physorg.com:Spotlight stories

New drug-delivery technology promises efficient, targeted cancer treatment A precise and non-toxic treatment that targets lung cancer cells at the nanoscale is able to effectively kill the cells even at a low dose.
Cosmic Yeti from the dawn of the universe found lurking in dust Astronomers accidentally discovered the footprints of a monster galaxy in the early universe that has never been seen before. Like a cosmic Yeti, the scientific community generally regarded these galaxies as folklore, given the lack of evidence of their existence, but astronomers in the United States and Australia managed to snap a picture of the beast for the first time.
Single mutation dramatically changes structure, function of bacteria's transporter proteins Swapping a single amino acid in a simple bacterial protein changes its structure and function, revealing the effects of complex gene evolution, finds a new study published in the journal eLife. The study—conducted using E. coli bacteria—can help researchers to better understand the evolution of transporter proteins and their role in drug resistance.
New species take longer to arise in the Amazon Amazonia is home to the greatest number of species on earth, many now threatened, but a new study published October 22 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Jason Weir from the University of Toronto and Trevor Price from the University of Chicago hammers home Amazonia's importance, showing that it is not only a place with many species, but one where it has taken an exceptionally long time for new species to form.
All-organic farming could increase UK emissions: study An all-out shift to organic farming in England and Wales could lead to a net increase in Britain's greenhouse gas emissions as a drop in yields would lead to higher food imports, scientists estimated Tuesday.
Are humans changing animal genetic diversity worldwide? Human population density and land use is causing changes in animal genetic diversity, according to researchers at McGill University.
New way to wrap liquid drops could improve drug delivery Researchers have developed a faster, cheaper way to coat liquid medication, an invention that could improve how drugs are delivered in the body.
Lead isotopes a new tool for tracking coal ash Inhaling dust that contains fly ash particles from coal combustion has been linked to lung and heart disease, cancer, nervous system disorders and other ill effects.
By cutting out one gene, researchers remove a tadpole's ability to regenerate Tadpoles of frogs that can typically regrow amputated tails or limbs lost their ability to regenerate after researchers blocked the expression of a newly identified gene that is one of the drivers for this regrowth. Furthermore, scientists hypothesize that the loss of appendage regeneration in warm-blooded animals might have been caused by the gain or loss of this gene, dubbed c-Answer, in an ancestor's genome during evolution. The work appears October 22 in the journal Cell Reports.
3-D printing, bioinks create implantable blood vessels A biomimetic blood vessel was fabricated using a modified 3-D cell printing technique and bioinks, which were formulated from smooth muscle cells from a human aorta and endothelial cells from an umbilical vein. The result is a fully functional blood vessel with a dual-layer architecture that outperforms existing engineered tissue and brings 3-D-printed blood vessels several fundamental steps closer to clinical use.
Much of the Earth is still wild, but threatened by fragmentation Half of the Earth's land surface not covered with ice remains relatively wild—but many of these "low human-impact" areas are broken into small, isolated pieces, threatening their future.
Study reveals dry season increase in photosynthesis in Amazon rain forest A University of Oklahoma-led study demonstrated the potential of the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument on board the Copernicus Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite to measure and track chlorophyll fluorescence and photosynthesis of tropical forests in the Amazon.
Neural network technique identifies mechanisms of ferroelectric switching Innovations in material science are as essential to modern life as indoor plumbing—and go about as unnoticed.
eROSITA delivers first striking images Astronomers are excited: The first images by the eROSITA telescope launched in July reveal an impressive performance. After an extended commissioning phase, all seven X-ray telescope modules with their custom-designed CCD cameras have been observing the sky simultaneously since 13 October. The first composite images show our neighboring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, and two interacting clusters of galaxies at a distance of about 800 million light years in remarkable detail.
Bacteria use selfish strategy to get ahead in the human gut A species of bacteria found in the human gut gains a competitive advantage by keeping sugar nutrients to itself, scientists have discovered.