Science & Technology

Cells reach out and touch, providing evidence of foresight and design

Evolution News
Fri, 28 Aug 2020 19:15 UTC

Cells are equipped with sensors that recognize touch and respond accordingly. They can even reach out to other cells with nanoscopic tunnels and share parts.

An article yesterday for Evolution News about allostery showed how an individual protein or RNA can send information to its distant domains. Information sharing can also occur between chains of molecules arranged in a signaling cascade, where each one triggers action in the next. This is a bit more like the Rube Goldberg technique, except that in cells, it is much more logical and reliable. Here are new examples of mechanosensing (the ability to sense a touch) and mechanotransduction (the ability to pass on touch information). A paper on bioRxiv explains, "Cells sense the physical properties of their environment, translate them into biochemical signals and adapt their behaviour accordingly."

One such system is the MAPK/ERK pathway that all eukaryotic cells use to get information from the cell surface into the nucleus. A diagram on Wikipedia's page makes it clear that many individual factors take part. Once the EGFR receptor triggers ERK on the cell's exterior membrane, a signaling cascade begins with at least 16 cofactors and proteins transporting the information to the cell nucleus, which responds by transcribing code proteins or enzymes. ERK signals can also spread throughout the cytoplasm, leading to a variety of responses depending on the nature of the triggering molecule.

Google just ran the first-ever quantum simulation of a chemical reaction

Mike McRae
ScienceAlert
Fri, 28 Aug 2020 17:08 UTC

Of the many high expectations we have of quantum technology, one of the most exciting has to be the ability to simulate chemistry on an unprecedented level. Now we have our first glimpse of what that might look like.

Together with a team of collaborators, the Google AI Quantum team has used their 54 qubit quantum processor, Sycamore, to simulate changes in the configuration of a molecule called diazene.

As far as chemical reactions go, it's one of the simplest ones we know of. Diazene is little more than a couple of nitrogens linked in a double bond, each towing a hydrogen atom.

However, the quantum computer accurately described changes in the positions of hydrogen to form different diazene isomers. The team also used their system to arrive at an accurate description of the binding energy of hydrogen in increasingly bigger chains.

Andromeda galaxy halo 'bumps into' the halo around the Milky Way

Rob Garner, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Phys.org
Fri, 28 Aug 2020 10:56 UTC

© NASA, ESA, and E. Wheatley (STScI)
This illustration shows the location of the 43 quasars scientists used to probe Andromeda's gaseous halo. These quasars--the very distant, brilliant cores of active galaxies powered by black holes--are scattered far behind the halo, allowing scientists to probe multiple regions. Looking through the immense halo at the quasars' light, the team observed how this light is absorbed by the halo and how that absorption changes in different regions. By tracing the absorption of light coming from the background quasars, scientists are able to probe the halo's material.

In a landmark study, scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have mapped the immense envelope of gas, called a halo, surrounding the Andromeda galaxy, our nearest large galactic neighbor. Scientists were surprised to find that this tenuous, nearly invisible halo of diffuse plasma extends 1.3 million light-years from the galaxy — about halfway to our Milky Way — and as far as 2 million light-years in some directions. This means that Andromeda's halo is already bumping into the halo of our own galaxy.

They also found that the halo has a layered structure, with two main nested and distinct shells of gas. This is the most comprehensive study of a halo surrounding a galaxy.

"Understanding the huge halos of gas surrounding galaxies is immensely important," explained co-investigator Samantha Berek of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. "This reservoir of gas contains fuel for future star formation within the galaxy, as well as outflows from events such as supernovae. It's full of clues regarding the past and future evolution of the galaxy, and we're finally able to study it in great detail in our closest galactic neighbor."

Comment: See also:

Global magnetic field of the solar corona measured for the first time

Peking University
Phys.org
Fri, 28 Aug 2020 11:13 UTC

© School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University
Magnetic field of the Sun calculated from the potential field source surface model (Yang et al. 2020, Sci China Tech Sci).

An international team led by Professor Tian Hui from Peking University has recently measured the global magnetic field of the solar corona for the first time. The team used observations from the Coronal Multi-channel Polarimeter, an instrument designed by Dr. Steve Tomczyk at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, USA. Their results have been recently published in Science and Science China Technological Sciences. Yang Zihao, a first-year graduate student at Peking University, is the first author of both papers.

