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Science News Archive July 2020 - Page 21


Page 21 of 47

COVID-19 replicating RNA vaccine has robust response in nonhuman primates

A replicating RNA vaccine has shown robust immune response in both young and old animal models, producing antibodies comparable to those in people recovering from COVID-19. The vaccine's design avoids immune responses that could exacerbate the virus, instead inducing protective antiviral measures and T cells.

SourceUniversity of Washington School of Medicine/UW Medicine·JournalScience Translational Medicine·DateJul 20, 2020

Plato was right. Earth is made, on average, of cubes

According to the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, rocks on Earth are, on average, cube-shaped due to fragmentation processes. The researchers' findings suggest that this shape is statistically average and applies not only to Earth but also around the solar system.

SourceUniversity of Pennsylvania·JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences·DateJul 20, 2020

Advancing knowledge on archaea

A web-based database, Archaeal Proteome Project (ArcPP), collects and makes available datasets to further research on archaea, a domain of microorganisms. The platform provides easily accessible data and expertise for analyzing proteomics studies, yielding significant new insights into archaeal biology.

SourceUniversity of Pennsylvania·JournalNature Communications·DateJul 20, 2020

Signal transduction in cells: Precise or economical?

Researchers at Max-Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology study signal transmission in baker's yeast to understand how cells balance information accuracy with energy costs. They found that the pheromone signalling pathway contains negative feedback regulations that improve accuracy, but may also impose fitness costs.

SourceMax-Planck-Gesellschaft·JournalNature Communications·DateJul 19, 2020

Psychology: The most personal device

Researchers at LMU Munich used smartphone data to analyze users' personalities, finding strong correlations between behavior patterns and self-assessed traits. The study focused on the Big Five personality dimensions, revealing that certain types of digital behavior are more informative for specific self-assessments.

SourceLudwig-Maximilians-Universität München·JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences·DateJul 17, 2020

Decadal predictability of North Atlantic blocking and the NAO

A recent study published in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science reveals remarkable skill in reproducing multi-annual variations of North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and atmospheric blocking frequency. This breakthrough suggests that impactful climate anomalies may be predictable with improved dynamical models, filling the gap between lo...

SourceCMCC Foundation - Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change·Journalnpj Climate and Atmospheric Science·DateJul 17, 2020

Where is the water during a drought?

Researchers from the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries investigated water distribution in the Demnitzer Mühlenfliess sub-catchment area. They found that vegetation plays a significant role in storing and releasing water, with forests having a drier soil than grasslands due to their root depth and leaf canopy.

SourceForschungsverbund Berlin·JournalHydrology and Earth System Sciences·DateJul 17, 2020

Enhanced water repellent surfaces discovered in nature

Researchers at Penn State have discovered a previously unidentified nanostructure on insect surfaces that can be used to engineer stronger, more resilient water repellent coatings. These high-solid fraction textures may imbue additional water repelling benefits and could be applied to personal protective equipment (PPE) to better resis...

SourcePenn State·JournalScience Advances·DateJul 17, 2020