)
Sequencing of harmless oral bacterium offers insights about its disease-causing relative
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scientists have pieced together sections of DNA from 12 individual cells to sequence the genome of a bacterium known to live in healthy human mouths.
With this new data about a part of the body considered “biological dark matter,” the researchers were able to reinforce a theory that genes in a closely related bacterium could be culprits in its ability to cause severe gum disease. (more…)
Yale University has begun a multi-phase renovation of the former Wright Nuclear Structure Laboratory that will reinvent the landmark nuclear physics lab for a new era in physics research.
Expected to take at least three years, the project will transform the bunker-like home of what once was the world’s most powerful atom smasher of its kind into a site for teaching, research, and development related to two of the hottest topics in 21st-century physics — the study of neutrinos and the hunt for dark matter. (more…)
NASA is partnering with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to develop and apply new technology and products to better manage and monitor the state’s water resources and respond to its ongoing drought.
NASA scientists, DWR water managers, university researchers and other state resource management agencies will collaborate to apply advanced remote sensing and improved forecast modeling to better assess water resources, monitor drought conditions and water supplies, plan for drought response and mitigation, and measure drought impacts. (more…)