The Sun is a magnetized star, and its magnetic field plays a critical role in shaping the solar atmosphere. The 11-year solar cycle, the spectacular solar eruptions and the million-degree solar corona are all driven or governed by the evolution of the solar magnetic field. Due to the magnetic coupling of different atmospheric layers, information on the magnetic field of the whole atmosphere is required to study the interplay between solar plasma and the magnetic field. However, routine measurements of the solar magnetic field have only been achieved at the photospheric level (solar surface). More than one century has passed since the first measurement of the solar magnetic field, but we still do not have a precise knowledge of the magnetic field in the upper solar atmosphere, especially the corona, which impedes our complete understanding of solar magnetism and its interaction with solar plasma.

Comment: As we enter a 'grand solar minimum' precise measurements of this kind could be critical to understanding and forecasting what may be to come, these discoveries may also reveal further data of just what drives our star:

Also check out SOTT radio's:

Rising cosmic rays may soon stymie quantum computing

MIT
Fri, 28 Aug 2020 11:14 UTC

© Christine Daniloff, MIT
An MIT study reports that incoming cosmic rays may limit qubit performance, impeding progress in quantum computing.

The practicality of quantum computing hangs on the integrity of the quantum bit, or qubit.

Qubits, the logic elements of quantum computers, are coherent two-level systems that represent quantum information. Each qubit has the strange ability to be in a quantum superposition, carrying aspects of both states simultaneously, enabling a quantum version of parallel computation. Quantum computers, if they can be scaled to accommodate many qubits on one processor, could be dizzyingly faster, and able to handle far more complex problems, than today's conventional computers.

But that all depends on a qubit's integrity, or how long it can operate before its superposition and the quantum information are lost — a process called decoherence, which ultimately limits the computer run-time. Superconducting qubits — a leading qubit modality today — have achieved exponential improvement in this key metric, from less than one nanosecond in 1999 to around 200 microseconds today for the best-performing devices.

Comment: The rise in cosmic rays is just one aspect of a multitude of other events occurring within our solar system and without, and they're effecting much more than just quantum computing:

Panspermia theory proven true? Radiation-resistant bacteria could survive journey from Earth to Mars

Layal Liverpool
New Scientist
Wed, 26 Aug 2020 22:37 UTC

Microbes strapped to the outside of the International Space Station can survive for at least three years, suggesting that life has the potential to survive a journey through space from Earth to Mars.

"If bacteria can survive in space, [they] may be transferred from one planet to another," says Akihiko Yamagishi at Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences in Japan.

"We don't know where life emerged. If life emerged on Earth, it may [have been] transferred to Mars. Alternatively, if life emerged on Mars, it may [have been] transferred to Earth ... meaning that we are the offspring of Martian life," says Yamagishi. If the journey is possible, then the probability of finding life on planets outside our solar system increases, he says.

Deinococcus radiodurans bacteria are naturally very resistant to radiation, because of their extraordinary capacity to repair their DNA when it gets damaged, says Yamagishi. He and his colleagues wanted to investigate whether this might enable them to survive in the harsh environment of space, where levels of radiation - particularly in the ultraviolet range - are extremely high.

Comment: Previously:

Glyphosate herbicide harms even GM soybeans!

Claire Robinson
GM Watch
Tue, 25 Aug 2020 22:51 UTC

Scientists have found that spraying with glyphosate-based herbicide triggers unintended effects even in genetically modified soybean varieties resistant to this type of pesticide. They report their findings in a new study published in Environmental Sciences Europe.

The researchers, from GenØk-Centre for Biosafety in Norway and the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) in Brazil, found severe metabolic disturbances in both stacked (multiple transgene) and single transgene trait GM soybeans caused by exposure to a glyphosate-based herbicide.

The scientists used a molecular analytical method known as transcriptomics, which allows the total profile of gene expression of an organism to be determined. The authors of this new study used transcriptomics to investigate if there were alterations in gene expression patterns following spraying with a glyphosate-based herbicide (Roundup Transorb®) on the stacked-trait GM soybean Intacta Roundup Ready 2 Pro MON-877Ø1-2 × MON-89788-1, engineered for glyphosate tolerance and to express a Bt toxin insecticide, and on the single-trait GM soybean Roundup Ready MON-Ø4Ø32-6, genetically engineered for glyphosate tolerance.

