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Water in cells behaves in complex and intricate ways

By Guest PostJanuary 2, 2014Sciencealbert einstein, biological action, cell machinery, charles brooks, computer simulation, dexter, distance, kevin kubarych, liquid, manhattan, phenomenon, picosecond timescale, protein, protein surface, proteins are hydrophobic, quantum entanglement, spooky action, university of michigan, water in cells

ANN ARBOR — In a sort of biological “spooky action at a distance,” water in a cell slows down in the tightest confines between proteins and develops the ability to affect other proteins much farther away, University of Michigan researchers have discovered.

On a fundamental level, the findings show some of the complex and unexpected ways that water behaves inside cells. In a practical sense, they could provide insights into how and why proteins clump together in diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Understanding how proteins aggregate could help researchers figure out how to prevent them from doing so. (more…)

New Spectroscopic Technique Could Accelerate the Push for Better Batteries

By Guest PostDecember 31, 2013Scienceadvanced light source, berkeley lab, better batteries, charge, charge dynamics, electrochemical state, electrolyte, electron, gao liu, ion migration, lithium ion batteries, new spectroscopic technique, phenomenon, theoretical simulations, wanli yang, xray spectroscopy

Method developed at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source measures electronic changes in a working battery electrode

A new technique developed at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source could help scientists better understand and improve the materials required for high-performance lithium-ion batteries that power EVs and other applications.

The technique, which uses soft X-ray spectroscopy, measures something never seen before: the migration of ions and electrons in an integrated, operating battery electrode. (more…)

Aging erodes genetic control, but it’s flexible

By Guest PostDecember 8, 2013Scienceage, aging, brown university, enzyme called sir2, erode, ethan tobias, flow of chromatin, fruit flies, genetic control, guyu du, heterochromatin, jason wood, journal aging, life cycle, nan jiang, nicola neretti, pev, phenomenon, position effect variegation, protein sir2, rachel whitaker, stephen helfand, strands of dna, tissue

In yeast at least, the aging process appears to reduce an organism’s ability to silence certain genes that need to be silenced. Now researchers at Brown University who study the biology of aging have shown that the loss of genetic control occurs in fruit flies as well. Results appear online in the journal Aging.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Biologists at Brown University have found a way to measure the effects of aging by watching the ebb and flow of chromatin, a structure along strands of DNA that either silences or permits gene expression. In several newly published experiments they show that gene silencing via chromatin in fruit flies declines with age. (more…)

Snow melts faster under trees than in open areas in mild climates

By Guest PostNovember 24, 2013Environmentbrian henn, california, cascade mountains, cedar river, city of seattle, diverse animal habitat, ibutton, james lutz, jessica lundquist, maritime forests, mediterranean climates, mild climates, municipal watershed, nicoleta cristea, open areas, phenomenon, researcher, rolf gersonde, sierra nevada range, sites to monitor, snow melting, snowmelt behavior, susan dickerson lange, tree canopy, under trees, university of washington, utah state university

It’s a foggy fall morning, and University of Washington researcher Susan Dickerson-Lange pokes her index finger into the damp soil beneath a canopy of second-growth conifers. The tree cover is dense here, and little light seeps in among the understory of the Cedar River Municipal Watershed about 30 miles east of Seattle.

She digs a small hole in the leaf-litter soil, then pushes a thumb-sized device, called an iButton, about an inch beneath the surface. If all goes well, this tiny, battery-powered instrument will collect a temperature reading every hour for 11 months. Researchers hope this tool and a handful of other instruments will help them map winter temperatures throughout the watershed as they track snow accumulation and melt. (more…)

UCLA psychologists report new insights on human brain, consciousness

By Guest PostOctober 25, 2013Sciencebelgium, brain injury, Cambridge University, computational biology, consciousness, evan lutkenhoff, fmri, human brain, liege, los angeles, martin monti, mikahil rubinov, network properties, new york, phenomenon, steven laureys, ucla psychologists, university hospital, vegetative state, volunteers under anesthesia, zig zag route

UCLA psychologists have used brain-imaging techniques to study what happens to the human brain when it slips into unconsciousness. Their research, published Oct. 17 in the online journal PLOS Computational Biology, is an initial step toward developing a scientific definition of consciousness.

