A large genome study has identified potential virulence factors to discriminate new Francisella species from the deadly F. tularensis bacterium. The study provides a framework for identifying new isolates and environmental detections, improving disease diagnosis and bioweapon detection.
For the first time, boron has been identified on the surface of Mars, indicating potential for long-term habitable groundwater in the ancient past. The discovery was made using NASA's Curiosity rover's Chemistry and Camera instrument.
EDGE brings genomics expertise to everyone with a user-friendly web-based platform that integrates cutting-edge tools and reduces data analysis times from days to minutes. The platform has already helped streamline data analysis for groups worldwide, including those in Thailand, Georgia, Peru, and Egypt.
A study identifies telltale genetic fingerprints associated with smoking tobacco, demonstrating that smoking increases cancer risk by causing somatic mutations. The research found over 20 mutational signatures linked to tobacco smoking, with some signatures elevated in cancers from smokers.
A new study found that plants regulate their leaf temperature independently of surrounding air temperatures, increasing carbon uptake through photosynthesis. This decoupling weakens the link between climate and plant functions.
A new class of fuel cells based on ion-pair-coordinated polymers can operate between 80°C and 200°C with water tolerance, enhancing usability in various conditions. The research breakthrough has the potential to accelerate commercialization of low-cost fuel cells for automotive and stationary applications.
Scientists improve understanding of actinium, a key element in creating new anticancer drugs. The study reveals actinium's behavior in solution, providing crucial chemical information for designing chelators and developing targeted alpha therapy.
Researchers found that small earthquakes along California's San Andreas Fault are triggered by tidal forces and provide insights into the fault's strength and behavior. The study's discovery may offer new warning signals for predicting major quakes.
Researchers have developed a new type of two-dimensional layered perovskite with outstanding stability and more than triple the material's previous power conversion efficiency. The breakthrough involves flipping crystals during casting, eliminating a gap in electron flow that previously reduced efficiency.
Researchers developed a theoretical model to forecast chemical reactions involving molecular hydrogen, accurately calculating the probability of electron-molecular hydrogen reactions. The model has major implications for fusion plasmas, aerospace materials, astrophysics, and medical applications.
The discovery of high levels of manganese oxides in Martian rocks suggests that the Red Planet may have had a more Earth-like atmosphere in the past. This finding is significant because it could indicate that higher levels of atmospheric oxygen once existed on Mars.
Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory discover a simple chemical treatment using hydrazine to dope electrons into semiconductors, creating one of the best hydrogen-evolution electrocatalysts. This breakthrough has wide potential applications in energy and electronics.
Researchers used RNA simulations to understand how viruses fold into specific shapes, offering potential targets for treating retroviral diseases. The study's findings provide valuable information on the thermodynamic stability of RNA molecules and their behavior in different environments.
Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory found that perovskite solar cells degrade due to accumulated charge carriers and self-heal when exposed to darkness. Temperature control can stabilize device performance by reducing degradation mechanisms.
Researchers used machine learning to speed up the discovery of shape-memory alloys with low thermal hysteresis, critical for improving fatigue life in engineering applications. The framework iteratively guides experiments to find materials with desired target properties, cutting time and cost by half.
Numerical simulations using BURST code reveal insights into the role of neutrinos, nuclei, and other particles in shaping the early universe. The research aims to investigate existing puzzles of cosmology, including dark matter and dark radiation.
The BURST code simulates conditions during the first few minutes of cosmological evolution to model the role of neutrinos, nuclei and other particles in shaping the early universe. This allows physicists to investigate existing puzzles of cosmology, including the nature and origin of visible matter and dark matter.
A new 3-D modeling and data-extraction technique can reveal dynamics in protein crystals, improving the clarity of imaging and providing valuable information about protein motions. This approach has potential benefits for pharmaceutical industry and structural biology.
DOE's Small Business Vouchers pilot provides $590,000 in funding to four small businesses to develop innovative clean energy technologies. The program aims to promote economic development and American innovation by pairing laboratory resources with small business drive.
A new study reveals rapid melting of ancient ice wedges across the Arctic, affecting runoff and amplifying permafrost thawing. The research indicates widespread ice wedge degradation with major implications for global warming and thermokarst formation.
Scientists have developed a new method to analyze the genetic tree of diseases like HIV to identify possible gaps in transmission chains. The study uses computational phylogenetic analysis to examine how strains of HIV are transmitted and can now evaluate the possibility of unsampled intermediaries or common sources.
A new study published in Nature suggests that the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees evolved in Africa, not Eurasia, two million years earlier than previously thought. The analysis of fossils found in Ethiopia reveals that the human branch of the tree split from gorillas around 10 million years ago.
Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory developed a new method to detect underground nuclear explosions by coupling seismic models with gas-flow models. The research improves the accuracy of predicting radionuclide gas transport through fracture networks, enabling better detection and concentration of gases.
A global review of forest ecosystems found that large trees are more susceptible to drought, releasing stored carbon and disrupting the atmosphere. Understory trees fare better in response to drought, with increased growth rates in some seasonal tropical forests.
Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a new DNA-templated gold nanocluster that enhances electron transfer in enzymatic fuel cells. The AuNC facilitates oxygen reduction reactions, lowering overpotential and increasing electrocatalytic current densities.