Both GM soybean varieties are approved in the EU for food and feed use but not for cultivation. They are widely grown by farmers in Brazil.

Injectable microbots created by scientist

Yahoo! News
Thu, 27 Aug 2020 22:38 UTC

Scientists have created an army of microscopic four-legged robots too small to see with the naked eye that walk when stimulated by a laser and could be injected into the body through hypodermic needles, a study said Wednesday.

Microscopic robotics are seen as having an array of potential uses, particularly in medicine, and US researchers said the new robots offer "the potential to explore biological environments".

One of the main challenges in the development of these cell-sized robots has been combining control circuitry and moving parts in such a small structure.

The robots described in the journal Nature are less than 0.1 millimetre wide -- around the width of a human hair -- and have four legs that are powered by on-board solar cells.

By shooting laser light into these solar cells, researchers were able to trigger the legs to move, causing the robot to walk around.

The study's co-author Marc Miskin, of the University of Pennsylvania, told AFP that a key innovation of the research was that the legs -- its actuators -- could be controlled using silicon electronics.

"Fifty years of shrinking down electronics has led to some remarkably tiny technologies: you can build sensors, computers, memory, all in very small spaces," he said. "But, if you want a robot, you need actuators, parts that move."

Do mystery odors in Japan predict an upcoming earthquake?

Lisa Conklin
The Taiwan Times
Mon, 24 Aug 2020 14:26 UTC

Image of Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan, after the September 1, 1923 earthquake

Kanagawa Prefecture, site of Japan's second largest city, Yokohama, and home to 9.2 million people has recently seen numerous reports of unexplained strange smells permeating the air in a coastal region sitting above the epicenter of the devastating 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake.

And worryingly, at least one prominent seismologist indicates this could be a precursor of another earthquake.

Most recently reported early Friday, the gas-like smell was reported to the local Yokosuka Fire Department multiple times over the course of an hour, although nobody was eventually taken sick because of the smell.

Just a month earlier, on July 17th the same thing happened with calls from the across the Miura peninsula to authorities complaining about the exact same thing, and six weeks prior to that the same again.

Yet no known cause has been detected.

However, Japanese seismologist Manabu Takahashi from Ritsumeikan University now fears that the smells could predate a quake in the area; something he has long studied according to reports from Japan.

The site the smells have been detected at sit near the meeting point of the Nankai, Sagami, and Suruga trough fault lines and too close to comfort to the 1923 quake epicenter that left around 140,000 dead across the wider Kanagawa and Kanto plains.

Fifty new planets confirmed in machine learning first

Science Daily
Tue, 25 Aug 2020 00:01 UTC

Fifty potential planets have had their existence confirmed by a new machine learning algorithm developed by University of Warwick scientists.

For the first time, astronomers have used a process based on machine learning, a form of artificial intelligence, to analyse a sample of potential planets and determine which ones are real and which are 'fakes', or false positives, calculating the probability of each candidate to be a true planet.

Their results are reported in a new study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, where they also perform the first large scale comparison of such planet validation techniques. Their conclusions make the case for using multiple validation techniques, including their machine learning algorithm, when statistically confirming future exoplanet discoveries.

Comment: See also:

What can be expected from a Jewish pope? Just another dumb puppet anyway.

LadyRad

You know, talking out loud hear/here. You know the beauty, the beauty of going back in time to look at the record. The beauty of that? You know...

Buffalo_Ken

'' '' So if the NBA is going to do those things, I would honor it, but at the same time I would ask like, it doesn't seem logically consistent,"...

Demore

I bet there's Twatter comments saying, "Well, if she had just worn her mask......"

DeliciousTears

"No" should be sufficient reason.

DeliciousTears

Science & Technology

Cells reach out and touch, providing evidence of foresight and design

Google just ran the first-ever quantum simulation of a chemical reaction

Andromeda galaxy halo 'bumps into' the halo around the Milky Way

Global magnetic field of the solar corona measured for the first time

Rising cosmic rays may soon stymie quantum computing

Panspermia theory proven true? Radiation-resistant bacteria could survive journey from Earth to Mars

Glyphosate herbicide harms even GM soybeans!

Injectable microbots created by scientist

Do mystery odors in Japan predict an upcoming earthquake?

Fifty new planets confirmed in machine learning first

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