“In terms of brain function, the difference between being conscious and unconscious is a bit like the difference between driving from Los Angeles to New York in a straight line versus having to cover the same route hopping on and off several buses that force you to take a ‘zig-zag’ route and stop in several places,” said lead study author Martin Monti, an assistant professor of psychology and neurosurgery at UCLA. (more…)

Ultracold Big Bang experiment successfully simulates evolution of early universe

By Guest PostSeptember 1, 2013Scienceabsolute zero, andrei sakharov, background radiation, beginning of universe, big bang, black holes, chao lin kuo, chen lung hung, cheng chin, cmb, cobe, cosmic microwave, dynamics, early universe, evolution, excitations, galaxy formation, infant universe, initial conditions, john carlstrom, laboratory simulation, matter and radiation, michael turner, phenomenon, power of physics, russian physicist, sakharov acoustic oscillations, sakharov oscillations, simulation, sound wave excitations, stanford university, ultracold big bang, ultracold cesium atoms, university of chicago, vacuum chamber, wayne hu, wmap

Physicists have reproduced a pattern resembling the cosmic microwave background radiation in a laboratory simulation of the Big Bang, using ultracold cesium atoms in a vacuum chamber at the University of Chicago.

“This is the first time an experiment like this has simulated the evolution of structure in the early universe,” said Cheng Chin, professor in physics. Chin and his associates reported their feat in the Aug. 1 edition of Science Express, and it will appear soon in the print edition of Science. (more…)

Computer modeling shows crucial function of water molecules in proteins

By Guest PostAugust 3, 2013Scienceatom for atom, benoit roux, cell membrane, cellular environment, computer modeling, crucial function, diameter, human health, impact, molecular simulations, phenomenon, potassium channel, proteins, signal, single carbon atom, uchicago scientists, water molecules

Using molecular simulations that modeled a potassium channel and its immediate cellular environment, atom for atom, UChicago scientists have discovered that just 12 molecules of water cause the long post-activation recovery period required by such ion channels before they can function again. The research has revealed a new mechanism in the function of a nearly universal biological structure that will have broad implications, ranging from fundamental biology to the design of pharmaceuticals.

“Our research clarifies the nature of this previously mysterious inactivation state. This gives us better understanding of fundamental biology and should improve the rational design of drugs, which often target the inactivated state of channels,” said Benoît Roux, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, whose team’s findings were published online July 28 in Nature. (more…)

Coastal Antarctic Permafrost Melting Faster Than Expected

By Guest PostJuly 25, 2013Environmentandrew fountain, antarctic peninsula, Arctic, arctic like slump, austin, boston university, brown university, coastal antarctic, coastal arctic, david marchant, dry valleys contain, frozen water, garwood valley, ground ice, ice free islands, institute for geophysics, jaclyn watters, james dickson, james head, joseph levy, layers of sediment, lidar, marianne okal, mass, mcmurdo dry valleys, permafrost melting, phenomenon, present geologic epoch, retrogressive thaw slumps, ross sea, scientific reports, section of antarctica, tibet, university of texas, warming antarctic continent, weather station data

AUSTIN, Texas — For the first time, scientists have documented an acceleration in the melt rate of permafrost, or ground ice, in a section of Antarctica where the ice had been considered stable. The melt rates are comparable with the Arctic, where accelerated melting of permafrost has become a regularly recurring phenomenon, and the change could offer a preview of melting permafrost in other parts of a warming Antarctic continent.

Tracking data from Garwood Valley in the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica, Joseph Levy, a research associate at The University of Texas at Austin’s Institute for Geophysics, shows that melt rates accelerated consistently from 2001 to 2012, rising to about 10 times the valley’s historical average for the present geologic epoch, as documented in the July 24 edition of Scientific Reports. (more…)

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