A team of researchers has discovered a Jupiter-like planet, 51 Eridani b, within a young system that could provide new understanding of how planets formed around our sun. The planet shows the strongest methane signature ever detected on an alien planet, yielding clues about its formation.
The ChemCam instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover has found evidence of ancient, light-colored rocks on Mars that are rich in feldspar and quartz, similar to those found in the Earth's granitic continental crust. These discoveries suggest that Mars may have had a primitive continental crust around 4 billion years ago.
Scientists developed a computer model that studies ocean mixing in vast eddies, clarifying the complex processes driving ocean storms. The model enables researchers to study heat and carbon fluxes into the deep ocean, increasing global climate simulation accuracy.
The team discovered supernova iPTF 14atg using an automated software system that separates real astronomical transients from false detections. The system uses machine learning technology to identify events of astrophysical origin.
Researchers found that tall trees with low hydraulic conductance are most likely to die from future drought stress, posing a significant threat to earth's carbon storage. This study predicts widespread forest mortality under climate warming, highlighting the need for forest management interventions.
Researchers expose high-temperature superconductors to record-breaking magnetic fields, revealing unique properties and interactions between electrons. The study paves the way for a new theory of superconductivity, aiming to create room-temperature superconductors without cooling requirements.
Los Alamos scientists have developed a new tool for analyzing microbial communities, GOTTCHA, which can identify co-infections in medical samples. The tool uses a database of reference genomes to classify individual metagenome sequences and provide relative abundance profiles of organisms found within a sample.
Los Alamos researchers uncovered how materials develop defects during irradiation, revealing key factors that affect their properties. The studies shed light on defect mobility, grain boundary structure, and interface-sink efficiency, which are crucial for predicting material behavior under extreme environments.
Researchers aim to standardize antibody identification by defining them by their sequences, like genes. This would enable consistent results across experiments and reduce waste in the research pipeline.
Researchers have developed a hot-casting technique to grow large-area perovskite crystals, offering promising routes for low-cost, clean energy solutions. The technique yields highly efficient and reproducible solar cells with efficiencies approaching 18%, surpassing previous challenges in the field.
Researchers are developing new software to visualize molecular machines, revealing their inner workings and structures. The Phenix software uses X-ray diffraction spots to create 3-D images of protein molecules.
A research team drilled and measured melt rates and ice sheet movement in Greenland, finding that subglacial channels are less important than previously thought. Changes in hydraulically isolated regions of the bed control the evolution of subglacial drainage over summer.
Nanocomposite oxide ceramics show promise as ferroelectrics, fast ion conductors, and nuclear fuels with improved transport and radiation resistance. Misfit dislocations at material interfaces dictate functional properties.
Researchers at Montana State University provided the first blueprint of a bacterium's molecular machinery, showing how bacterial immune systems fight off viruses. By understanding CRISPR mechanisms, scientists can potentially develop therapies for plant, animal, and human diseases.
Researchers have identified a unique class of materials, known as ionic liquids, that can neutralize biofilm-forming pathogens and deliver drugs through the skin. These materials are effective at disrupting biofilms and have minimal cytotoxicity effects on human cell lines.
Researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory and Carnegie Mellon University uncover key attributes of brown carbon, a toxic airborne particle that warms the atmosphere. The study reveals that brown carbon shares a common production mechanism with black carbon, leading to significant underestimation of warming effects in climate models.
A Los Alamos National Laboratory team verified air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from two coal-fired power plants in the Four Corners area using space-based techniques. The study found that emissions from the San Juan Generating Station are less polluting than those from the nearby Four Corners Generating Station.
Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory and University of Milano-Bicocca have developed large-area luminescent solar concentrators using 'Stokes-shift-engineered' quantum dots. These concentrated solar cells can generate significant power from sunlight, enabling the creation of transparent photovoltaic windows.
A new project, ATHENA, is developing four human organ constructs that mimic the response of actual human organs. The system, which includes a liver, heart, lung, and kidney, aims to provide a realistic and cost-effective way to screen new drugs and toxic agents.
Researchers develop new metallic glass with high elasticity, enabling more durable golf clubs and improved space science applications. The material's ability to be bent and spring back into shape is controlled by understanding the initiation of shear bands, which can lead to failure.
Los Alamos scientists observed an extraordinary cosmic event, a black hole birth, with advanced telescopes that yielded detailed data on the event's energy levels and 'afterglow.' The rare occurrence tested long-held assumptions about the universe, revealing higher-than-theoretically-possible energy levels for gamma rays.
The Los Alamos National Laboratory team has developed a novel approach to estimating epidemic dynamics, capturing the full infection history and social network interactions. The model allows for realistic simulation of epidemics with known parameters of human interactions.
Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a new generation of engineered quantum dots to reduce wasteful charge-carrier interactions in QD-LEDs. This breakthrough aims to improve the efficiency and operating lifetime of these devices, making them more suitable for lighting applications.
The Curiosity Rover discovered a diverse range of soils and sediments on Mars, revealing small amounts of water in the dust and fine soil. The findings suggest that water may be present in the Martian environment, potentially providing a source for future astronauts.
Scientists have identified an internal electron accelerator operating within the Van Allen radiation belts, causing sudden and unpredictable changes. The research paves the way for predicting hazardous space weather and preparing satellite operators for intense space storms.