"Duke University has decided to close its herbarium, a collection of 825,000 specimens of plants, fungi and algae that was established more than a century ago. The collection, one of the largest and most diverse in the country, has helped scientists map the diversity of plant life and chronicle the impact of humans on the environment.
The university’s decision has left researchers reeling."
Plants are surrounded by a fine mist of airborne compounds that they use for communication and protection. A team of Japanese researchers has deployed real-time imaging techniques to reveal how plants receive and respond to these aerial alarms. Science Alert has more, including footage showing a plant “talking” to its neighbor. https://flip.it/lAl00b #Science#Plants#Biology#Botany
You've probably heard from transphobes about how "you can't change your DNA," so nothing you do in transition really matters. "Basic biology," they whinge. Well... what about intermediate biology?
This week on #StainedGlassWoman, come and see How HRT Rewrites Your DNA by just plain turning off the parts you don't need and turning on the ones you do! Now with more wedding photos, from another queer wedding.
This paper describes the predatory bacterium Vampirococcus lugosii, which preys on members of the bacterial species of the genus Halochromatium [1].
This thing is incredible. For example: Vampirococcus lugosii has a severely reduced genome, something like 1.3 Mbp, and lacks the genes which code for many of the standard biosynthetic metabolic pathways (e.g. phospholipid synthesis, amino acid synthesis, and nucleotide synthesis). Yet it is somehow still alive.
How does this work?
One mechanism that Vampirococcus uses is to get these raw materials from its prey. An example of this are the nucleotides that Vampirococcus lugosii gets by chopping up the DNA that it sucks out of its prey. And amazingly, Vampirococcus lugosii uses a CRISPR-Cas system and various restriction enzymes to accomplish this. See the image for a cartoon of this system.
Predatory microbes.
Crazy.
Description of “Candidatus Vampirococcus lugosii”]
Lugosii after Bela Lugosi (1882–1956), who played the role of the vampire in the iconic 1931’s film “Dracula”. Epibiotic bacterium that preys on anoxygenic photosynthetic gammaproteobacterial species of the genus Halochromatium. Non-flagellated, small flat rounded cells (500–600 nm diameter and 200–250 nm height) that form piles of up to 10 cells attached to the surface of the host. Gram-positive cell wall structure. Complete genome sequence, GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number PRJNA678638.
Well, they did it. eLife fired Michael Eisen. Absolutely outrageous. The bounds of allowed thought tighten. Any criticism of Israel is out of bounds. A new McCarthyism, except instead of communists under the bed, it's people who think it matters both when Israelis are slaughtered AND when Palestinians are slaughtered. And many, many in the academic community, seeing this, are afraid to speak, especially those without tenure, & even w/ tenure especially those from Middle Eastern countries other than Israel. How easily they can be slandered as anti-semitic should they speak.
Weighing between 0.05 and 0.07 ounces with a head-to-body length of 1.14 to 1.29 inches and a wingspan of 5.1 to 5.7 inches, the bumblebee bat (aka Kitti’s hog-nosed bat) is the world's smallest mammal.
So there's this Greek myth that says Zeus was fed by bees when he was born. In gratitude, he blessed them with the color of "shining bronze", and made them immune to cold and harsh winds. These bees lived in Zeus' sacred cave in Crete, and aggressively chased away anyone who tried to steal their honey.
Any #apiarist or #entomology expert out there who could tell me what these bees are by any chance?...
Cette photo a été prise au parc national Bükk, en Hongrie 🇭🇺.
L'arbre le plus mince a été coupé il y a des années ; le plus grand le tient et le nourrit depuis lors ; ils se « réveillent » ensemble au printemps et « s'endorment » ensemble à l'automne.
Le terme scientifique est « l'anastomose » en français 🇫🇷 ou «l'inosculation » en anglais 🇬🇧 :
C'est ce phénomène naturel dans lequel des parties de deux arbres différents, généralement mais pas exclusivement de la même espèce, poussent ensemble, s'auto-greffant et partageant les nutriments.
Some of the most eminent scientific women. Top row, lefth to right: Émilie du Châtelet, Ada Lovelace, Maria Mitchell, Elisabetha Koopman Hevelius, Laura Bassi, Marie Curie. Bottow row, left to right: Henrietta Swan Leavitt, Rosalind Franklin, Hedy Lamarr, Jane Goodall, Katherine Johnson, Lise Meitner.
Scientists and the general public have long dismissed the cognitive abilities of cows, pigs, and other livestock. But farm animals are capable of much more than we think.
An international research team including the University of Göttingen has described seven previously unknown species of leaf insects, also known as walking leaves. The insects belong to the stick and leaf insect order, which are known for their unusual appearance: they look confusingly similar to parts of plants such as twigs,...
Happy birthday to Charles Darwin (1809-1882)! Today is Darwin Day to celebrate his birthday, science and evolution.
“The inhabitants believe that these animals are absolutely deaf; certainly they do not overhear a person walking closely behind them. I was always amused, when overtaking one of these great monsters as it was quietly pacing along, to see how suddenly,
TIL Plants take advantage of #chaos to more efficiently photosynthesize.
"The researchers also found that proteins arranged in a lattice structure showed less efficient energy transfer than proteins that were arranged in randomly organized structures, as they usually are in living cells."
"'Ordered organization is actually less efficient than the disordered organization of biology, which we think is really interesting because biology tends to be disordered. This finding tells us that that may not just be an inevitable downside of biology, but organisms may have evolved to take advantage of it,' Schlau-Cohen says."
🌿🍃 I did an #experiment to see how various types of #lichen respond to moisture. I found a stick with many different kinds of lichen and sprayed water on it every few minutes. Here is a 1 hour #timelapse video!
I did an #experiment to see how various types of #lichen respond to moisture. I found a stick with many different kinds of lichen and sprayed water on it every few minutes. Here is a timelapse video!
"We have discovered that hard, electrical conductors (e.g., metals or graphite) can be adhered to soft, aqueous materials (e.g., hydrogels, fruit, or animal tissue) without the use of an adhesive. The adhesion is induced by a low DC electric field."
I can see this being quite useful for possibly attaching imaging equipment or electrodes for neural recordings.
Has anyone else noticed that racialists tend to draw false parallels between DNA/genes & computer code/programs? They're not the same. They mistakenly see genes/DNA as fatalistic or strongly deterministic. There's no gene for becoming a musician. We're not "commanded" to do anything.
I cannot overstate how dangerous it is to compare DNA/genes to computer code/programs, especially since the comparison is wrong (and is used by racialists).
Your DNA doesn't carry specific instructions. It's more like a recipe list. Almost all physical and behavioral traits are either moderately or weakly determined by genes---not strongly. We're not commanded to carry out specific actions either, nor are we programmed to execute certain tasks.
Curious and cryptic: New leaf insects discovered (phys.org)
An international research team including the University of Göttingen has described seven previously unknown species of leaf insects, also known as walking leaves. The insects belong to the stick and leaf insect order, which are known for their unusual appearance: they look confusingly similar to parts of plants such as twigs,...